USTHB/ CEIL Unit 3

Computer Science Department 2019/2020 Second year

Inside the System

1  A Read the advertisement and answer the questions.

Dell XPS 13
 13.3'' 4K Ultra HD (3840x2160) Touch
 Intel Core i7-8565U (Quad-Core, 8M Cache)
 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe State Solid Drive (SSD)
 Windows 10 Professional

1 What is the main function of a computer's processor?

2 What unit of frequency is used to measure processor speed?
3 What does RAM stand for?

B Read the text on page 2, and then answer these questions.

1 What is the motherboard?

2 What does CPU stand for? What does it do?
3 What is the function of the heat sink?
4 Gigahertz is the equivalent of how many instructions per second?
5 What type of memory is temporary?
6 What type of memory is permanent?
7 How is RAM measured?
8 What term is used to refer to read only memory?
9 What is the benefit of having expansion slots?
10 How can a network card access the internet?

C Look at these extracts from the text. What do the words in bold refer to?

1 …. It is sometimes called the brain of the computer, (§ 2)

2 ... which is covered by the heat sink…..(§ 2)
3 ...until it is needed. (§3)
4 ...which acts as long-term storage. (§3)
5 It sends power through cables to the motherboard…. (§5)
6 ... These are sometimes called PCI (peripheral component interconnect) cards. (§6)

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What is inside a PC system?
Motherboard
The motherboard is the computer's main circuit
board. It's a thin plate that holds the CPU,
memory, connectors for the hard drive and optical
drives, expansion cards to control the video and
audio, and connections to your computer's ports
(such as USB ports). The motherboard connects
directly or indirectly to every part of the computer.
CPU/processor
The central processing unit (CPU), also called
a processor, is located inside the computer
case on the motherboard. It is sometimes called
the brain of the computer, and its job is to carry out
commands. Whenever you press a key, click the
mouse, or start an application, you're sending
instructions to the CPU.
The CPU is usually a two-inch ceramic
square with a silicon chip located inside. The
CPU fits into the motherboard's CPU socket,
which is covered by the heat sink, an object that
absorbs heat from the CPU.
A processor's speed is measured in megahertz
(MHz), or millions of instructions per second;
and gigahertz (GHz), or billions of instructions per
second. A faster processor can execute
instructions more quickly. However, the actual
speed of the computer depends on the speed of
many different components—not just the
processor.
RAM & ROM
RAM(random access memory) is your
system's short-term memory. Whenever your
computer performs calculations, it temporarily
stores the data in the RAM until it is needed.
This short-term memory disappears when the
computer is turned off. If you're working on a
document, spreadsheet, or other type of file, you'll
need to save it to avoid losing it. When you save a
file, the data is written to the hard drive, which
acts as long-term storage.
RAM is measured in megabytes (MB) or
gigabytes (GB). ROM (read only memory), data
stored in ROM may only be read. It is either
modified with extreme difficulty or not at all.
Hard drive
The hard drive is where your software,
documents, and other files are stored. The hard
drive is long-term storage, which means the data
is still saved even if you turn the computer off. The
faster the hard drive, the faster your computer
can start up and load programs.
Power supply unit
The power supply unit in a computer converts the
power from the wall outlet to the type of power
needed by the computer. It sends power through
cables to the motherboard and other components.
Expansion cards
Most computers have expansion slots on the
motherboard that allow you to add various types
of expansion cards. These are sometimes
called PCI (peripheral component interconnect)
cards. The most common types of expansion
cards are:
o Video card
The video card is responsible for what you see on
the monitor. Most computers have a GPU
(graphics processing unit) built into the
motherboard instead of having a separate video
card.
o Sound card
The sound card—also called an audio card—is
responsible for what you hear in the speakers or
headphones.
o Network card
The network card allows your computer to
communicate over a network and access the
Internet. It can either connect with
an Ethernet cable or through
a wireless connection (often called Wi-Fi).
o Bluetooth card (or adapter)
Bluetooth is a technology for wireless
communication over short distances. It's often
used in computers to communicate with
wireless keyboards, mice, and printers. It's
commonly built into the motherboard or included in
a wireless network card. For computers that
don't have Bluetooth, you can purchase a USB
adapter, often called a dongle.
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2 Language Work : Pronouns

Help Box Subject Object Possessive Possessive Reflexive

pronouns pronouns adjectives pronouns pronouns
I Me My Mine Myself
You You Your Yours Yourself
He Him His His Himself
She Her Her Hers Herself
It It Its Itself
We Us Our Ours Ourselves
You You Your Yours Yourselves
They Them Their Theirs Themselves

Demonstrative Indefinite Interrogative Relative

pronouns pronouns pronouns pronouns
This All, some, any, Who Which
That several, Which That
These anyone, What Who
Those nobody, each, Where Whom
both, few, How Whose
none, one, no Where
one

A Study the help box above, then complete the sentences with the adequate
pronoun

1 .................is still using floppy disks?

2 If you want to advance in this company, …………….must be willing to work overtime.

3 Scratch is a visual programming language, where ………………. can create a project.

4 He added a graphic card to ……….computer to improve its performance.

5 Laptop cooling pads are used to reduce the temperature, people use …..…… when their
laptop cannot cool …………….by………………..

6 A proxy server is a server ………acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking
resources from other servers.

B Circle the correct pronoun.

An expansion slot is a socket on the motherboard (that/who) is used to insert an expansion

card (or circuit board), (whose/which) provides additional features to a computer such as
video, sound, advanced graphics, Ethernet or memory.
The expansion card has an edge connector (that/who) fits precisely into the expansion slot
as well as a row of contacts (whom/that) is designed to establish an electrical connection
between the motherboard and the electronics on the card, (where/which) are mostly
integrated circuits. Depending on the form factor of the case and motherboard, a computer
system generally can have (anywhere/anyone) from one to seven expansion slots. With a
backplane system, up to 19 expansion cards can be installed.

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 3 How memory is measured
A Read the text and then answer these questions.

1 How many digits does a binary system use?

2 What is a bit?

3 What is a collection of eight bits called?

4 What number system does hard drive manufacturers use?

A bit is a binary digit, the smallest increment of data on a computer. A bit can hold only one of two values: 0
or 1, corresponding to the electrical values of off or on, respectively.
Bits are assembled into a group of eight to form a byte. A byte contains enough information to store a single
American Standard Code for Information Interchange, or ASCII /‘aeski/ character, like "h".
Computer storage and memory is often measured in megabytes (MB) and gigabytes (GB). A medium-sized
novel contains about 1 MB of information.
Many hard drive manufacturers use a decimal number system to define amounts of storage space. As a
result, 1 MB is defined as one million bytes, 1 GB is defined as one billion bytes, and so on. Since your
computer uses a binary system, you may notice a discrepancy between your hard drive's published
capacity and the capacity acknowledged by your computer. For example, a hard drive that is said to contain
10 GB of storage space using a decimal system is actually capable of storing 10,000,000,000 bytes.
However, in a binary system, 10 GB is 10,737,418,240 bytes. As a result, instead of acknowledging 10 GB,
your computer will acknowledge 9.31 GB. This is not a malfunction but a matter of different definitions.
Unit of Memory Abbreviation Exact memory amount
Binary digit Bit, b 1 or 0
Byte B 8 bits
Kilobyte KB or K 1,024 bytes 210
Megabyte MB 1,024 KB 220
Gigabyte GB 1,024 MB 230
Terabyte TB 1,024 GB 240
Petabyte PB 1,024 TB 250
Exabyte EB 1,024 PB 260
Zettabyte ZB 1,024 EB 270
Yottabyte YB 1,024 ZB 280

B Complete these descriptions with the correct unit of memory.

1 A………………………….is about one trillion bytes- about as much text as the books and
magazines in a huge library.

2 A…………………..is about one million bytes- about as much text as a 300-page novel.

3 A……………………..is about one thousand bytes- equivalent to one sheet of A4.

4 A……………………..can store a single character, such as the letter h or number 7.

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 4 Language Work : Relative Clauses
A Look at the help box then complete the sentences with suitable relative
pronouns. Give alternative if possible. Put brackets round the relative
pronouns you can leave out.
Help box
Relative clauses
When a sentence has two clauses, the second
clause often gives us more information about
someone or something in the first, or main, clause.
Second clauses often begin with which, that, or
who, and are called relative clauses. The relative
clause usually tells us something more about the
object of the main clause.
E.g. A blogger is a person who/that keeps a web
log (blog) or publishes an online diary.
 We use the relative pronoun which (or that) to
refer to a thing not a person.
E.g. This is built into a single chip which /that
executes program instructions and coordinates
the activities that take place within the computer.
 We use that after indefinites (something, all,
etc…).
E.g. Security is something that worries me.
 We use whose to talk about possession.
E.g. This is my friend whose PC broke down last
week.
 Relative pronouns can be left out when they are
the object of the relative clause.
E.g. The main circuit board (which/that) you
have inside your system is called the
motherboard.
1 That' the computer ……………………. I'd like to buy.
2 Core 2 Duo is a new Intel processor …………………contains about 291 million
transistors.
3 A webmaster is a person ……………………… designs, develops and maintains a
website.
 Relative adverbs
The relative pronoun can be replaced by relative
adverbs of place and time.
E.g. This is the office where he works.
(= ….at which…..)
E.g. I'll never forget the day when I visited
Silicon Valley. (=…..on which…..)
 Reduced relative clauses
Reduced relative clauses modify the subject
and not the object of a sentence.
We use a present participle instead of an active
verb and a past participle instead of a passive
verb:
1 The winner is a person who scored the
most points.  The winner is a person
scoring the most point.
2 First prize is for the most points which are
scored in the game  First prize is for the
most points scored in the game.
We can reduce the clauses to an adjective, an
adjective phrase and a prepositional phrase:
1 The laptop, which was new, was sold for
$400.  The new laptop was sold for
$400.
2 The product, which seemed perfect at all
levels, failed to succeed in the market. 
The product, perfect at all levels, failed
to succeed in the market.
3 The tablet, which is on the upper rack,
was made in the U.K.  The tablet, on
the upper rack was made in the U.K.
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4 A bus is an electronic pathway …………… carries signals between computer devices.
5 Here's the DVD …………………..you lent me.
6 Last night I met someone………………. works for GM as a software engineer.

B Complete the sentences using who, which, that, whose or where.

1 She works for a company …………….. main office is in Rome

2 They've invented a digital video camera ……………can be carried in the pocket of your
jacket.
3 Do you know the school …………he studied?
4 The man ……………. Married Sue is a millionaire.
5 She will be responsible for anything …………. goes wrong.

C Complete the definitions using relative pronouns.

1 A barcode is a pattern of printed black lines……………………………………………………..

2 A palmtop is a very small computer …………………………………………………

3 An anti-virus program is a type of software.…………………………………………………

4 A CD-ROM is a common storage device …………………………………………………

D Shorten these sentences without changing the order. Where it's not possible
to shorten them, write 'Cannot be shortened.'

1 The books that are on the desk are mine.

…………………………………………………

2 Save electricity by reducing the number of computers that are left on overnight.

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

3 The computer, which was infected by a virus, was cleaned.

………………………………………………………………………..

4 The scientists, who were working on Project Manhattan, were from different nationalities.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

5 The disc, which was damaged, could not be read.

……………………………………………………………….

6 I gave a book, which was written by Stephen Hawking, to Mary last week.

………………………………………………………………………………………….
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