计算机（初中英语课文43）

计算机是一台很棒的机器。这是多年来最重要的发明。今天，它以多种方式被大量使用。到2000年，计算机可能会触及每个人的生活，甚至是遥远村庄的人们。

最古老的计算机是算盘，几个世纪前在中国使用。在十七世纪发明了加法机，但第一台大型现代计算机是在1946年建造的。后来一台计算机可以在一秒钟内完成5，000个加数问题。现在计算机的工作可以快数百万倍。今天，大多数计算机都有内存。这意味着信息可以存储在其中，并在需要时随时取出。

计算机越来越小，计算速度越来越快。即使在大型计算机中，进行计算的部分现在也只有手指头那么大。

计算机可以做很多种工作。例如，当有人在大商店里购买东西的时候，有关销售的信息被输入计算机中。在夜间，计算机处理当天所有销售的信息。第二天早上，经理会得到一份关于所有已售出以及即将售罄的情况报告。

在关于月球的研究中，很多信息被输入计算机。然后，科学家可以“问”计算机问题，计算机在屏幕上“回答”。这几乎就像与另一位科学家交谈。

另一个计算机程序存有关于不同疾病的信息。医生可以连线计算机并阐明一个人出了什么问题。然后计算机将告诉该怎么做。如果医生问为什么，计算机会通过其内存并给出原因。

在一些大工厂里，人很少。机器人做了大部分工作。例如，在汽车工厂中，当不同类型的汽车沿着生产线过来时，机器人调整改变了它的工作方式，就像人类一样。机器人怎么知道这一点？计算机“告诉”它该做什么。

在过去的几年里，计算机发生了巨大的变化。他们现在可以做人能做的大部分事情，尽管大多数科学家都认为计算机不能完全取代人类。谁知道明天的电脑会是什么样？它们会让生活更美好，还是会给人们带来痛苦？今天的学生将不得不决定如何使用明天的计算机。

COMPUTERS

The computer is a wonderful machine. It is the most important invention in many years. Today it is used a great deal in many ways. By the year 2,000 the computer will probably touch the lives of everyone, even people in faraway villages.

The oldest kind of computer is the abacus, used in China centuries ago. In the seventeenth century an adding machine was invented, but the first large, modern computer was built in 1946. A computer then could do 5,000 adding problems in one second. Now computers can work millions of times faster. Today most computers have a memory. That means information can be stored in them and be taken out anytime needed.

Computers are getting smaller and smaller, and computing faster and faster. Even in a large computer, the part that does the computing is now only about as big as the end of a finger.

Computers can do many kinds of work. For example, when someone buys something in a big shop, information about the sale is put into a computer. During the night the computer works on the information from all the sales that day. The next morning, the manager has a report on everything that was sold and also on everything that will soon be sold out.

In research about the moon, a lot of information is put into computers. A scientist can then “ask” the computer questions, and the computer “answer” on the screen. It is almost like talking to another scientist.

Another computer programme has information about different illnesses. A doctor can talk to the computer and explain what is wrong with a person. The computer will then tell what to do. If the doctor asks why, the computer goes through its memory and gives the reason.

In some large factories there are very few people. Robots do most of the work. For example, in a car factory, when a different type of car comes along the line, the robot changes its work, just as a human would do. How does the robot know this? A computer “tells” it what to do.

In the last few years there have been great changes in computers. They now can do most of the things people can do, though most scientists agree that computers cannot completely take the place of humans. Who knows what the computers of tomorrow will be like? Will they make life better, or will they bring suffering to people? The students of today will have to decide how to use the computers of tomorrow.