Data Processing and Data processing Systems

Лебедев в категроии Английский язык, вопрос открыт 24.12.2017 в 00:57

The necessary data are processed by a computer to become useful information. In fact
this is the definition of data processing. Data are a collection of facts — unorganized but able
to be organized into useful information. Processing is a series of actions or operations that
convert inputs into outputs. When we speak of data processing, the input is data, and the
output is useful information. So, we can define data processing as a series of actions or
operations that converts data into useful information.
We use the term data processing system to include the resources that are used to
accomplish the processing of data. There are four types of resources: people, materials,
facilities, and equipment. People provide input to computers, operate them, and use their
output. Materials, such as boxes of paper and printer ribbons, are consumed in great quantity.
Facilities are required to house the computer equipment, people and materials.
The need for converting facts into useful information is not I phenomenon of
modern life. Throughout history, and even prehistory, people have found it necessary to sort
data into forms that were easier to understand. For example, the ancient Egyptians recorded
the ebb and flow of the Nile River and used this information to predict yearly crop yields.
Today computers convert data about land and water into recommendations to farmers on
crop planting. Mechanical aids to computation were developed and improved upon in
Europe, Asia, and America throughout the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.
Modern computers are marvels of an electronics technology that continues to produce
smaller, cheaper, and more powerful components.
Basic data processing operations
Five basic operations are characteristic of all data processing systems: inputting,
storing, processing, outputting, and controlling. They are defined as follows.
Inputting is the process of entering data, which are collected facts, into a data
processing system. Storing is saving data or information so that they are available for initial
or for additional processing. Processing represents performing arithmetic or logical operations
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on data in order to convert them into useful information. Outputting is the process of
producing useful information, such as a printed report or visual display.
Controlling is directing the manner and sequence in which all of the above
operations are performed.
Data storage hierarchy
It is known that data, once entered, are organized and stored in successively
more comprehensive groupings. Generally, these groupings are called a data storage
hierarchy. The general groupings of any data storage hierarchy are as follows.
1) Characters, which are all written language symbols: letters, numbers, and
special symbols. 2) Data elements, which are meaningful collections of related
characters. Data elements are also called data items or fields. 3) Records, which are
collections of related data elements. 4) Files, which are collections of related records.
A set of related files is called a data base or a data bank.
Текст задания: 1. Найдите в тексте английские эквиваленты следующих
словосочетаний:
Системы обработки информации; определение (термина) обработки
данных; совокупность фактов; последовательность действий; преобразование
входных данных в полезную информацию; включать ресурсы; завершить об-
работку данных; обеспечивать ввод информации в компьютер; ленты
принтера; расходовать в большом количестве; размещать компьютерное
оборудование; нуждаться (требовать) в приспособлениях; явление
современной жизни; на протяжении доисторического периода; превращать
информацию в выражения; регистрировать отливы и приливы; прогнозировать
урожай зерновых культур; механические средства вычисления; ввод данных;
хранение данных; первоначальная обработка данных; дополнительная обра-
ботка; выдача полезной информации; напечатанное сообщение; зрительное
отображение; последовательность запоминания информации; записанные
символы языка; элементы информации; база данных; набор взаимосвязанных
файлов.
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Текст задания: 2. Ответьте на вопросы
1. What is processing? 2. What is data processing? 3. What does the term of
data processing system mean? 4. What basic operations does a data processing
system include? 5. What is inputting / storing / outputting information? 6. What do
you understand by resources? 7. How did ancient Egyptians convert facts into useful
information? 8. When were mechanical aids for computation developed? 9. What does
data storage hierarchy mean? 10. What are the general groupings of any data storage
hierarchy?