Tag: Learning English

VOCABULARY

Credit: praise or special attention that is given to someone for doing something or for making something happen.
Example: She got no credit for solving the problem.

To threaten: to tell someone that you will kill or hurt them or cause problems if they do not do what you want.
Example: They threatened the boy with a gun.

Geek: meaning.

Myriad: a very large number of things.

Mainframe: a large and very fast computer that can do many jobs at once.

*Interesting article on this topic: The First Mainframe .

Behemoth: something very big and powerful.

Packet switching:  a digital networking communications method that groups all transmitted data into suitably sized blocks called packets.

Congestion: too blocked or crowded and causing difficulties.
Example: Yesterday, there was a traffic congestion. 

Gateway: a hardware device that acts as a “gate” between two networks.

To spread: to open, arrange, or place (something) over a large area.
Example: The fire spread very rapidly because of the strong wind.

Steadily: not changing much.

Retail: the sale of goods in small quantities directly to customers.

Downloadable PDF: Who invented the Internet – Vocabulary

Verb tenses review

Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the verbs in the brackets:

1. So, have you ever _____________ (to wonder) who actually _____________ (to invent) the Internet?
2. Or _________ (to be) it thanks to a myriad of smart scientists ________________ (to work) on something they __________ (to know) _____________ (to be)  useful but _______________________ (to realize – negative form) would be so big?
3. One popular but wrong story ________ (to be) that the internet ________________________ (to develop) by the USA so they ___________ (to have) a communication network that would survive a nuclear war.
4. With time-sharing, these behemoths could ______________ (to process) several tasks at a time, which _____________ (to mean) their power could be used by several scientists at once.
5. And, obviously, once you _________________ (to start) ___________________ (to connect) computers together you ________________ (to start) to wonder about what you ________________ (to need)to do to make communications between them easier.
6. The French also _______________ (to play) a role. They _________________________ (to work) on a scientific network called CYCLADES, but they ______________ (to have – negative form) a big budget, so they ________________(to decide) to work on direct connections between computers, as opposed to working with gateway computers.
7. The TCP/IP protocols _______________ (to form) the basic communication language of the internet, which _______________ (to label) the packets of data and ________________(to make) sure that even though some pieces of the same data ____________________ (to take) a different route, they all _________________ (to arrive) at their destination and can be reassembled.
8. Networks really ________________ (to begin) ________________________ (to communicate) with each other in 1975, so you could _______________ (to argue) that __________________ (to be) the beginning of the internet.
9. Most internet traffic in 1976 _____________ (to be) email, because academics ____________________ (to think) electronic post-it notes ______________ (to be) dead-core.
10. He _____________ (to do) so by __________________ (to invent) an interface _________________ (to use) HTTP, HTML, and URLs that _________________ (to make) internet browsers possible.

Downloadable PDF: Who invented the Internet – fill in the gaps activity

Correct answers: Correct answers – Fill in the gaps activity – Who invented the internet