Silicon Valley in Northern California is home(1) to many of the world’s largest technology companies(2). These include Apple, Google, Oracle, Intel, Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard. The valley is also(3) home to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View.
It reopened(4) in December after nineteen million dollars worth(5) of improvements(6).One of the additions is a permanent exhibit called “Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing(7).”Alex Bochannek is a curator(8) at the museum. Mr. Bochannek says the new exhibit(9) tells the story of more than one thousand historical objects.
He said: “Some of the oldest(10) items are actually(11) not computers. They are devices(12) that helped people calculate. And the first object people see walking into the exhibit is an abacus from the eighteen hundreds.
Because the abacus is a daily-use(13) device made from wood(14), few of them(15) have survived(16).” Mr. Bochannek says people have the chance to handle(17) some of the objects in the exhibit.
He says one of the more popular items is a portable computer(18) from nineteen eighty-one. The Osborne One was about the size(19) of a sewing machine(20) and weighed(21) more than ten kilograms.
So, just being able to(22) pick one of those up(23) will help visitors(24) understand how difficult portability(25) was about thirty years ago(26). Visitors to the Computer History Museum can also see parts of one of the earliest(27) large-scale electronic computing devices. The ENIAC or Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer was designed(28) during World War Two(29).
There are also(30) pieces(31) from the guidance(32)
computer that was used during the Apollo space missions. Mr. Bochannek
says the “Revolution” exhibit is about more than the history of modern
computing. He says it tells a much larger story(33) about how these developments have affected society and culture, especially in recent years.
He said the revolution to most people is that computers are everywhere(34). If you are crossing the street(35), there probably is(36) a computer controlling the traffic light(37).
Computers surround us(38). In some cases they are even(39) inside us(40), like the cardiac pacemaker(41) device in the exhibit. The Computer History Museum plans to launch(42)
an online version of the exhibit in March. The museum has one hundred
thousand items in its complete collection. Only two percent of them are currently(43) on display(44).
But officials say seventy-five percent of the items will be viewable(45) online. For VOA Special English I’m Alex Villarreal.
Vocabulary
1. Home = lar 2. Companies = empresas 3. Also = também 4. Reopened = reabriu 5. Worth = valor 6. Improvements = melhorias 7. Computing = computação 8. Curator = curador, tutor 9. Curator = mostra 10. Some of the oldest = alguns dos mais antigos 11. Actually = na verdade 12. Devices = dispositivos 13. daily-use = de uso diário 14. made from wood = feito de madeira 15. few of them = poucos deles 16. survived = sobreviveram 17. handle = manusear 18. portable computer = computador portátil 19. about the size = aproximadamente do tamanho de 20. sewing machine = máquina de costura 21. weighed = pesava 22. just being able to = apenas ser capaz de 23. pick one of those up = pegar um daqueles 24. visitors = visitants 25. portability = portabilidade 26. about thirty years ago = aproximadamente 30 anos atrás 27. one of the earliest = um dos mais primitivos 28. designed = projetado 29. during World War Two = durante a segunda Guerra mundial 30. There are also = Existem também 31. Pieces = peças, pedaços 32. Guidance = orientação, navegação 33. much larger story = estória muito maior 34. everywhere = Em todos os lugares 35. crossing the street = atravessando a rua 36. there probably is = Há provavelmente 37. traffic light = semáforo 38. surround us = nos cercam 39. even = até mesmo 40. inside us = dentro de nós 41. pacemaker = marcapasso 42. plans to launch = Planeja lançar 43. currently = atualmente 44. on display = à mostra 45. viewable = visível