Université Gaston Berger de Saint-Louis

Master 1 / Informatique
Cours d’anglais
2023/2024 Dr. DIAGNE

Processing
The processor

The processor also called the CPU or central processing unit is the brain of your computer. In
fact, it is built into a single chip—a small piece of silicon with a complex electronic circuit,
called an integrated circuit—that executes instructions and coordinates the activities of all the
other units. The typical parts are: the control unit, which examines instructions from memory
and executes them; the arithmetic and logic unit (ALU), which performs arithmetic and logical
operations; the registers, high-speed units of memory to store and control data.
The speed of a processor is measured in gigahertz (GHz). Thus, a CPU running at 4 GHz can
make about four hundred million calculations a second. An internal clock sends out signals at
fixed intervals to measure and synchronize the flow of data.
The main circuit board is known as the motherboard. This contains the CPU, the memory chips,
expansion slots and controllers for peripherals, connected by internal buses that carry electronic
signals. For example, the front side bus carries all data that passes from the CPU to other
devices.
Expansion slots allow you to install expansion cards which provide extra functions, e.g. a video
card or a modem. Laptops have PC cards, the size of a credit card, which add features like
sound, memory and network capabilities.
RAM and ROM
When you run a program, the CPU looks for it on the hard disk and transfers a copy into the
RAM. RAM (Random Access Memory) is temporary and volatile; that is, it holds data when
your PC is working on it, but loses this data when the power is switched off. However, ROM
(Read Only Memory) is permanent and contains instructions needed by the CPU; the BIOS
(Basic input output system) uses ROM to control communication with peripherals, e.g. disk
drives. The amount of RAM determines the number of programs you can run simultaneously and
how fast they operate. It can be expanded by adding extra RAM chips.
Units of memory
The electronic circuits in computers detect the difference between two states: ON (the current
passes through) or OFF (the current doesn’t); they represent these states as 1 or 0. Each 1 or 0 is
called binary digit (or bit). Bits are regrouped into eight-digit codes that typically represent
characters (letters, numbers and symbols). Eight bits together are called a byte. For example,
01000001 is used for the character A. Computers use a standard code called ASCII (American
Standard Code for Information Interchange) for binary representations of characters. In order to
We are indebted to Oxford English for Computing, Infotech for Computer Users, Professional English in Use, and Basic English for

Computing.
 avoid complex calculations of bytes, we use bigger units. A kilobyte (KB) is 1,024 bytes; a
megabyte (MB) is 1,024 kilobytes; a gigabyte (GB) is 1,024 megabytes; a terabyte (TB) is 1,024
gigabytes. We use these units to describe the RAM memory; the operating capacity of disks and
the size of a program or document.
Exercise 1: Look at the texts and match the sentence beginnings (1-6) with the correct
endings (a-f).
1. The CPU processes data and a. areas within the CPU
2. The control unit is the part of the CPU that b. you can’t make changes
3. The arithmetic and logic unit is able to make c. controls the ways instructions are executed
4. The registers are high-speed storage d. the computer is turned off
5. Data contained in Ram is lost when e. coordinates the other parts of the computer
6. Rom memory can only be read. f. calculations: add, subtract, multiply and
divide.
Exercise 2: Solve the clues and fill in the blanks with words from the above texts.
1. Intel…………………are used in many computers.
2. Each 0 or 1 is called a bit, short for ………….digit.
3. Special cards can be inserted into expansion………………..
4. A ……………controls the timing within the PC by sending signals to synchronize its
circuits and operations.
5. The processor speed is measured in……………………..
6. ……………………carry signals between different parts of a PC
7. ………………cards can improve the computer’s performance.
8. The ………………………uses ROM to control the input/output of data.
9. The main printed circuit is called the………………………….
10. The…………………….represents the brain of the computer.
Exercise 3: Read this product description and answer the questions below.
Processor and memory

-Intel Core 2 Duo processor at 2.4 GHz

-533 MHz front side bus
-1024 MB of RAM can be expanded
up to 4GB
-200 GB Hard Disk
-Double layer DVD+/R/RW drive
-Microsoft Windows

1. How fast is the CPU?

2. Which term is used to describe the CPU data bus?
3. How much RAM does the computer have?
4. Can you add extra RAM chips? How many?
Exercise 4: Fill in the blanks with the right unit of memory
1. One…………….represents one character
2. One…………..represents 1,024 characters (about a small page of text).
3. One ………………represents about one million characters (about the text of a small book).
4. One …………represents 1,000,000,000 characters (about 1,000 books).
5. One………………represents about 1,000,000,000,000 characters (about one million books in a big
library).

We are indebted to Oxford English for Computing, Infotech for Computer Users, Professional English in Use, and Basic English for

Computing.