E6A Review Quiz 1 Part C: 10Q Reading Comp

Reading Comprehension Passage:

Tim Berners-Lee and the World Wide Web

It is a common misconception that the Internet and the World Wide Web are synonymous. They are not the same because the former was developed in the 1960s whereas the latter was invented more than twenty years later. This invention was made by using the framework of the Internet and made it accessible to everybody, and not to just a few specialists. The person most responsible for this advance is the British engineer and computer scientist, Tim Berners-Lee.

Tim Berners-Lee was born in London in June 1955. He studied physics at Oxford University and then worked in telecoms planning, software engineering and technical design. He joined the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in 1984 and it was here that he first conceived of and, with the help of his colleagues at CERN, developed the Web.

In 1989, Berners-Lee wrote a research paper which outlined his concept for a “universal linked information system” over the Internet. By December1990, he had assembled the three components necessary for such a system.

The first component was a “page” of digital information. This provided the user with something to look at. The second component was a “browsing” program, which allowed the user to view the information on this page from his computer terminal. The final component was a web server. This was the computer on which the web page was “hosted”. The host computer functioned like a digital noticeboard in that the page of information was posted on it, and then anyone with a browser program could simply connect to this host computer and view the page on the noticeboard.

Berners-Lee constructed this system by developing a set of rules that underpinned the web page. These rules were expressed in a language called HyperText Markup Language (HTML). As the name suggests, this was a “hyper” or enhanced version of ordinary writing. Ordinary text became marked up by the simple addition of a small number of tags to the electronic version of the text. Each tag contained a special, additional piece of information about a piece of text. This told the web browsing program how it should be presented, what other pages elsewhere on the Web it should connect to and so on. This language allowed information in the form of hypertext to be exchanged between computers, and the web address began with http://.

So, in December 1990 Berners-Lee created the world’s first web address: http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html The site was a few pages of text with links, describing what the “World Wide Web” was all about. It explained that the World Wide Web merged the techniques of information retrieval and hypertext to make an easy but powerful global information system.

There are now billions of websites, and all are written with HTML. However, Berners-Lee has not profited from his invention. He believes that the Web is a commons which everybody should be able to use without cost. In 1994, he founded the World Wide Web Consortium. This is an organization devoted to ensuring not only the freedom of the commons that is his vision for the World Wide Web, but also the maintenance of its universal standards.

Tim Berners-Lee gave the Web to the world for free. If he had patented his invention, he would now be one of the richest people in the world, and the free and open Web that we take for granted would not exist.

What is the main idea of the passage?

• Tim Berners-Lee studied Physics at Oxford University and then after some time joined CERN

• Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web and he continues to be involved in the quality of service that it provides

• HTML is a special language which expresses the rules underpinning a web page

• The first website was a few pages of text with links which described the Web

It is a common misconception that the Internet and the World Wide Web are synonymous. They are not the same because the former was developed in the 1960s whereas the latter was invented more than twenty years later. This invention was made by using the framework of the Internet and made it accessible to everybody, and not to just a few specialists. The person most responsible for this advance is the British engineer and computer scientist, Tim Berners-Lee.

What does the underlined word misconception in paragraph A mean?

• Internet framework

• 1960s development

• mistaken belief

• accessible web

It is a common misconception that the Internet and the World Wide Web are synonymous. They are not the same because the former was developed in the 1960s whereas the latter was invented more than twenty years later. This invention was made by using the framework of the Internet and made it accessible to everybody, and not to just a few specialists. The person most responsible for this advance is the British engineer and computer scientist, Tim Berners-Lee.

The underlined word synonymous (paragraph A) means having ______ meaning.

• a different

• the same

• more than one

• a multiple

It is a common misconception that the Internet and the World Wide Web are synonymous. They are not the same because the former was developed in the 1960s whereas the latter was invented more than twenty years later. This invention was made by using the framework of the Internet and made it accessible to everybody, and not to just a few specialists. The person most responsible for this advance is the British engineer and computer scientist, Tim Berners-Lee.

What does the underlined phrase the former in paragraph A refer to?

• the World Wide Web

• the Internet

• the 1960s

• Tim Berners-Lee

It is a common misconception that the Internet and the World Wide Web are synonymous. They are not the same because the former was developed in the 1960s whereas the latter was invented more than twenty years later. This invention was made by using the framework of the Internet and made it accessible to everybody, and not to just a few specialists. The person most responsible for this advance is the British engineer and computer scientist, Tim Berners-Lee.

What does the underlined phrase the latter in paragraph A refer to?

• Tim Berners-Lee

• the 1960s

• the Internet

• the World Wide Web

Tim Berners-Lee was born in London in June 1955. He studied physics at Oxford University and then worked in telecoms planning, software engineering and technical design. He joined the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in 1984 and it was here that he first conceived of and, with the help of his colleagues at CERN, developed the Web.

Which one of the following jobs did Tim Berners-Lee not do before he joined CERN?

• Telecoms Planner

• Software Engineer

• Technical Designer

• Nuclear Researcher

So, in December 1990 Berners-Lee created the world’s first web address:

http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html

The site was a few pages of text with links, describing what the “World Wide Web” was all about. It explained that the World Wide Web merged the techniques of information retrieval and hypertext to make an easy but powerful global information system.

When did the World Wide Web come into existence?

• 1984

• 1989

• 1990

• 1994

In 1989, Berners-Lee wrote a research paper which outlined his concept for a “universal linked information system” over the Internet. By December1990, he had assembled the three components necessary for such a system.

The first component was a “page” of digital information. This provided the user with something to look at. The second component was a “browsing” program, which allowed the user to view the information on this page from his computer terminal. The final component was a web server. This was the computer on which the web page was “hosted”. The host computer functioned like a digital noticeboard in that the page of information was posted on it, and then anyone with a browser program could simply connect to this host computer and view the page on the noticeboard.

Study Paragraphs C and D. Which one of the following statements is correct?

• The first component of the universal linked information system was a browsing program.

• The final component of the universal linked information system was a page of digital information.

• The web page was hosted on the second component of the universal linked information system.

• The universal linked information system required three components.

Berners-Lee constructed this system by developing a set of rules that underpinned the web page. These rules were expressed in a language called HyperText Markup Language (HTML). As the name suggests, this was a “hyper” or enhanced version of ordinary writing. Ordinary text became marked up by the simple addition of a small number of tags to the electronic version of the text. Each tag contained a special, additional piece of information about a piece of text. This told the web browsing program how it should be presented, what other pages elsewhere on the Web it should connect to and so on. This language allowed information in the form of hypertext to be exchanged between computers, and the web address began with http://.

Study Paragraph E. Which one of the following statements is not correct?

• The world’s first web address began with https//.

• HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language

• Hypertext is an advanced version of ordinary writing

• Ordinary text is marked up by adding a small number of tags to the electronic version of the text.

There are now billions of websites, and all are written with HTML. However, Berners-Lee has not profited from his invention. He believes that the Web is a commons which everybody should be able to use without cost. In 1994, he founded the World Wide Web Consortium. This is an organization devoted to ensuring not only the freedom of the commons that is his vision for the World Wide Web, but also the maintenance of its universal standards.

Tim Berners-Lee gave the Web to the world for free. If he had patented his invention, he would now be one of the richest people in the world, and the free and open Web that we take for granted would not exist.

Study Paragraphs G and H. Which one of the following is implied and not stated?

• The World Wide Web Consortium is devoted to ensuring the freedom of the commons on the World Wide Web.

• Tim Berners-Lee believes that everybody should be able to use the Web without cost.

• We are fortunate in that each time we use a search engine to look for something on the Web, it is not charged to our credit card.

• Tim Berners-Lee founded the World Wide Web Consortium in 1994.