Unit 2

History of IT Industry

“History repeats itself.”

Proverb

In this unit you will:

1. be aware of the evolving history of IT industry.
2. practice commenting on certain phenomena in the evolution of IT industry.
3. practice writing a review.
4. look at the criteria and process of S &T translation.
5. have extended information about IT industry.
 IT I 25

Part One Unit Overview

When did computer science become an industry that

would change history? Was it Alan Turing and his Turing
Machine during World War II? Was it Neumann and his First
Draft of a Report on the EDVAC, known as the “von Neumann
Architecture”, published in 1945? As an IT professional, how
much do you know about the history of your field?
We are experiencing a new phase in the evolution of IT
and a new quantitative and qualitative leap in the growth of
data. The cloud—a new way to deliver IT, big data—a new attitude towards data and its potential
value, and the Internet of Things—connecting billions of monitoring and measurement devices
quantifying everything, combine to sketch for us the future of IT Most observers of the IT industry
prefer and are expected to talk about what’s coming, not what’s happened. But to make educated
guesses about the future of the IT industry, it helps to understand its past.
As the English proverb says, History repeats itself. What do you think?
If you were asked to name the top three events in the history of computer technology or the
history of what came to be known as the IT industry, which ones would you choose? What are the
three major IT eras, and in what respect are they repeating the history? You would find the answers
to these questions in the CULTURE READING MODULE after reading the two articles “A Very
Short History of IT” and “IT Industry History Repeat Itself, Again”.
In the COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS TRAINING MODULE, you would first follow Mush
to finish pronunciation training through the reading of IT terms and sentences.
Then you are going to explore the secret of active listening in the workplace.
Active listening as opposed to passive listening, makes people respond in a totally different
way and lead to different communication results.
You will also understand the significance of technical reading for IT professionals and what
SMART reading principles are.
In the EXPERTISE DEVELOPMENT MODULE, first you will read an article from the
Harvard Business Review. The article for this unit is The mainstreaming of Augmented Reality: A
brief History. You would learn about how to summarize the history of certain technologies and how
to talk about the different phases of certain technology. Then you will watch two videos to obtain
more information on the history of IT industry.
26 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

Part Two Culture Reading

Task 1: Concept Learning

Introduction
You are going to read a passage entitled “A Very Short History of Information Technology”.
After you read the passage, you can have some idea about the different phases in the history of IT
industry and how it changes the way we are living.

A Very Short History of Information Technology

The industry was born with the first giant calculators
digitally processing and manipulating numbers and then
expanded to digitize other mostly transaction-oriented
activities, such as airline reservations. But until the 1980s, all
computer-related activities revolved around interactions
between a person and a computer. That did not change when
the first PCs arrived on the scene.
The PC was simply a mainframe on your desk. Of
course it unleashed a wonderful stream of personal productivity applications that in turn contributed
greatly to the growth of enterprise data and the start of digitizing leisure-related, home-based
activities. But I would argue that the major quantitative and qualitative leap occurred only when
work PCs were connected to each other via Local Area Networks (LANs)—where Ethernet became
the standard—and then long-distance via Wide Area Networks (WANs). With the PC, you could
digitally create the memo you previously typed on a typewriter, but to distribute it, you still had to
print it and make paper copies. Computer networks (and their “killer app”, email) made the entire
process digital, ensuring the proliferation of the message, drastically increasing the amount of data
created, stored, moved, and consumed.
Connecting people in a vast and distributed network of computers not only increased the
amount of data generated but also led to numerous new ways of getting value out of it, unleashing
many new enterprise applications and a new passion for “data mining”. This in turn changed the
nature of competition and gave rise to new “horizontal” players, focused on one IT component as
opposed to the vertically integrated, “end-to-end solution” business model that has dominated the
industry until then. Intel in semiconductors, Microsoft in operating systems, Oracle in databases,
Cisco in networking, Dell in PCs (or rather, build-to-order PCs), and EMC in storage have made the
1990s the decade in which “best-of-breed” was what many IT buyers believed in, assembling their
IT infrastructures from components sold by focused, specialized IT vendors.
The next phase in the evolution of the industry, the next quantitative and qualitative leap in the
amount of data generated and how we use networked computers, came with the invention of the
World Wide Web (commonly mislabeled as “the Internet”). It led to the proliferation of new
 IT I 27

applications which were no longer limited to enterprise-related activities but digitized almost any
activity in our lives. Most important, it provided us with tools that greatly facilitated the creation
and sharing of information by anyone with access to the Internet (the open and almost free wide
area network only few people cared or knew about before the invention of the World Wide Web).
The work memo I typed on a typewriter which became a digital document sent across the enterprise
and beyond now became my life journal which I could discuss with others, including people on the
other side of the globe I have never met. While computer networks took IT from the accounting
department to all corners of the enterprise, the World Wide Web took IT to all corners of the globe,
connecting millions of people. Interactive conversations and sharing of information among these
millions replaced and augmented broadcasting and drastically increased (again) the amount of data
created, stored, moved, and consumed. And just as in the previous phase, a bunch of new players
emerged, all of them born on the Web, all of them regarding “IT” not as specific function
responsible for running the infrastructure but as the essence of their business, data and its analysis
becoming their competitive edge.
We are probably going to see soon—and maybe already are experiencing—a new phase in the
evolution of IT and a new quantitative and qualitative leap in the growth of data. The cloud—a new
way to deliver IT, big data—a new attitude towards data and its potential value, and The Internet of
Things—connecting billions of monitoring and measurement devices quantifying everything,
combine to sketch for us the future of IT.

1.1 Find out the Chinese equivalent to each of the following technical terms. Then
read aloud the terms.
English technical terms Chinese equivalents
Local Area Networks (LANs)
Wide Area Networks (WANs)
operating systems
build-to-order PCs
World Wide Web (www)
the Internet of Things
mainframe

1.2 Answer the following questions according to the passage.

1. What did the first giant calculators do?
2. What did the PCs do before they were connected?
3. When did the major quantitative and qualitative leap occur?
4. What changes does connecting people in a vast and distributed network of computers bring?
5. What did the invention of the World Wide Web lead to?
28 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

6. What do those players born on the Web regard IT as?

7. What may we see in the latest phase in the evolution of IT?
8. What are the symbols of the three phases in the evolution of IT which are considered the
quantitative and qualitative leap ?

1.3 Complete the following sentences by using the words and expressions in the box.

horizontal vertical quantitative qualitative

proliferation component assemble dominate

1. Technology forecasting is receiving increasing interest in private industry and government

agencies as leaders and decision makers consider the potential damage of so-called disruptive
technologies and loss of competitive advantage in areas such as national defense and security.
Many methods have been and are being developed to forecast technology change exclusive of
QTF techniques. Some of the forecasting methods rely on drawing __________ consensus from
gathered expert opinion (Delphi method) or performing extensive probabilities-based numerical
analyses on vast databases of accumulated information (complex domain forecasting) for
example from social networks.
2. Data __________ refers to the prodigious amount of data, structured and unstructured, that
businesses and governments continue to generate at an unprecedented rate and
the usability problems that result from attempting to store and manage that data.
3. If transaction costs fall, businesses can achieve efficiency gains through a combination of
outsourcing and __________ integration: becoming “flatter” and “wider”.
4. __________ integration happens when a company expands its business into areas that are at
different points on the same production path, such as when a manufacturer owns its supplier
and/or distributor. It can help companies reduce costs and improve efficiency by decreasing
transportation expenses and reducing turnaround time, among other advantages.
5. __________ technology forecasting includes the study of historic data to identify one of or a
combination of several recognized universal technology diffusion or substitution patterns.
Cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated and collaborative with every coming year. To
combat the threat in 2015, information security professionals must understand these security
trends that will __________ the year.
6. Information systems are made out of __________ that can be __________ in many different
configurations, which is similar to the construction of a house. Much as construction materials
can be assembled to build different homes, so can the basic building blocks for information and
communication technology (ICT) be used to create information systems.
 IT I 29

Task 2: Case Learning

IT Industry History Repeats Itself, Again

In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, “It’s déjà vu all over again”. Technology historians had to
smile at the recent news that Google is being accused in Europe of abusing its market-dominant
search engine position, and that Facebook hopes to bring WiFi to the world via 747-sized,
solar-powered drones.
The IT industry keeps repeating itself in almost uncanny ways. In each of three major IT
eras—mainframes, PCs and the internet—the dominant US high-tech players have repeatedly been
sued in Europe; they have also all dreamed of beaming technology down from the sky. In both cases
the results have been relatively modest.
First, it was IBM’s turn. While the US government’s antitrust suits against IBM had a major
impact on the early years of the IT software and services businesses, the long-running suits in
Europe, mostly during the 1970s and 1980s, were of a more ameliorative nature. The European
Commission pressed IBM to make it easier for the so-called Plug Compatible Manufacturers (PCMs)
to build computer and storage equipment that worked well in IBM mainframe environments. Such
pressure saved customers money and helped Hitachi become the major storage provider it is today.
But, ultimately, it was the microprocessor and the PC, not lawsuits, that marked the end of IBM’s IT
industry dominance.
Perhaps one of the reasons IBM was tempted to look upwards was because, while it had vast
amounts of cash, it faced serious legal constraints in many of its core markets. Thus, in 1975, to
great fanfare, it launched (with Aetna and Comsat) Satellite Business Systems. The idea was that
multinational firms would have dedicated satellite dishes and systems for global voice (mostly) and
some data services. At one time, SBS was seen as a major challenge to the then mighty AT & T. But
the initial customer investment costs were just too high, and SBS was eventually sold to MCI in
1985.
The PC era followed pretty much the same pattern. This time, both the US Government’s
antitrust case vs. Microsoft and the various European lawsuits regarding the “bundling” of Internet
Explorer and other PC software into Windows really didn’t accomplish much. The rise of the
Internet defanged the once fearsome Microsoft far more than any government action did. In the end,
all the legal battles and press coverage were pretty much a waste of time and money, much more so
than they were with IBM.
But with his pockets full of cash and seeking new worlds to conquer, Bill Gates also looked to
the sky and in the early 1990s formed Teledesic (with cell phone entrepreneur and fellow Seattle
native, Craig McCaw, as well as a Saudi prince). The idea was to surround the globe with hundreds
of low earth-orbiting (LEO) satellites to provide voice and data links in the multi-megabits/second
range. The project never went operational, and Teledesic was abandoned in 2002. Numerous other
satellite voice/data ventures also went bust.
Which brings us to the internet era? Just as IBM did indeed favor its own disk and tape drives,
30 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

and Microsoft did favor its own applications on the Windows desktop screen, Google is now
accused of favoring its Google Shopping product in its search results. (Somewhat more surprisingly,
it is also accused of various Android-related abuses.) Once again, the European intervention seems
likely to curtail certain practices without seriously altering the defendant’s near-monopoly market
control. Google’s share of the search engine market in Europe is estimated to be over 90 percent.
And like its predecessors, Google has also heard the siren’s call, and is said to have pledged to
invest $1 billion (along with Fidelity) in Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The idea is that today’s smaller, less
expensive yet more powerful satellites will prove that this technology has finally come of age.
Similarly, Facebook, with its own set of European (mostly privacy related) legal challenges, hopes
to bring WiFi to the developing world via a fleet of unmanned and solar-powered aircraft.
Does this mean that Google and Facebook’s telecom dreams are destined to fail spectacularly
as others have in the past? Of course not. But what it does mean is that just because today’s dot.com
giants are pouring money into all kinds of exotic projects — digital wallets, robots, electric cars,
network bandwidth, clothing, drones, biotech and so on — doesn’t mean that they will succeed. The
history of the computer business is that its market leaders are both fabulously rich and highly
ambitious. This is a proven formula for all manner of grand adventures and misadventures. IBM,
Microsoft and Intel have all been through it, with surprisingly few lasting results.
This sort of entrepreneurial extravagance is not a bad thing at all. These vast and risky
investments can be seen as essentially a way of recycling the enormous funds that successful firms
and individuals have accumulated from you, the customer. Better to re-deploy one’s fortune chasing
breakthrough dreams in the sky than on palatial corporate headquarters, private islands, ever larger
yachts, and sometimes even huge charitable contributions. But of course, they do all those things
too.

Find out the Chinese equivalent to each of the following technical terms. Then
read aloud the terms.

English technical terms Chinese equivalents

search engine market
near-monopoly market control
dot com giants
digital wallets
electric cars
drones
biotech
 IT I 31

Task 3: Reading Comprehension

Answer the following questions by choosing the best one from the choices given below. You can
find the answer to each of the questions from the above two passages.
1. What cannot the first giant calculators do?
A. Process information digitally.
B. Manipulate numbers.
C. Imitate human communication.
D. Expand to digitize other, mostly transaction-oriented activities.
2. When did the major quantitative and qualitative leap occur?
A. When work PCs were connected to each other via Local Area Networks (LANs).
B. When work PCs were connected to each other via Internet.
C. When people showed their interest in work PCs.
D. When more and more businessmen noticed the potential market for work PCs.
3. What changes does connecting people in a vast and distributed network of computers bring?
(More than one answer)
A. It increased the amount of data generated.
B. It led to numerous new ways of getting value out of connecting people.
C. It unleashed many new enterprise applications.
D. It generated a new passion for “data mining”.
4. What did the invention of the World Wide Web lead to?
A. It led to an innovative way of thinking and working.
B. It led to the proliferation of new applications, which were no longer limited to
enterprise-related activities but digitized almost any activity in our lives.
C. It led to a new era for new media.
D. It led to a new era for creation.
5. What are we probably going to see and maybe already experiencing? (More than one
answer)
A. A new phase in the evolution of information technology.
B. A new direction of the development of IT.
C. A new quantitative and qualitative leap in the growth of data.
D. A new attitude towards life.
6. What does “déjà vu” probably mean within the context?
A. Things we have known. B. Things we have learned.
C. Things we have bought. D. Things we have seen.
7. What does the title of this passage suggest?
A. Within certain range of time, people will see the same things happen again in IT industry.
32 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

B. It is not hard to predict the future.

C. History follows certain pattern.
D. We can learn many things from the past.
8. Why is this sort of entrepreneurial extravagance not a bad thing at all? (More than one
answer)
A. These vast and risky investments can be seen as essentially a way of recycling the
enormous funds that successful firms and individuals have accumulated from you, the
customer.
B. Better to re-deploy one’s fortune chasing breakthrough dreams in the sky than on
palatial corporate headquarters, private islands, larger yachts, and sometimes even huge
charitable contributions.
C. The entrepreneurial extravagance can bring people many benefits, which leads a more
competitive market and higher work initiative.
D. The extravagance promotes technology to move quickly, and during the process people
increase their ability to innovate, which is a virtuous circle.
9. Which of the following statement is right according to this article? (More than one answer)
A. The PC era followed pretty much the same pattern.
B. This is not a proven formula for all manner of grand adventures and misadventures.
C. The history of the computer business is that its market leaders are both fabulously rich
and highly ambitious.
D. Perhaps one of the reasons IBM was tempted to look upwards was because, while it had
vast amounts of cash, it faced serious legal constraints in many of its core markets.
10. What is Google accused of?
A. It is accused of female rights.
B. It is accused of various Android-related abuses.
C. It is accused of favoring its Google Shopping product in its search results.
D. It is accused of culture invasion.

Part Three Communicative Skills Training

I. Be an Active Listener
“Active listening” means fully concentrating on what is being said rather than just passively
“hearing” the message of the speaker. Active listening involves listening with all senses.
Appropriate responses to listening can be both verbal and non-verbal:

1. Non-verbal signs of active listening

Smile
Smiles can be powerful in affirming that messages are being listened to and understood.
 IT I 33

Eye Contact
Combine eye contact with smiles and other non-verbal
messages to encourage the speaker.
Posture
The attentive listener tends to lean slightly forward or
sideways whilst sitting.
Mirroring
Automatic reflection/mirroring of any facial expressions
used by the speaker can be a sign of attentive listening. These reflective expressions can help to
show sympathy and empathy in more emotional situations.
Distraction
The active listener will not be distracted and therefore will refrain from fidgeting, looking at a
clock or watch, doodling, playing with their hair or picking their fingernails.

2. Verbal signs of active listening

Positive Reinforcement
Use words and phrases, such as: “very good”, “yes” or “indeed” as signals of attentiveness. It
is usually better to elaborate and explain why you are agreeing with a certain point.
Remembering

Remembering a few key points, or even the name of the speaker proves that attention was kept
and is likely to encourage the speaker to continue.
Questioning
By asking relevant questions the listener also helps to reinforce that they have an interest in
what the speaker has been saying.
Reflection
Reflecting is closely repeating or paraphrasing what the speaker has said in order to show
comprehension.
Clarification
Clarifying involves asking questions of the speaker to ensure that the correct message has been
received. Clarification usually involves the use of open questions which enables the speaker to
expand on certain points as necessary.

Task 1: Answer the following questions.

1. Which of the following is NOT a non-verbal signs of attentive or active listening?
A. Smile. B. Eye contact.
C. Proper postures. D. looking at a clock or watch.
2. Which of the following is NOT a verbal signs of attentive or active listening?
A. Positive Reinforcement. B. Clarification.
34 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

C. Reflection. D. Mirroring.
3. Which of the statements is NOT used in the video to demonstrate active listening?
A. What do you mean I just took it?
B. I am eager to help you; I know you are going through some tough challenges.
C. I really understand your need for recognition.
D. You are right that I should have informed you about it.
4. Which of the followings are non-verbal signs of active listening?

smile text message lean forward look at watch

eye contact doodling touching fingernails look around

Task 2: Fill in the blanks.

1. “Active listening” means ____________________________ on what is being said rather
than just ________________ “hearing” the message of the speaker. Active listening involves
listening with ___________________.
2. One of the verbal signs of active listening is positive reinforcement. It means we use
words and phrases, such as: __________, __________ or ________ as signals of attentiveness.
3. Other verbal signs of active listening are questioning and clarification.
4. Questioning means asking_____________ questions to show that listeners are
_______________ in what the speaker has been saying. Clarification refers to ________________
to ensure that the correct message has been received.

II. What is SMART Reading

For all level IT professionals, low, intermediate, or high level, reading English documents is
definitely routine part of work. Every day, in our workplace, we are to read various sorts of
documents, for example, emails, agendas, memos and product brochures. Besides, as new
technology emerges every day, IT people need to constantly read new technological standards and
technological books so as to survive in the workplace. In a word, reading is considered as essential
skill for IT professionals.
However, many newly graduates find English reading at
workplace more difficult than reading task at school. In this
unit, you are going to study SMART reading principle at
workplace and we’ll practice SMART reading principle
together so that you are able to apply them to your workplace
right after class.
Let’s start from the concept of SMART reading. We
borrowed this concept from SMART goal management.
 IT I 35

SMART goal management was invented by Peter Drucker, the founder of modern management.
Specifically, our SMART reading principle refer to specific, meaningful, assessable, responsive and
time-on .
SPECIFIC reading: we are able to locate the very useful and exact information we are
looking for after reading.
MEANINGFUL reading: we can find out the very meaning of the material or the writer, we
are not doing multiple comprehension like in university, there are no A/B/C/D choices
there for us to choose, and we have to find out the meaning through reading between the
lines.
ASSESSABLE reading: we need to know why we are reading the material. Do not go in
blind and fast reading, repeatedly ask yourself the objective before and in the middle of
reading. If you want to get more information with less time, you can’t just pick up the pace.
You need to bear the question in mind while reading and purposely looking for the answer
until you find the answer.
RESPONSIVE reading: at workplace, we are reading technical and business material rather
than novels or fictions, we have to give our evaluation and assessment. For example, how
am I involved with the activities in the memo? Am I to take the meeting and give a talk?
What is the message of the email from my boss?
TIME-ON reading: at workplace, there is always a time-limit or deadline there for us to
give a definite response after reading, which is the very big difference of reading at
workplace from reading at school.
Maybe these sound theory-like and abstract. Let’s work on an example to practice SMART
reading. This is an email from your colleague, Selina, informing you of a department meeting.

Hello everyone,
Our department will be holding a meeting at the Solar room located at the 3rd floor at
2 pm on May 5, 2017. Our department head, Mr. Ting would like to talk to all of us. Your
attendance is required. Thank you.
Selina Ann

In a school reading setting, most students would say it is just an email to tell us about a
meeting. However, at workplace, your response is supposed to be like this according to SMART
reading goal.
First, according to specific principle: You would immediately remember the specific
information into your mind, as in this email, 2 pm on May 5, Solar room.
Then, following the meaningful principle: the moment of reading the sentence “your
attendance is required”, you should check your schedule at once.
Next, as assessable principle requires: make sure you are available then and if not, what do you
have to do with your schedule.
36 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

According to Responsive principle: You should give Selina a reply to confirm your attendance
of the meeting.
Lastly, to follow the Time-on principle: You should send Selina a quick reply ASAP.

Task : Answer the following questions.

1. How do you understand specific reading at workplace?
2. How do you understand meaningful reading at workplace?
3. How do you understand assessable reading at workplace?
4. How do you understand responsive reading at workplace?
5. How do you understand time-on reading at workplace?

III. Science & Technology Translation

科技英语翻译的标准与翻译的过程

主
 IT I 37

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Task : Translate the following sentences into Chinese.

1. The PC was simply a mainframe on your desk. Of course it unleashed a wonderful stream of
personal productivity applications that in turn contributed greatly to the growth of enterprise data
and the start of digitizing leisure-related, home-based activities.
2. But I would argue that the major quantitative and qualitative leap occurred only when work
PCs were connected to each other via Local Area Networks (LANs)—where Ethernet became the
standard—and then long-distance via Wide Area Networks (WANs).
3. Connecting people in a vast and distributed network of computers not only increased the
amount of data generated but also led to numerous new ways of getting value out of it, unleashing
many new enterprise applications and a new passion for “data mining”.
4. The next phase in the evolution of the industry, the next quantitative and qualitative leap in
38 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

the amount of data generated and how we use networked computers, came with the invention of the
World Wide Web (commonly mislabeled as “the Internet”).
5. We are probably going to see soon—and maybe already are experiencing—a new phase in
the evolution of IT and a new quantitative and qualitative leap in the growth of data. The cloud—a
new way to deliver IT, big data—a new attitude towards data and its potential value, and The
Internet of Things—connecting billions of monitoring and measurement devices quantifying
everything, combine to sketch for us the future of IT.

Part Four Expertise Development

I. Watch and Answer

Here are five questions related to the topic of this unit. You can scan the QR code to get the
video “Computers That Changed the World” and “History of
the Internet” and answer the questions based on what you will
get from the VIDEO.
1. Why did people invent the first computer?
A. It was used to win the war.
B. It was used to kill enemies.
C. It was used to protect Allies.
D. It was used to decode Nazi’s messages during the
wars.
2. In this video, what does it say about computer to the
Allies’ victory?
A. It had a significant contribution to the Allies’ victory.
B. Without it, the War would go on for years.
C. It protected people from being killed.
D. It killed enemies through sending the wrong messages.
3. Which of the following sentences is not one of typical problems of the Eniac when people
use it?
A. It was heavy.
B. It was large.
C. It consumed huge amount of electricity while working
D. It looked ugly.
4. When did the Internet get started?
A. Fifteen years ago. B. Fifty years ago.
C. Seventy years ago. D. Eighty years ago.
5. What is the significance of WWW?
A. It was not a data sharing space for scientists anymore. It is an entire network of
information that is accessible for anyone with Internet connection.
 IT I 39

B. It helps us to receive emails.

C. It helps us to make video calls.
D. It helps us to shop online.

II. Read and Answer

Task 1
Here are five questions related to the topic of this unit. You can scan the QR code to get the
article entitled with “The Mainstreaming of Augmented Reality: A Brief History” and answer the
questions based on what you will get from the article.
1. What has contributed to AR’s increasing success? (More than one answer)
A. Complex technological advances.
B. Meaningful content.
C. Convincing and realistic interaction of the virtual with the physical environment.
D. Unique value that goes beyond what other technologies deliver.
2. When was the first commercial AR application appeared?
A. In 2004. B. In 2008.
C. In 2010. D. In 2011.
3. Which of the following statements is not true according to this article?
A. Simulating digital products, so that they interact with movements in the real world in
real time (usually through paper printouts), was a popular approach to AR in the early
2010s.
B. Much more successful apps are those that can offer a more seamless experience. Trying
on products virtually, by instant face recognition, has been one of the most successful
uses of AR in the commercial context so far, and make-up companies have been leading
this use.
C. In order to create this personalization of virtual content—and make it seem real—the
software uses 2D modeling technology and advanced thee-tracking techniques.
D. Surprisingly, the fashion industry has touted the technology.
4. Where were the apps for tourism purposes initially created?
A. At university lab. B. In government agency.
C. At shopping mall. D. In hospital.
5. What is consumers’ expectation? (More than one answer)
A. They expect their digital experience to be more human and empathic.
B. They expect their digital experience to surprise them.
C. They expect their digital experience to allow for interactivity.
D. They expect their digital experience to save money.
40 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

Task 2
Read the following paragraphs excerpted from “The Essential Drucker” by Peter F. Drucker
and answer the questions.

1. How can an organization ensure its survival and success?

2. What is the indispensable part in the new era of innovation?

One important advance in the discipline and practice of management is that both now embrace
entrepreneurship and innovation. A sham fight these days pits “management” against “entrepreneurship”
as adversaries, if not as mutually exclusive. That’s like saying that the fingering hand and the bow
hand of the violinist are “adversaries” or “mutually exclusive”. Both are always needed and at the
same time both have to be coordinated and work together. Any existing organization, whether a
business, a church, a labor union, or a hospital, goes down fast if it does not innovate. Conversely,
any new organization, whether a business, a church, a labor union, or a hospital, collapses if it does
not manage. Not to innovate is the single largest reason for the decline of existing organizations.
Not to know how to manage is the single largest reason for the failure of new ventures.
We have again entered an era of innovation, and it is by no means confined to “high-tech” or to
technology generally. In fact, social innovation may be of greater importance and have much greater
impact than any scientific or technical invention. Furthermore, we now have a “discipline” of
entrepreneurship and innovation. It is clearly a part of management and tests, indeed, on
well-known and tested management principles. It applies to both existing organizations and new
ventures, and to both business and nonbusiness institutions, including government.
Excerpted from The Essential Drucker by Peter F. Drucker

Part Five Hands-on Practice

Unit report
A unit report generally includes two parts: summary of key concepts and reflection.
The summary of key concepts highlights what you feel are the most important idea in this unit.
Basically you want to summarize the 5 Ws: who, what, where,
when and why. Your summary should be complete yet concise. The
summary needs to be about half of the unit report.
The reflection highlights what you think. In your reflection,
you should tell the reader what you learned from the reading. Your
reflection paragraph covers another half of the report.
Some questions that you might include are:
I really agree/disagree because…
This reminds me of …I feel….
 IT I 41

A question I have…
I could see myself using this knowledge in my classroom or in an interaction with others in
this way…
I didn’t understand… OR: Now I understand…
After this reading I will change…

Task 1: Write a Unit Report

The following is a template unit report. You need to fill in the relevant information based on the
materials in this unit.

Part I. Summary of Key Concepts

summarize the 5 Ws
be complete, yet concise

Part II. Reflection (Highlight what you think)

1. I really agree/disagree because…
2. This reminds me of …I feel….
3. A question I have…
4. I could see myself using this knowledge in my classroom or in an interaction with others in
this way…
5. I didn’t understand… OR: Now I understand…
6. After this reading I will change…
(You don’t need to answer all these questions. 3-5 is OK.)
To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting. Edmund Burke

Task 2: Oral Report

Practice giving an oral report based on the unit report in task 1.

Performance Review

After learning this unit, can you fulfill the

tasks listed in the following tables? If yes, tick
the after YES; if no, tick the after NO.
42 高级职场英语（IT 行业适用）

Can you tell the Chinese equivalents of the following English expressions?
1. mainframe YES NO
2. Local Area Networks (LANs) YES NO
3. Wide Area Networks (WANs) YES NO
4. operating systems YES NO
5. semiconductors YES NO
6. build-to-order PCs YES NO
7. World Wide Web YES NO
8. the Internet of Things YES NO
Can you define the following terms?
9. The Internet of Things YES NO
10. LANs YES NO
11. WANs YES NO
12. World Wide Web YES NO
Do you know
13. the different criteria of translation? YES NO
14. what it means by “faithfulness, expressiveness and YES NO
elegance”?
15. what a translator needs to do in the stage of YES NO
understanding?
16. what a translator needs to do in the stage of YES NO
expression?
17. what a translator needs to do in the stage of YES NO
proofreading?
Can you
18. translate the English sentences in the passages into YES NO
proper Chinese?
19. give a fair review on some services or products? YES NO
20. make yourself across in a discussion? YES NO