高中英语 Unit3 单元背景知识学习学案 牛津版选修11

Part I Background InformationI. More information about Sir Clive SinclairSir Clive Sinclair (born in July 30, 1940) is a well-known British entrepreneur and inventor of the worlds first slim-line electronic pocket calculator in 1972 and the ZX80, ZX81 and ZX Spectrum computers in the late 1970s and early 1980s, amongst many other things.The ZX80 was the UKs first mass market home computer to be sold for under 100. Sinclair was fascinated by electronics and miniaturization from his teenage years. In 1961 he started his own company, Sinclair Radionics Ltd, after spending several years as assistant editor for Practical Wireless and Instrument Practice to raise funds.In recent years Sinclair has become a keen poker player and appeared in the first three seasons of the Late Night Poker TV series. He won the first season final of the Celebrity Poker Club spin-off, defeating Keith AllenHis most recent invention is the A-bike, an ingenious folding bicycle for commuters that weighs only 5.5 kilograms (12 pounds) and folds to a very small size for easy carrying on a train or bus.Early life, family and education.Sinclairs father and grandfather were engineers; both had been apprentices at Vickers the shipbuilders. His grandfather George Sinclair was an innovative naval architect who got the paravane, a mine sweeping device, to work. George Sinclairs son Bill Sinclair attempted to break the family tradition of engineering by expressing a preference for going into the church - or perhaps becoming a journalist. His father suggested he train as an engineer first; Bill became a mechanical engineer and has been in the field ever since. At the outbreak of World War II in 1939 he was running his own machine tools business in London and later worked for the Ministry of Supply.Clive Sinclair was born in 1940 near Richmond. He and his mother left London to stay with an aunt for safety in Devon, where they eventually travelled to Teignmouth. A telegram arrived shortly after bringing the news that their home in Richmond had been bombed. Clives father, Bill Sinclair, found a house in Bracknell in Berkshire. Sinclairs brother Ian was born in 1943 and his sister Fiona in 1947.Clive enjoyed the freedom of the holidays and had interests in swimming and boating. At an early age he designed a submarine, possibly being influenced by his grandfather George. During the holidays he could pursue his own ideas and teach himself what he wanted to know. Sinclair had little interest in sports and found himself out of place with others at school. He preferred the company of adults, this type of companionship he only got from his family.Sinclair attended Box Grove preparatory school. At school, he excelled in mathematics. By the time Clive was ten, his father Bill Sinclair had financial problems. He had branched out from machine tools and planned to import miniature tractors from the US; however, he eventually had to give up the business. Because of his fathers financial problems, Sinclair had to move school several times. Sinclair took his O-levels at Highgate School in London in 1955 and S-levels in physics, and pure applied maths at St. Georges College, Weybridge.During his early years, Sinclair earned money mowing lawns and washing up, and earned 6d (old pence) more than permanent staff in the cafe. Later he went for holiday jobs at electronic companies. At Solatron he started to enquire his mentors about the possibility of electrically propelled personal vehicles. Sinclair applied for a holiday job at Mullard and took along one of his circuit designs; he was rejected for the theoretical precociousness. While still at school he wrote the first article for Practical Wireless.Sinclair did not want to go to university when he left school just before his 18th birthday. By this time, he knew that he wanted to sell miniature electronic kits by mail order to the hobbyist market.Career Advertisement for the Sinclair Micrometric radio.Sinclairs Micro Kit was formalized in an exercise book dated 19 June 1958 three weeks before the start of his A-levels. In the book, Sinclair drew a radio circuit, Model Mark I, with a components list, cost/set 9:11d (49p) + colored wire & solder nuts & bolts + celluloid chassis (drilled) = 9/- (45p). Also in the book are the advertisement rates for Radio Constructor (9d (3p)/word, minimum 6/- (30p) and Practical Wireless (5/6 (27p) per line or part line).Sinclair estimated to produce at the rate of 1,000 a month, orders placed with the companies supplying the components for 10,000 of each to be delivered at a call off rate of 1,000 per month.Sinclair wrote a book for Bernards Publishing, Practical transistor receivers Book 1, appeared in January 1959. It was re-printed late that year, and nine times subsequently. His practical stereo handbook was first published in June 1959; and reprinted seven times over a period of 14 years. The last book Sinclair wrote as an employee of Bernards was Modern Transistor Circuits for Beginners, first published in May 1962. During the period he was employed by Bernard Babani, he had produced 13 constructors books.Sinclair decided to start his own business. In 1961 he registered his company as Sinclair Radionics Ltd. His original choice, Sinclair Electronics, was already taken; Sinclair Radio was available but didnt sound right to Sinclair. Eventually Sinclair Radionics was formed on 25 July 1961.Sinclair made two attempts to raise startup capital necessary to advertise his inventions and buy components. He designed PCB kits and licensed some technology. Then he took his design for a miniature transistor pocket radio and spent some time seeking for a backer for its production in kit form. Eventually he found someone who agreed to buy 55% of his company for 3,000; however, the deal didnt go through.Sinclair, unable to find capital, joined United Trade Press (UTP), based at 9 Gough Square, just off Fleet Street, as technical editors of the journal Instrument Practice. Sinclairs name first appeared in Instrument Practice as an assistant editor in March 1962. Sinclair described the method of making silicon planar transistors, their properties and applications and expressed a hope that they might be available by the end of 1962. Sinclair was obsessed with miniaturization, as became more and more obvious as his career progressed. Sinclair undertook a survey for Instrument Practice of Semiconductor devices, which appeared in four sections between September 1962 and January 1963.His last appearance as assistant editor was in April 1969. Through UTP, Sinclair had access to thousands of devices from 36 manufacturers. He contacted Semiconductors Ltd and ordered rejects that he would repair. He produced a design for a miniature radio powered by a couple of hearing aid cells and made a deal with Semiconductor Ltd to buy their MATs at 6d (2p) each in boxes of 10,000. He would then carry out his own quality control tests, and market his renamed MAT 100 and 120 at 7/9d (38p) and 101 and 121 at 8/6 (42p).Sinclair Radionics lasted until 1979, with various products and company spin-offs. Beginning with a mini-amplifier, the company quickly earned a name for design, quality and pioneering ideas. The overall vision was to produce in bulk and to sell cheaply. This risky but potentially profitable stack em high, sell em cheap approach has made fortunes before, but carries with it the risk of bankruptcy. In the early days one strategy essential to this policy for Sinclair Radionics was production in ket form.Sinclair Research Ltd (1978-present)ZX Spectrum (1982)In June 1978 Science of Cambridge launched a microcomputer kit, marketed as the MK14, based around the National SC/MP chip. By July 1978, a personal computer project was already underway. When Sinclair learnt that the NewBrain could not be sold at below the sub-100 price that he envisaged, his thoughts turned to the ZX80 instead. In May 1979 Jim Westwood started the ZX80 project at Science of Cambridge, it was launched in February 1980 at 79.95 in kit form and 99.95 ready-built. In November Science of Cambridge was renamed to “Sinclair computers Ltd”.In March 1981, the company was renamed again to Sinclair Research Ltd and the Sinclair ZX81 was launched at 49.95 in kit form and 69.95 ready-built, by mail order. In February 1982 Timex obtained a license to manufacture and market Sinclairs computers in the US under the name Timex Sinclair. In April the ZX Spectrum was launched, priced at 125 for the 16 kB RAM version and 175 for the 48 KB version. In March 1982 the company made an 8.55m profit on turnover of 27.17m, including 383,000 government grants for the TV80 flat screen portable television.In 1982 Clive Sinclair converted the Barker & Wadsworth mineral water bottling factory at 25 Willis Road, Cambridge into the Sinclair Building to use it as the companys new headquarters. (It was sold to Cambridge shire County Council in December 1985 due to Sinclairs immense debts and finance troubles.)II. More information about Mensa. What is Mensa?Mensa was founded in England in 1946 by Roland Berrill, a barrister, and Dr. Lance Ware, a scientist and lawyer. They had the idea of forming a society for bright people, the only qualification for membership of which was a high IQ. The original aims were, as they are today, to create a society that is non-political and free from all racial or religious distinctions. The society welcomes people from every walk of life whose IQ is in the top 2% of the population, with the objective of enjoying each others company and participating in a wide range of social and cultural activities.What are Mensas goals?Mensa has three stated purposes:to identify and foster human intelligence for the benefit of humanityto encourage research in the nature, characteristics and uses of intelligenceto provide a stimulating intellectual and social opportunities for its member.How many members does Mensa have?Today there are some 100,000 Mensans in 100 countries throughout the world. There are active Mensa organizations in over 40 countries on every continent except Antarctica. Membership numbers are also available for specific National Groups.What kind of people are Members of Mensa?There is simply no one prevailing characteristic of Mensa members other than high IQ. There are Mensans for whom Mensa provides a sense of family, and others for whom it is a casual social activity. There have been many marriages made in Mensa, but for many people, it is simply a stimulating opportunity for the mind. Most Mensans have a good sense of humor, and they like to talk. And, usually, they have a lot to say.Mensans range in age from 4 to 94, but most are between 20 and 60. In education they range from preschoolers to high school dropouts to people with multiple doctorates. There are Mensans on welfare and Mensans who are millionaires. As far as occupations, the range is staggering. Mensa has professors and truck drivers, scientists and firefighters, computer programmers and farmers, artists, military people, musicians, laborers, police officers, glassblowers-the diverse list goes on and on. There are famous Mensans and prize-winning Mensans, but there are many whose names you wouldnt know.What does “Mensa” mean?The word Mensa means table in Latin. The name stands for a round-table society, where race, color, creed, national origin, age, politics, educational or social background are irrelevant.What opinions does Mensa have?Mensa takes no stand on politics, religion or social issues. Mensa has members from so many different countries and cultures with differing points of view, that for Mensa to espouse a particular point of view would go against its role as a forum for all points of view. Of course, individual Mensa members often have strong opinions-and several of them. It is said that in a room with 12 mensans you will find at least 13 differing opinions on any given subject.How do I qualify for Mensa?Membership in Mensa is open to persons who have attained a score within the upper two percent of the general population on an approved intelligence test that has been properly administered and supervised. There is no other qualification or disqualification for membership eligibility.The term IQ score is widely used but poorly defined. There are a large number of tests with different scales. The result on one test of 132 can be the same as a score 148 on another test. Some intelligence tests dont use IQ scores at all. Mensa has set a percentile as cutoff to avoid this confusion. Candidates for membership in Mensa must achieve a score at or above the 98th percentile on a standard test of intelligence (a score that is greater than or equal to that achieved by 98 percent of the general population taking the test)Generally, there are two ways to prove that you qualify for Mensa: either take the Mensa test, or submit a qualifying test score from another test. There are a large number of intelligence tests that are approved. More information on whether a test you have taken is approved, as well as information on the procedure for taking the Mensa test, can be obtained from the nearest Mensa office. There are no on-line tests that can be used for admission to Mensa. Feel free to contact Mensa for specific details about eligibility.Mensa has no other eligibility requirements other than IQ testing. However, many tests are not valid for people under the age of 16. You should contact the nearest Mensa office for more information.Is there a Mensa test?If youve never taken an IQ test, or dont want to bother with getting official copies of your test scores, then Mensa can test you. You will be put in contact with the local testing coordinator who will tell you about specific testing dates and places.In some countries, a pre-test is available which you can take in the privacy of your home. To find out whether such a test is available in your country, please see National Groups. When youve finished the pre-test, send it back to the address instructed. It will be scored, and you will be notified of the results. If your score is high enough, youll be invited to take a qualifying supervised test. The pre-test is just for practice; you cant use it to qualify for Mensa even if you score at or above the 98th percentile. Taking a pre-test is not required for admission, however, many people take it simply for the challenge.If you want to take a practice, on-line test, the Mensa Workout is an intelligence quiz in which you have half an hour to answer 30 questions. When you submit your answers, your test is instantly scored, and you can see how your score measures up. The answers to the questions are provided along with discussion of the answers. The Workout is not an IQ test, and cant be used for qualification to join Mensa.Does Mensa Provide Intellectual Stimulation?Whatever your passion, theres almost certain to be a Special Interest Group (SIG) filled with other Mensans who share it! Mensa offers approximately 200 SIGs, in mind-boggling profusion from African Violets to zoology. Along the way youll find microbiology, and systems analysis, but youll also find Sherlock Holmes, chocolate and Star Trek. There are the expected: biochemistry, space science, economics - and the unexpected: poker, roller-skating, scuba diving, UFOs and witchcraft. There are SIGs for breadmaking, winemaking, cartooning, silversmithing, and clowning. Heraldry, semantics and Egyptology co-exist with beekeeping, motorcycling and tap dancing. Sports SIGs cover the classics (baseball, basketball, and football) and the not-so-classic (skeet shooting, hang gliding, skydiving). And any Mensan who cant find a SIG to join can easily start one.Does Mensa Provide Social Interaction?Mensa meetings are anything but dull! Local groups meet at least monthly. Often its for dinner and drinks on a Friday night, or for get-togethers featuring a speaker or a lively, freewheeling discussion. All are with fellow members who share your intellectual interests. Some groups have special get-togethers or activities throughout the month. Others, especially the larger groups, hav