Today the word "electronics" is the general usage. The center of this world is a tiny silicon plate of a few square millimeters, an integrated circuit, or a chip, as it is more commonly known. The integrated circuit is undoubtedly one of the most sophisticated inventions of man, science and technology. As the operation os an integrated circuit depends on microscopic "components", the purity of all materials and the cleanness at the plant they are produced at must be of the highest quality. In the past it took scientists and reserchers a whole lifetime to make a few thousand calculations, whereas for a modern computer this task is a matter of a few seconds. At present computers capable of performing billions of operations a second are required. In the next few years engineers will complete the work on computers of above 2 billion operations a second. It will take a few more years to produce a 10-billion operationscomputer. According to some researchers, we are close to what can be regarded as a true physical limit. But other specialists think that photons will make the operation a thousand times faster. This means that in the future it will be possible to expect the appearance of photon computers and that computations will be done by means of light. In a few decades a new age of light may replace the stil youthful electronic age. The race is going on.
1. She wrote a very good article after she had studied the problem thoroughly. 2. The train started after he had kissed her tenderly and wished good luck. 3. He rose to fame after he had written the novel “Pickwick Papers”. 4. (НЕПОНЯТНО!_The sun rose The party made for the top of the mountain. 5. She learned the poem by heart after She had listened to the record many times. 6. He had spent a few years in the Far East before he settled down in his native town. 7. He had been a widower for a year before he met Mrs. Jones. 8. She fell ill after they had moved to Siberia. 9. We had packed our things before the taxi arrived. 10. After the bell had rung the children ran out of the classroom.
6.was he shopping for gifts when you met him