2001年下半年自考全国卷 高级英语试题（附答案）

3) When the first American census took place in 1790, tabulating the data it collected took nine months. As the country's population grew larger, however, and the number of questions asked in each census increased, a problem of delay gradually emerged. The results of the 1880 census took seven years to compile梞aking them out of date by the time they were published.

4) This was unsatisfactory because, for example, seats in the House of Representatives were (and are) assigned according to census data. It became apparent that a new way would have to be found to compile the results of the 1890 census, in order to keep up with rapid demographic changes. Indeed, without a new approach the 1900 census would already have been under way by the time the 1890 results became available.

5) Hollerith, a former employee of the Census Bureau, had the idea of building a tabulating machine. His first design, patented in 1884, used a long strip of paper into which holes were punched to represent information. The record for each person was to be punched across the strip, which would then be run through the machines. Electrical contacts made through the holes in the strip would drive electro-mechanical counters. In this way the number of records matching particular criteria could be counted.

6) Before long, Hollerith improved this scheme, by using combinations of holes to represent more complex pieces of information. At the same time, he switched from a paper strip to punched cards. By clever wiring of the tabulating machine, it was possible to count the number of cards with particular combinations of attributes.

酷影网(ky530.com)转载请注明出处,http://www.ky530.com/edu/zikao/2001-NianXiaBanNianZiKaoQuanGuoJuan-GaoJiYangYuShiDi-BuDaAn-j41z042.html
关键词: