Prime Time 4, Coursebook

Tech savvy or tech slaves? Reading: Ada Lovelace, the programming ace a) Read the biography of Ada Lovelace, who is known as the first computer programmer. Write a title for each paragraph. Ada’s life in a nutshell 1 Augusta Ada Byron, Countess of Lovelace, better known as “Ada Lovelace”, was born in 1815 and died in 1852. The computer language “Ada” was named after her. 2 Ada Lovelace was the daughter of the famous poet Lord Byron and Lady Anne Byron. Ada’s father left the family only weeks after the child was born and she grew up without knowing him. Ada’s childhood was unusual for a girl at that time. Her mother wanted her to study mathematics and science. She believed that if Ada spent her time studying, she wouldn’t become as moody as her father. Ada also had to lie still for hours because her mother thought it would help her to control herself. 3 When Ada was 17, she met Charles Babbage, a mathematician and inventor. Today, Babbage is called the father of the computer. He planned to invent a machine that could be used for complex calculations. Ada was asked to translate an article about the machine Babbage had in mind. But she didn’t just translate the text, she also wrote her own thoughts about the machine. In her notes, she had ideas on how to make a machine that could work with letters, symbols and numbers. So she became a computer programmer even before the first computer was invented. 4 In 1835, Ada married the Earl of Lovelace. Her marriage was happy, but she developed health problems. She had to take painkillers, which made her moody. Another problem in her personal life was being poor. Ada tried to use her skills in mathematics for gambling. However, this plan didn’t work out, and she lost a lot of money. b) Who could have said these sentences? Write the names in your exercise book. 1. If only I hadn’t married this good-for- nothing man, I wouldn’t have had to worry about little Ada. 2. If I had been born a boy, it wouldn’t have been so unusual for me to study science. 3. If I hadn’t left my family, I would have been able to get to know my daughter. 4. If I hadn’t had Ada’s help, my invention wouldn’t have been that brilliant. 5. If Ada hadn’t had those health problems, she wouldn’t have taken any pills. 6. If I hadn’t tried to earn money by gambling, we wouldn’t have become poor. 1. Lady Anne Byron 8du2g4 4 Working with her mentor Ada’s life in a nutshell Her personal life Her early years Grammar For more details see 1 G 21 Expressing unreal past: Conditional 3 If I had learned about Ada Lovelace sooner, I would have done my presentation on her. If Ada hadn’t translated Babbage’s article, she probably wouldn’t have become the first computer programmer. G 5 10 15 106 13 Unit Incredible inventions one hundred and six Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv