Lily的Scalers Talk第八轮新概念朗读持续力训练Da

L51-2:Predicting the future

It can properly be described as the first 'home computer' and it pointed the way to the future. This was followed, at the end of the 1970s, by a machine called an Apple.

In the early 1980s, the computer giant, IBM produced the world's first Personal Computer. This ran on an 'operating system' called DOS, produced by a then small company named Microsoft. The IBM Personal Computer was widely copied. From those humble beginnings, we have seen the development of the user-friendly home computers and multimedia machines which are in common use today. 

Considering how recent these developments are, it is even more remarkable that as long ago as the 1960s, an Englishman, Leon Bagrit, was able to predict some of the uses of computers which we know today. Bagrit dismissed the idea that computers would learn to 'think' for themselves and would 'rule the world', which people liked to believe in those days.

proper  /ˈprɑːpər/ 适当的;正确的;恰当的

giant /ˈdʒaɪənt/  巨人、大公司

a then small company  那时候规模尚小的一个公司

humble /ˈhʌmbl/ 谦逊的;虚心的; (级别或地位)低下的，卑微的;

user-friendly  好用的

multimedia  多媒体的

dismiss /dɪsˈmɪs/ 不予考虑;摒弃;对…不屑一提    dismiss the idea that  不考虑。。。这个想法