Read the texts and complete the table according to the example.

1. BASIC

BASIC is the acronym for beginner’s all-purpose symbolic instruction code. It was developed in Dartmouth College as an easy-to-learn programming language for students and inexperienced programmers. Its key design goal is simplicity. BASIC has become a very popular language in systems where many users share the use of a computer through terminals and it has become a universal language for personal computers.

The language BASIC is mathematically oriented, that is, its typical use is to solve problems of a mathematical nature. Because BASIC programs are usually executed from a terminal or microcomputer where input is entered through a keyboard and printed output is relatively slow, problems of a business nature requiring large volumes of input-output data are usually not practical.

2. PASCAL

PASCAL was invented in 1970 by Professor Niklaus Wirth of Zurich, Switzerland. It was named after the mathematician Blaise Pascal, who invented one of the earliest practical calculators. PASCAL is a mathematically oriented programming language and, as such, is most commonly used in mathematics, engineering, and computer science departments of colleges and universities. This language is somewhat unusual in that it was designed to be a structured language. This means that the program must be written in logical modules which are in turn called by a main controlling module. Much of PASCAL’S popularity is due to work done at the University of California at San Di­ego, where PASCAL has been implemented on several differ­ent computers including microcomputers.

Internet: Voice recognition takes off

I. Complete this article about the Voice XML application language with the following words: HTML; dial; Voice XML; commands; speech recognition.

You don’t need a sophisticated cell phone to surf the Internet when you’re on the road – just your own voice. That’s the idea behind a new breed of voice service that is popping up all over the place. Subscribers … a toll-free phone number and use spoken … To listen to anything form weather conditions to stock quotes, or flight information to news stories. Half a dozen of these services – such as Audiopoint, BeVocal, TellMe and TelSurf Networks – have already gone live or are testing their systems.

These launches are all happening because two crucial technologies have come of age. … software from companies such as Lucent, Nuance and Speechworks can now understand a wide range of accents and diction without having to be trained to a specific voice. And computer languages such as Voice XML make it as easy to write voice services as … has made it to write web pages. With … the human voice becomes a substitute for a computer mouse and the spoken command for a click. It doesn’t, however, call up conventional web pages but content which is specially composed for a phone: sound clips, numbers, music, spoken texts.