3.1 The internet: the basics
A. Choose the best word from each pair in grey type.
What's the difference between
the Web and the internet?
Some people think that the internet and the Web are the same thing, but in fact they are different. The internet (often called simply "the net") is a global1 network / net of interconnected computers. These computers communicate with each other 2 over / through existing telecommunications networks - principally, the telephone system. The Word Wide Web (usually known as just "the Web") is the billions of web pages that are stored on large computers called web 3 servers / services.
To 4 see / access the web, you need a computer and a modem. You then connect over your telephone line to an internet service 5 port / provider (ISP), which sends your request to view a particular web page to the correct web server.
Websites are not the only service available on the internet. It is also used for many other functions, including sending and receiving email, and connecting to newsgroups and 6 discussion / talking groups.
You could say that the internet is a system of roads, and web pages and emails are types of traffic that travel on those roads.
B. Put these operations in the order that you do them (variations are possible).
close down your browser connect to your ISP disconnect from the internet
enter a web address (also known as a URL*) into the address field
launch your browser (for example, Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator or Mozilla Firefox)
perhaps wait for a few seconds while the web-page downloads
view the page
* URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator, but the full term is almost never used
r
Web addresses
Web address/URL: domain name host: protocol: type of site: country code:
acblack
http://
http://www.acblack.co.uk www.acblack.co.uk
.co.uk .uk
J
For reference see A & C Biack Dictionary of Computing (978 07475 6622 9).