The Origins of the Internet

Текст задания
A
The Internet, which has become an indispensable part of modern life, originated from a military research project during the Cold War era. In the late 1950s, the United States government became concerned about the vulnerability of its communication systems to potential attacks. The Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as ARPA, was established in 1958 to develop technologies that could maintain communication networks even if parts of the system were destroyed. This concern led to the creation of a decentralized network design, where information could travel through multiple pathways rather than relying on a single route.
B
The first practical implementation of these ideas emerged in 1969 with the development of ARPANET, a network that connected four university computers in the United States. The initial nodes were located at the University of California Los Angeles, Stanford Research Institute, the University of California Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah. These institutions were chosen primarily because they had compatible computer systems and were already involved in advanced computing research. The network allowed researchers to share data and computing resources across long distances, which was revolutionary for that time period.
C
A crucial innovation that made ARPANET functional was packet switching, a method of breaking down information into small units called packets. Each packet could travel independently through the network and be reassembled at its destination, even if different packets took different routes. This approach contrasted sharply with traditional telephone systems, which required a dedicated connection between two points for the entire duration of a call. Packet switching proved to be far more efficient and resilient, as the network could automatically redirect packets around damaged or congested sections.
D
Throughout the 1970s, ARPANET expanded steadily as more universities and research institutions joined the network. However, a significant challenge emerged when different networks began to develop using incompatible communication protocols. Each network essentially spoke a different language, making it difficult for them to exchange information with one another. This problem was addressed by the development of TCP/IP, a standardized protocol that allowed diverse networks to communicate seamlessly. By 1983, TCP/IP became the official protocol for ARPANET, effectively creating a network of networks that formed the foundation of the modern Internet.
E
The transformation from a military and academic tool to a public resource occurred gradually during the 1980s and early 1990s. The National Science Foundation established NSFNET in 1986, which connected supercomputing centers across the United States and provided broader access to academic institutions. This network operated alongside ARPANET until the latter was officially decommissioned in 1990, having fulfilled its original research objectives. The restrictions on commercial use of the Internet were lifted in 1991, opening the door for businesses and private individuals to participate in the expanding network.
F
The invention of the World Wide Web in 1989 by British scientist Tim Berners-Lee fundamentally changed how people interacted with the Internet. Before the Web, accessing information required knowledge of complex commands and specific file locations. Berners-Lee developed a system of hypertext documents that could be linked together and accessed through a simple browser interface. This innovation made the Internet accessible to non-technical users and transformed it from a text-based system into a multimedia platform. The first web browser that combined text and images, called Mosaic, was released in 1993 and contributed significantly to the rapid popularization of the Internet.
G
By the mid-1990s, the Internet had evolved from a specialized research network into a global communication infrastructure. The number of connected computers grew exponentially, rising from approximately 100,000 in 1989 to over 16 million by 1996. This growth was facilitated by the increasing availability of personal computers and the establishment of commercial Internet service providers that offered public access. What began as a defense project designed to survive nuclear attacks had transformed into a technology that would fundamentally reshape commerce, education, entertainment, and social interaction worldwide.

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Questions 1 to 11

Answer the following questions based on the passage

1.The transition from research network to global infrastructure involved exponential growth in both connected devices and user accessibility.

2.The multiple-pathway routing approach was designed to address the vulnerability associated with single-route dependency.

3.ARPANET's ability to share computing resources across geographic distances enabled institutions to pool their computational power for joint research efforts.

4.ARPA's establishment in 1958 aimed at developing network architectures capable of surviving physical infrastructure damage.

5.The Web eliminated the command-line knowledge requirement that had previously restricted Internet access to technically trained users.

6.The shift from military-academic control to public access proceeded through multiple distinct regulatory and infrastructural milestones spread across several years.

7.The resilience advantage of packet switching arose from its ability to establish routing paths dynamically during transmission rather than reserving a fixed circuit in advance.

8.Packet switching enabled network bandwidth to be allocated only during active data transmission rather than reserved continuously throughout a communication session.

9.The development of TCP/IP eliminated the protocol incompatibility problem that existed between networks before 1983.

10.ARPANET's decommissioning was preceded by the establishment of an alternative network infrastructure capable of fulfilling similar connectivity functions.

11.The protocol that ultimately enabled seamless communication between diverse networks was integrated into ARPANET's architecture from the network's initial deployment.