Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow:
You know that you're doing something big when your company name becomes a verb. Ask Xerox. In 1959 they created the first plain paper copy machine. It was one of the most successful products ever. The company name Xerox grew into a verb that means "to copy," as in "Bob, can you Xerox this for me?" Around 50 years later, the same thing happened to Google. Their company name grew into a verb that means "to do an internet search." Now everyone and their grandma knows what it means to Google it.
Unlike Xerox, Google wasn't the first company to invent their product, not by a long shot. Lycos released their search engine in 1993. Yahoo! came out in 1994. AltaVista began serving results in 1995. Google did not come out until years later, in 1998. Though a few years difference may not seem like much, this is a major head start in the fast moving world of tech. So how did Google do it? How did they overtake their competitors who had such huge leads in time and money? Maybe one good idea made all the difference.
There are millions and millions of sites on the internet. How does a search engine know which ones are relevant to your search? This is a question that great minds have been working on for decades. To understand how Google changed the game, you need to know how search engines worked in 1998. Back then most websites looked at the words in your query. They counted how many times those words appeared on each page. Then they might return pages where the words in your query appeared the most. This system did not work well and people often had to click through pages and pages of results to find what they wanted.
Google was the first search engine that began considering links. Links are those blue underlined words that take you to other pages when you click on them. Larry Page, cofounder of Google, believed that meaningful data could be drawn from how those links connect. Page figured that websites with many links pointing at them were more important than those that had few. He was right. Google's search results were much better than their rivals. They would soon become the world's most used search engine.
It wasn't just the great search results that led to Google becoming so well liked. It also had to do with the way that they presented their product. Most of the other search engines were cluttered. Their home pages were filled with everything from news stories to stock quotes. But Google's homepage was, and still is, clean. There's nothing on it but the logo, the search box, and a few links. It almost appears empty. In fact, when they were first testing it, users would wait at the home page and not do anything. When asked why, they said that they were, "waiting for the rest of the page to load." People couldn't imagine such a clean and open page as being complete. But the fresh design grew on people once they got used to it.
These days Google has its hands in everything from self-driving cars to helping humans live longer. Though they have many other popular products, they will always be best known for their search engine. The Google search engine has changed our lives and our language. Not only is it a fantastic product, it is a standing example that one good idea (and a lot of hard work) can change the world.
a. What is the author's main purpose in writing this article?
b. What can readers learn about Google's approach to doing business based on reading this article?
c. Explain how Google was able to overcome its competitors.
d. What do Google and Xerox have in common?
e. Suggest a suitable title for this passage.
Answers
Answer:
a. What is the author's main purpose in writing this article?
The author's main purpose in writing this article is that one good idea and a lot of hard work can change the world.
And it is proved by Goo gle.
b. What can readers learn about Goo gle's approach to doing business based on reading this article?
Based on reading this article readers can learn that how one good idea make all the difference.
There were many competitors: Lycos, Yahoo, Altavista etc but Goo gle is the best because it fulfills users demand.
c. Explain how Goo gle was able to overcome its competitors.
Goo gle was able to overcome its competitors because Goo gle was the first search engine that began considering blue underlined links which were active to take users to other page and that is why Goo gle's search results were much better than their rivals.
And this made Goo gle to overcome its competitors.
d. What do Goo gle and Xerox have in common?
Both Goo gle and Xerox company names grow into a verb.
Xerox means to 'copy' and Goo gle means 'to do an internet search.'
e. Suggest a suitable title for this passage.
A suitable title for this page is 'Goo gle's fact'. or 'Goo gle and its Rivals'.
The answer to questions are as below
Explanation:
a. The main aim of the author in writing this article is that a good idea and a lot of hard work can change the world and this is proven by Goo gle.
b. By reading this article readers can learn how one good idea makes all the difference. There were many competitors: Lycos, Yahoo, Altavista, etc. But Goo gle is the best because it meets the demands of the user.
c. Goo gle was able to beat its competitors because Goo gle was the first search engine to start considering blue underlined links that were active to take users to other pages and that is why Goo gle's search results compare to their competitors. was much better and it set Goo gle away from its competitors.
d. Goo gle and Xerox both develop company names as a verb. Xerox means 'copying' and Goo gle meaning 'internet search'.
e. The apt title for this page is 'Goo gle Facts'. Or 'Goo gle and its rivals'.