The computer, which was used to simplify difficult sums, began       a calculating machine in France in 1642. Then it developed into an analytical machine. After        (program) by an operator        used cards with holes, it could produce an answer quicker than any person. Later, Alan Turning wrote a book about how a computer could be made     work as a “universal machine”. From then on, the computer grew rapidly both in size and in brainpower. By the 1940s, it had grown as large as a room and this reality worried the designers.      , with its memory        (improve), the computer was made smaller. First, the memory was stored in tubes, then on transistors and later on very small chips. As a result, the shape of the computer      (total) changed from a large machine to a PC and then a laptop. Connected by    network, the computer was able to share its knowledge        others through the World Wide Web. Since the 1970s many new applications of the computer           (find) in communication, finance, trade and many other areas. The computer has become a devoted friend and helper of the human race.