Read the following article. Then, answer the question(s). (1) It can be easy to take for granted the incredible computing power squeezed into today’s electronics. Compared to the first “computers,” today’s devices are as magical as Aladdin’s lamp. One of the first mechanical calculators, built in the 1600s, could work with eight digits, but had trouble carrying numbers because its gears tended to jam. In 1820 or 1821, Charles Babbage began working on a “difference engine”—a mechanical calculator designed to print astronomical tables. It is hard for us to imagine, but it was powered by steam. Today’s tiny batteries power handheld devices for hours on end.

(2) The first all-purpose electronic computer was unveiled in 1946. It was called ENIAC—the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer—and it weighed a monstrous 30 tons and occupied a 30-by-50-foot room. Funded for use in World War II, it was so large that it had power lines dedicated just for its use! Some people were nervous that the whole thing might blow up when it was turned on. It didn’t, and it proved to be very useful. Mathematical calculations that had previously taken 12 hours to do by hand could be completed in 30 seconds. Even so, the ENIAC’s computing power was less than that of today’s throwaway chips that play music in greeting cards! It is simply astonishing just how far technology has come in the last 75 years. Can you imagine what might happen in the next 75 years?

Which of the following best describe the type of writing in the excerpt? *
1 point
fictional story
argument
nonfiction
autobiographical