Keyboard Layout and Data Entry
ENTER or RETURN - Moves the cursor down one line and to the left margin. Enter also process commands such as choosing an option in a dialog (message) boxes and submitting a form.
DEL or DELETE - Deletes the character at cursor and/or characters to the right of the cursor and all highlighted (or selected) text.
BKSP or BACKSPACE - Deletes the character to the left of cursor and all highlighted text.
SPACE BAR - Moves the cursor one space at a time to the right.
SHIFT KEY - Use the shift keys to type capital letters and to type the upper character on keys with two characters on them.
CAPS LOCK - Locks the keyboard so it types capital letters (a light goes on when caps lock is on)
TAB - Moves the cursor five spaces to the right (number of spaces are usually adjustable). Tab moves to the next field in a form or table (Shift-Tab for previous field).
ESC or ESCAPE - Cancels a menu or dialog box.
ARROW KEYS - Moves the cursor around document without changing text.
FUNCTION KEYS or F KEYS - Access commands by themselves or in combination with the three command keys; CTRL, SHIFT, and ALT.
Keyboard Symbols
The following chart displays the character symbols, name and Latin-1 number on a standard keyboard in their approximate position on the keyboard. Most characters from any Roman based language can be created on any computer using the American Standard Code for Information Interchange or ASCII. Most computers and software also recognized American National Standards Institute's (ANSI) formatting standards as well. View the entire ISO Latin -1 Character Set.
| ~ Tilde | ! Exclamation Point | @ At | # Number | $ Dollar | % Percent | ^ Caret | & Ampersand | * Asterisk | ( Open or Left Parenthesis | ) Close or Right Parenthesis | _ Underscore or Horizontal Bar | + Plus |
| ` Acute | - Dash or Hyphen | = Equals | ||||||||||
| { Open or Left Curly Brace | } Close or Right Curly Brace | |||||||||||
| [ Open or Left Square Bracket | ] Close or Right Square Bracket | ||||||||||
| : Colon | " Quote | | Or or Vertical Bar | ||||||||||
| ; Semi Colon | ´ Apostrophe or Single Quote | \ Reverse Solidus or Backslash | ||||||||||
| < Less Than | > Greater Than | ? Question Mark | ||||||||||
| , Comma | . Dot, Period or Full Stop | / Solidus or Forward Slash |
Grassroots Updated February 9, 2006
b) Before reading the text try to answer the question:
Do you know what QWERTY stands for?
What is QWERTY?
The first modern typewriter was developed by Christopher Sholes and two of his friends, Carlos Glidden and Sam Soule. They worked on a newspaper in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the 1860s.
Sholes put each letter on the end of a metal bar. A key was pushed down and the end of the bar hit the paper. The typewriter keys were put in alphabetical order, but the alphabetical order caused a problem. Fast typing made some of the letter bars get caught on one another. The bars were too close together.
Sholes solved the problem. He found out the most-used letters in English. Then he put these letters far apart on the typewriter keyboard. The letter bars did not hit each other easily. The first six letters on the top of the keyboard are QWERTY!
c) Complete the sentences and word combinations using the text:
1. The first _____ typewriter
2. Sholes put _____ letter
3. were put in _____ order
4. were too close _____
5. he put _____ letters far apart
6. The first ____ letters on the top
7. the alphabetical order _____ a problem
8. the end of the bar _____ the paper
9. He found out the _____ letters in English
10. A key was pushed _____
d) Choose the correct variant to complete the sentences:
1. Sholes worked for____
| a) the government | b) a typewriter company | c) a newspaper |
2. Letters were put on the end of metal ____
| a) bars | b) keys | c) alphabets |
3. ____ caused the bars to get caught on one another.
| a) The metal | b) Fast typing | c) The letters |
4. Sholes needed to know ____ to solve the problem.
| a) QWERTY | b) the most-used letters | Samuel Soule |
5. Then he put these letters far ____ on the typewriter keyboard.
| a) behind | b) ahead | c) apart |
Writing
Summing-up
With the help of this table and the Listening, write a brief description of a keyboard. The first paragraph is done for you:
| Section | Location | Main keys | Main function |
| Main keyboard | centre | each letter digits 0-9 punctuation common symbols | input all kinds of data |
| Function keys | top | F1-F12 | not fixed can program them |
| Editing keys | right | cursor keys insert, delete | control cursor |
| Numeric keypad | far right | digits 0-9 mathematical operations | input numerical data |
Most keyboards have four sections. The main keyboard has keys for each letter and the digits 0 to 9. It also has keys for punctuation and other common symbols. It is used for inputting all kinds of data.