Открыть Электронные книги
Категории
Открыть Аудиокниги
Категории
Открыть Журналы
Категории
Открыть Документы
Категории
Беляева
л.Ф.жеребятьева
The Realm of
Physics and
Technology
САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГСКИЙ
ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ПОЛИТЕХНИЧЕСКИЙ
УНИВЕРСИТЕТ
О. И. Беляева Л. Ф. Жеребятьева
Учебное пособие
Санкт-Петербург
Издательство Политехнического университета
2009
УДК 53:6 =111(075.8)
ББК 22.3:30.6 я73
Б 44
Авторы
UNIT 1 Polytecnical Education in Russia and the USA
GRAMMAR PRACTICE: Passive-I. Transitive/Intransitive Verbs 7
UNIT 12 Astrophysics
GRAMMAR PRACTICE: Gerund or Infinitive
Reported Speech-I 80
UNIT 14 Superconductivity
GRAMMAR PRACTICE: Participle I/П as an Adverbial Modifier 92
Functions of ing-form.
UNIT 27 Engineering
GRAMMAR PRACTICE: Wishes 174
TALKING POINT
3. Discuss in pairs:
• the importance of establishing a first-class engineering school in Russia;
• the possibilities available in Politech library;
• the advantages and disadvantages of the Polytech campus location;
• issues, common for both institutions.
4. In the text find equivalents to the phrases:
- младший/старший научный работник, учёный
- преподаватель, доцент, академик
- учебный план, учебная программа
- зачёт, зачётка
- декан, зам. декана, деканат
- аспирант, аспирантура, диссертация
- бакалавр, магистр, кандидат технических наук
- дневное, вечернее и заочное обучение
- кафедра, заведующий кафедрой
5. Read the text paying attention the words and expressions in bold.
Going to University in Britain
The system of education is basically the same in most European countries, with
division into primary, secondary and tertiary (higher) school. In Britain after getting
General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) school-leavers apply to several
universities through UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admission Service) and
receive offers of a place on condition that they achieve certain grades in their “A”
levels. Most universities are state-funded and receive some money from the state. The
oldest and the most famous are Oxford and Cambridge. Other much respected
universities include London, Durham and St. Andrew’s. Some universities such as
Birmingham and Manchester are so-called “red-brick” universities because they
were built in the 19th century with brick rather than stone. The newer universities
have their buildings grouped together on a campus.
A first degree which is usually an honor’s degree, generally takes three years.
Most courses end with exams called finals. Results are given as classes: the first is
the highest class, seconds are often split between upper second and lower second, and
below that is a third. Graduates may add letters BA (Bachelor of Arts) or BSc
(Bachelor of Science) after their names. Some students go on to study for a further
degree, often a Master’s (MSc/MA/MBA) or a doctorate (PhD).
Students in Britain formerly had their tuition fees paid by the state and received a
government grant to help pay their living expenses. Now they get only a loan and
have to pay 1000 pounds a year to cover their tuition fees.
LISTENING COMPREHENSION
15. You will hear two people speaking about education. Complete the sentences.
A. Speaker 1
1. Teacher are good a t ...
2. Three types of learning are ...
3. Information technology is used to...
В Speaker 2
1. Teachers should develop students’ interest in....
2. Students should see themselves as ...
• 3. Education should have two objectives:...
UNIT 2 SCOPE OF PHYSICS
1. Read the text and decide whether the following statements are true о false.
2. Read the text and discuss the connection of physics with other sciences.
MAKING PRESENTATIONS
7. Find material and make Power Point presentations about life and contributions
of the physicists mentioned in the text (Planck, Schrodinger, Bom, Heisenberg,
Dirac, Hilbert)
1. The story of Newton and the falling apple ... Gauss’ indignation as he knew
tremendous efforts some of his own masterpieces had cost him.
2. The Nobel prize winners are greeted in bed by girls dressed like Saint Lucia who
is a patron saint of light and vision and is thus much celebrated in a place where the
winter sun barely ... above the horizon.
3. An old man, when Nazi ... to power, Bohr forthrightly opposed the dismissal of
his Jewish colleagues.
4. Meloney promised Curie that she would ... the money in America to buy the
necessity resources.
5. The dominating force opposing motion therefore... from viscosity rather than
inertia.
6. The differences among these theories have ... to controversy, but the theories are
perhaps not contradictory so much as complementary.
lie (лежать; лгать); lay (класть, закладывать)
underlie (лежать в основе); lay a bet ( держать пари)
7. By using words we can ... not only to one another but to ourselves; that’s one of
the prices we pay for language.
8. The equations that ... the workings of the universe are in the some sense “out
there”, independent of human existence, so that scientists are cosmic archeologists,
trying to unearth laws th at... hidden since time began.
9. No other fertile period for individual scientific accomplishment can be found
except the original annus mirabilis, when Isaac Newton was confined to his country
home to escape plague, started to ... the basis for calculus, his law of gravitation and
his theory of colors.
10. There could of course be nothing on it, since the crystal ... in the sun and could
not therefore absorb energy to emit radiation.
11. Another great physicist, Lord Raleigh, invited Kelvin to ... for five shillings that
before six months had passed he would declare Rutherford to have been right.
12. It was also due to Becquerel, Madame Curie, Planck, Einstein, Rutherford and
Bohr that new foundations were..., making possible a sound restoration of the
structure of science.
11. You will hear two people speaking about exam assessment.
a) What can you say about their approach to exam assessment?
b) Speak about advantages and disadvantages of their approaches.
UNIT3 ADVANCE OF SCIENCE
1. Read the text and decide whether the following statements are true (T) or
false (F).
1. Science is an evolutionary process and relies on gradual accumulation of
knowledge.
2. New ideas shock scientists who are reluctant to readjust.
3. A new paradigm provides a different perspective to the existing problems.
4. Paradigm shift does not necessarily lead to a number of ground-breaking
discoveries.
5. Paradigm shift is usually opposed to the prevailing contemporary theory.
6. Only a few o f the listed greatest paradigm shifts are the domain of physics.
7. Science seems to have reached its boundaries.
8. An increasing number of people are involved in research.
Paradigm Shift
Many people think of scientific discovery as a process of gradual accumulation of
new knowledge, which is added to a pile of the existing knowledge. This what one
might call the sand castle view of science, which sees individual scientists, no matter
how eminent and adventurous, as children digging on a beach, adding their
contributions to the pile of sand that has already been accumulated. This might
describe 98 per cent of what we call scientific advance. But we need another image to
convey the nature of the other 1 or 2 per cent.
A recurring theme of the history of science has been the shock of new ideas, and
the readjustment of scientific thought they bring about. This process of readjustment
was the subject of the book published in 1962 entitled The Structure o f Scientific
Revolution, by Thomas S. Kuhn (1922-1996), professor of linguistics and philosophy
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Kuhn’s thesis was that scientific discovery is for most of the time a process of
gradual accumulation of knowledge and understanding within the limits of what he
called “normal science”. But once in a while, “a new paradigm” - a revolutionary
new model - is put forward, which offers a dramatically changed view of the
underlying reality a particular science is trying to explain.
If the new model proves successful in explaining the hitherto mysterious
phenomena, a period of upheaval ensues, as scientists try to come to terms with its
implications. This leads to a reorientation of the science in question, which Kuhn
called a” paradigm shift”. In due course the new paradigm meets with general
acceptance, and there follows a period of exceptionally fruitful enquiry, which may
last for two or three centuries, as scientists explore the territory the new field has
opened up. Paradigm shifts need not be destructive. To return to the children on the
beach, a major scientific breakthrough need not mean the flattening of the sand castle.
It would be more like someone saying, “Why don’t we build an ocean liner instead?”
If it seems like a good idea, it generates a burst of enthusiasm, construction that the
original plain sand castle could never have produced.
The following is just a selection of some notable scientific revolutions of the past
600 years. All of them represent paradigm shifts of the kind Kuhn had in mind. And
all of them were followed by a quickening of pace of scientific discovery that
continued for a long time.
The sun-centered Model o f the Solar System
The Law of Universal Gravitation
The Periodic Table o f Elements
Evolution by Natural Selection
The Planetary Model of the Atom
Special and General Relativity
The Expanding Universe
The Structure of DNA Plate Tectonics
The next 50 years in science will see a greater accumulation of scientific
knowledge than any half- century, and that there are still new paradigms to be
constructed. We are better placed to seek out answers than ever in history. Where
past ages had a handful of leisured gentlemen amateurs or academics, we have
hundreds of thousands of full-time paid scientists, male and female.
As a result of recent developments in telecommunications - and above all, the
Internet, - the opportunities for networking and the speed of diffusion of new
knowledge, far exceed anything known even a quarter of a century ago. The
technology available to us, especially in computing power, is immeasurably more
powerful than that available to our predecessors.
And, despite a few dark comers, the freedom to pursue enquiry, and the cultural
imperative to do so, are built-in characteristics of our modem world. O f course, we
might happen to be living at the time when most of what there is to be discovered has
been discovered. But the history of science is littered with stories of eminent
scientists who felt sure that they too were living at such a time. And how wrong they
prove to be!
It has been a rather private party so far. For nearly 500 years, from Copernicus to
the Human Genome Project, Europe and North America, where the money was, had a
virtual monopoly of science. Now, at long last, China, India, and a score of other
countries have a chance to show what they can do; and the consequence can only be a
further quickening of the pace of scientific advance.
WORD FORMATION
MAKING PRESENTATIONS
4. Use the Internet resources and make Power Point presentations about the
greatest achievements in science and the contribution of the relevant scientists.
1. An ink pen running at regular intervals over a paper chart was a hint leading
Jocelyn Bell Burnell to make an astonishing discovery about the universe. Nobody
yelled “eureka”.
2. In the early 1920s, the British scientist Alexander Fleming reported that a product
in human tears could make bacterial cells dissolve.
3. The telescope consisted of two lenses in a tube and could make a distant steeple
look as if it as just across the street.
4. Unlike Brahe Kepler did accept Copemican model, and what is more, in a brilliant
feat of mathematical inspiration, he found a way to make it fit the facts, using
Brahe’s observations.
5. Leonardo observed exactly what happened to muscles when they moved the body
in different ways, how muscles in the face made people smile or frown, and much
more.
6. An Italian anatomist Luigi Galvani (1737-1798) was using electricity to make the
legs of the dead frog twitch.
WRITING
8. Write an essay with your own definition of science using the ideas of the
lecture.
1. Read the text and give the synonyms to the adverbs in bold.
Natural Philosophy
Until the “scientific revolution” of the Renaissance, physics was merely
(1) a branch of philosophy dealing with the natures of things, thus its other
name - natural philosophy. The physics of heavens was, for instance,
completely (2) separate (and often conflicted with) the descriptions of
mathematical and positional astronomy. But from the time of Galileo, and
particularly (3) through the efforts of Huygens and Newton, physics
gradually (4) became identified with the rigorously (5) mathematical
description of nature; occult qualities were eventually (6) banished from
physical science.
Firm on its Newtonian foundation, classical physics gathered increasingly (7)
more phenomena under its wing until, by the late 19th century, comparatively
(8) few phenomena seemed to defy explanation. But the interpretation of these
effects (notably (9) blackbody radiation and the photoelectric effect) in terms
of new concepts due to Plank and Einstein involved thoroughgoing reformation
of the most (10) fundamental principles of physical science.
2. Read the text and fill the gaps with the clauses listed below.
a) adding and subtracting numbers
b) Starting with what he believed to be irreducible and self-evident axioms
c) must have seemed a natural marriage at the dawn of the Enlightenment.
d) with Rene Descartes revitalizing the ancient Greek atomic theory and Isaac
Newton soon to be admitted to Trinity College in Cambridge
e) upsetting about such an idea
f) including people
g) with secrets residing in nothing more than the extreme interconnectedness of
its billions of biological switches
Mechanical World-View
WORD FORMATION
3. Form the appropriate words to fill the gaps.
VOCABULARY STUDY
5. In the text find the equivalents to the following phrases:
- преждевременно прерванный
- практические выводы
- граничить с метафизикой
- свидетельство важности
- что-то вроде
- как это бывает после кульминации
- невинное утверждение
- грубо говоря
- осознавать последствия
6. Read the text and choose the heading for each paragraph:
A. Eternal dream
B. New prospects for the physics theory
C. Chaos reigns the human world
D. Unusual methods
E New interpretation of the old theory
____ 1. Over the past two decades, something extraordinary has been happening in
science. Tools, methods and ideas developed to understand how blind material fabric
of the universe behaves are finding application in the arenas for which they were
never designed, and for which they might at first glance appear ridiculously
inappropriate. Physics is finding its place in a science of society.
____ 2. Chaos theory, which matured in the 1980s, has so far proved rather
robust supplying insights into how complicated and ever-shifting (“dynamical”)
systems rapidly cease to be precisely predictable even if their initial states are known
in great detail. Chaos theory has been advocated as a model for market economics,
and its notion of stable dynamical states, called attractors, seemed to prove more
explanation for why certain models of social behavior or organization remain
immune to small perturbations.
____ 3. The current vogue is for the third of these three Cs: complexity. The
buzzwords are now “emergence”, and “self-organization”, as complexity heory seeks
to understand how order and stability arise from the interaction of many agents
according to a few simple rules. But what often passes today for ’’complexity
science” is really something much older, dressed up in a fashionable apparel. The
main themes of complexity theory have been studied by physicists or over a hundred
years, and these scientists have evolved a toolkit of concepts and techniques to which
complexity studies have added barely a handful of items. At the root of this sort of
physics is a phenomenon which immediately explains why the discipline may have
something to say about society: it is a science of collective behavior. At face value it
is not obvious how the bulk properties of insensate particles of matter should bear
any relation to how humans behave en mass. Yet physicists have discovered that
systems whose component parts have a capacity to act collectively often show
recurrent features, even though they might seem to have nothing at all in common
with one another.
____ 4. Physics deals with systems of many components, all interacting with
one another at once, and explains how regular and predictable behavior emerges in
statistical form from such seeming chaos. It is possible to see how physics is used to
understand some aspects of behavior of economic markets and to reveal the hidden
structure in networks of social and business contacts, thus uncovering physics of a
sort in the politics of conflict and cooperation. Scientists are beginning to realize that
theoretical framework that underpins contemporary physics can be adapted to
describe social structures and behavour ranging from how traffic flows to how the
economy fluctuates and how businesses are organized.
____ 5. Underlying all of this is a more difficult question: does physics simply
help to explain and understand, or can it be used to anticipate and thereby avoid
problems, to improve our societies, to make a better and safer world? Or is it merely
another dream destined for the already overflowing graveyard of utopias of the past?
WORD FORMATION
9. Form the suitable words from the words given in each line.
Computer View of Science
Some digit streams have no redundancy and are ... (1). compress
They are called ...(2) or algorithmically random. reduce
Scientific laws and facts can be viewed ... (3). similar
The basic ...(4) is a software view of science: sight
a ... (5) theory is like a computer program science
that predicts our ...(6), the experimental data. observe
Two fundamental principles... (7) this viewpoint. pin
...(8) two facts that explain the data, the simplest give
theory is ...(9). Second is Leibnitz ‘s insight, prefer
...(10) in modem terms: if a theory is the same size express
as the data it explains, it is ...(11). A useful theory worth
is a compression of the data; ...(12) is compression. comprehend
You compress things into computer programs, algorithmic descriptions.
The simpler the theory, the better you understand something.
1. Galileo was the first to turn the newly invented telescope to the heavens and was
among the earliest observers of sun spots and the phases of Venus.
2. The practitioners of religion seem all too eager to resort to threats, intimidation
and even assassination in order to avoid hearing opinions of scientists.
3. In the survey aimed at depicting a typical scientist 70 per cent of the scientists
pictured by the students needed glasses, 58 per cent wore lab coats, and 52 per cent
had facial hair or ‘extravagant hairdos’ - a number that may actually be too low to
attract the MTV generation. Only 16 per cent were clearly female.
4. Galileo is erroneously believed to have invented the telescope and have done
physics experiments at the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
5. Electronic mail is bound to have produced a sort of computer logorrhrea, with
everything going through this international rumor mill.
6. James Chadwick (1891-1974), who was to win a Nobel Prize for the discovery of
the neutron, kept boredom at bay in a German prison camp by experimenting in an
improvised laboratory.
7. Perhaps surprisingly, Planck’s school accomplishments in science and maths were
not very impressive whereas Planck seemed to display more talent for music.
8. It’s a common practice for everyone involved in the research to be named in the
article describing the findings.
9. The natural philosophers of the Enlightenment frequently sought to safeguard
their claims to a discovery, while minimizing the risk of public error, by depositing
their dated observations in an archive or by concealing them in a cipher.
10. The natural world was no longer considered quite so mysterious and magical, but
something to be catalogued, studied and probed with help from the growing body
of scientific knowledge.
1. Read the text and give headings to the numbered paragraphs.
a. The concept of beauty is
basically he same in all spheres
of life.
b. Dirac stressed the link between
validity of physical laws and their
mathematical beauty.
c. Einstein and Dirac had rather
different approach to science.
d. According to Einstein the
beauty of the theory was more
Albert Einstein Paul Dirac important than its correctness.
e. Objectivity is a crucial feature of science.
It Must be Beautiful
1. ______ Of the hundreds of thousands of research scientists who have ever lived,
very few have an important scientific equations to their name. Two scientists who
were adept at discovering fundamental equations and especially perceptive about the
role of mathematics in science were Albert Einstein and the almost comparably
brilliant English theoretical physicist Paul Dirac. Neither was a mathematician per
se, but both were remarkable in their ability to write down new equations that were so
fecund as the greatest poetry. And both were captivated by the belief that the
fundamental equations of physics must be beautiful.
2 . ______ This may sound strange. The subjective concept of beauty is unwelcome
in polite intellectual circles, and certainly has no place in academic critique of high
art. Yet it is a word that comes readily to the lips of all of us - even the most pedantic
critics when we are moved by the sight of a smiling baby, a mountain vista, an
exquisitely formed garden.
3 . ______What does it mean to say that the equation is beautiful? Fundamentally, it
means that the equation can evoke the same rapture as other things that many of us
describe as beautiful. Much like the great work of art, a beautiful equation has among
its attributes much more than mere attractiveness - it will have universality,
simplicity, inevitability, and an elemental power. Think of the masterpieces like
Cezanne’s Apples and Pears, Ella Fitzgerald’s recordings of “Manhattan". During
your first experience of each of them, you soon realized that you are in the presence
of something monumental in conception, fundamentally pure, free of excrescence and
crafted so carefully that its power would be diminished if anything in it were
changed. An additional quality of a good scientific equation is that it has utilitarian
beauty. It must tally with the results of every relevant experiment and, even better,
make predictions that no one has made before. This aspect of an equation’s
effectiveness is akin to the beauty of a finely engineered machine.
4. _____ The concept of beauty was especially important to Einstein, the twentieth
century’ quintessential scientific aesthete. According to his elder son Hans, “He had a
character more like that of an artist than a scientist as we usually think of them. For
instance, the highest praise for a good theory or a good piece of work was not that it
was correct, nor that it was exact but that it was beautiful.” He once went so far as to
say that “the only physical theories that we are willing to accept are the beautiful
ones” taking for granted that a good theory must concur with experiment.
5. ___ Dirac was even more emphatic than Einstein in his belief in mathematical
beauty as a criterion for the quality of fundamental theories and even averred that it
was for him a kind of religion. In the later part of his career, he spent a good deal of
time touring the world, giving packed-out lectures on the origins of the great
equation that bears his name, continually stressing that the pursuit of beauty had
always been a lodestar and a source of inspiration. During the seminar in Moscow
University in 1955, when asked to summarize his philosophy of physics, he wrote on
the blackboard in capital letters, ’’Physical laws should have mathematical beauty”.
For lesser mortals, such aestheticism is a tough and unproductive credo. Science is
littered with the remains of theories that were once perceived as beautiful but turned
out to be wrong. In 1921, Einstein correctly referred to astrophysicist Arthur
Eddington’s new theory of gravitation as “beautiful but physically meaningless”.
3. Read the text and decide whether the following statements are true or false.
1. Researchers put their generalizations in form of characters standing for measurable
quantities.
2. A mathematical equation proved to be the most powerful device in the scientists’
toolkit thanks to symbolic presentation.
3. Similarly to other great equations E = me2 states the equality between evident
things.
4. Great equations have much in common with the best poetry.
5. In contrast to poets, scientists’ primary goal is to avoid ambiguity.
6. There is also no explanation for the absolute necessity of mathematical laws.
7. A popular phrase that God is a mathematician shifts the accent of scholarly
discussion.
Equations and Laws of Nature
Poetry of science is in some sense embodied in its great equations. An equation
is fundamentally an expression of perfect balance. For the mathematician - usually
unconcerned with science - an equation is an abstract statement, having nothing to do
with concrete realities of the real world. It is perfectly possible to imagine a universe
in which mathematical equations have nothing to do with the workings of nature.
Yet the marvelous thing is that they do. Physicists routinely cast their laws in the
form of equations featuring symbols that each represents a quantity experimenters
can measure. It is through this symbolic representation that the mathematical
equation has become one of the most powerful weapons in scientists’ armory.
Best known of all scientific equations is E = me2, was first suggested by Einstein
in 1905. Like all great equations, it asserts a surprising equality between things that
superficially appear to be quite different - energy, mass and speed of light in a
vacuum. Like all other equations E = me2 balances two quantities, in the same way as
a pair of weighing scales, with the = sign serving as the pivot. But whereas the scales
balance weights, most equations balance other quantities. E = mc2, for example,
balances energies. This celebrated equation began its life as a confident Einstein’s
speculation, and only decades later became part of the corpus of scientific
knowledge, after experimenters had shown that it does indeed concur with nature.
Now a twentieth century icon E = me2 is one of the few things about science that
every TV quiz participants are expected to know.
Great equations also share with the finest poetry an extraordinary power - poetry
is the most concise and highly charged form of the language, just as the great
equations of science are the most succinct form of understanding of the aspect of
physical reality they describe E = me2 is itself enormously powerful; its few symbols
encapsulate knowledge that can be applied to every energy conversion, from ones in
every cell of every living thing on Earth, to the most distant cosmic explosion. Better
yet, it seems to have held good since the beginning of time.
In the same way as close study of a great equation gradually enables scientists to
see things they initially missed, so repeated readings of a great poem stir new
emotions and associations. The great equations are just as rich a stimulus as poetry to
the prepared imagination. Shakespeare could no more have foreseen the multiple
meanings readers have perceived in his poems than Einstein could have predicted the
myriad consequences of his equations of relativity.
None of this is to imply that poetry and scientific equations are the same. Every
poem is written in a particular language and loses its magic in translation, whereas an
equation an equation expressed in the universal language of mathematics is the same
in English as it is in Urdu. Also, poets seek multiple meanings and interactions
between the words whereas scientists intend their equations to convey a single logical
meaning. The meaning great scientific equations usually furnish us with is called a
law of nature.
WORD FORMATION: Academic English
4. Read the texts of the unit again and fill the table. Use a dictionary when
necessary.________ _______________________ _____________ Table 4
verb noun adjective
intend
perceive
multiple
predict
explosion
conception
attractiveness
imply
association
confident
simplicity
exponent
invariable
respond
existence
MIND YOUR PRONUNCIATION
5. In which words can you hear the following sounds?
[u] M
1. course 2. routinely 3. pure 4. put 5. poor 6. quality 7. guide
WORD FORMATION
6. Form the appropriate word for each italicized word in the line
7. Fill the gaps to form the well-known word combinations describing the
achievement in science and technology,
a) algebra b) cell c) counter d) cycle e) coordinates f) Daltonism
g) dog h) effect i) hypothesis j) lines k) modulus
1) movement m) Pasteurization n) pendulum o) system p) waves
• Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) was a Danish astronomer, the greatest exponent of
naked eye positional astronomy. Brahe is remembered for the Tychonic... (1),
in which planets circled the sun, which in turn cycled the stationary earth.
• Cartesian ... (2) is the most commonly used system of rectangular coordinates
employed in analytical geometry. The term is used after Rene Descartes
(1596-1650), a French mathematician, physicist and philosopher.
• 1800 Alexandra Volta invented the Voltaic ... (3).
• 1801 Interference of light was discovered by Thomas Young (1773-1829), a
British linguist, physician and physicist. His most significant achievement was
to resurrect the wave theory of light which had been occulted by Newton’s
particle theory. He also suggested the eye responded to mixture of primary
three colours and proposed modulus of elasticity known as Young’s ... (4).
• 1808 The “modern” atomic theory was propounded
by John Dalton. The word (5) is used both to
describe the atomic theory and a health disorder.
• Fraunhofer... (6) in the solar system were mapped
by Joseph von Fraunhofer.
• 1824 Thermodynamics as a branch of physics was
proposed by Sadi Carnot. Carnot ... (7) postulates
that the efficiency of a heat engine does not depend
on its mode of operation but only of the temperature
at which it accepts and discards heat energy. Thomas Young
• 1827 Brownian ... (8) resulting from vibrations was observed by Robert
Brown.
• George Boole (1815-1864) was a British
mathematician and logician, chiefly
remembered for devising Boolean... (9),
which allowed mathematical methods to be
applied to nonquantifiable entities such as
logical propositions. In the 20th century it
became important in the design of
telecommunications systems and logic
circuits, and hence in computer
George Boole technology.
• 1851 The rotation of Earth was demonstrated by Jean Foucault. The
Foucault... (10) used to be fixed on top of the tallest St. Petersburg’s cathedral
- St. Isaac’s as the replication of the famous experiment.
• Christian Doppler (1803-1853) (Austria) enunciated
the so-called “Doppler... (11)”, which explains
frequency variations observed when a vibrating
source of waves approach or recede from one another.
• Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) invented a process for
partially sterilizing milk originally by for improving
the storage qualities of wine known as ... (12).
• 1887 The existence of radio waves was predicted by
Heinrich Hertz. The research of Herzian ... (12) by
other scientists culminated in invention of the modem
radio. Christian Doppler
• The Geiger ... (13) was invented by Hans Geiger.
• Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), Russian physiologist, (the 1904 Nobel Prize
winner) is best known for his work on the conditioned reflex. Regularly, over
long periods, hearing a bell just to feed dogs, and found eventually they
produced saliva on hearing the bell, even when there was no food forthcoming.
In modem English Pavlov’s ... (14) is used to describe a person doing
something out of habit.
1. Now a twentieth century icon E=mc12 is one of the few things about science that
every TV quiz participants (expect) to know.
2. The famous Monument of the Fire in London, the world’s tallest Greek-style
column, is thought (design) by Hooke.
3. Linus Pauling (consider) to be the most influential chemist since Lavoisier and the
founding father of molecular biology.
4. Owing to Werner Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, all observations are seen
(affect) with a small but irreducible degree of imprecision.
5. Lavoisier was tried and found guilty, and when his achievements were brought to
the attention of the judge in an attempt of his friends to save him, the judge is said (to
reply), ‘The Republic has no need for scientists’
6. Western style development is known (bring) the third world accelerated depletion
of natural resources.
7. Scientists (know) to complain of a want of candor in their confreres, in pursuit of
patents or merely priority.
11. Use some of the nouns from Ex. 10 to fill the gaps.
Example: The structure can be stated in terms of concepts in relations. The whole
structure rests on observations and theoretical assumptions.
CONFUSABLES: verbs/nouns
12. Choose the word and put in the correct form to fill the gaps,
to devise/device
Mechanical machines were popular in the 17th century: the Scottish mathematician
John Napier (1550-1617) ... one, as did the French philosopher and mathematician
Blaise Pascal. (1623-1662). They were mechanical ... for adding and subtracting
numbers.
to advise/advice
Mendel duly followed his ..., did experiments and published the paper on his
unsuccessful resul.
to test/ a test; to taste/taste
The oddest manner in which a new sweetener came to light was when Shashkant
Phadnis, a foreign research student at King’s College in London misheard the
instructions of his supervisor, professor L. Hough. Hough asked him to ... the
substance, but his ear being imperfectly attuned to the language, Phadnis instead ...
it. The resulting artificial sweetener, sucralose, as it became known, can replace
sucrose at less than one-thousandth of the concentration,
to extend/extent
But they all rely on physical laws that have been, to some ... and at some point,
experimentally tested.
to emphasize/ emphasis
MIT's mission and culture continue ... teaching and research grounded in practical
applications of science and technology.
to analyse/ analysis
Carnot’s ... laid the cornerstone of a new discipline called thermodynamics, -
literally, “heat movement”.
to breathe /breath
The contruction of LHC is really a ...-taking achievement,
to weigh/weight
Mendeleyev decided to ... those substances who atomic ... seemed wrong to him.
1. Read the text and decide whether the following statements are true (T) or
false (F).
1.I t is essential for the modem science, specifically physics, that the discovered laws
can be written in the form of mathematical formulae.
2. Physicists believe that there should be an equation underpinning every
fundamental laws of nature.
3. Equations are part of every modem science.
4. Physics heavily relies on equations as its tool.
5. The most efficient approach of a physicist is to reduce complex things to then-
simple underlying structures.
6. The importance of equations varies in different sciences.
Equations in Science
VOCABULARY STUDY
4. Choose the correct word:
Definition, Classification, Description
Nearly half the mail authors ...(1) has to do, not with something they wrote, but
with something the correspondent thinks they wrote, so strong is our tendency to read
our own thoughts on the printed page.
In this respect ... (2) are essential for science as scientifically speaking, to define
means to state, in known terms, a clear ... (3) or a concept or the limits of a concept,
and to give a new ... (4) a specific term, which allows the members of the scientific
group to discuss the concept without misunderstanding. Definitions, together with
classifications and descriptions can be ... (5) to as basic types of statements in
science.
Mathematicians are fond of saying that mathematics is the key to it all. “God is a
mathematician,” ... (6) the mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz. But while
it is unquestionably true that mathematics works, it ... (7) a mystery just why this
should be so. ... (8) is the curious fact that rules of number developed here on Earth -
in the work of ancient Egyptian rope-stretchers surveying the Nile, and of college
professors today who use computers to ... (9) theorems beyond the reach of human
calculation - should also enable us to generate nuclear power and calculate the mass
of the Magellanic Clouds. As the Hungarian mathematician Eugene Paul Wigner
wrote, “The miracle of the appropriateness of the language of mathematics for the
formulation of the laws of physics is a wonderful gift, which we neither understand
n o r... (10)”
1. Read the text. Identify the topic and the main idea of each paragraph. Which
paragraphs contain description, classification or definitions?
People who have not studied the process of scientific discovery often suppose
that the scientific method consists of collecting facts, and then forming a hypothesis
to explain them. If this can explain other facts and support predictions, it is promoted
to the status of a theory, which may be subsequently embodied in the form of a
physical law. This will be accepted as valid until it is disproved, or modified, as a
result of later discoveries.
In fact, when great scientists go looking for facts, or when they conduct
experiments, they are usually looking for evidence to support or disprove a
hypothesis that is already at least half-formed in their heads. If they did not know the
makings of the hypothesis, they would not know where to look, or what to look for.
A good example of the true process of scientific discovery is the way in which
Charles Darwin arrived at his theory of evolution by natural selection. He did not
spend 20 years assembling facts about the natural world, and then look for hypothesis
to explain them. The similarities between birds on various islands o f the Galapagos,
and the similarities between past and present life forms in South America, suggested
to him that they had arisen as a result of a process of evolution. He then spent 20
years collecting a mass of evidence to support his initial hypothesis.
This approach had been the source of some of the most important discoveries in
the history of science. Unfortunately, if a hypothesis is both faulty and widely
supported, it can result in a lot of misguided effort, which may hold rather than
advance, science. This was what happened to chemistry in the eighteenth century,
when phlogiston theory was literally a burning issue. This theory was advocated by
many scientists, yet, the word was coined in 1697 by a German chemist Ernst Stahl.
4. Choose the appropriate word to complete the sentences referring to the text.
1. Normally accumulation of facts precedes/ proceeds hypothesizing.
2. The results of the controlled experiments are usually anticipated/ apprehended
by the scientists.
3. The idea of natural selection occurred to Darwin prior to/ as a consequence of the
body of evidence collected by him.
4. Instead of /Owing to advancing science a faulty hypothesis can impede it.
WORD FORMATION: Academic English
5. Read the texts of the unit again and fill the table. Use a dictionary when
necessary.
Table 6
verb noun adjective
deduce
derive
assumption
invalid
hypothesis
extension
indivisible
promising
converge
comprehensive
single
indicate
resemble
survive
sufficient
contradictory
complementary
MIND YOUR PRONUNCIATION
6. In which of the following words can you hear these sounds?
W [f] [s]
TALKING POINT
8. Discuss in pairs:
• types of experiments
• most famous experiments in physics
CONFUSABLES
10. Translate the following words that are often confused and use them to write
your own sentences.
1. subsequently - consequently -
2. embody - incorporate -
4. disproved — disapprove —
5. m isguided- misleading-
6. famous - notorious -
7. dead-end - deadline -
8. commonplace - commonsense -
11. Read the text and put the opening sentences in the numbered paragraphs.
A. Some theories may arouse doubt if they lack obvious evidence to support them.
B. Spacetime behavior suggests the underlying fine structure not unlike that of
atoms.
C. The theory of relativity embraces everything physical, including the fine structure
of spacetime.
D. It may take physicists long time to get confirmation to their theories.
E. The loop theory employs the procedures similar to theory of electromagnetism.
F. The goal of modem physics is to choose the most comprehensive theory from the
existing ones.
G. A viable spacetime theory must reflect the active aspect of spacetime.
Modern Cosmology Theories. Big Bang or Big Bounce?
1. _______Atoms are now such a commonplace idea that it is hard to remember
how radical they used to seem. When scientists first hypothesized atoms centuries
ago, many questioned whether the concept of atoms could even be called scientific.
Gradually, however, evidence for atoms accumulated and reached the tipping point
with Albert Einstein’s 1905 analysis of Brownian movement, the random jittering of
dust grains in a fluid. Even then, it took another twenty years for physicists to
develop a theory explaining atoms - namely, quantum mechanics - and another 30
years for physicist Erwin Mueller to make the first microscopic images of them.
2 . ___ Physicists’ understanding of the composition of space and time is following
a similar path, but several steps behind. Just as the behavior of materials indicates
that they consist of atoms, the behavior of space and time suggests they, too, have
some fine-scale structure - either a mosaic of spacetime ‘atoms” or some other
filigree work. Similarly to material atoms, the space atoms are the smallest indivisible
units of distance. They are generally thought to be about 10'35 meter in size, far too
tiny to be seen by today’s most powerful instruments, which probe distances as short
as 10 "l8 meter. Consequently, many scientists question whether the concept of atomic
spacetime can even be called scientific. Undeterred, other researchers are coming up
with possible ways to detect such atoms indirectly.
3 . _____ The most promising involve observations of the cosmos. If we imagine
rewinding the expansion o f the universe back in time, the galaxies we see all seem to
converge on a single infinitesimal point: the big bang singularity. At this point our
current theory of gravity - Einstein’s general theory o f relativity - predicts that the
universe had an infinite density and temperature. This moment is sometimes sold as
the beginning of the universe, the birth of matter, space and time. Such an
interpretation, however, goes too far. To explain what really happened at the big
bang, physicists must transcend relativity, we must develop a theory of quantum
gravity, which would capture the fine structure of spacetime to which relativity is
blind.
4. ___ The details of that structure came into play under dense conditions o f the
primordial universe, and traces of it may survive in the present-day arrangements of
matter and radiation. In short, if spacetime atoms exist, it will not take centuries to
find evidence, as it did for material atoms. With some luck, we may know within the
coming decade.
5. __ Physicists have devised several theories of quantum gravity, each applying
quantum principles in a distinct way. The theory of loop quantum gravity (“loop
gravity”, for short) was developed using a two-step procedure. First, theorists
mathematically reformulated general relativity to resemble the classical theory of
electromagnetism: eponymous “loops” of the theory are analogous of electric and
magnetic lines. Second, following innovative procedures, some that are akin to the
mathematics o f knots they applied quantum principles to the loops. The resulting
quantum gravity theory predicts the existence of spacetime atoms.
6. __ Other approaches, such as string theory and so-called causal dynamical
triangulations, do not predict spacetime atoms per se but suggest other ways that
sufficiently short distances might be indivisible. The differences among these theories
have given rise to controversy, but the theories are perhaps not contradictory so much
as complementary.
7. ____ The theory’s power is its ability to capture the fluidity of spacetime.
Einstein’s great insight was that spacetime is no mere stage at which the drama of the
universe unfolds. It is an actor in its own right. It not only determines the motion of
bodies within the universe, but it evolves. A complicated interplay between matter
and spacetime ensues. Space can grow and shrink.
Fermi Enrico (1901-1951) an Italian ... (1) physicist who was awarded a Nobel Prize
in 1938. His first ...(2) contribution was his examination of the properties of the
...(3) gas whose particles obeyed Pauli’s exclusion principle. The laws he derived
can be applied to the electrons in a metal, and explain ... (4) properties of metals.
Later he showed that most elements may have
isotopes produced by neutron bombardment.
Fermium
(Fm) is a ... (5) transuranium element
found in the debris from the first hydrogen bomb.
Fermi was also co-discoverer of the ... (6) Fermi-
Dirac statistics. In quantum mechanics it describes
the ... (7) behavior of indistinguishable particles with
a number of ... (8) states, each of which may be
occupied at any one time by a single particle only. Such particles are
Enrico Fermi termed fermions.
1. Read the text and compare physics and mathematics specifying similarities
and differences.
Physics and Mathematics
The traditional view is that physics and mathematics are quite different.
However, many scientists, especially working in both fields, find that there is no big
difference between the two fields. It is a matter of degree, of emphasis, not an
absolute difference. After all, mathematics and physics coevolved. For mathematics
to progress you actually need new ideas and plenty of room for creativity.
Mathematicians should not isolate themselves. They should not cut themselves off
from rich sources of new ideas.
Physics describes the universe and depends on experiment and observation.
The particular laws that govern our universe - whether Newton’s laws of motion or
Standard Model of particle physics - must be determined empirically and then
asserted like axioms that cannot be logically proved, merely verified.
Mathematics, in contrast, is somehow independent of the universe. Results and
theorems, such as the properties of the integers and real numbers, do not depend in
any way on the particular nature of reality in which we find ourselves. Mathematical
truths would be true in any universes.
Yet both fields are similar. In physics and indeed in science generally, scientists
compress their experimental observations into scientific laws. They often show how
their observations can be deduced from these laws. In mathematics, too, something
like this happens - mathematicians compress their computational experiments into
mathematical axiom, and they then show how to deduce theorems from these axioms.
An emerging field of science is experimental mathematics. In this area there are
many similarities: the discovery of new mathematical results by looking at many
examples using a computer. Whereas this approach is not persuasive as a short proof,
it can be more convincing that a long and extremely complicated proof, and for some
purposes it is quite sufficient. Extensive computer calculations can be extremely
persuasive, but do they render proof unnecessary? Yes and no. In fact, they provide a
different kind of evidence. In important situations both kinds of evidence are
required, as proofs may be flawed, and computer searchers may have the bad luck to
stop just before encountering a counterexample that disproves the conjectured result.
Mathematics differs from physics that is truly empirical but perhaps is not as
different as most people tend to think. A Hungarian-born scientist Imre Lakatos came
up with an expression quasi-empirical, which means that even though there are no
true experiments that can be carried out in mathematics, something similar does take
place. Some conjectures are arrived at experimentally, by noting empirically what is
true for certain sets of numbers. Some conjectures have not been proved yet, but
verified to a certain degree.
2. Translate the following words and find their synonyms in the text.
CONFUSABLES
6. Translate the following words that are often confused and use them to write
your own sentences.
1. close - to close -
2. complexity - complication -
3. namely - literally -
4. furthermore - further on -
5. confusion - embarrassment -
6. mean - means —
7. principle - principal -
8. sequences - consequences -
9. decide - solve -
10. case - occasion —
11. accident - incident -
12. occurrence - happening-
1. If rationality were the criterion for things..., the world would be one gigantic field
of soya beans.
2. Among other consequences, the discovery of radioactivity unlocked puzzle that
had tormented Charles Darwin in the last decades of his life: the age of the Earth,
inferred from the fossil record, vastly exceeded the calculated time required for earth
... from its temperature (that of the Sun) when formed.
3. It’s possible for a cam el... without drinking water for up to two weeks.
4. For mathematics... you actually need new ideas and plenty of room for creativity.
5. By the end of the 19th century many wise people believed that there was nothing
much left for science ....
6. It took twenty years for physicists... a theory explaining atoms - namely, quantum
mechanics, - and another 30 years for physicist Erwin Mueller to make the first
microscopic images of them.
7. Rusting represents the natural tendency for iron ... from the unstable condition
8. A slow molecule is a nearly stationary target for other molecules ....
VOCABULARY STUDY
8. Fill in the gaps with suitable words.
______________________ Complexity and Scientific Laws
a) arbitrarily b)argued c) back d) complicated
e)conversely f) distinguish g) lawless h) measuring
i) notions j) otherwise k) quantitative 1) random
Modem research based on ... (1) information shows that some mathematical facts
cannot be compressed into theoiy because they are too ... (2). The relationship
between complexity and scientific laws goes ... (3) to the 17th century when G.W.
Leibniz in his Discourse on Metaphysics ... (4) that one could ... (5) between facts
that can be described by some laws and those that are ... (6), irregular facts. Leibniz
states that theory has to be simpler than the data it explains, ... (7) it does not
describe anything. The concept of a law becomes vacuous if ... (8) high
mathematical complexity is permitted, because then one can always construct a law
no matter how ... (9) and patternless the data really are. ... (10), if the only law that
describes some data is an extremely complicated one, then the data are actually
lawless. Today the ... (11) of complexity and simplicity are put in precise ... (12)
terms by a modem branch of mathematics called algorithmic information theory.
1. Read the text and arrange the paragraphs in the correct order:
VOCABULARY STUDY
2. Read the text and choose the correct word.
Research in Science, Engineering and Technology
Research is the use of appropriate methods in attempting to discover new
knowledge or to develop new applications of existing knowledge or to explore
relationships between ideas or events. Scientific discoveries, technical/ technological
(1) achievements and scholarly publications are all fruits of research. Every discipline
develops tools and technology/techniques (2) appropriate to its subject mater, but
whether undertaken by scholar, technician/technologist (3) or a scientist, research
always involves three basic steps: the formulation of the problem, the collection of
relevant information and a concerted attempt to discover a solution or otherwise resolve
the problem in a manner dictated by the available evidence.
In the field of science and technology/techniques (4) fundamental (or properly
scientific) research aims at enlarging man’s understanding of observable phenomena;
the search is for general explanatory principles. Unlike applied or technological research
fundamental research is not explicitly directed to the solution of a practical problem,
although its results may, and usually do, suggest new technical /technological (5)
possibilities. Knowledge of the atomic structure is a goal of fundamental research;
possible applications of this knowledge - nuclear power plants and weapons - demand
technological research and development. In practice, however, the distinction is less
clear-cut: accidental scientific discoveries are often done by research workers pursuing
a practical goal in industry and engineering.
3. Read the text and fill the gaps with the following verbs.____________
a) arranged b) concluded c) christened d) greeted
e) ironed f) noticed g) presented h) published i) related
j) repeated k) retired 1) tried m) wondered n) worked______
resentment
continuous
coincidence
encouragement
marvelous
persist
retain
sustain
maintain
propel
expel
MIND YOUR PRONUNCIATION
5. In which words is letterp not pronounced?
1. pneumatic 2. psychology 3. phenomenon 4. pump 5. pneumonia
VOCABULARY STUDY
7. Fill the table.________ ______ Modality Words
Adjective Negative Noun Negative Verb Negative
adjective noun verb
manage fail
able unable ability disable
capable(of) capability incapability
possible impossible possibility
certain uncertain
probable improbable
8. Study the table and choose the right word.
VOCABULARY STUDY
10. Fill the gaps using the derived adjectives from Ex. 7.
12. Fill the gaps with the names of appropriate elements. The first is done for
you.
1 ...C (carbon)., is non-metal. It is unique among elements because a whole branch
o f chemistry (organic chemistry) is devoted to it.
2. Metallic ... is the main constituent of the earth crust, but it is rarely found in its
core. It is found in meteorites. Its deficiency in the human body causes anemia
3. .. .compounds are used in the manufacture of medicines, paints, explosives and
fireproofing materials
4 . . .. is used in roofing, water pipes, radiation shields and alloys including solder. It
is added to to gasoline as antiknock agent.
5 . . .. oxide or white arsenic is used as a poison.
6. ... It is also known as quick silver. The metal is used to form amalgams, for
electrodes, in barometers, thermometers.
7. The compound of... with oxygen referred to as laughing gas is used as a weak
anesthetic, sometimes producing mild hysteria and as an aerosol propellant.
8 . . .. has one natural radioactive isotope with half-life of 1.28 bln. years and can be
used to date ancient rocks. The salts of this element are essential to plant life (hence
their use as fertilizers) and important for animals for the transmission of impulses
through the nervous system.
9. ...is the sixth most common element and occurs naturally in common salt and
many other important minerals such as cryolite.
10. ...is used as a protective coating for steel, and in alloys including solder, bronze,
pewter, Babbitt metal.
11. The oxide of...is used as a bleach, disinfectant and powerful oxidizing agent.
12. The atoms o f ... make up 90% of the universe, on earth it occurs combined with
oxygen as water or with carbon as hydrocarbons (e.g. petroleum).
UNIT 10 PHYSICAL QUANTITIES, UNITS, CONSTANTS
Forces
1 . __ Some words in physics have a meaning that is more closely defined than the
word’s meaning in everyday use. There is a multitude of words in the English
language that represent force. Some examples of these words are: push, pull, hit,
knock, shove, effort, load, pressure, strength, power, and vigour. In science it is
essential to be careful in the use of words, so that when a word is used its meaning is
clear. For instance, in the above list, some of the terms are scientifically inaccurate.
Power means the wok done per time, it does not mean force. Pressure means force
per unit area; this is different from force. Other words in the list are simply
descriptions of particular situations where force occurs; tension, load and effort come
into this category.
2. When dealing with types of force, however, we find, surprisingly, that outside
the nucleus of atoms there are only two possible types of force, which are
electromagnetic and gravitational. Electromagnetic forces exist between moving or
stationary charges. Since all atoms have charged particles within them, it is
electromagnetic forces that bind atoms together in solids and liquids. On some
occasions the electrical nature of a force is important, while sometimes the magnetic
nature is important. In these cases there is not usually any problem pinpointing where
the force exists.
3. ___ In the vast majority of mechanics problems, however, it is the
electromagnetic forces between atoms that are of prime importance. Whenever
the atoms of one object are close to the atoms of another object, there will be a
contact force between them. All forces of contact are electromagnetic forces. In the
list given above push, pull, hit, knock, shove, effort are all examples of
electromagnetic forces. Tension is also a contact force, but is used in a rather special
way involving internal electromagnetic between atoms in a string as well as the
contact force between the string and the object to which it is attached.
4. ____ Gravitational forces exist between any two masses and can usually be
neglected unless one of those masses is very large. The gravitational force that a car
exerts on a caravan is negligible; the electromagnetic force of contact that the car
exerts on the caravan is the force that pulls the caravan along. In practice, the only
gravitational force that usually concerns us is the gravitational attraction of the Earth.
One of the results of the work of Newton is the introduction of the concept of gravity.
Gravity is a very mysterious force. How one mass exerts force on another when there
is no contact between them and nothing in the space between them is the mystery. As
gravity is such a familiar force, its strangeness is often overlooked.
VOCABULARY STUDY
2. Match physical quantities with their definitions.
wide
deepen
high
strength
weight
prolong
large
MIND YOUR PRONUNCIATION
5. In which words is the letter b not pronounced?
1. doubt 2. debt 3. bomb 4. bombing 5. undoubtedly
6. Read the text. Match names and symbols of units with their definitions.
As the nineteenth century drew to a close, scientists could reflect with
satisfaction that they had pinned down most of the mysteries of the physical world:
electricity, magnetism, gases, optics, acoustics, kinetics, and statistical mechanics, to
name just a few, all had fallen into order before them. They had discovered the X-
ray, the cathode ray, the electron, and radioactivity, invented the ohm, the watt, the
Kelvin, the joule, the amp, and the little erg.
If a thing could be oscillated, accelerated, perturbed, distilled, combined,
weighed, or made gaseous scientists had done it, and in the process produced a body
of universal laws so weighty and majestic that we still tend to write them out in
capitals: the Electromagnetic Field Theory of Light, Richter’s Law of Reciprocal
Proportions, Charles’s Law of Gases, the Law of Combining Volumes, the Zeroth
Law, the Valence Concept, the Laws of Mass Actions, and others beyond counting.
The whole world clanged and chuffed with the machinery and instruments that their
ingenuity had produced. Many wise people believed that there was nothing much left
for science to do.
Units named after scientists
1. Ampere (A) a) a unit o f force
2. Becquerel (Bq) b) a unit of pressure, stress
3. Coulobm (C) c) a unit of frequency
4. Farad (F) d ) unit of energy, work, quantity of heat
5. Joul (J) e) a unit of electric capacitance
6. Flerzt (Hz) f) a unit of electric charge, quantity of electricity
7. Kelvin (K) g) unit of power
8. Newton (N) h) a unit of electrical current
9. Pascal (Pa) i) a unit of activity of a radionuclide
10. Watt (W) j) unit of thermodynamic temperature
7. Read the text and decide whether the following statements are true or false:
Constants
1. The constants depend on the accurate measurements.
2. Physicists have been fascinated by the nature of constants.
3. There have been considerable insights of the nature of constants lately.
4. Modem scientists come up with plausible explanation of constants.
Some things never change. Physicists call them constants of nature. Such
quantities as the velocity of light c, Newton’s constant of gravitation, G, and the mass
of the electron, nt (e) are assumed to be the same at all places and times at the
universe. They form the scaffolding around which the theories of physics are erected,
and they define the fabric of our universe. Physics has progressed by making ever
more accurate measurements of their values.
And yet, remarkably, no one has ever successfully predicted or explained any of the
constants. Physicists have no idea why they take into account the special numerical
values that they do. The only thread running through the values is that if many of
them were even slightly different, complex atomic structures such as living beings
would not be possible. The desire to explain the constants has been one of the driving
forces behind the effort to develop a complete unified description of nature, or
“theory of everything”. Physicists have hoped that such a theory would show that
each of the constants of nature could have only one logically possible value. It would
reveal an underlying order to the seeming arbitrariness of nature.
In recent years the status of constants has grown more muddled, not less. Researchers
have found that the best candidates for a theory of everything, the variant of string
theory called m-theory, is self-consistent only if the universe has more than four
dimensions of space and time - as many as seven more. One implication is that the
constants we observe may not, in fact, be the truly fundamental ones. Those live in
the full higher-dimensional space, and we see only their three-dimensional
“shadows”.
Meanwhile physicists have also come to appreciate that the values of many of the
constants may be the result of mere happenstance, acquired during random events and
elementary particle process early in the history of the universe.
No further explanation would be possible for many of our numerical constants other
than they constitute a rare combination that permits consciousness to evolve. Our
observable universe could be one of many isolated oases surrounded by an infinity of
lifeless space - a surreal place where different forces of nature hold sway and
particles such as electrons or structures such as carbon atoms could be impossibilities.
If you tried to venture into that outside world, you would cease to be.
Thus, string theory gives with one hand and takes with the left. It was devised in part
to explain the seemingly arbitrary values of the physical constants, and the basic
equations of theory contain few arbitrary parameters. Yet so far string theory offers
no explanation for the observed values of the constants.
VOCABULARY STUDY
8. Form the word from the given one in each line:
Physical Constants
1. The first DNA model made by Watson and Crick was widely off the mark. A
better knowledge of chemistry might have saved them from the humiliating mistake.
perhaps.... would have...
2. But if Bacon genuinely thought this, it must have been because he never bothered
to read Aristotle at first hand.
........... certainly.......
3. Maxwell realized that the theory had profound philosophical implications, and he
may not have risked publishing it had there not already been good precedent.
............... perhaps....... didn’t...
4. If Boyle was right, then elements could only be mixed together, not changed - and
the idea of the four elements might have to be abandoned.
..............would ....probably..........
5. As a boy, Louis Pasteur had more talent for art than science, and it was said that he
could have been a great painter.
..... probably ... would have....
8. Singularly little is known about Fermat’s student years, though he must have
been a brilliant student as his accomplishments in his maturity suggest.
..... no doubt... was ....
CONFUSABLES10
TALKING POINT
6. Discuss in pairs:
• the atmosphere of the Earth while it was still forming;
• the reason gases escaped into outer space;
• the formation of rivers, lakes and oceans;
• the importance of plants’ appearance on the Earth;
• the way the evolution of animals influenced the atmosphere;
• the cause of a steady increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere during the last century;
• the reason for the water composition of the oceans being constant.
VOCABULARY STUDY
7. Complete the sentences with the words from the box. Give a suitable title.
8. Read the text again and say whether these statements are true or false.
a) The core is spherical in shape.
b) We know more about the composition of the crust than the composition of the
mantle.
c) The crust consists of minerals.
d) Iron oxide contains sulphur.
e) The inner core is situated at the centre of the Earth.
f) The outer and the inner cores consist of iron.
g) We know that the inner core is solid while the outer core is liquid.
h) At the center of the Earth, temperature and pressure are both very high.
9. Read the text and give a summary.
The Earth's interior
The Earth's interior is as inaccessible as the most distant galaxies in space. The
deepest wells go down only a few kilometers, barely penetrating the surface of our
planet. However, geologists have deduced the basic properties of the Earth's interior
by studying earthquakes.
Over the centuries, stresses build up in the Earth's crust. Occasionally, these
stresses are relieved with a sudden vibratory motion called an earthquake. The exact
origin of an earthquake, called its focus, is usually deep within the Earth's crust.
The point on the Earth's surface directly above the focus is called the earthquake's
epicenter.
Earthquakes produce three different kinds of seismic waves that travel around
or through the Earth in different ways and at different speeds. Geologists use
sensitive seismographs to detect and record these vibratory motions. The rolling
motion that people feel near an epicenter is caused by L waves, which travel only
over the Earth's surface and are analogous to water-waves on the surface of the
ocean. The two remaining kinds of waves, called primary or P waves and
secondary or S waves, travel through the Earth. P waves are said to be longitudinal
waves because their oscillations are parallel to the direction o f wave motion, like a
spring that is alternately pushed and pulled. In contrast, S waves are said to be
transverse waves because their vibrations are perpendicular to the direction in which
the waves are moving. S waves arc analogous to waves produced by a person
shaking a rope up and down (P waves travel almost twice as fast as S waves).
Consequently, P waves from an earthquake always arrive at a seismographic station
before S waves do. By measuring the time delay between the arrivals of these two
kinds of waves, geologists can deduce the distance to the earthquake's epicenter.
Seismic waves do not travel along straight lines through the Earth. Because of the
varying density and composition of the Earth's interior, both S waves and P waves
are bent, or refracted. By studying how these waves are bent, geologists can map
out the general structure of the Earth's interior.
When an earthquake occurs in the Earth's crust, seismographs within a few
thousand kilometers of the epicenter are able to record both S waves and P waves.
However, on the “Opposite” side of the Earth, only P waves can be recorded at
seismographic stations. This absence of S waves was first explained in 1906 by the
geologist R. D. Oldham, who noted that transverse vibrations such as S waves
cannot travel far through liquids. Scientists therefore concluded that our planet has
a molten core.10
11. It is interesting !
According to National Science Foundation News Paul Butler of the Carnegie
Institution in Washington spoke about Gliese 876 - a small, red star with about one-
third the mass of the sun that it was the smallest extrasolar planet yet detected and
the first of a new class of rocky terrestrial planets. He said that it was like Earth's
bigger cousin.
Geoffrey Marcy, professor of astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley,
adds: "Over 2,000 years ago, the Greek philosophers Aristotle and Epicurus argued
about whether there were other Earth-like planets. Now, for the first time, we have
evidence for a rocky planet around a normal star."
Though the researchers have no direct proof that the new planet is rocky, its mass
means it is not a giant gas planet like Jupiter, they said. They estimated the planet's
mass as 5.9 to 7.5 times that of Earth. It is orbiting a star called Gliese 876, 15 light
years from Earth, with an orbit time of just 1.94 Earth days. They estimated the
surface temperature on the new planet to be between 400 degrees and 750 degrees
Fahrenheit. Gliese 876 is a small, red star with about one-third the mass of the sun.
The researchers said this is the smallest star around which planets have been
discovered. In addition to the newly found planet the star has two large gas planets
around it.
Butler says the researchers think that the most probable composition of the planet
is similar to inner planets of this solar system - a nickel/iron rock. Gregory Laughlin
of the Lick Observatory at the University of California, Santa Cruz, says a planet of
this mass could have enough gravity to hold onto an atmosphere. "It would still be
considered a rocky planet, probably with an iron core and a silicon mantle. It could
even have a dense steamy water layer." Three other extrasolar planets believed to be
of rocky composition have been reported, but they orbit a pulsar - the flashing corpse
of an exploded star - rather than a normal type of star.
1. Since Galileo’s time, physicists have flourished mainly because kept things simple
and broke down the complexities of the everyday world into their simplest
component parts.
2. Both scientists and theologians began to ask just how all these species had come
about, and why each seemed so perfectly suited to the environment in which it lived -
fish can swim in the sea, birds can fly in the sky, and so on.
3. One of Gauss’s disciples used to put the book under his pillow before he went to
bed in the hope - frequently fulfilled - that he would wake up in the night to find that
a re-reading made things clear.
VOCABULARY STUDY
14. Choose the correct form (noun or participle). Check up the meaning of the
words in the Grammar Reference (GR-17 p. 204).
Example: Human being/beings can be considered the only species endowed with the
gift of reason.
Human beings (человеческие существа/люди) can be considered the only species
endowed with the gift o f reason.
1. It’s worth examining the shortcoming/shortcomings of Drexler's original vision
because this may give clues as to how we might make radical nanotechnology
feasible.
2. The working/workings of the world inspire curiosity of scientists.
3. The teaching/teachings of Aristotle and his commentators were the basis of
medieval science.
4. Fermat’s earning/earnings as a civil servant enabled him to pursue mathematics in
his spare time.
5. Glass making/makings at his mother’s glass factory fascinated young Dmitri
Mendeleyev as his first encounter with practical chemistry.
6. Hooke’s superb drawing/drawings appeared in his book Micrographia in 1665.
7. Firmer footing/footings to Copernicus’s ideas appeared only in Galileo’ s time.
8. In a 1936 the Proceeding/Proceedings of the London mathematical society
published a ground-breaking article by Alan M. Turing.
9. Hubble’s dramatic finding/findings attracted the attention of the famous physicist
Albert Einstein.
10. So-called a priori reasoning/reasonings in science prevailed in medieval
science.
11. Mendeleyev’s being/beings the first in his class brought him a gold medal when
he qualified as a teacher in 1855.
12. Working/workings closely with radioactive materials without realizing the
dangers involved was typical of Curies’ practices.
13. Gathering/gatherings of scientists in the form of workshops and symposia
provide them an opportunity to exchange ideas. 1
14. Leonardo’s belonging/belongings, including 13,000 priceless pages of his notes,
were shipped to Italy after his death
UNIT 12 ASTROPHYSICS
WORD FORMATION
4. Translate the following words and phrases into Russian:
to saturate, saturated, saturation;
to scorch, scorching, scorching environment;
a threat, threaten, to be threatened; the world is threatened
to control, to get out of control; a cycle gets out of control;
a witness, to witness, to bear witness;
sense, highly sensitive device, the sensitivity of a device;
inevitable, inevitably, inevitably cause;
data, a stream of data, to transmit a stream of data back to Earth;
even, even number, evenly, to distribute evenly.
TALKING POINT
5. Discuss in pairs:
• difficulties scientists encountered with while trying to explore Venus.
• the reason of the fact that we had known little about Venus before Magellan;
• the atmosphere on Venus;
• if we should study Venus;
• whether analysts agree about the original composition of Earth and Venus.
VOCABULARY STUDY
6. Complete the sentences using the words from the box:
a) radiation b) carbon dioxide c) concentration d)eruptions
e) atmosphere f) theory g)environments h) theories
There are two competing ... (1) about the origin of Venus. The traditional view
of scientists is that Venus was bom relatively dry and with a massive ... (2). The
planet was already so hot that no oceans were able to form, and a dense water vapour
- carbon dioxide atmosphere was created.
A different ... (3) has been put forward by other scientists. They believe that
Venus was formed with plenty of water. So Venus and Earth may have enjoyed
similar... (4) for several hundred million years.
Unfortunately for Venus, as its water molecules were broken down by solar
... (5) and lost into space, the oceans evaporated and disappeared. Without water
there was no mechanism to remove the sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide which
were continually being added to the atmosphere by volcanic ... (6). For most of its
life, Venus has been the barren inferno we see today.
Earth escaped this runaway greenhouse effect because it was cool enough to
retain its oceans and because living organisms evolved which were able to remove
the ... (7). But modem human activity may be creating the nightmare which nature
avoided. Greater ... (8) of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases
emitted by burning fossil fuels will inevitably cause a rise in global temperature.
This, in turn, will lead to more evaporation from the oceans. Since water vapour itself
is a very efficient greenhouse gas, the temperature will rise still further until the cycle
gets out of control.
According to this scenario, Earth will rapidly become another Venus, a world
totally alien to all forms of life. An unlikely chain of events?
WRITING
10. Write a letter of complaint about the faulty equipment delivered at your
laboratory . Use verbs and nouns from ex. 7.
CONFUSABLES
11. Translate the sentences paying attention to the meaning of the words in the
box.
used used to do
used to doing get used to
1. In June 1997 Andrew Wiles received the prestigious Wolfkehl prize. The reward -
established in 1908 by a German industrialist for cracking the baffling Fermat’s last
theorem - used to be worth $ 2 million. By the summer of 1997 it reduced to mere $
50.000 resulting from the hyperinflation.
2. Mendeleyev’s intuition had been right, however, and atomic number was used
successfully to assign a place in an expanded table for the noble gases - helium,
neon, krypton, radon, and xenon - which were discovered in the 1890s.
3. Fermat’s contemporary mathematicians got used to being challenged with
theorems which he claimed to have solved.
1. Read the text and decide whether the following sentences are true or false:
a) . Liquids are poorer conductors of heat than gases.
b) . Vacuum is the best insulator
c) . How well a substance conducts heat doesn’t depend on its structure and its
molecular bonds.
Heat Conduction
We know that heat is accomplished by three methods: conduction, convection and
radiation. If heat energy is transferred through space by means of electromagnetic
waves, the process is known as radiation. When heat exchange is caused by the bulk
motion of gas or liquid, we say that it happens due to convection. Though there is the
third way - conduction.
If a silver and a wooden spoon are dipped simultaneously into a glass with hot
water, in two minutes you will not be able to touch the handle of a silver spoon as it
will be hot, but that will not be the case with the handle of the wooden one. Why?
The reason is that the kinetic energy of the molecules at the hot end of the silver
spoon is readily transferred from one molecule to the next. That is, the kinetic energy
of molecules is transferred from one molecule to another through collisions.
However, this is not the case with wood. The transfer of heat from one molecule to
the next is known as conduction. When heat is transferred in this way, it is said to be
conducted. Materials in which this occurs readily are said to be good conductors of
heat.
All metals are good conductors of heat. In metals, in addition to molecular
collisions, there are a large number of “free” electrons (not permanently bound) that
can move and that can take part in the transfer of heat. These electrons contribute
significantly to heat transfer in metals.
Liquids and gases are in general relatively poor thermal conductors. Liquids are
better conductors of heat than gases because their molecules are closer together and
collide more often. Gases are poor conductors because their molecules are relatively
far apart and collisions do not occur as often. Substances that are poor thermal
conductors are known as thermal insulators, they prevent heat from escaping because
their molecules do not transfer heat readily from one to the next. Still air is one of the
poorest conductors: consequently it is one of the best insulators.. It has been noticed,
that any material which encloses plenty of air (is porous) is a good insulator, for
example: cork, wood, fibre-glass, asbestos, plastic foam (Styrofoam).
How are these properties of materials used in our everyday life? We make
cooking pots and pans from metals, because they conduct heat readily to the foods
inside, while the handles are made from the wood or plastic, thus preventing our
hands from burning. Pot holders are also made of cloth, a poor thermal conductor, for
the same reason. Fibre-glass insulation is used in the walls and attics of our houses.
Another example is a double window in our house: there is a layer of still air between
two glasses, as still air is a good insulator, subsequently, the double window prevents
the heat from escaping.
It is evident that the process of conduction as well as convection requires some
medium, while radiation can take place in both, gas and vacuum.
VOCABULARY STUDY
3. Translate the following words and word combinations:
conduct, conduction, conductive, heat conductivity, electrical conductivity;
penetrate, penetrative, penetration;
relate, relation, relative, relatively, relativity, theory of relativity;
insulate, insulator, insulating, insulation;
prevent, preventive, prevention, to prevent heat from escaping;
radiate, radiating, radiation, radiator;
heat, heating, central heating system;
5. Match synonyms to the underlined words:
8. Read the text and decide whether the following statements are true or false.
10. Translate the sentences and identify the functions of the words in bold
(Participle II or Past Indefinite).
1. What distinguished Rutherford from his colleagues - and the reason why he is
remembered today as one of the greatest experimental physicists of all time - was his
special qualities as a scientist.
2. Sir Neville Mott (1905-1998) was a distinguished theoretical physicist and
Cavendish professor in Cambridge, best remembered for his contributions to solid-
state physics.
3. In 1636, Hobbes traveled to Florence to meet the great man and became
convinced that the law of inertia was the axiom he had been seeking.
4. It was while studying for his Ph.D. at Indiana University that Watson became
interested in genetics.
5. Kekule was a noted teacher, but is now mainly remembered for his celebrated
dreams, in which came to him the two inspirations that changed the face of
chemistry.
6. Scornful of tradition, Babbage infuriated and bewildered his elders.
7. Noise annoyed Babbage and he campaigned against organ grinders; irritated
neighbors responded by paying street musicians to play outside his window.
11. Match the response from column В to the statements from column A.
Example: l . I a m puzzled by this problem, c) Ask Peter. He is likely to help you
A В
1.1 am puzzled by this problem a) Amazingly, I don’t feel sleepy.
2. Pr. Brown’s lectures are difficult. b) But it is embarrassing to call at 1a.m..
3. It is difficult to combine work and study, c) Ask Peter. He is likely to help you.
4. Arm is likely to have notes on maths. d) Yes, his explanations are confusing.
5. You must be exhausted after staying up all night, f) Thrilled? I am scared!
6 .1 couldn’t help laughing at his jokes. e) I am surprised that I manage to cope.
7 .1 am thrilled about the exam. g) Shocking, you mean.
8. The test results are rather disappointing, h) Yes, his jokes are always amusing.
13. Distribute the participial adjectives according to the feelings, reactions and
attitudes they express.
alarming amazing amusing annoying appalling astonishing
baffling bewildering boring bothering challenging confusing
daunting disappointing dazzling disgusting disturbing
embarrassing exciting exhausting fascinating frightening frustrating
humiliating impressing intriguing infuriating irritating mortifying
overwhelming puzzling scaring startling stunning
tantalizing terrifying thrilling tiring unnerving
1. bitter feeling of humiliation or despair
2. feelings of anxiety
3. feeling of fear
4. admiration mixed with surprise
5. describing something difficult but interesting
6. describing the sensation of excitement
7. describing something inexplicable
8. describing something that causes irritation
9. describing something that causes disgust
10. other meanings
3. Form phrases by matching the words from 1-1! with the words a-k and
translate:
VOCABULARY STUDY
6. Complete the sentences with words from the box.
VOCABULARY STUDY
8. Fill the gaps with adverbs formed from participles
1. Scheele discovered oxygen in 1772, but for various ... (1) complicated reasons
could not get his paper published in a timely manner.
2. Two things were notable about the ... (2) simple Avogadro’s principle: first, it
provided a basis for more accurate measuring the size and weight of atoms. And
second, almost no one knew about it for almost fifty years.
3. As he aged Mendeleev became ... (3) eccentric - he refused to acknowledge the
existence of radiation or the electron or anything else much that was new - and
difficult.
4. In 1936, the economist Keynes bought a trunk of Newton’s papers at auction and
discovered that they were ... (4) preoccupied not with optics or planetary motions,
but with a single-minded quest to turn base metals into precious ones.
5. In 1875-8, Hibbs produced a series of papers which ... (5) elucidated the
thermodynamic principles of, well, nearly everything.
6. Roemer’s observations gave the speed of light as 28 000 kilometers per second.
This is a ... (6) close to the modem value given that it was the first measurement.
7. While Hooke continued to contribute to ... (7) endless stream of ideas to almost
every field of science, he began to become ... (8) bitter and isolated as other
scientists started to take the credit for theories he had either suggested or proved with
practical demonstrations, or experiments.
TALKING POINT
3. Discuss in pairs:
• the peculiar properties of a laser beam;
• the scope of laser application;
• fields of science and technology where the use of masers is highly promising.
VOCABULARY STUDY
4. Translate the following word combinations (compound nouns) into Russian;
current oscillation, wave length, signal feed,
quantum amplifiers, semiconductor laser, ruby crystal,
pulsed laser, power efficiency, power generation,
long distance communication, semiconductor quantum generators,
light wave energy, miniature radio stations, optic quantum generators,
high frequency radiation, superspeed computers, luminescent ciystal lasers,
transmission band frequency, small divergence beam,
radio frequency quantum generator, decimeter wave radio receiver.
5. Read the text and put the verbs in the appropriate form:
About sixty years ago, neither laser installations nor the very word laser ... 1 (to
be) in existence. Today the field of laser applications ... 2 (to expand) very rapidly.
Lasers ...3 (to use) in electronics, medicine, engineering, communications, the
automobile and aircraft industry, agricultural machine building, and other fields of
the economy and science. Let us point out only a few uses of the laser such as micro
welding, resistor trimming, etc., something that can ...4 (to perform) perfectly well
today.
Laser radiation ...5 (to have) the property of selective excitation o f atoms
and molecules, enabling laser isolation of isotopes. The first successful experiment in
separating isotopes by laser was performed in our country at the Institute of
Spectroscopy of the USSR Academy of Sciences, in 1972. This work ... 6 (to
regard) by specialists as highly promising for power engineering and production
of superpure materials.
The use of laser technology ...7 (to increase) considerably the resolution and
sensitivity of the spectroscopic methods. Without the laser beam, there could be no
optical electronics which computer specialists use as to make high-speed and small-
size computers. Optical electronic instruments for recording, storing and processing
information ...8 (to use) a laser beam. Lasers can quickly record and read out
information, with recording density being 100 times higher than in the most
advanced magnetic system used in computers of old generations. It is evident that
it is due to lasers that centralized archives ...9 (to set up) allowing us to display
any required information on a home TV screen.
We ...10 (to succeed) in designing a new information carrier which can be
used for multiple recording of light signals, similar to the magnetic tape recording,
Great importance ...11 (to give) today to the use of lasers in medicine. Lasers
have been successfully used in eye treatment.
Thus the laser today comes in handy in solving process and quality control
problems, in medicine, communications and computer technology. High-power
lasers ...12 (to use) now for long-distance space communications. It can do hundreds
of jobs; the number ...13 (to increase) constantly, and is becoming a customary and
indispensable assistant in most professions.6*
7. Form phrases by matching the words from 1-10 with the words a-k:
10. Convert the following complex sentences into simple ones using Absolute
Participial Construction.
Example-. It’s easy to feel sad about the world, since a billion people are still poor,
the earth’s population is doubling* the environment is being damaged.
It's easy to feel sad about the world, with a billion people still being poor, the earth’s
population doublings the environment being damaged.
1. Up to 30 per cent of underground storage tanks and pipelines leak and one gallon
of petrol contaminates millions of gallons of groundwater.
2. There are three Rs in environmental waste management - reduce, reuse and
recycle; actually reuse and reduce are being neglected.
3. When Linnaeus completed his work on plant kingdom, he turned his attention to
the animal kingdom.
4. There are thousands of cables required to carry all the channels of data from the
detectors in the LHC and every cable is individually labeled and needs to be
painstakingly matched up to the correct socket and tested.
5. Mendel’s prediction came true in 1900, when three European botanists, each of
whom worked independently, obtained results that showed how plant heredity was
governed.
6. Physicists have devised several theories of quantum gravity and each theory
applied quantum principles in a distinct way.
1. ...advanced instruments are used accurate measurements of the size and weight of
atoms can be obtained.
2. Many cognitive scientists suggest that a kind of high-speed Darwinism takes place
in the neocortex - a process in which original ideas crop up at random and then
survive or fail in microseconds, ...upon their fitness for rapidly-changing
electrochemical environments produced by surrounding brain activity.
3. ...their experiments of bombarding uranium with neutrons, Meitner collaborated
with her nephew, Otto Frisch, to discover nuclear fission and predict the chain
reaction.
4. ...to Thome, “Zwicky did not understand the laws of physics well enough to be
able to substantiate his ideas.”
5. Roemer’s observations gave the speed of light as 28 000 kilometers per second was
stunningly close to the modem value ... that it was the first measurement, ever, of
this speed.
6.... two facts that explain the data, the simplest theory is preferred.
UNIT 16 PHYSICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
KUNCL.
я VETENSKAPSAKADEMIEN
THE RQYAl SWEDISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
VOCABULARY STUDY
3. Match two words from 1-9 with the words a-i and translate:
1. lattice-adapted 2. development 3. number of 4. rapid
5. integrated 6. semiconductor 7. fibre-optic
8. technological 9. ultra-rapid___________________________
a) transistors b) breakthrough c) communication
d) laser e) circuit f) chip g) increase*45
h) components_____ ’ heterostructure
TALKING POINT
4. Discuss in pairs and make a dialogue:
• the reason of the rapid development in Information Technology;
• the rapid development of electronic computer technology;
• the number of components on a chip today;
• a decisive part for modem telecommunications;
• the structure o f a composite semiconductor;
• the significance of heterostructures’ invention;
• range of heterostructures’s application;
• Zhores I. Alferov and his team’ success.
The invention of the transistor just before Christmas 1947 is usually taken to
mark the start o f the development of modem semiconductor technology (Nobel Prize
in Physics 1956 to William B. Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter H.Brattain). With
the transistor there came a component that was considerably smaller, more reliable
and less energy-consuming than the radio valve, which thus lost its importance. The
increasing complexity of a system using more and more radio valves meant that a
practical limit had been reached with around a thousand valves. By soldering
individual transistors together on a printed-circuit board the system could be
increased to over ten thousand transistors. Even though the transistor permitted
an increase in the complexity of a system of individual components soldered together
it soon became clear that the number of transistors was the limiting factor in meeting
the needs of the emerging computer industry. As early as the beginning of the 1950s
there were ideas and thoughts about manufacturing transistors, resistors and
condensers in a composite semiconductor block, an integrated circuit.
The people who were to demonstrate the practical possibility of an integrated
circuit were two young engineers, Jack S. Kilby and Robert Noyce, working
independently of each other. Kilby, however, was the first with his patent application
and Noyce knew of this work when he filed his own application. The integrated
circuit is more of a technical invention than a discovery in physics. However it is
evident that it embraces many physical issues. One example is the question of how
aluminum and gold, which are part of an integrated circuit, differ regarding their
adhesion to silicon. Another question is how to produce dense layers that are only a
few atoms thick.
It is thus obvious that the development of the integrated circuit prompted
enormous investment in research and development in solid-state physics. This has not
only led to development in semiconductor technology but also to gigantic
development of apparatus and instruments. Continual miniaturisation, moreover, has
come up against a number of material-physical limitations and problems that have
had to be solved. The notion of an integrated circuit was there. But ten years were to
pass from the invention of the transistor before the technology involved had matured
sufficiently to allow the various elements to be fabricated in one and the same basic
material and in one piece. The invention is one in a series of many that have made
possible the great development of information technology. The integrated circuit is
still, after 40 years, in a dynamic phase of development with no sign of flagging.6*
7. It is interesting to know!
The Ioffe Institute is one of Russia's largest institutions for research in physics
and technology with a wide variety of operating projects. It was founded in 1918 and
run for several decades by Abram F. Ioffe. So it is quite natural that the Institute
bears the name of this outstanding scholar and manager. The Institute is affiliated
with the Russian Academy of Sciences. It comprises the departments of Physics,
Solid State Electronics, Solid State Physics, Plasma Physics, Atomic Physics,
Astrophysics, of Dielectric and Semiconductors and the Centre of
Nanoheterostructure.
The Centre of Nanostructure of the Ioffe Theoretical Physics Institute is involved
in research in the following areas
- physics and technology of silicon and III-V semiconductor heterostructures,
especially nanoheterostructures (quantum wells, quantum wires, quantum dots);
- medicine electron materials science and characterization (transmission and
scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis, X-ray diffraction and
topography, Auger electron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectrometry, deep
level transient spectroscopy);
- optoelectronics, nanoelectronics (low-dimensional heterostructures);
- theory of electrical, optical and quantum coherent phenomena in semiconductors;
- ultrafast processes and nonlinear optic phenomena;
- semiconductor laser diodes (CW, DFB, and picosecond heterostructure lasers),
photodetectors and solar cells;
- pulse power III-V semiconductor devices;
It has 206 researchers, including 30 Doctors of Science and 121 PhDs on the staff.8
Double negation
11. To define means to state a clear description or a concept or the limits of a
concept, which allows the members of the scientific group to discuss the concept
without misunderstanding.
12. Lord Kelvin, though a physicist, was also no mean mathematician.
Prodigious numerical facility seems to be not uncommon among the best
mathematicians.
i. No new technology invokes Faust more forcefully than does genetic engineering.
1. It was not until 1913, some six years after Mendeleyev’s death that Henry
oseley showed that the position of an element in the Table is governed not by its
omic weight but by its atomic number.
ORD FORMATION: Negative prefixes (dis-, im-, in-, ir-, mis-, non-, un-)
I. Form words with negative meaning
Significantly, while Einstein’s relativity had played a key role in both the ‘Big
mg’ and Black Holes theory, the other revolutionary idea, quantum physics,
emed almost to have been sidelined as irrelevant to cosmology.
Thorium (2) integrated into a gas, which eventually turned into an (3) known
;ment that was extremely radioactive.
It seems (4) likely that Leonardo tried out many of his amazing ideas.
How (5) appropriate the Greek word ‘atomon ’, literally translated as ‘indivisible ’
is would not be recognized until demonstrated in a spectacular fashion by Ernst
itherford in the twentieth century.
Galileo was one of those rare thinkers who can arrive at the right answer when the
perimental data are (6) leading.
(7) violent action works much better than violence. The war is viewed as (8) moral by
) just by the vast majority of scientists. Lifting o f the sanctions for compliance
going monitoring violence would be (10) increased.
Ether was supposed to be a stable, (11) visible, (12) friction and (13) fortunately
roily imaginary medium that was thought to permeate the universe.
Watson and Crick built a model based on Watson’s (14) perfect recollection of
anklin’s evidence which showed the molecule as a triple helix.
VOCABULARY STUDY
3. Translate the following words and expressions into the Russian language:
fluid, fluidity, superfluidity, superfluid material;
pioneer, pioneering, pioneering contribution;
integer, integral, integrate, integration, integrity, integrator;
circle, circular, circular motion, circulation of the current;
destroy, destroyer, destruction, destructive, destructive magnetic field;
alternate, alternative, alternating, alternating current
4. Form phrases by matching the words from 1-10 with the words
a-j and translate:
TALKING POINT
5. Discuss in pairs:
• works of the three Nobel Prize winners in 2003;
• material used in MRI;
• the phenomenon of superconductivity;
• Nobel Prize foundation;
• Nobel Prize Commitee
MAKING PRESENTATIONS:
6. Find material and make Power Point presentation about life and
contributions into science of one of the Nobel Prize winners.
WORD FORMATION
7. Read the following text and fill in the gaps with an appropriate form of the
words in brackets.
12. Fill the gaps using the following words. Translate the sentences.
a) better b) greater c) insatiable
d) possible e) short____________________
Example-. The degree of one’s emotion varies inversely with one’s knowledge of
facts - the less you know, the hotter you get. B. Russell
Степень эмоций человека обратно пропорциональна его знанию фактов -
меньше вы знаете, тем больше вы горячитесь.
1. Today’s most powerful instruments probe distances as ... as 10 '18 meter.
2. Ada was convinced of her mathematical prowess, writing to Babbage that ‘the
more I study the more... I feel my genius for it to be’.
3. You compress things into computer programs, into concise algorithmic
descriptions. The simpler the theory, the... you understand something.
4. In using the instrument an experimenter has to make use of his or her own skills to
obtain as accurate reading as....
5. According to Einstein’s General Theory, objects with mass create distortions, or
curvatures, in space-time, and the larger the object, the ... the distortion
CONFUSABLES: Comparatives
13. Choose the right word.
1. Hooke and Huygens made their own telescopes, especially Huygens whose
telescopes were technically superior/inferior to anything that had been done before.
2. Models by definition are less/lesser than the reality they represent, and for models
of the Universe this constraint obviously must be particularly stringent.
3. Hypothesis is any sentence that has as a consequence at least/lest one empirical
generalization.
4. A theory is deduced as a plausible explanation of facts derived from observation or
experiment. A theory gains credibility through the farther/further accumulation of
evidence or predictions.
5. As Hooke grew elder/older, he became increasingly depressed and withdrawn.
6. As early/late as 1909, the great British physicist J. J. Thomson was insisting: “The
ether is not a fantastic creation of the speculative philosopher; it is as essential to us
as the air we breathe” — this more than four years after it was pretty incontestably
established that it didn’t exist.
UNIT 18 NANOTECHNOLOGY
1. Read the text and decide whether the following statements are true or false.
1. Popular view of nanotechnology is optimistic though naive.
2. Nanotechnology has already delivered products that have revolutionized our life.
3. The field of nanotechnology can be subdivided into four areas.
4. Drexler’s view represented radical nanotechnology.
5. The behavior of things at nanoscale is governed by a different kind of physics.
6. Drexler's original "diamondoid" visions of nanoworld are shared by most scientists.
Nanotechnology is slowly creeping into popular culture, but not in a way that
most scientists will like. Scientists expect that nanotechnology will lead to tiny
robotic submarines navigating our bloodstream is ubiquitous, and images like that are
frequently used to illustrate stories about nanotechnology in the press. Yet today's
products of nanotechnology are much more mundane - stain-resistant trousers, better
sun creams and tennis rackets reinforced with carbon nanotubes. There is an almost
surreal gap between what the technology is believed to promise and what it actually
delivers.
The reason for this disparity is that most definitions of nanotechnology are
impossibly broad. They assume that any branch of technology that results from our
ability to control and manipulate matter on length scales of 1-100 nm can be counted
as nanotechnology. However, many successes that are attributed to nanotechnology
are merely the result of years of research into conventional fields like materials or
colloid science. It is therefore helpiul to break up the definition of nanotechnology a
little.
What we could call "incremental nanotechnology" involves improving the
properties of many materials by controlling their nano-scale structure. These are the
sorts of commercially available products that are said to be based on nanotechnology.
However, they do not really represent a decisive break from the past.
In "evolutionary nanotechnology" we move beyond simple materials that have been
redesigned at the nano-scale to actual nano-scale devices that can, for example, sense
the environment, process information or convert energy from one form to another.
Taken together, incremental and evolutionary nanotechnology are driving the current
excitement in industry and academia for all things nano-scale.
But where does this leave the original vision of nanotechnology as articulated by Eric
Drexler? Back in 1986 Drexler published an influential book called Engines of
Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology, in which he imagined sophisticated
nano-scale machines that could operate with atomic precision. We might call this
goal "radical nanotechnology". Drexler envisaged a particular way of achieving
radical nanotechnology, which involved using hard materials like diamond to
fabricate complex nano-scale structures by moving reactive molecular fragments into
position. His approach was essentially mechanical, whereby tiny cogs, gears and
bearings are integrated to make tiny robot factories, probes and vehicles.
Drexler's most compelling argument that radical nanotechnology must be
possible is that cell biology gives us endless examples of sophisticated nano-scale
machines. Drexler argued that if biology works as well as it does, researchers ought
to be able to do much better. Surely we can create what are, in effect, synthetic life
forms that can reproduce and adapt to the environment and overcome "normal" life in
the competition for resources.
Drexler's book raised one big spectre. By engineering a synthetic life form that
could create runaway self-replicating machines, we might eventually render all
normal life extinct. This scary possibility was dubbed by Drexler as the "grey goo"
scenario. It is what triggered much of the public's doubts about nanotechnology. It is
nevertheless worth examining the shortcomings of Drexler's original vision because
this may give clues as to how we might make radical nanotechnology feasible.
Designs that function well in our macroscopic world will work less and less well as
they shrink in size.
Scientists almost always greatly overestimate how much can be done over a 10
year period, but underestimate what can be done in 50 years. Which design
philosophy of radical nanotechnology will prevail - Drexler's original "diamondoid"
visions or something closer to the marvellous contrivances of cell biology?
Nanotechnology in Space
Nanotechnology could lead to radical improvements for space exploration.
When itcomes to taking the next "giant leap" in space exploration, scientists are
thinking small -really small. In laboratories around the world, governments are
supporting the burgeoning science of nanotechnology. The basic idea is to learn to
deal with matter at the atomic scale - to be able to control individual atoms and
molecules well enough to design molecule-size machines, advanced electronics and
"smart" materials.
Nanotechnology could lead to robots you can hold on your fingertip, self-healing
spacesuits, space elevators and other fantastic devices. Some of these things may take
more than 20 years to fully develop, others are taking shape in the laboratory today.
Nanotechnology could provide the very high-strength, low-weight fibers that would
be needed to build the cable of a space elevator. Simply making things smaller has its
advantages. Imagine, for example, if the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity could
havebeen made as small as a beetle, and could scurry over rocks and gravel as a
beetle can, sampling minerals and searching for clues to the history of water on Mars.
Hundreds or thousands of these diminutive robots could have been sent in the same
capsules that carried the two desk-size rovers, enabling scientists to explore much
more of the planet's surface - and increasing the odds of stumbling across a fossilized
Martian bacteria!
But nanotech is about more than just shrinking things. When scientists can
deliberately order and structure matter at the molecular level, amazing new properties
sometimes emerge. An excellent example is that darling of the nanotech world, the
carbon nanotube. Carbon occurs naturally as graphite - the soft, black material often
used in pencil leads - and as diamond. The only difference between the two is the
arrangement of the carbon atoms. When scientists arrange the same carbon atoms into
a "chicken wire" pattern and roll them up into miniscule tubes only 10 atoms across,
the resulting "nanotubes" acquire some rather extraordinary traits.
Nanotubes have 100 times the tensile strength of steel, but only 1/6 the weight, are
40 times stronger than graphite fibers, conduct electricity better than copper, can be
either conductors or semiconductors (like computer chips), depending on the
arrangement of atoms and are excellent conductors of heat.
Much of current nanotechnology research worldwide focuses on these nanotubes.
Scientists have proposed using them for a wide range of applications: in the high-
strength, low-weight cable needed for a space elevator; as molecular wires for nano
scale electronics; embedded in microprocessors to help siphon off heat; and as tiny
rods and gears in nano-scale machines, just to name a few. Scientists are looking at
how nano-materials could be used for advanced life support, ultra-powerful
computers, and tiny sensors for chemicals or even sensors for cancer."
A chemical sensor using nanotubes can detect as little as a few parts per billion of
specific chemicals - like toxic gases - making it useful for both space exploration
and homeland defense. Tomorrow's spacecraft will be built using advanced nano
materials. Molecule-size sensors inside astronauts' cells could warn of health impacts
from space radiation.
5. Match the words from the top line with an appropriate word from the bottom
line and translate:
TALKING POINT
6. Discuss in pairs:
• the basic idea of nanotechnology;
• the focus of current nanotechnology research;
• application of nanotechnology in space exploration;
• extraordinary traits of nanotubes;
• manufacturering nanotubes with extraordinary properties;
• the advantages and use of a chemical sensor based on nanotubes
• a wide range of applications of nanotechnology.
WORD FORMATION
7. Form the word to fill the gap in each line.
Potential Dangers of Nanotechnology
The physical form of a material can drastically... (1) its toxicity. effect
One sobering example is asbestos, which comes in two ... (2) chemistry
forms - serpentine and chrysotile asbestos. While the former is a ... (3) harm
mineral that consists of flat sheets of atoms, the latter exists... (4) form, tube
... (5) to these nano-scale tubes has killed many people from lung cancer Expose
and other diseases. Carbon nanotubes are rolled-up version of a sheet...(6) form
mineral that itself is not toxic. Though we have no definitive ... (7) evident
that carbon nanotubes are dangerously toxic,... (8)surely prudent
suggests that we should be ... (9) when handling them. After all, care
every new material has the potential to be... (10). toxicity
But it is the wrong ... (11) that all nano-scale materials are assume
... (12) dangerous. Imposing a blanket ban would be absurd inherent
and ... (13). If we wanted to avoid nanoparticles completely, enforce
we would have to give up drinking milk, full as it is of nano-scale casein particles.
VOCABULARY PRACTICE
8. Choose the word which best completes each sentence.
Light-emitting nanostructures are widely used for optical, photonic, chemical, and
biological ... (1). For example, fluorescent nanoparticles are useful for biological
assays and as tumor markers, chemical sensors, and organic lasers, whereas one
dimensional luminescent nanowires are exploited for novel nanoscale photonic
devices such as nano-lasers and nanowire scanning ... (2). While several methods to
prepare organic, inorganic, and polymeric light-emitting nanostructures have been
...(3), the fabrication of luminescent nanoarchitectures with a tailored morphology
and pattern is still challenging. Researchers in Korea have discovered that non-
luminescent polystyrene can be ...(4) into a luminescent organic material whose
emitting color can be tuned from deep blue to white by electron irradiation. They
demonstrated that luminescent nanopattems are readily...(5) only by irradiating an
electron beam to the selected regions of polystyrene. In addition, the top-down
irradiation approach in conjunction with self-assembled polystyrene nanostructures
... (6), fabrication of diverse and complex luminescent nanoarchitectures.
1. a) tools b) devices c) apparatus
2. a) microscopy b) spectrometry c) photography
3. a) developed b) examined c) exploited
4. a) learned b) explored c) converted
5. a) fabricated b) manufactured c) beamed
6. a) uses b) allows c) enables
Big Bang
The Big Bang theoiy isn’t about the bang itself but about what happened after the
bang. By doing a lot of math and watching carefully what goes on in particle
accelerators, scientists believe they can look back to 10-43 seconds after the moment
of creation, when the universe was still so small that you would have needed a
microscope to find it. Most of what we know about the early moments of the
universe is thanks to an idea called inflation theory first propounded in 1979 by a
junior particle physicist, then at Stanford named Alan Guth. He would probably never
have had his great theory except that he happened to attend a lecture on the Big Bang
given by Robert Dicke. The lecture inspired Guth to take an interest in cosmology,
and in particular in the birth of the universe.
The eventual result was the inflation theory, which holds that a fraction of a
moment after the dawn of creation, the universe underwent a sudden dramatic
expansion. It inflated - in effect ran away with itself, doubling in size every 10-
34seconds. Inflation theoiy explains the ripples and eddies that make our universe
possible. Without it, there would be no clumps of matter and thus no stars, just
drifting gas and everlasting darkness.
According to Guth’s theory, at one ten-millionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a
billionth of a second, gravity emerged. After another ludicrously brief interval it was
joined by electromagnetism and the strong and weak nuclear forces. These were
joined an instant later by swarms of elementary particles. From nothing at all,
suddenly there were swarms of photons, protons, electrons, neutrons, and much else
- between 1079and 1089of each. In a single instant there was a vast universe - at
least a hundred billion light-years across and perfectly arrayed for the creation of
stars, galaxies, and other complex systems. Wiat is extraordinary is how well it
turned out for us.
This is one reason that some experts believe there may have been many other big
bangs, perhaps billions and billions of them, spread through the mighty span of
eternity, and that the reason we exist in this particular one is that this is one we could
exist in.
In the long term, gravity may turn out to be a little too strong, and one day it may halt
the expansion of the universe and bring it collapsing in upon itself, till it crushes itself
down into another singularity, possibly to start the whole process over again. On the
other hand it may be too weak and the universe will keep racing away forever until
everything is so far apart that there is no chance of material interactions, so that the
universe becomes a place that is inert and dead, but very keep racing away. The third
option is that gravity is just right - “critical density” is the cosmologists’ term for it
- and that it will hold the universe together at just the right dimensions to allow
things to go on indefinitely. Cosmologists in their lighter moments sometimes call
this the Goldilocks effect - that everything is just right.
You can never get to the edge of the universe. That’s not because it would take
too long to get there —though of course it would - but because even if you traveled
outward and outward in a straight line, indefinitely and pugnaciously, you would
never arrive at an outer boundary. Instead, you would come back to where you began
(at which point, presumably, you would rather lose heart in the exercise and give up).
The reason for this is that the universe bends, in a way we can’t adequately imagine,
in conformance with Einstein’s theory of relativity.
For a long time the Big Bang theory had one gaping hole that troubled a lot of
people - namely, that it couldn’t explain how we got here. Although 98 percent of all
the matter that exists was created with the Big Bang, that matter consisted exclusively
of light gases: the helium, hydrogen, and lithium. Not one particle of the heavy stuff
so vital to our own being - carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and all the rest - emerged from
the gaseous brew of creation. But - and here’s the troubling point - to forge these
heavy elements, you need the kind of heat and energy of a Big Bang. Yet there has
been only one Big Bang and it didn’t produce them.
Singularity
In a single blinding pulse, a moment of glory much too swift and
expansive/expensive (1) for any form of words, the singularity assumes heavenly
dimensions, space beyond conception. In the first second (a second that many
cosmologists will devote careers to shaving into ever-finer wafers) gravity and the
other forces that control/govern (2) physics were produced. In less than a minute the
universe became a million billion miles across and was growing fast. In three
minutes, 98 percent of all the matter there is or will ever be was
manufactured/produced (3). And it was all done in about the time it takes to make a
sandwich.
When this moment happened/occurred (4) is a matter of some debate.
Cosmologists have long argued over whether the moment of creation was 10 billion
years ago or twice that or something in between. The consensus seems to be heading
for a figure of about 13.7 billion years, but these things are famously/notoriously (5)
difficult to measure.All that can really be said is that at some
indefinite/indeterminate (6) point in the very distant past, for reasons unknown,
there came the moment known to science as t = 0.
The notation/notion (7) of the Big Bang is quite a recent one. The idea had been
around since the 1920s, when Georges Lemaitre, a Belgian priest-scholar, first
tentatively/preliminarily (8) proposed it, but it didn’t really become an active notion
in cosmology until the mid-1960s when two young radio astronomers made an
extraordinary and inadvertent discovery. In 1965, Amo Penzias and Robert Wilson
were trying to make use of a large communications antenna owed/owned (9) by Bell
Laboratories at Holmdel, New Jersey, but they were troubled by a
persistent/resistant (10) background noise — a steady, steamy hiss that made any
experimental work impossible. The noise was unrelenting and unfocused. It came
from every point in the sky, day and night, through every season. For a year the
young astronomers did everything they could think of to track down and
destroy/eliminate (11) the noise: they tested every electrical system, they rebuilt
instruments, checked circuits, thoroughly cleaned the antenna. Nothing they tried
functioned/worked (12).
Unknown to them, just thirty miles away at Princeton University, a team of
scientists led by Robert Dicke were working on how to find the very thing they were
trying so deliberately/diligently (13) to get rid of. The Princeton researchers were
persisting/pursuing (14) an idea that had been suggested in the 1940s by the
Russian-born astrophysicist George Gamow that if you looked deep enough into
space you should find some cosmic background radiation left over from the Big
Bang. Gamow calculated that by the time it crossed the vastness of the cosmos, the
radiation would reach Earth in the form of microwaves. In a more recent paper he had
even proposed/suggested (15) an instrument that might do the job: the Bell antenna
at Holmdel. Unfortunately, neither Penzias and Wilson, nor any of the Princeton
team, had read Gamow’s paper.
The noise that Penzias and Wilson were hearing was the noise that Gamow had
postulated. They had found the edge of the universe, or at least the obvious/visible
(16) part of it, 90 billion trillion miles away. They were “seeing” the first photons -
the most ancient light in the universe - though time and distance had
converted/conveyed (17) them to microwaves, just as Gamow had predicted. Still
unaware of what caused the noise, Wilson and Penzias phoned Dicke at Princeton
and described their problem to him in the hope that he might suggest a solution.
Dicke realized/released (18) at once what the two young men had found.
Soon afterward the Astrophysical Journal published two articles: one by Penzias
and Wilson describing their experience/experiment (19) with the hiss, the other by
Dicke’s team explaining its nature. Although Penzias and Wilson had not been
looking for cosmic background radiation, didn’t know what it was when they had
found it, and hadn’t described or interpreted its character in any paper, they
obtained/received (20) the 1978 Nobel Prize in physics. Neither Penzias nor Wilson
altogether understood the significance of what they had found until they read about it
in the New York Times. The Princeton researchers got only sympathy.
Supemovae occur when a giant star, one much bigger than our own Sun,
collapses and then ... (1) explodes, releasing in an instant the energy of a hundred
billion suns, burning for a time brighter than all the stars in its galaxy. In fact, most
are so ... (2) distant that their light reaches us as no more than the faintest twinkle.
For the month or so that they are visible, all that distinguishes them from the other
stars in the sky is that they occupy a point of space that wasn’t filled before.
The term supernova was coined in the 1930s by a ... (3) odd astrophysicist named
Fritz Zwicky. Bom in Bulgaria and raised in Switzerland, Zwicky came to the
California Institute of Technology in the 1920s and there at once distinguished
himself by his abrasive personality and erratic talents. But Zwicky was also capable
of insights of the most startling brilliance.
In the early 1930s, he turned his attention to a question that had long troubled
astronomers: the appearance in the sky of occasional unexplained points of light, new
stars. ... (4) he wondered if the neutron — the subatomic particle that had just been
discovered in England by James Chadwick, and was thus both novel and rather
fashionable - might be at the heart of things. It occurred to him that if a star collapsed
to the sort of densities found in the core of atoms, the result would be an ...(5)
compacted core. Atoms would ... (6) be crushed together, their electrons forced into
the nucleus, forming neutrons and a neutron star. After the collapse of such a star
there would be a huge amount of energy left over - enough to make the biggest bang
in the universe. He called these resultant explosions supemovae. They would be -
they are - the biggest events in creation.
On January 15, 1934, the journal Physical Review published a very concise
abstract of a presentation that had been conducted by Zwicky and Baade at Stanford
University. Despite its extreme brevity - one paragraph of twenty-four lines - the
abstract contained an enormous amount of new science: it provided the first reference
to supemovae and to neutron stars;... (7) explained their method of formation;... (8)
calculated the scale of their explosiveness; and, as a kind of concluding bonus,
connected supernova explosions to the production of a mysterious new phenomenon
called cosmic rays, which had ... (9) been found swarming through the universe.
These ideas were revolutionary, to say the least. Neutron stars wouldn’t be
confirmed for thirty-four years. The cosmic rays notion, though considered plausible,
hasn’t been verified yet. Altogether, the abstract was, in the words of Caltech
astrophysicist Kip S. Thome, “one of the most prescient documents in the history of
physics and astronomy.”
... (10), Zwicky had almost no understanding of why any of this would happen.
According to Thome, “he did not understand the laws of physics well enough to be
able to substantiate his ideas.” Zwicky’s talent was for big ideas. Others - Baade
mostly - were left to do the mathematical sweeping up. Zwicky also was the first to
recognize that there wasn’t ... ( 11) enough visible mass in the universe to hold
galaxies together and that there must be some other gravitational influence - what we
now call dark matter. One thing he failed to see was that if a neutron star shrank
enough it would become so dense that even light couldn’t escape its immense
gravitational pull. You would have a black hole.
... (12), Zwicky was held in such disdain by most of his colleagues that his ideas
attracted almost no notice. When, five years later, the great Robert Oppenheimer
turned his attention to neutron stars in a landmark paper, he made not a single
reference to any of Zwicky’s work even though Zwicky had been working for years
on the same problem in an office just down the hall. Zwicky’s deductions concerning
dark matter wouldn’t attract serious attention for nearly four decades.
7. Convert the following sentences into simple ones using verbal structures.
Example: Although Descartes’ vortex theory of the solar system was celebrated,
it was ultimately unsuccessful. Despite being celebrated Descartes’ vortex theory of
the solar system was unsuccessful.
1. Marie Curie spent a lot of effort and time, so that she could isolate radium.
2. Although the story about the apple is often dismissed as a legend Newton himself
claimed it was so.
3. Although Darwin’s ideas grew by slow accumulation, there was one ‘Eureka!’
moment, when he read An Essay on the Principle o f Population by T.Malthus.
4. The astrophysicists did everything so that the hiss would disappear.
5. Though Penzias and Wilson did not understood the significance of their discovery
they received the 1978 Nobel Prize in physics.
4. Match the words from the top line with their antonyms from the bottom line:
TALKING POINT
5. Discuss in pairs and make up a dialogue:
• the appearance of a black hole notion;
• who introduced the notion of a black hole;
• the available information about black holes;
• the reformulation of the phenomenon of a black hole in terms of the new
general theory of relativity.
VOCABULARY STUDY
6. Complete the sentences using the words from the box:
a) luminosity b) mass c) evolution d) event horizon e) cluster
f) exotica gravity h) supermassive black holes g) fuel i) growth
When a star runs out of nuclear... (1), it will collapse. If the core, or central region
of the star, has a ... (2) that is greater than three suns, no known nuclear forces can
prevent the core from forming a black hole.
Anything that comes within a certain distance of the black hole, called the ...
(3), cannot escape, not even light. The radius of the event horizon (proportional to the
mass) is very small, only 30 kilometers for a non-spinning black hole with the mass of
the sun. The extreme ... (4) around black holes will produce X-rays when infalling gas
is heated to millions of degrees. The best places to look for black holes are regions
where large supplies of gas are available, such as double star systems, star forming
regions, or the centers of galaxies.
There is strong evidence for two types of black holes: stellar black holes with
masses of a dozen suns, and ... (5) with masses of many millions of suns. Stellar black
holes are formed as a natural consequence of the ... (6) of massive stars. The origin of
supermassive black holes is a mystery. They are found only in the centers of galaxies. It
is not known whether they are formed in the initial collapse of the gas cloud that
formed the galaxy, or from the gradual growth of a stellar mass black hole, or from
the merger of a centrally located ... (7) of black holes, or by some other mechanism.
The mass of a stellar black hole can be deduced by observing the orbital
acceleration of a star as it .orbits its unseen companion. Likewise, the mass of a
supermassive black hole can be determined by using the orbital acceleration of gas
clouds swirling around the central black hole. When orbital acceleration cannot be
used to establish the mass of a black hole, astronomers can place a lower limit on its
mass by measuring the X-ray ... (8) due to matter falling into a black hole. The
pressure of the X-rays must be less than the pull of the black hole’s gravity. In the case
of the black hole discovered in M82 this limits its mass to greater than 500 suns. The
M82 black hole is much larger than known stellar black holes, and much smaller than
supermassive black holes, thus it is called a "mid-mass" black hole.
Astrophysicists believe that galactic centers were the “only places where
conditions were right for the formation and ... (9) of large or very large black holes”.
The discovery of a large, mid-mass black hole away from the galaxy's center shows that
somehow - and it is not an easy task theoretically - black holes much more massive
than ordinary stellar black holes can form in dense star clusters. Current possible
explanations for the formation of mid-mass black holes include such ... ( 10) as black
hole mergers or the collapse of a hyperstar. An intriguing implication is that mid-mass
black holes could prove to be a common feature in star forming regions of galaxies.
Note: merger -поглощение; luminosity -светимость; implication - вывод,
следствие.
WORD FORMATION
7. Use the words in brackets in the right form:
Space-time in the vicinity of a black hole is ... 1 (severe) distorted, so much so
that time is stopped and space is ripped open, for we can't cross the radius
successfully. The effects on the temporal dimension of space-time can be... 2
(illustrate) by considering a journey into a black hole. You and your robot (the one
who'll make the journey which you ... 3 (observation) from afar) synchronize your
watches before beginning: you monitor the journey on your robot's watch, which you
see through your telescope. As your robot falls toward the black hole you notice that
the light emitted by its watch is ... 4 (redshift) - it appears more red than it did
before the robot left. This occurs not only because it is ... 5 (accelerate) to high
speeds as it falls in but also because the intense ... 6 (gravitation) field induces a
redshift on the light. Even if the robot were to somehow stop in its tracks, the light
from it would be redshifted by the gravity. Furthermore the time from its clock, as
read by you, is earlier than what is given by your watch. In other words, time for the
robot has slowed down as you see it. As it gets ... 7(close) to the black hole the
slowdown is greater, so much so that, if noon were the time you calculated that the
robot would reach the Schwartzschild radius, then you would see its watch approach
noon but never reach it, just as you would notice the robot approach the
Schwartzschild radius but never get there.
For the robot things are different: as - it falls toward the black hole it notices the
horizon (the boundary of the black hole as ... 8 (observe) by the robot) to rise up
into the sky and shrink into a smaller and smaller circle overhead until it finally ...
9 (vanish) when the robot reaches the Schwartzschild radius (when its clock reads
noontime). Now the robot sees nothing of the outside world; for this reason the
Schwartzschild radius is also called the "event horizon." What happens inside the
black hole is anybody's guess and is not properly describable by someone outside.
Perhaps the robot falls immediately to the center and is crushed by the infinite
gravity, perhaps it comes out into another universe where robots aren't ... 10
(subject) to such cruel and unusual experimentation; perhaps something else. Notice
that you, on the outside, never see the robot pass the Schwartzschild radius - just
approach it - but the robot notices that it fell in; this is an example of the severe
distortion of space-time, quite literally a hole in space.
1. Scientific American was founded to provide technical help and legal advice to
inventors.
2. It reported the hallmarks of science and technology during the Industrial
Revolution.
3. Many of the would-be Nobel Prize winners were among its contributors.
4. The journal has a limited edition due to its highly professional nature.
Scientific American
Scientific American, the oldest continuously published magazine in the U.S., has
been bringing its readers unique insights about developments in science and
technology for more than 150 years. In 1845 Rufus Porter founded the publication as
a weekly broadsheet subtitled "The Advocate of Industry and Enterprise, and Journal
of Mechanical and Other Improvements." A restless inventor, Porter soon turned to
other ventures, and after 10 months sold Scientific American —for the sum of $800 -
to Orson Desaix Munn and Alfred Ely Beach.
In an era of rapid innovation Scientific American founded the first branch of the
U.S. Patent Agency to provide technical help and legal advice to inventors. A
Washington, D.C. branch was added in 1859. By 1900 more than 100,000 inventions
had been patented thanks to Scientific American.
For a century, Munn & Company retained ownership of the journal, which
chronicled the major discoveries and inventions of the Industrial Revolution,
including the Bessemer steel converter, the telephone and the incandescent lightbulb.
Edison presented the prototype of the phonograph for inspection by the editors, and
Samuel Morse, father of the telegraph, and Elias Howe, inventor of the sewing
machine, were frequent visitors to the offices in downtown New York City.
By 1904 journal had established its hallmark for pinpointing emerging trends
before news of them reached the general population. Articles on Marconi's
experiments appeared two decades before the advent of radio. With ahead-of-the-
curve reporting, Scientific American continued to cover groundbreaking events in
science and technology. More than 120 Nobel laureates have written for Scientific
American, most of whom wrote about their prize-winning works years before being
recognized by the Nobel Committee. In addition to the likes of Albert Einstein,
Francis Crick, Jonas Salk and Linus Pauling, Scientific American continues to attract
esteemed authors from many fields:
Scientific American is a truly global enterprise. The journal publishes 15 foreign
language editions and has a total of more than 1,000,000 copies in circulation
worldwide. Scientific American understood early on the importance of the Internet,
so in March 1996, it launched its own Web site at www.SciAm.com. Scientific
American has distinguished itself by looking ahead for more than 150 years. More
relevant and topical than ever, it is a powerful tool for forward-thinking readers.
GRAMMAR PRACTICE: Linking Words-II ( Multiple Meaning)
10. Translate the sentences paying attention to the function oiyet, while, for,
since, onc,e thus
1. F leming ’s finding, which he called lysozyme, would prove to be a dead end in the
search for efficacious antibiotic, since it typically destroyed nonpathogenic bacterial
cells as well as harmful ones.
2. The alchemists still believed in the same four basic elements as the Greek
philosophers, while the chemists leaned to the ideas of Robert Boyle.
3. While he was working at McGill University in Canada Rutherford concluded that
radioactivity was a process in which the atoms of one element spontaneously changed
into atoms of a different element, which was also radioactive.
4. Viewed by such lights, the old question of whether the intricate beauty of
biological systems could have been produced by mere chance is turned on its head,
and we are prompted to ask whether design could have done as good a job as chance
evidently has.
5. The ceremonies (white ties and tails, of course, tuxedoes are so declasses) are
occasions for ladies to show off their finery. And they had better. For the television
broadcast includes the fashion commentary, and woe betide the lady, whose couture
is not haute enough.
6. The Copemican revolution was in full swing all over the Europe. However, it
would be another 200 years before the Catholic Church lifted its ban on De
Revolutionibus.
7. For all its brevity - one paragraph of twenty-four lines - the abstract contained an
enormous amount of new science.
8. However battered and bruised it may at times have been, at the end of the
twentieth century science emerged as a victor, as the key intellectual discipline for
the twenty first century and beyond.
9. The less appetizing the reality, the more inclined we are to resort to euphemisms,
thus comforting ourselves by denying ourselves the truth.
10. In the previous half century, Kepler had shown that planets have elliptical orbits,
and Galileo had shown that things accelerate at an even pace as they fall towards the
ground.
11. A problem once grasped was never released till Gauss had conquered it, although
several other might be in the foreground of his attention simultaneously.
12. Einstein once went so far as to say that ‘the only physical theories that we are
willing to accept are the beautiful ones” taking for granted that a good theory must
concur with experiment.
CONFUSABLES
12.FH1 the gaps with the words from the box.
1. B u t... the scales balance weights, most equations balance other quantities.
2. ... a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest of motives.
O. Wilde
3. At the start of the 20th century Paul Wolfkehl, a German industrialist, bequeathed
100,000 marks to ... could meet Fermat’s challenge.
4. Mendeleev was said to have been inspired by the card game known as solitaire in
North America and patience elsewhere, ... cards are arranged in by suit horizontally
and by number vertically.
5. The only absolute, according to Einstein, is the speed of light, which is the same ...
and ... it is measured.
6. The dominating force opposing motion... arises from viscosity rather than inertia.
7. The fact that an opinion is widely held is no evidence ... that it is not utterly
absurd. B. Russell
8. Opponents fear that in tinkering with DNA, the coded essence of life, science may
unleash dark forces that it cannot... contain.
1. Read the text and give the headings to the numbered paragraphs.
a. Sophisticated yet manageable and controllable
b. Aspirations and expectations
c. A machine of superlatives
d. Long-awaited facility
e. Hurdles and failures
2. In the text find phrasal verbs and nouns corresponding to the words below.
appear- anticipate - arise - collisions -
consist - delay - delays - perform -
postpone - prove - readings - return -
select- suggest- resist/withstand -
3. Read the text and decide whether the following statements are true or false:
a) Physicists hope that the LHC will enhance their ability to answer many scientific
questions;
b) LHC-like collisions are very scarce in nature;
c) All people around the world are eagerly awaiting the LHC to start operating.
TALKING POINT
6. Discuss in pairs:
• the objective of the LHC project;
• the opportunities for physicists with the start of LHC;
• the appearance of tiniest black holes during the LHC operation;
• fears of the public concerning the LHC experiments;
• the discussion around the LHC project
1. After finishing her degree, R. Franklin spent a year in research at Cambridge, but
gave i t ... to work in industry studying the physical structure of coal.
2. And it is in his biology that Aristotle’s genius shines . . . .
3. Our lungs take ... the oxygen we need from the air and expel carbon dioxide.
4. The first certitude Descartes discovered was his famous cogito ergo sum, and on
the basis of this, the existence of everything, he worked ...his philosophy.
5 .1. Newton applied the law to the Moon, showing that the Moon tries to carry ... in
a straight line, but gravity pulls it into an orbit.
6. When Michelson carried ... his experiment, in Chicago in 1887, all the streetcars
in the city were stopped in order to avoid the slightest disturbance.
7. Helicopter toys had actually been ... for centuries, but Leonardo was the first to
try and design one as a means for lifting people.
8. As Babbage was poring over statistic tables, he came... error after error made by
the ‘computers’, the poorly paid human calculators who worked out such figures.
9. While electrical hysteria was going ..., rapid and serous advances were being
made by experimental scientists towards understanding the true nature of electricity.
10. It turned ... that Kelvin was mistaken about how fast the earth is cooling; further
calculations showed that the world was over 4 billion years old.
9. Insert the suitable verb: came do done drew get ironed pointed sort spelling
turned
1. It is Bacon writing in the first decades of the seventeenth century, who is usually
credited with ...out the principles of empirical science and the role that experiments
should play in hypothesis testing.
2. When Newton made his theory of light and color known in 1672, Hooke... out that
what was right in Newton’s theory had been suggested by him seven years previously
3. Newland’s system had its faults, but given time and encouragement he could have
them ...out.
4. In 1870, Julius Lothar Meyer (1830-1895), a German chemist, who independently
from Mendeleev ... up the periodic table, published his version.
5. The row over who had been the first to think of Calculus became so bitter that the
Royal Society held an inquiry to ... out the mess.
6. In 1755 Linnaeus ... down the offer from the King of Spain to come and live at the
Spanish court with a very handsome salary.
7. The occult qualities of late scholastic science were to be ... away with; the only
ideas which were clear and distinct were to be employed.
8. To answer the question about what transfers vibration, scientists ... up with the
idea of a weightless matter called ‘ether’.
9. Romans did n o t... round to inventing paper or gunpowder, but when it came to
technology and administration of a great empire they were equal to the Chinese.
10. For young Gauss whose inhuman memory enabled him to ... without a table of
logarithms, all the endless arithmetics was the sport of an infant.
1. Tax farms was a sound financial investment and helped Lavoisier to get wealthy,
but it would also prove in time to be his ...fall, for the tax farmers were not popular
with the people.
2. A major set... occurred in 1862, when the Scottish physicist W. Thomson, later
Lord Kelvin, estimated the age of the Earth scientifically. Kelvin declared the Earth
could be no older than 40 million years old and possibly only 20 million years old.
3. As a ...-product of his work, Rutherford had made a significant discovery in an
entirely different field, and pioneered a new science - radiometric dating.
4. The ...come was the development of the first nuclear bomb, which, ironically, was
detonated on Japan after the fall of Germany.
5. In 1514, Copernicus published a little handwritten book for his friends. Called
Commentariolus, it gave the first ...line of his revolutionary theory.
6. Fleming’s discovery was one of the medicine’s greatest ...throughs.
7. The ...break of the First World War prevented Bohr from taking up a
professorship in theoretical physics in Copenhagen.
8. Darwin’s ...sight was to focus on individuals, not species and he showed how
individuals evolve by natural selection.
9. -10. If the reaction in the heat-producing core of a nuclear power station goes out of
control, there may be a melt-... causing a radioactive material to release into the
environment radiation in the form of radioactivity and radioactive fall-....
ll.W rite a letter to a foreign colleague. Use the following phrasal verbs
check up get round to look forward pick up put off, put up come
1. Read the text and say whether the following statements are true or false:
1. The theorem known as the Poincare conjecture was first postulated by French
mathematician Henri Poincare 150 years ago.
2. It was very easy to prove the Poincare conjecture theorem.
3. Perelman’s work withstood two years of scrutiny before he became eligible for the
prize.
Perelman proved Poincare’s Conjecture
The Poincare conjecture had a $l-million reward on offer for its proof: it is one
of seven such “Millenium Problems” singled out in 2000 by the Clay Mathematics
Institute in Cambridge, Mass.
The branch of mathematics that studies manifolds is topology. Among the funda
mental questions topologists can ask about 3-manifolds are: What is the simplest type
of 3-manifold, the one with the least complicated structure? Does it have many
cousins that are equally simple, or is it unique? What kinds of 3-manifolds are there?
The answer to the first of those questions has long been known: a space called the 3-
sphere is the simplest compact 3-manifold. (Noncompact manifolds can be thought of
as being infinite or having an edge. Hereafter only compact manifolds are being
considered.) The other two questions have been up for grabs for a century but have
been answered in 2002 by Grigori ("Grisha") Perelman, a Russian mathematician
who has proved a theorem known as the Poincare conjecture.
First postulated by French mathematician Henri Poincare exactly 100 years ago,
the conjecture holds that the 3-sphere is unique among 3-manifolds; no other 3-
manifold shares the properties that make it so simple. The 3-manifolds that are more
complicated than the 3-sphere have boundaries that you can run up against like a
brick wall, or multiple connections from one region to another, like a path through
the woods that splits and later rejoins. The Poincare conjecture states that the 3-
sphere is the only compact 3-manifold that lacks all those complications. Any three-
dimensional object that shares those properties with the sphere can therefore be
morphed into the same shape as a 3-sphere; so far as topologists are concerned, the
object is just another copy of the 3-sphere. Perelman's proof also answers the third of
the above mentioned questions: it completes work that classifies all the types of 3-
manifolds that exist.
It takes some mental gymnastics to imagine what a 3-sphere is like - it is not simply a
sphere in the everyday sense of the word. But it has many properties in common with
the 2-sphere, which we are all familiar with: If you take a spherical balloon, the
rubber of the balloon forms a 2- sphere. The 2-sphere is two-dimensional because
only two coordinates - latitude and longitude - are needed to specify a point on it.
Also, if you take a very small disk of the balloon and examine it with a magnifying
glass, the disk looks a lot like one cut from a flat two-dimensional plane of rubber. It
just has a slight curvature. To a tiny insect crawling on the balloon, it would seem
like a flat plane. Yet if the insect travelled far enough in what would seem to it to be a
straight line, eventually it would arrive back at its starting point.
Similarly, a gnat in a 3-sphere - or a person in one as big as our universe! - perceives
itself to be in “ordinary” three-dimensional space. But if it flies far enough in a
straight line in any direction, it will eventually circumnavigate the 3-sphere and find
itself back where it started, just like the insect on the balloon or someone taking a trip
around the world. Spheres exist for dimensions other than three as well. The 1-sphere
is also familiar to you: it is just a circle (the rim of a disk, not the disk itself). The n-
dimensional sphere is called an n-sphere.
After Poincare proposed his conjecture about the 3-sphere, many scientists tried to
prove it, but a major step in closing the three-dimensional problem came in
November 2002, when Grigory Perelman, a mathematician at the Steclov Institute of
Mathematics in St.Petersburg, posted a paper on the www.arxiv.org Web server that
is widely used by physicists and mathematicians as a clearinghouse of new research.
Perelman’s work extends and completes a program of research that Richard S.
Hamilton of Columbia University explored in the 1990s. Perelman’s calculations and
analysis blew away several roadblocks that Hamilton had run into and could not
overcome. Perelman’s work withstood two years of scrutiny before he became
eligible for the prize.
3. Form phrases by matching the words from 1-9 with the words a-i:
TALKING POINT
4. Discuss in pairs:
• questions topology concerns with;
• the Poincare conjecture problem;
• attempts to prove the Poincare conjecture;
• difficulties withstood by Perelman before he was offered the award.
VOCABULARY STUDY
5. Choose the word to complete the text:
To mathematicians, Grigori Perelman's ... (1) of the Poincare conjecture
qualifies at least as the Breakthrough of the Decade. But it has taken them a good
part of that decade to ... (2) themselves that it was for real. In 2006, nearly 4 years
after the Russian mathematician released the first of three papers ... (3) the proof,
researchers finally reached a consensus that Perelman had solved one of the subject's
most venerable problems. But the solution touched off a storm of controversy and
drama that threatened to overshadow the brilliant work.
Perelman's proof has fundamentally ... (4) two distinct branches of mathematics.
First, it solved a problem that for more than a century was the indigestible seed at the
core o f... (5), the mathematical study of abstract shape. Most mathematicians expect
that the work will lead to a much broader result, a proof of the geometrization
conjecture: essentially, a "periodic table" that brings clarity to the study of three-
dimensional spaces, much as Mendeleev's table did for ... (6).
While bringing new results to topology, Perelman's work brought new ... (7) to
geometry. It cemented the central role of geometric evolution equations, powerful
machinery for transforming hard-to-work-with spaces into more-manageable ones.
Earlier studies of such equations always ran into "singularities" at which the
equations break down. Perelman dynamited that roadblock.
"This is the first time that mathematicians have been able to understand the
structure of singularities and the ... (8) of such a complicated system," said Shing-
Tung Yau of Harvard University at a lecture in Beijing this summer. "The methods
developed ... should shed light on many natural systems, such as the Navier-Stokes
equation (of fluid dynamics) and the Einstein equation (of general relativity)."
1. a) theory b) proof c) idea
2. a) confine b) concern c) convince
3. a) outlining b) declaring c) claiming
4. a) altered b) diverted c) proved
5. a) fluid dynamics b) mechanics c) topology
6. a) biology b) chemistry c) geometry
7. a) techniques b) tools c) methodology
8. a) development b) organization c) structure
Henri Poincare's was bom in Nancy where his father was Professor of Medicine at
the University. Henri was “... ambidextrous and was nearsighted”; during his
childhood he had poor muscular coordination and was seriously ill for a time with
diphtheria. He received special instruction from his gifted mother and excelled in
written composition while still in elementary school.
In 1862 Henri entered the Lycee in Nancy (now renamed the Lycee Henri
Poincare in his honour). He spent eleven years at the Lycee and during this time he
proved to be one of the top students in every topic he studied. Henri was described by
his mathematics teacher as a "monster of mathematics" and he won first prizes in the
concours general, a competition between the top pupils from all the Lycees across
France.
Poincare entered the Ecole Polytechnique in 1873, graduating in 1875. He was
well ahead of all the other students in mathematics but, perhaps not surprisingly
given his poor coordination, performed no better than average in physical exercise
and in art. Music was another of his interests but, although he enjoyed listening to it,
his attempts to learn the piano while he was at the Ecole Polytechnique were not
successful. His memory was remarkable and he retained much from all the texts he
read but not in the manner of learning by rote, rather by linking the ideas he was
assimilating particularly in a visual way. His ability to visualise what he heard proved
particularly useful when he attended lectures since his eyesight was so poor that he
could not see the symbols properly that Iris lecturers were writing on the blackboard.
After graduating from the Ecole Polytechnique, Poincare continued his studies at the
Ecole des Mines.
After completing his studies at the Ecole des Mines Poincare spent a short while as
a mining engineer at Vesoul while completing his doctoral work.. Immediately after
receiving his doctorate, Poincare was appointed to teach mathematical analysis at the
University of Caen. He was to remain there for only two years before being appointed
to a chair in the Faculty of Science in Paris in 1881. In 1886 Poincare was nominated
for the chair of mathematical physics and probability at the Sorbonne and he also was
appointed to a chair at the Ecole Polytechnique. Poincare held these chairs in Paris
until his death at the early age of 58.
Poincare was a scientist preoccupied by many aspects of mathematics, physics and
philosophy, and he is often described as the last universalist in mathematics. He made
contributions to numerous branches of mathematics, celestial mechanics, fluid
mechanics, the special theory of relativity and the philosophy of science.
Poincare's Analysis situs, published in 1895, is an early systematic treatment of
topology. He can be said to have been the originator of algebraic topology and, in
1901, he claimed that his researches in many different areas such as differential
equations and multiple integrals had all led him to topology. For 40 years after
Ротсагё published tire first of his six papers on algebraic topology in 1894,
essentially all of the ideas and techniques in the subject were based on his work.
Poincare conjecture remained for many years as one of the most baffling and
challenging unsolved problems in algebraic topology.
In applied mathematics he studied optics, electricity, telegraphy, capillarity,
elasticity, thermodynamics, potential theory, quantum theory, theory of relativity and
cosmology. In the field of celestial mechanics he studied the three-body-problem, and
the theories of light and of electromagnetic waves. He is acknowledged as a co
discoverer, with Albert Einstein and Hendrik Lorentz, of the special theory of
relativity. Poincare achieved the highest honours for his contributions of true genius.
He was elected to the Academie des Sciences in 1887 and in 1906 was elected
President of the Academy. The breadth of his research led him to being the only
member elected to every one of the five sections of the Academy, namely the
geometry, mechanics, physics, geography and navigation sections. He won numerous
prizes, medals and awards.
7. Say whether the statements below are true (T) or false (F):
a) During his childhood Poincare had poor muscular coordination.
b) He received special instruction from his gifted mother and excelled in written-
composition while still in elementary school.
c) Immediately after receiving his doctorate, Poincare was appointed to teach
mathematical analysis at the University of Berkely.
d) Poincare was a scientist preoccupied by only one aspect of mathematics -
topology.
e) Poincare conjecture remained for many years as one of the most baffling and
challenging unsolved problems in algebraic topology.
f) He was acknowledged as a co-discoverer, with Albert Einstein and Hendrik
Lorentz, of the special theory of relativity.
Although both art and science are human activities, they are thought about in
different ways. Monet’s Palazzo do Mula and Mozart’s Die Zauberflote are regarded
as wondrous acts of creativity.
1. We value variety in, say, art or biology. Nobody thinks the world would be better
if Eduard Manet (be) more like Mark Chagall, or fish like fowl.
2. Would the world now be different if Albert Einstein (...) never (live)?
3. Had Monet not lived, the world (be) different because the Palazzo do Mula never
(paint).
4. Had Mozart not (live), the world (be) different because the opera Die Zauberflote
never would have been composed.
5. It is indeed likely that if Einstein (not create) the Special Theory of Relativity,
someone else would have created something equivalent to Einstein's theory.
TALKING POINT
4. Make a dialogue, asking your partner:
- if we know everything about the brain;
- interesting facts Marian C. Daimond discovered about Albert Einstain’s brain;
- how recent works have changed the understanding of glia’s role for brain function.
6. Form phrases by matching the words from 1-11 with the words a-к and transla
WORD FORMATION
TALKING POINT
8. Discuss in pairs:
• possibility to make crucial decisions right after awakening after sound sleep?
• time necessary to regain cognitive skills upon awakening?
WRITING
9. Write a summary to the text below.
1. Prophesy, like poetry can teach us about ourselves. ..., of course, that we abandon
the notion that it predicts anything.
2. The first law was the idea of inertia or momentum. It basically means that things
keep moving at the same speed in a straight line... something pushes on them - that
is, a force.
3. In 1742 Leonard Euler, the greatest number theorist of the 18th century, became
so frustrated by his inability to prove Fermat’s last theorem, that he asked a friend to
search Fermat’s house... some vital scrap of paper was left behind.
4. The theory had not been confirmed, but merely not falsified; it could however be
worked with provisionally ... new tests did not discredit it.
1. Read the text and find passages confirming the following statements.
The discovery of the structure of DNA by Francis Crick and James Watson was
one of the most dramatic chapters in the history of science. In 1952, Watson was 24
years old and a visiting research fellow at the Cavendish laboratory in Cambridge.
Watson and Crick were aware that they were not alone in the pursuit of the DNA
structure. The effort at King’s College in London was impeded by the mutual
antagonism between the protagonists, Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin, while
the main competitionwas from California, where resided the formidable Linus
Pauling, by common consent, the world’s pre-eminent structural chemist. By happy
chance Watson was sharing an office with Pauling’s son, Peter, who was a graduate
student in the Cavendish.
“ Peter had a broad grin on his face as he sauntered into the office one afternoon
in December. In his hand was a letter from the States. It was from his father. In
addition to routine family gossip was the long-feared news that Linus now had a
structure for DNA. No details were given of what he was up to.
Francis then began pacing up and down the room thinking aloud, hoping that in a
great intellectual fervor he could reconstruct what Linus might have done. As long as
Linus had not told us the answer, we should get equal credit if we announced it at the
same time. Nothing worth while had emerged, though, by the time we walked
upstairs to tea and told Mark Perutz and John Kendrew of the letter. Bragg (the
director of the laboratory) was in for a moment, but neither of us wanted the perverse
joy of informing him that the English labs were once again about to be humiliated by
the Americans. As we munched chocolate biscuits, John tried to cheer us up with the
possibility of Linus being wrong. After all, he had never seen Maurice’s and Rosy
Rosy’s pictures (the X-ray diffraction photographs from King’s College). Our hearts
told us otherwise.41
In February, Pauling completed his paper and sent a copy of the manuscript to
Cambridge. Watson was by then in a lather of nervous anticipation. Two copies were
dispatched to Cambridge - one to Sir Lawrence (Bragg), the other to Peter. Bragg’s
response upon receiving it was to put it aside. Not knowing that Peter would also
have a copy, he hesitated to take the manuscript down to Max’s office. There Francis
would see it and set off on another wild-goose chase. That is, if his thesis was
finished on schedule, then for a year, if not more, with Crick in exile in Brooklyn (at
the Polytechnic Institute where he was to work), peace and serenity would prevail.
Peter’s face betrayed something important as he entered the door, and my stomach
sank in apprehension at learning that all was lost. Seeing that neither Francis nor I
could bear any further suspense, he quickly told us that the model was a three-chain
helix with the sugar-phosphate backbone in the centre.
This sounded suspiciously like our aborted effort of last year that immediately
Iwondered whether we might have already have had the credit and glory of a great
discovery if Bragg had not held us back. Giving Francis no chance to ask for the
manuscript, I pulled it out of Peter’s coat pocket and began reading.
By spending less than a minute with the summary and introduction, I was soon at
the figures showing the locations of essential atoms. At once I felt something was
wrong.” Pauling’s model was inconsistent with the experimental data, available to
Watson and Crick but not to Pauling, but, worse, it was chemically improbable.”
Only in a matter of weeks Watson and Crick found a model structure so compelling
that there could be no doubt it was correct.
WRITING
4. Write an account of the DNA discovery using the nouns describing emotional
and mental states.
VOCABULARY STUDY
5. Choose the correct word.
DNA Fingerprinting
DNA fingerprinting, the biggest ... (1) in crime detection exploits how DNA is
found in all cells. Scientists had known since the 1940s that DNA carries the coded
instructions, or genes, that ... (2) the genetic blueprint of an individual. Leicester
University noticed that certain ... (3) of DNA called minisatellites, occur in unique
patterns in each individual, the ... (4) being identical twins. Jeffreys found a way of
seeking out those parts of the genetic blueprint th a t... (5) greatly among individuals
in order to make a bar code that he called “genetic fingerprint”.
...(6) from a suspect would be typically gathered using a swab to take cells from the
inside the mouth. The sample would be compared with blood, semen, tissue or hair
taken from a crime scene. Tiny traces of degraded DNA can be ... (7) by a technique
called “the polymerase chain reaction”.
Technique has found many uses: ... (8) tests, identifying of body remains,
checking whether sashimi originated from an endangered whale ... (9); and
investigating family relationships among animals.
In probably the best-known example, the DNA fingerprinting provided the
physical ...(10) that the derailed when Bill Clinton’s denials when it proved that the
chance of a semen stain on Monica Lewinsky’s blue dress not belonging to the
President was 7,87 trillion to one.
a. advent b. advance c. advice
a. lay down b. lie down c. lay out
a. sequels b. sequences c.consequences
a. except b. exception c. exclusion
a. vary b. alter c. alternate
6. a. Samples b. Examples c. Probes
7. a. enhanced b. boosted c. enlarged
8. a. brotherhood b. motherhood c. paternity
9. a. species b. spices c. spaces
10. a. evidence b. proofs c. witness
CONFUSABLES: What/that/which
8. Choose the suitable word.
1. Chemistry was closely connected with alchemists searching for that/what they
called ‘philosophers’ stone’, would turn ordinary base metal into gold.
2. They could not understand that/what exactly he getting at.
What Copernicus thought about the publication of his famous book no one quite
knows, for he died of a stroke shortly after publication of the new book in 1543.
•In 1871, Maxwell was invited to become the first Cavendish professor of
physics at Cambridge University. The post was named for Sir Henry Cavendish
(1731-1810) eccentric English scientist, who was famous for, among other things, his
accurate estimate of the density of the earth. Taking up the offer, Maxwell designed
and set up the Cavendish Laboratory, which opened in 1874 and became renowned
as a centre of significant research in experimental physics.
5. Form phrases by matching the words from 1-13 with the words a-m:
WORD FORMATION
7. Form the appropriate word to complete the text.
The Sun of our solar system a typical star of intermediate size and 1...
(luminous). It's radius is about 696000 km, and it rotates with a period that increases
with latitude from 25 days at the equator to 36 days at poles. For 2 ... (practice)
reasons, the period is often taken to be 27 days. Its mass is about 2 x 1030 kg, 3...(to
consist) mainly of hydrogen (90%) and helium (10%). The Sun emits radio waves,
X-rays, and 4... (energy) particles(cosmic rays) in addition to visible light. The total
energy output, 5... (sun) constant, is about 3.8 x 1033 ergs/sec. In the core of the Sun
a continuous 6... (nucleus) fusion is converting hydrogen into helium at a
temperature of about 16 million degrees of Kelvin. Overlaying this core region are
the radiative and convective zones. The Sun has a very complex surface magnetic
field created by convective flow of the electrically 7 ...(to conduct) solar material.
The 8 ...(vision) solar surface over the convective zone, called the photosphere, is at
a temperature of about 6000 K. The cool (< 4000 K) regions in it are seen as
sunspots. Above the photosphere are two transparent layers. The chromosphere,
visible during eclipses, extends some 10000 km above the photosphere and has a
temperature of the order 10 000 K. The corona at 1-5 x 106 (or even 100 x 106) К is
9... (to observe) beyond chromo-sphere for more than 106 km (having no apparent
termination). The 10... (to escape) hot coronal plasma is called the solar wind. It
carries the solar magnetic field to space, forming the interplanetary magnetic field
(IMF) and defining the heliosphere. The magnetic field of the Sun is 11... (extreme)
complicated. However, most of the complications don't extend very far from the
surface, and the magnetic field of the outer corona can often be described by a dipole
or quadrupole. This is the reason behind the 12... (surprise) simple two-sector or
four-sector polarity structure of IMF at 1 AU so often observed.
WRITING
10. Write a summary in English.
Российский научный центр "Курчатовский институт"
Российский научный центр "Курчатовский институт" проводит исследования и
осуществляет международное сотрудничество практически по всем
современным направлениям физики и атомной энергетики:
В области фундаментальных исследований - это исследования в области общей
и ядерной физики, физики твердого тела, включая сверхпроводимость и
материаловедение, синхронного излучения, нанотехнологий, физики
конденсированного состояния и наносистем, нейтронных исследований и др.
В области атомной энергетики и ядерного топливного цикла - это
сопровождение жизненного цикла водо-водяных и уран-графитовых
энергетических реакторов, исследования для ядерной энергетики будущего
разработка высоко-температурных газовых реакторов, реакторов мало!
мощности и космического базирования.
В области физики плазмы — это в первую очередь работы по создании
термоядерного реактора, а также исследования в области физики плазмы i
плазменных процессов.
В области нераспространения ядерного оружия - это исследования по учету
контролю, физической защите ядерных материалов, исследования пс
реабилитации загрязненных территорий, хранению и утилизациг
отработанных ядерных материалов. В области информационных технологи!
- это разработка ГРИД- технологии, создание открытой сети обработю
сверхбольших объемов данных ГЛОРИАД. Этот научный центр носит им;
выдающегося ученого Курчатова Игоря Васильевича.
12. Use the verbs from the box to fill the gaps in the sentences
13. Use the verbs of reporting to convert the following sentences into the indirect
speech.
Example:
Thank you for taking your time to read the draft of my report.
I wish to thank you fo r taking time to read the draft o f my report.
14.Listcn to the talk and say which of the environmental problems were
mentioned in the talk.
VOCABULARY STUDY
3. Find the antonyms:
4. Write collocations by matching the words from the top line with the words
from the bottom line:
TALKING POINT
5. Discuss in pairs:
• the award-winning invention in the medical science category;
• the shortcomings of conventional X-ray photographs;
• scientific bases of PET;
• new possibilities provided by PET;
MAKING PRESENTATIONS
6. Prepare Power Point presentation about PET paying attention why this
technology is important for the mankind. You may use phrases from Appendix 1.
WORD FORMATION
7. Form the word to complete the sentence.
Simulation programs play a fundamental role in I ... (optimize) the design of
particle physics experiments. In the development of reconstruction programs, they
provide the necessary input in the form of simulated raw data. In the 2 ... (analyse)
process they are required to understand the systematic effects resulting from
detector resolution and acceptance, as well as the influence of background
processes. The predecessors of the Geant4 toolkit
- which were written in the now almost obsolete
Fortran language - were
...(success) used at CERN for experiments at
he laboratory's Large Electron-Positron collider
land for the design of experiments for the Large
ladron Collider (LHC).
Geant4 was launched as an R&D project in 1994
gto demonstrate the 4 ... (suit) of object-oriented
programming technology for large software
projects in particle physics. The initial 5... (collaborate) of members of particle
physics institutes around the world has since been joined by scientists from the
European Space Agency (ESA) and members of the medical community.
The Geant4 software toolkit was designed to simulate particle 6 ... (interact) with
matter for particle physics. It contains components to model in detail the geometry
and materials of complex particle detectors. The 7... (simulate) particles are
propagated through magnetic and electrical fields and through the materials of the
detectors. The core of the program contains information on numerous physics
processes that govern the 8 ... (interact) of particles across a wide energy range.
Visualization tools and a flexible user interface are available as separate
components. Rigorous software engineering makes Geant4 open to change in a
rapidly evolving software environment, while at the same time ensuring that it can
be easily and fully 9 ... (maintain) over the lifetime of large-scale experiments.
9. Read the text and decide whether the following statements are true or false.
1. Magnetic resonance scanning is a fairly recent invention.
2. Radio wave frequencies are associated with different chemical environments.
3. MRI can provide the imaging of soft body tissues.
4. MRI can be used to detect tumors.
5. The first patients to be examined by this technique were sportsmen.
M R I, PET, CAT
Unlike X-ray, magnetic resonance scanning can reveal soft tissue details,
allowing doctors to look inside bodies and record every corporeal detail. MRI dates
back to a Nobel-prize-winning technique called “nuclear magnetic resonance”
demonstrated in 1945 by two American groups. When matter is placed in a magnetic
field, some atomic nuclei behave like compass needles that can point in only a few
directions, each characterized by different energy levels, or “spins”.
Nuclear spins can be forced to jump between energy levels when bombarded by radio
waves of certain frequencies. Around 1950 it was discovered that these frequencies
depended not only on the atomic nuclei, but also on their environment, leading to
magnetic resonance’s initial use as a tool for chemical analysis.
The next stage in the development came when the NMR pioneer Felix Bloch
stuck his finger into his apparatus and noticed a strong signal created by his finger’s
high water content. If resonating hydrogen nuclei from the water were giving off
radio waves, Block reasoned that magnetic resonance imaging could reveal people’s
insides without opening them up.
In 1971, Raymond Damadian, an American scientist, showed that MRI could be
used to detect tumors. In 1977, his team made the first image of an entire human
body by beaming high-frequency radio waves into a patient in the strong magnetic
field of a whole-body scanner.The technique is now widely used to make detailed
pictures of tissue structure. It can also reveal metabolic processes at work within the
body.
In 1993, a murderer executed in Texas became the first “virtual man “, when a
composite three-dimensional “fly-through” computer image of his body was created
with the help of MRI.
VOCABULARY STUDY
10. Choose the appropriate word to fill the gaps:
Cardiac Pacemaker
Anyone ... (1) enough to suffer from cardiac problems some fifty years ago might
have been hooked up to an early version of the cardiac pacemaker, a cumbersome
device about the same size as a large television set. Such machine ...(2) the electrical
impulses that triggered the heart, but were too large to be used anywhere than in
hospital.
By 1958, American medical engineer Wilson Greatbatch had been working for
several years on a pacemaker ... (3) in his garden shed, and was inspired one
morning to invent one of the most significant medical ... (4) of all time: the
implantable pacemaker. While trying to use the recently-invented transistor... (5) to
build an oscillator in order to record the beating of the human heart, Greatbatch
grabbed the ... (6) transistor from his toolbox. He had already put it into the circuitry
when he realized his mistake. Out o f ... (7) he switched on the circuit and found that
it produced a regular blip of current, ... (8) at the same frequency as the average
human heart. Greatbatch realized that it could be used to control a cardiac pacemaker.
In May 1958 the first working ... (9) was successfully implanted in a dog. Greatbatch
then worked a t ... ( 1 0 ) the tiny electrical generator, powered by a small battery, fitted
with electrodes to carry pulses of current to different parts of the heart.
In 1960 surgeons at Milliard Fillmore Hospital at Buffalo, in New York state,... (11)
the first production Greatbatch into a 77-year-old patient. It worked perfectly for 18
months.
Greatbatch went on to develop a battery ... (12) of long life and safe operation. His
breakthrough in the 1970s was to adapt the ... (13) long-life lithium battery for pace
maker us. He patented the technology, ... (14) a factoiy to make the cell, and today
his company sells or licenses production of 90 per cent of the world’s pacemaker
batteries.
Note: cardiac pacemaker - кардиостимулятор
1. It was Lavoisier who ... it all together and made all significant advances in his
own right.
2. It was Lavoisier who ... that every substance can exist in three states - solid,
liquid and gaseous.
3. Although Archimedes did not hesitate to build machines and conduct practical
experiments, it is his purely intellectual achievements th at... his lasting legacy.
4. It was Lord Rutherford who ... the first man to succeed in making one element
from another and who was the founder o f ‘philosopher’s stone’.
5. It was not until 17 years later that Eijkman and Gowland (Pekelharing being by
then dead)... the Nobel Prize for their work.
6. It is perhaps in the study of muscles where Leonardo’s blend of artistry and
scientific analysis is b e st....
13. You will hear a PA (personal assistant) calling three hotels in order to bock
accommodation for people coming to attend a conference. Fill the table with
details of features and facilities of these hotels.
1. 2. 3.
Name of the hotel
Location
Noisy/quiet
Eating facilities
Sports and
recreation facilities
Entertainment
1. Read the text and say if the following statements are true or false:
The history of the concept of "engineering" stems from the earliest times when
humans began to make clever inventions, such as the pulley, lever, or wheel, etc. The
exact etymology of the word engineer, however, is a person occupationally connected
with the study, design, and implementation of engines. The word "engine", derives
from the Latin ingenium (c. 1250), meaning "innate quality, especially mental power,
hence a clever invention." Hence, an engineer, essentially, is someone who makes
useful or practical inventions.
From another perspective, a now obsolete meaning of engineer, dating from
1325, is "a constructor of military engines". Engineering was originally divided into
military engineering, which included construction of fortifications as well as military
engines, and civil engineering, involved in non-military projects, such as bridge
construction. The Acropolis and the Parthenon in Greece, the Roman aquaducts, Via
Appia and the Colosseum, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Pharos of
Alexandria, the pyramids in Egypt, Teotihuacan and the cities and pyramids of the
Mayan, Inca and Aztec Empires, the Great Wall of China, among many others, stand
as a testament to the ingenuity and skill of the ancient civil and military engineers.
With the rise of engineering as a profession in the nineteenth century the term
became more narrowly applied to fields in which mathematics and science were
applied to these ends. Similarly, in addition to military and civil engineering the
fields then known as the mechanic arts became incorporated into engineering.
Engineering, much like science, is a broad discipline which is often broken
down into several sub-disciplines. These disciplines concern themselves with
differing areas of engineering work. Although initially an engineer will be trained in
a specific discipline, throughout an engineer's career the engineer may become multi-
disciplined, having worked in several of the outlined areas. Historically the main
Branches of Engineering are categorized as follows: Aerospace Engineering;
Chemical Engineering; Civil Engineering; Electrical Engineering; Mechanical
engineering.
With the rapid advancement of Technology many new fields are gaining
prominence and new branches are developing such as Computer Engineering,
Software Engineering, Nanotechnology, Molecular engineering, Mechatronics etc.
These new specialities sometimes combine with the traditional fields and form new
branches such as Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics and Electrical and
Computer Engineering. For each of these fields there exists considerable overlap,
especially in the areas of the application of sciences to their disciplines such as
physics, chemistry and mathematics.
Engineers borrow ideas from physics and mathematics to find suitable solutions
to the problem at hand. They apply the scientific method in deriving their solutions. If
multiple options exist, engineers weigh different design choices on their merits and
choose the solution that best matches the requirements. The crucial and unique task
of the engineer is to identify, understand, and interpret the constraints on a design in
order to produce a successful result. It is usually not enough to build a technically
successful product; it must also meet further requirements. Constraints may include
available resources, physical, imaginative or technical limitations, flexibility for
future modifications and additions, and other factors, such as requirements for cost,
safety, marketability, productibility, and serviceability. By understanding the
constraints, engineers derive specifications for the limits within which a viable object
or system may be produced and operated.
Engineers use their knowledge of science, mathematics, and appropriate
experience to find suitable solutions to a problem. Engineering is considered a branch
of applied mathematics and science. Creating an appropriate mathematical model of a
problem allows them to analyse it (sometimes definitively), and to test potential
solutions. Usually multiple reasonable solutions exist, so engineers must evaluate the
different design choices on their merits and choose the solution that best meets their
requirements.
VOCABULARY STUDY
3. Match two words from 1-10 with the words a-j and translate:
a) to produce designs that will perform as expected and will not cause unintended harm
to the public at large.
b) how well their designs will perform to their specifications prior to full-scale
production.
c) the less efficient the design may be.
d) prototypes, scale models, simulations, destructive tests, nondestructive tests, and
stress tests.
e) will perform as expected.
f) to reduce the risk o f unexpected failure.
TALKING POINT
6. Discuss in pairs:
a. the scope of Engineering
b. if Engineering borrows its ideas from other sciences
c. advancement of Technology and development of Engineering
MAKING PRESENTATION
7. Make a Power Point presentation:
a) about your future profession.
b) give reasons for having chosen it and prospects of your career.
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
• the subject of the conference
• organization hosted the conference
• the venue of the conference
• the proceedings of the conference
• the conclusions and resolution adopted at the conference
Example: 5. I’d rather e) stay downtown so that I could walk to most landmarks.
6. I’d rather............. 7. I’d rather............... 8. I’d rather...............
Example: 13. I wish к) I had taken some formal clothes as there were some
receptions; 1 4 .1 wish ... 15.1 w ish ............... 16.1 w ish...............
10. Translate the following sentences paying attention to the functions of wish.
1. “We wish to suggest a structure for the salt of DNA. This structure has novel
features which are of considerable biological interest”. With this famous
understatement Watson and Crick announced their discovery of the structure of DNA
in Nature 25 April 1953.
2. The circumstances are controlled by the observer to isolate that part of a
phenomenon or a reaction he wishes to observe and the conditions under which they
happen.
3. Finally, in exasperation, Babbage exclaimed, T wish to god these calculations had
been executed by steam.’
LISTENING COMPREHENSION
13. Listen to the talk and identify true (T)/false (F) statements.
1. The plans were received only from domestic companies.
2. Next meeting will be in two weeks’ time.
3. The structure in plan 4 can carry much more traffic than its competitors.
4. Plan 5 is has much in common with plan 2.
5. The number of spans in plan 1 and plan 4 is practically the same.
3. Form phrases by matching the words from 1-10 with the words a-k:
TALKING POINT
5. Discuss in pairs:
• the most popular Internet services nowadays;
• where your monthly fee goes to;
• the possibilities to make money through the Internet;
• the use of the Internet resources for studing.
VOCABULARY STUDY
6.Choose the word which best completes each sentence.
Viruses are an area of pure ... (1), and, unlike other computer programs,
carry intellectual functions on protection from being found and destroyed. They have
to fight for ... (2) in complex conditions of conflicting computer systems. That's why
they evolve as if they were alive. Yes, viruses seem to be the only ... (3) organisms in
the computer environment, and yet another their main goal is survival. That is why
they may have complex crypting/decrypting engines, which is indeed a sort of a
standard for computer viruses nowadays, in order to carry out processes of
duplicating, ... (4) and disguise.
It is necessary to ... (5) between reproducing programs and Trojan horses.
Reproducing programs will not necessarily harm your system because they are aimed
at producing as many copies of their own as possible by means of the so-called agent
programs or without their help. In the latter case they are ... (6) to as "worms".
Meanwhile Trojan horses are programs aimed at causing harm or damage to PC's.
Certainly it's a usual practice, when they are part of "tech-organism", but they have
completely different functions. That is an important point ... (7) actions are not an
integral part of the virus by default. However virus-writers allow presence of
destructive mechanisms as an active protection from finding and destroying their
creatures, as well as a response to the attitude of society to viruses and their authors.
As you see, there are different types of viruses, and they have already been ... (8)
into classes and categories. For instance: dangerous, harmless, and very dan-gerous.
No destruction means a harmless one, tricks with system halts means a dangerous
one, and finally with a devastating destruction means a very dangerous virus.
1. a) program b) programming c) programmable
2. a) survive b) survived c) surviving
3. a) live; b) living c) alive
4. a) adaptation b) adaptable c) adaptability
5. a) difference b) differentiate c) differ
6. a) refer b) referred c) reference
7. a) destructive b) destruction c) destruct
8. a) separate b) separating c) separated
WORD FORMATION
7. Read the text and fill in tbe gaps with an appropriate form of the words in
brackets. Bill Gates
13. Choose the suitable word to fill the gaps. (GR-27,28 p.211)
15.You will hear an introductory talk given by the manager of the company to the
new employees. Give a summary of the talk emphasizing things that are
compulsory, necessary, essential, desirable, advisable, permissible to do for
the employees. Example: It’s compulsory that everyone should at work in core
time, that is from 10 to 3p.m..
1. Which items of technology given below one can find at work (1), at home (2)
and both (3)?
5. Read the passage again and find out six things which went wrong in the
writer's home. Now work in pairs and check your answers.
MAKING PRESENTATIONS:
7. Make Power Point presentations about a home you would like to live in. You
may use phrases from Appendix 1.
VOCABULARY STUDY
8. Complete the sentences with the words from the box and give the text a
suitable title.
a) online b) around the world c) immediately d) all the time
e) a lot smarter f) exactly g) traceable
h) permanently i) automatically j) much less_______
Try to imagine a day, twenty years in the future. You leave work and your heater
ind a cooker at home ... (1) turn themselves on. You can't find your car keys, but
/our watch tells you that you left them on your desk. You stop at the supermarket and
ust walk out with the things you want, paying for everything ... (2). You get home
md the lights and TV come on and your dinner is ready. Science- fiction? If experts'
predictions are right, this could be the way we live with the 'grid', the computer system
hat will replace the Internet.
All the products we buy these days have barcodes on them. They help shops keep
rack of their Stock and mean that we spend ... (3) time at the checkout. If a barcode is
passed over a special laser, the machine can read the information in the barcode,
hventors are now working on an improved kind of barcode. Tiny computer chips on
abels would transmit information about themselves - what the product is, where it is,
how it's working - to receivers with no need to use a laser. If you connect all those
chips together with computers through the Internet, you have the grid.
The Internet is a global system of computers, all linked to one another. Information
can be sent from one machine to any other machine which is ... (4). If you send an e-
mail or surf the Internet, information from your machine is sent to a central computer,
which then sends it on to other computers ... (5). But what if you didn't need a
computer? What if your clothes, food, car, electrical items and, perhaps, even your body
were connected ... (6)? If this did happen, what effect would it have on our lives? First
of all, the machines around us would seem ... (7). They would report back to the
manufacturers when they broke down, sending information about the fault. If you
bought ready meals, small chips in their labels could tell the cooker ... (8) how long
to cook them and at what temperature. If you wanted to, you could even have a chip
put under your skin to constantly send information about your health to you doctor!
On the other hand, if firms link products to customers at the checkout, ordinary
objects could become ... (9) to their purchasers (imagine a stray pack of cigarettes at
the scene of a crime). To many people it may seem too invasive to their privacy. In
that case they can use a “kill command” included into chip that can ... ( 10) disable
the tag. The customer would forego after-sales benefits, such as better warranty and
returned gods services, for instance, or chickens that could tell ovens how to cook
them. But the “kill commands” just the thing for those who suspect that their fridge
has begun to spy on them.
12. Translate the following sentences paying attention to the functions of neither,
either, both.
1. The rediscovery of ancient learning certainly provided a launch pad. But it needed
something from outside science to propel science into orbit: something neither the
Greeks, nor the Arabs, nor the Chinese had. That something was the right
technology.
2. Science and technology are simply two different responses to the forces of nature.
Science is humanity’s attempt to exploit them. And progress in either can be the
source of progress in the other.
3. From a complementarian standpoint we cease to insist that an electron, say, must
be either particle or wave, and accept that it looks like one or the other depending
upon the perspective from which it is investigated.
4. Matter and energy can be viewed as both particles and waves, even though
particles and waves have mutually exclusive properties.
5. The Aristotelian view of matter was further undermined as experiments began to
reveal that neither air nor water were indivisible elements.
6. Bohr applied the principle of complementarity to nonscientific questions such as
the quest for peace among nations, which, he argued, could be increased if each
nation tried harder to appreciate both his own and his adversary’s true points of
view.
1. In less than a minute the universe became a million billion miles across and was
growing fast. In three minutes, 98 percent of all the matter there is or will ever be
was produced.
2. When this moment occurred is a matter of some debate.
3. Every discipline develops tools and techniques appropriate to its subject mater.
4. Only in a matter of weeks later Watson and Crick found a model structure so
compelling in every detail that there could be little double it was correct.
5. The sense of Hobbes’ philippic against Wallis hardly matters, nor did it win
Hobbes the argument.
6. As a matter of fact, most, if not all research conducted in the Soviet Union at that
time was classified in line with a general obsession with secrecy.
7. Many scientists, especially working in both fields, find that there is no big
difference between mathematics and physics. It is a matter of degree, of emphasis,
not an absolute difference.
8. No matter how much evidence there is for a theory, such as million of
demonstrated examples, mathematicians demand a proof of a general case.
1. Read the text and decide if the following statements are true or false.
Job interview
While still being undergraduates students are provided an opportunity to work
as trainees at various organizations including major research centers and industrial
enterprises. Such internship is part of Bachelor’s and Master’s projects. Many
students go on working for these organizations on a part-time basis. Some students
take temporary jobs during summer vacations. It means that by the time they graduate
from university most graduates have some working experience and know how to
present themselves at job interviews.
At present many companies have adopted western style of recruitment which
includes advertising of a vacant position in special journals, mass media or in the
Inetmet, shortlisting of suitable applicants and their further interviewing.
People searching for a suitable position find a lot of vacancies and follow a standard
procedure of sending an application accompanied by a covering letter; they also
enclose their C.V. or resume. This document contains the applicant’s personal
details of his/her educational background and working experience, as well as skills
and qualifications. It also provides the names and contact phones or addresses of
people in responsible positions who have agreed to provide references for the
applicant.
If an applicant is shortlisted he or she is notified by the personnel manager and
invited to attend an interview. There are various types of interview depending on the
company and position you apply for. An interview may include a psychological or
professional test (paper-and-pencil tests), but above all it is a talk. The interview
wants to see what kind of person you are and to form his/her impression of your
personality. Sometimes interviews are conducted in several stages.
While getting ready for the interview tty to get information about the company in
question by looking through its profile or fact sheet. Try to anticipate the possible
questions asked at the interview. Typical questions concern the description of the
desired position, working conditions, perks, opportunities for career growth, salary.
Try to look your best for the interview, dress neatly and try to follow the required
dress code, if there is any. Be punctual for your interview, be polite to both the staff
and fellow applicants. During the interview try to behave naturally, be realistic, do
not exaggerate your qualifications, abilities, skills and experience. Actually, most
companies have special training programs both for young employees and experienced
staff. The qualities the interviewer is sure to appreciate is your honesty, flexibility
and the ability to learn.
Personal Details:
Date of Birth:
Marital Status: (single, married, separated, divorced, a widow/widower)
Address:
Phone:
Education:
2005 advanced IT course (Moscow State University)
1989 post-doc research program (Hannover University, Germany)
1978 Ph.D. (Physics) Saint Petersburg State Polytechnic University
1975-1978 Ph. D. studies Saint Petersburg State Polytechnic University
1970-1975 MSc (Physics), Saint Petersburg State Polytechnic University
Professional Experience:
1995 - present head of the IT department (“Advantex”, pic.)
1983-1995 senior research associate (Vedeneyev Hydraulic Engineering Institute)
1978 - 1982 junior research associate (Direct Current Research Institute)
1975 - 1978 teaching assistant (Saint Petersburg State Polytechnic University)
1973 - 1975 technician (Ioffe Physics and Technology Institute)
Participation in Conferences, Publications:
2008 CTBTO Informal workshop on noble gases OSI (St. Petersburg)
2007 International Congress on Large Dams (St. Petersburg)
2004 International Ice Congress (St. Petersburg)
2002 CTBTO workshop (Tahiti)
2000 CTBTO workshop (Stockholm, Sweden)
5. Read the text and discuss the opportunities of taking international student’s
program or doing post-doc research at McGill University.
McGill University
McGill University is one of Canada' s best-known institutions of higher learning
and one of the leading research-intensive universities. With students coming to
McGill from about 160 countries, its student body is the most internationally diverse
of any medical-doctoral university in Canada.
The oldest university in Montreal, McGill was founded in 1821 from a generous
bequest by James McGill, a prominent Scottish merchant. Since that time, McGill has
grown from a small college to a bustling university with two campuses, 11 faculties ,
some 300 programs of study, and more than 34,000 students. McGill is recognized
around the world for the excellence of its teaching and research programs.
Ernest Rutherford's Nobel Prize-winning research on the nature of radioactivity
was conducted at McGill, part of a long tradition of innovation on our campuses
which has included the invention of the artificial blood cell and Plexiglas. Today its
professors are performing pioneering work in epigenetics, developing alternative
energy sources from crop plants and using nanotechnology to repair damaged
neurons.
In addition to a stellar faculty, McGill is known for attracting the brightest
students from across Canada, the United States, and abroad. McGill students have the
highest average entering grades in Canada, and its commitment to fostering the best
has helped its students win more national and international awards on average than
their peers at any other Canadian university. The prestigious Rhodes Scholarship has
gone to a nation-leading 130 McGill students.
The ability to balance academic excellence with the extracurricular is another
hallmark of the McGill student. In addition to a rich athletic tradition that includes
many Olympians, thousands of McGill students participate in the hundreds of clubs,
associations and community groups that enrich Montreal and contribute to a vibrant
campus life.
Its 200,000 graduates form a vast global network, with many of its alumni
reaching the top of their professions as Supreme Court Justices, award-winning
authors and musicians, astronauts and Nobel Prize winners.
TALKING POINT
6. Discuss the importance of the English language in your future profession. Add
your own reasons for mastering English.
1. In 1913, the Danish physicist Niels Bohr showed that electrons contrary to the
classical laws of physics - do not lose their energy during rotation and do indeed/in
fact occupy certain well defined positions around the nucleus.
2. In the early 1970s, Hawking realized that quantum effects might apply to the
‘event horizon’ or rim of ‘black holes’. If they did, he argued, they would make a
black hole glow faintly, - and so perhaps be detectable after all/at all, making this
hitherto theoretical idea a reality
3. Waterston, ahead oi/in front of both Thomson and Helmholz but roughly at the
same time as Mayer, had the same insight about the way heat to keep the Sun hot
might be generated by gravitational means.
4. In 1811, L. Avogadro made a discovery that would prove highly significant in the
long term /in known terms - namely, that two that two equal volumes of gases of
ant type, if kept at the same pressure and temperature, will contain identical number
of molecules.
5. To the astonishment of those present, Archimedes just at first hand/single-
handediy launched “Syracusia”, one of the most luxurious and biggest ships built in
the ancient times, by an ingenious arrangement of levers and pulleys.
6. The idea that atoms could rip themselves apart and change into different atoms - in
other words/ on the other hand, that one element could change into another -
smacked of medieval alchemy and was firmly resisted by many scientists.
7. The eighteenth century represented a catching up, as science in general/ on
average came to terms with the way Newton had codified physics and demonstrated
the lawful, orderly nature of the Universe.
8. Right up to the closing years of the eighteenth century (and in Priestley’s case a
little beyond /within it) scientists discovered substances like phlogiston.
1. It was Lord Rutherford was the founder of ‘philosopher’s stone’, ... by which
artificial gold could be made if desired.
2. A Hungarian-born scientist Imre Lakatos came up with an expression quasi-
empirical, which ... that even though there are no true experiments that can be
carried out in mathematics, something similar does take place.
3. Lord Kelvin, though a physicist, was also no ... mathematician.
4. Statistical approach often deals with ... values.
5. Most contemporaries of Einstein admitted that the ... of his theories was beyond
them.
6. The idea of atoms was ... new in the 18lh century. In fact, it has been around for
well over 2000 years.
7 .... physicists have also come to appreciate that the values of many of the constants
may be the result of mere happenstance, acquired during random events and
elementary particle process early in the history of the universe.
8. Poor Leonardo was constantly interrupted by visits from the ... King, who walked
through the tunnel that connected his Amboise palace to Leonardo’ house.
3. Passive Voice
Present Past Future
Simple It is repaired. It was repaired It will be repaired
Progressive It is being repaired. It was being
repaired.
Perfect It has been repaired. It had been repaired. It will have been
4. Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
5. Causation
The teacher made us repeat the experiment.
We were made to repeat the experiment.
The teacher got us to repeat the experiment.
The teacher had us repeat the experiment.
The teacher had (got) the experiment repeated.
6. Functions of have
function example
Modality (necessity) They had to repeat the test because the results were poor.
Perfect tenses They had repeated the test.
Causative sentences They had the test repeated.
Subjunctive They had better repeat the test.
Conditional sentences If they had repeated the test they would get better result.
8. Functions of Infinitive
function example
Predicate 1. modal verbs They are to make a report.
They must have made
2.complex object I’d like them to make a report.
3.complex They are expected to make a report.
subject They claimed to have made the report.
nominal They were the first to make a report.
predicate They are bound to make a report.
Subject To make reports is difficult.
Attribute It’s an interesting report to make.
The report to be made was in English.
Adverbial Purpose He came to make a report.
Modifier
Text organizers Introductory To tell the truth, it’s very dull to make
phrase such reports.
9. Complex Object
to write articles,
to be writing a new article now .
I know him to have written it already,
suppose to have been writing it for a month,
think to be written about in newspapers.
watch -to have been written to already.
2. For him to check the results was a Его обычной обязанностью было
routine task. проверять результаты.
3. The results were brought for him to Ему принесли результаты для
check. проверки.
Present Past Future
1. He is sure/certain Не is sure/certain /bound Не is sure/certain /bound
/bound to do that. to have done that. to do that.
= Surely, he is doing it = Certainly, he has done = Undoubtedly, he will do
now. it. that.
= He must be doing it = He must have done that Несомненно, он это
now. Конечно, он already. сделает.
делает это сейчас. Несомненно, он это уже
сделал.
2. Не is sure not to be Не is certain not to have Не is certain not to do that
doing that now. done that. Конечно, он это не
= Surely, he is not doing = Certainly, he has not будет делать.
it now. done it.
= He can’t be doing that = He can’t have done that.
now. Конечно, он не Несомненно, он это не
делает это сейчас. делал.
3. Не is likely to be Не is likely to have done Не is likely to do that.
doing that now. that already. = He may/might do that.
= He may/might be = He may/might have Вероятно, он это
doing it now. Вероятно, done that. Вероятно, он сделает.
он делает это сейчас. это сделал.
4. He is unlikely to be Не unlikely to have done Не is unlikely to do that.
doing that now. that. Вероятно, он это
= He may/might be Маловероятно, он это сделает.
doing it now. Вряд ли , сделал.
он делает это сейчас.
Active Passive
Simple writing being written
Perfect having written having been written
FUNCTIONS OF PARTICIPLE
15. Participle as Adverbial Modifier
Active Passive
Simple While interviewing Ann the While being interviewed Ann
manager asked a lot of questions. was asked a lot of questions.
Проводя интервью с Анной, Когда с Анной проводили
мэнэджер задавал ей много интервью, ей задавали много
вопросов. вопросов.
Perfect On having interviewed Ann the On having been interviewed Ann
manager wrote a report. Проведя filled the form.
интервью с Анной, мэнэдже После того, как с ней провели
написал отчёт. интервью, Анна заполнила
бланк.
16.ParticipIe as an Attribute
Active Passive
Simple The lab assistant checking the The data being checked by the lab
data fills the table. assistant will be entered into the
Лаборант, проверяющий table.
данные, вносит их в таблицу. Данные, проверяемые
лаборантом, будут вносится в
таблицу.
Perfect *** The data checked by the lab
assistant are entered into the table.
Данные, проверенные
лаборантом, вносятся в
таблицу.
*** The lab assistant who had checked the data entered them into the table.
Лаборант, проверивший данные, внёс их в таблицу.
**** The data checked, the lab assistant entered them into the table.
После как данные были проверены, лаборант внёс их в таблицу.
***** The data to be checked by the lab assistant are entered into the table.
Данные, которые будут проверятся лаборантом, вносятся в таблицу.
Participle Noun
aging aging старение
being being существо
belonging *belongings имущество
earning *earnings заработок
finding ♦findings результаты исследования
footing основа
hearing ♦hearings слушание, заседание
*makings устройство, строение
proceeding ♦proceedings труды конференции
reasoning reasoning рассуждение
saving ♦savings сбережения
♦shortcomings недостатки
surrounding ♦ surrounding окружение
teachings ♦ teachings учение
18.MODAL VERBS
Verbs + Infinitive
agree demand help offer promise refuse threaten claim volunteer
function expression
beginning initially, at: first, to start with
continuing secondly, next
concluding finally, eventually, in the end, last but not the least
summarizing in conclusion, to sum up, on the whole, all in all,
to put it briefly, in a nutshell
reference with respect/reference /regard to
as for concerning, considering,
comparison as... as, the... the, twice ... as, more/less than
similarity similarly, likewise, in the same way, like
contrast on the other hand, unlike, contrary to, in contrast to
emphasis what’s more, as a matter of fact, in fact, indeed, actually, let
alone
exemplification for instance, for example, particularly, especially, in
particular, such as, like
exception but (for), except (for), apart from, save
alternative or, otherwise, on the other hand, alternatively
addition besides, not to mention the fact, what’s more
clarification that is to say, specifically, in other words, to put it anoter
way, namely
24. CONVERSION
* marks words that change stress: a noun has stress on the first syllable, a verb
- on the second one.
Functions Example
Subjunctive I would like you to check up these data.
Conditional I would appreciate it if you check up these data.
Future in the Past He said that he would check up these data.
(Sequence of tenses)
Repeated Action Every morning he would check up these data.
Willingness /unwillingness The motor would not start.
Conditional If he had time he would check up these data.
Functions Example
Modality He should repair the device.
Subjunctive He should have repaired the device.
Unlikely Condition Should he repair the device we will be able to start work.
Subjunctive It is imperative that he should repair the device.
(Desired Action)
27. Functions of be
Functions Example
Progressive tenses They are repairing the device.
Passive The device is repaired.
Modality The device is to be repaired by Monday.
Predicted Action in the Past However, it was to break on Tuesday.
Functions Example
numeral We will analyze one example
pronoun One may analyze this example.
noun substitute These examples are well-known ones.
Functions Example
conjunction He was told that he failed the exam.
demonstrative pronoun He was to resit that exam.
noun substitute He did not use his computer, he used that of his brother.
30. Inversion
Functions Example
questions Had he finished the experiment on time?
conditional clause Had he finished the experiment on time he would have published
the article.
emphasis Hardly had he finished the experiment when the power supply
was out.
Short negative - I have not finished the experiment.
answers - Neither/Nor have I.
MODEL TESTS
TEST 1
(Passive Voice)
I .Word Formation
Form nouns from the given verbs andfill in the gaps:
dispose preserve argue destroy govern
1. World Wildlife Fund tries to draw attention to the ... of Europe’s ancient woods.
2. ... encourage the regeneration o f forests their management in nature-friendly way.
3. The ... of ancient forests causes the extinction of many species.
4. There is an ... that recycling may have some unforeseen negative effects.
5. One o f the most vital environmental problems is the problem of waste . ...
II. Vocabulary
Correct the mistakes
6. There are both theoretical and practical subjects on our schedule.
7 .1 have lost my credit book and I have a problem with decanate.
8. In four years we will have practice and then we will write our diplomas.
9. Academic Alferov is to give a lecture at our department next week.
10. In five years we will obtain our magister’s degrees.
11.1 will finish university in five years and will go to the aspiranture.
12.1 am interesting in science so I would like to be an aspirant.
13. After the university I would like to enter a scientific research institute.
Choose the correct word
14. Students who have poor attendance/attention may be summoned to the deputy
dean.
15. At the end of the term we usually take/pass five exams.
16. The theme/subject of today’s lecture is very important.
17. My goal/ambition is to work at the Polytechnic University.
18. The foundations o f chemistry were laid/lain by Dalton and Lavoisier.
19. The standards o f university education have been risen/raised recently.
20. Care must be taken in handling radioactive materials as painful bums may result
from/in prolonged exposure to the rays.
III. Grammar
Passive Voice
Use the appropriate verb forms
2 1. The results of the experiments can (rely) upon.
22. These data (refer) to in many articles recently.
23. Conventional ideas and superstitions (do) with yet.
24. Admixtures of other metals (influence) the properties of basic metals .
25. Any deduction usually (succeed) a number of experiments and observations.
26. Newton’s laws of motion (subject) to criticism by Einstein.
27. Neutron capture by a nitrogen nucleus (follow) by the emission of a proton.
28. This discovery (follow) by another ones in the early twentieth century.
29. That sequence of events (bring about) the discovery of radioactivity.
30. The conference to be held next month (attend) by eighty physicists.
TEST 2
(Infinitive)
1.Заполните пропуски подходящими no смыслу словами из предложенного
списка.
SERENDIPITY
When you read magazine articles about (1) ___ discoveries or technological
advances, you can get a false (2 )___ of the way scientists and (3 )___ work . Of
course their research solves problems or leads to the (4 )___ o f new theories. But it
is not all as ( 5 ) ___ planned as we might imagine. A lot o f the (6) ___
discoveries were made by chance.
A (7) ___ might mix some substances and produce a new substance with
unexpected (8___ ). Such faculty of making (9 )___ and unexpected discoveries,
referred to as serendipity, is not (10)___ in the history of science.
DMITRY MENDELEYEV
TEST 3
(Infinitive)
VIRTUAL REALITY
Virtual reality (VR) is an interface that takes you inside a world created or (1 )___by
a computer. You put on a headpiece (2 )___with stereo-vision color monitors and a
sensor that keeps track of your head (3 )___. Turn around and you see what is (4)
you; put on a VR glove - as you have seen in si-fi films - and you can (5 )___
objects.
VR has (6 )___ranging from exercise (there’s already a flying bicycle, modeled after
the one in the film ET) to marketing (teenagers are invited to shop in VR malls). It
also has the (7 )___to democratize the space program. Once VR is up and running
on the (8 )___ home computer, a space probe imaging, say, the canyons of Mars
will be (9)___back, not just pictures, but entire environments that millions can (10)
E-MAIL
There can’t be many people who are aware (11) of e-mail, even if they have never
actually send one. Although there are similar (12) between e-mail and letters, there
are many different (13). The first is that e-mail is delivered instant (14) so it can be
a very efficient means of communication This means that e-mail is more practical
for communicating over large distant (15). Another difference is that e-mail tends to
be relative (16) informal. People are much more likely to use colloquial language
that they consider suit (17) for a formal letter. Spelling in an e-mail message may
also be not so accuracy (18) and some grammatical rules may be neglected. One
explain (19) is that e-mail seems less permanent than something written on paper.
Surely the fiiture develop (20) of e-mail will have all kinds of unexpected expect
effects on the way we communicate.
21. “Challenger” is known (explode) in the midair in1986 killing all seven members
o f the crew.
22. Edison is known (make) only one important scientific discovery- the Edison
effect.
23. The moon is known (be) mainly responsible for the tides on the Earth.
24. The atom is frequently said (be) a sort of miniature solar system.
25. People seem (think) the Eiffel Tower was the only work of this engineering
innovator.
26. The latitude of Greenwich meridian is known (determine) by John Flamsteed
27. The use of nuclear power is likely (cause) opposition.
28. The first accurate thermometer is known (invent) by Fahrenheit.
29. Newton showed Kepler’s laws (be) a consequence of the theory of universal
gravitation.
30. Several theories are known (attempt) to explain how the universe came into
being.
TEST 4
(Participle)
Sir Isaac Newton, the English scientist and mathematician, was one of the most
important figures of the 17th century scientific 16_(a) revolution/ (b) evolution. One
of his greatest 17_ (a) achievements/ (b) fulfillments was the discovery of the three
laws of 18 (a) movements / (b) motion, which are still used today. Isaac’s first
19_(a) publishing/(b) published work was the theory of light and color. When
another scientist wrote a paper
20_(a) criticising/(b) criticized this theory, Isaac flew into an uncontrollable rage.
The scientist 21_ (a) responsive/(b) responsible for the criticism was Robert Hooke,
one o f the most 22_respected (a)/ (b) respectable scientists in the country. 23_(a)
Despite/ (b) In spite Hooke’s being the head of the Royal Society, Newton 24_(a)
denied/ (b)refused to speak to him for over a year.
The fact was that Newton found 25_ (a) improbable/(b) impossible to have a
calm discussion with anyone. As soon as someone said something that he 26_ (a)
disagreed/(b) disliked with, he would lose his temper. For this 27_(a) purpose/ (b)
reason he lived a large part of his life 28_(a) insulated/(b)isolated from other
scientists.
Newton’s real annus mirabilisis (miraculous year) is considered 29_ (a) to be/
(b) to have been 1665 -1666, when, 30_(a)confining/ (b)confined to his county
home, he started to 31_(a) lay/ (b) lie the basis for the calculus, his law o f gravitation
and his theory of colors. This was the most fruitful individual scientific
accomplishment 32_ (a) to be repeated/ (b) repeating only by Einstein in 1905.
41. Holography, creating what appears (a) to be/ (b) to have been a three-
dimensional image in a two-dimensional medium, was invented in 1947 by a
Hungarian-born physicist, Denis Gabor.
42. Education has produced population able to read, but unable to distinguish what is
worth (a) reading/ (b) to read.
43. Advances in technology and telecommunications have also contributed to (a)
establish/ (b) establishing English as a global language.
44. The discussion (a) following/ (b) followed the presentation lasted for two hours.
45. The experiments (a) preceding/ (b) preceded the discovery involved the whole
laboratory staff.
46. Pauli and Heisenberg claimed (a) to have solved/ (b) solved all the unsolved
problems in elementary particle theory, reducing everything to a single equation.
47. Andre Marie Ampere, was said in early childhood (a) to memorize / (b) to have
memorized all 20 volumes of the Encyclopedia edited by Didrot and d’Alembert.
48. A key feature o f the scientific method is that the theorist can make a definite
prediction of the value of measurable quantity, the experimenter (a) going/ (b)gone
ahead and check up it to some level of accuracy.
49.Some materials become radioactive, with their nuclei suddenly (a) breaking/ (b)
broken up to give off a variety of rays.
50. A model of a phenomenon, system or process is its theoretical description (a)
designing/
(b) designed to aid understanding o f how it works.
TEST 5
(Participle)
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein is a 16_(a) deflning/(b) defined, emblematic figure for the
20-th century physics. His work 17_(a) altered/(b) alternated forever the way we
view the natural world. The relativity theory wholly 18_ (a) obligated/(b)
obliterated the absolutes of time and space that Newton had 19_(a)
embarrassed/(b) embraced more than two centuries earlier.
With little more to show than a 20_(a) rejected/(b) refused Ph. D. thesis, this
26-year -old clerk, who practiced physics in his spare time, declared that the 21_(a)
physicians/(b) physicists of his day were out of date went on to 22_(a) prove/ (b)
proving it.
Besides special and general relativity, his work helped to 23_(a) launch/(b)
lunch quantum mechanics and statistic mechanics. Chemistry and biotechnology
owe a debt to Einstein’s studies 24_ (a) supplied /(b) supplying evidence of the
existence of molecules and the ways they behave. What is even more 25_(a)
amazing/(b) amusing is that he published many of these insights through a series of
papers 26_(a) appeared/(b) appearing during a single miraculous year, 1905. No
other 27_ (a) compatibly/(b) comparably fruitful period for individual scientific
accomplishment can be 28_(a) founded/(b) found except during 1665 and 1666, the
original annus mirabilis, when Isaac Newton, 29_(a)confirmed/ (b) confined (14) to
his country home, started 30_ (a) laying /(b) lying the basis for the calculus, his law
of gravitation and his theory of colors. The international physics 31_ (a)
community/(b) society proclaimed 2005 the World Year of Physics as a 32 (a)
contribute/(b) tribute to Einstein’s discoveries.
TEST 6
(Infinitive Constructions)
ЕЗаполните пробелы данными словами: to (A), have (В) Despite (С), may
(D), can (E), by (F), namely (G), cannot (H), Furthermore (I), matter (J),
certainly (K), demand (L)
Sufficient Reason
...(1) living 250 years before the invention of the computer program, Leibniz came
very close ... (2) the modem idea of algorithmic information. He had all the key
elements: he knew that everything can be represented ... (3) binary information, he
built one of the first calculating machines, and he discussed complexity and
randomness. If Leibniz had put it all together, he might ...(4) questioned one of the
key pillars o f his philosophy, ...(5), the principle of sufficient reason__ that
everything happens for a reason. ...(6), if something is true, it must be true for a
reason. That ...(7) be hard to believe sometimes in the chaos and confusion of
everyday life and flow o f human history. But even if we,., (8) always see the reason
(perhaps because the chain o f reasoning is long and subtle), Leibniz asserted, God
...(9) see the reason. In that he agrees with ancient Greeks, who had originated the
idea. Mathematicians .,.(10) believe in reason and in Leibniz’s principle of sufficient
reason, because they always try to prove everything. No ...(11) how much evidence
there is for a theory, mathematicians ... ( 12) a proof of a general case.
TEST 7
(Subjunctive Mood)
6. ____ he is best known for his masterful paintings, Leonardo da Vinci is revealed as a
remarkable scientist by his notebooks, perhaps the first great scientist o f the modem
age.
7. To solve this problem scientists h av e___up with an idea of mysterious “dark
matter”.
8. The experiments that are __ out in natural surroundings are called field
experiments.
9. The start o f modem science___ back to Francis Bacon who is credited with
spelling out the experimental principles.
10. A famous scientist accepted the award o n ___of his entire research team.
Science promises to change our lives in any ways in the twenty-first century. Most
people probably (11) future scientific (12) with traveling to distant planets. Or with
the host o f (13) available in twenty-first century homes. However, it is probably in
the (14) of medicine that science will have the greatest (15) on peoples lives. (16) is
going on to find the ways to immunize people (17) AIDS which is known to have
claimed the lives of so many young people, and to discover (18) for terrible diseases
like cancer. O f course, before any o f these are made (19) to the public they will have
been (20) tested.
41. Do you know the answer to question 10? A) So I need not have wasted so
42. It was not necessary to do such exact, much tim e.
calculations B) I wish I knew.
43. Ann is so good at math, C) It’s time you started working
earnestly.
44. I failed my chemistry exam D) I wish she were here.
46. The modernistic Opera House situated in the Harbor is the landmark o f__
A) New York B) Sydney -C) Montreal
TEST 8
(Conditionals)
I Найдите дефиниции, соответствующие данным словам:
This term appeared in a journal article in 1968, and the term quickly (11)
“continental drift”, which is no t a scientific (12), just a crude description of a visible
phenomenon. Continents are (13) by their ocean boundaries, and there is little (14)
between the outlines of the continents and the edges of the plates that (15) them.
There are more plates than there are oceans: about a dozen large ones and 20 small
ones. The annual (16) of individual plates is measured in centimeters, but, over
millions years centimeters add up. Parts of the Earth’s (17) that once sweltered under
a tropical sun now are buried under polar ice. And when immense masses of rock
(18) _even at a snail’s pace _ the pressure, and the friction, can have dramatic (19).
The earthquakes and the volcanoes that are a feature of the regions where plates are
(20) consequences signs of the forces at work.
25-26. The refrigerators (develop) by Einstein and Szilard must (be) no good because
none was commercialized.
27. Most advanced products (say) to represent the state-of the art.
28. Software is notorious for bugs or errors (cause) it to malfunction or even crash.
29-30. Eliminating errors from programs in order (prevent) crashes and other
problems is (debug).
31. Environmentalists in New York claimed (devise) energy-saving strategies for
Africa.
32-33. Viruses cause strange messages (appear) on the screen, or data (lose) or
corrupted.
34. Computer models can succeed in (predict) global climatic changes well in
advance of their occurrence.
35. During further investigations still better results proved (be) obtained.
36. Aristotle’s physics (stand) the test o f time provided it had not lacked empirical
dimension.
37. The fact that can be proved false should be accepted as true as long as it (not
prove) as such.
38-39. Mendeleyev suggested that cobalt (swap) with nickel which he believed
wrongly (place).
40. The logic bomb is a program that lurks inside the system, (wait) for a specific
event to set it off and do its job.
Expressing an opinion:
To my mind.. in my opinion... As I see it.... As far as I'm concerned...
Personally, I... My point o f view is...
Hesitating:
Well, let me see...Oh, let me think for a moment...
Well now... What do I think of the problem? Well...
I've no idea, I'm afraid. I'm sorry, but I'm not the right person to answer that
question.
I can't answer that. I'll need some time to think about that if you don't mind
Agreements:
I completely agree. I agree entirely with your point of view.
I'm exactly of the same opinion. I agree in principle, but...
Strong Disagreement:
I totally disagree with you. I don't agree at all. I disagree entirely.
I respect your opinion, of course, however... I don’t completely agree with you that...
For Disbelief:
Prefixes
Negative Size Location Time and Number
and order
positive
un- semi- inter- pre- mono-
non- mini- super- anter- hex-
extra-
peri-
4. Prefixes of size:
Prefix Meaning Examples
1. Noun-forming suffixes:
Suffix Meaning Examples
-ance state performance
-ence quality of independence
-er, -or a person who programmer, operator
a thing which compiler, accumulator
-ist. -yst a person who analyst, typist
-ian pertaining to electrician
-tion, the act of protection, creation
-ation
-ness action/state weightlessness
-ion activity calculation, conversion
-ing state, action falling
-ment state, quality measurement
-ity condition/state superconductivity, permeability
-ism domain/condition magnetism
-dom condition/state freedom,
-ship condition/state relationship, partnership
3. Verb-forming suffixes:
5. Adverb-forming suffix:
Suffix Meaning Examples
-ly in the electronically,
manner of logically
Appendix 4
Mathematical supplementary:
solve решать solution решение
to equal равняться to be equal to равняться
equation уравнение equality равенство
to add прибавить addition прибавление
to subtract вычесть subtraction вычитание
to multiply умножить to divide разделить
to cancel сократить to substitute подставить
fraction дробь decimal fraction десятичная дробь
nominator числитель denominator знаменатель
factor множитель, коэфф. ratio отношение, пропорция
inverse ratio обратное отношение
How to read mathematical formulae:
a= b a is equal to b
a equals b
Appendix 5 Abbreviations
Appendix 9
Woopidoo.com
National Science Foundation: http://www.nsf.gov
http://galspace.spb.ru/index36-3.html
http//space. 1001 chudo.ru/stars_903 .html
eng.ru/index.php5?module=articles&class=showArticles&configId=l&tpl=single&ar
ticleld= 1&MenuId=abaabaaba
http://www.google.ru/search?hl=ru&q=massachusetts+institute+ofTtechnology&lr=
&aq=0&oq=Massachusett
http://www.peoples.ru/science/physics/kapitza/indexl.html
http://en.wikipedia.Org/wiki/Scientific_American#History
http://www.mcgill.ca/about/
http://www.kiae.ru/index32b.html
http://pra.aps.org/about
http://www.kva.se
http://lhc.web.cem.ch/lhc/
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5b9 1214852681
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grigori_Perelman
Беляева Ольга Ивановна
Жеребятьева Лариса Фёдоровна
Учебное пособие