МИНИСТЕРСТВО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ

ФЕДЕРАЛЬНОЕ АГЕНСТВ ПО ОБРАЗОВАНИЮ

МОСКОВСКИЙ ЭНЕРГЕТИЧЕСКИЙ ИНСТИТУТ
(ТЕХНИЧЕСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ)

SPEAK ENGLISH
УЧЕБНОЕ ПОСОБИЕ
ПО РАЗВИТИЮ НАВЫКОВ УСТНОЙ РЕЧИ
Москва Издательство МЭИ 2008
ББК
81. 432. 1
Р-17

Утверждено учебным управлением МЭИ

Подготовлено на кафедре английского языка

Авторы: Расторгуева Л. А., Бирюкова Л.С., Горюнова Л.Ф., Гуськова Е. И.,

Ермакова Л. В., Иванец Л. В., Казакова И. В., Косачева Т. А.,
Почепецкая Ю. А.,
Ответственный редактор: Горюнова Л.Ф.
Технический редактор: Бирюкова Л.С.

SPEAK ENGLISH. Учебное пособие по развитию навыков устной речи. – М.:

Издательство МЭИ, 2006. – 105 с.

Методическое пособие «Разговорные темы по курсу английский

язык» для студентов всех специальностей МЭИ содержат информацию по
устным темам, вынесенным на экзамен. Каждый раздел состоит из
нескольких текстов и диалогов, объединенных одной темой и заданиями,
направленными на формирование самостоятельного монологического
высказывания студента и его умение вести беседу на языке. В зависимости
от уровня подготовки студентов задание можно прорабатывать устно или
письменно, часть заданий может быть использована для дополнительной
подготовки.

© Московский энергетический институт (ТУ) 2008

 Предисловие

Цель данного пособия – сформировать навыки и умения разговорной

речи (монологической и диалогической) студентов технических вузов.
Пособие состоит из 9-ти блоков. Каждый блок рассчитан на 4
аудиторных занятия и состоит из основного текста, нескольких
дополнительных текстов, системы диалогов и упражнений, направленных
на развитие навыков разговорной речи, а также дополнительных текстов
воспитательно-познавательного характера. Все тексты и диалоги каждого
блока объединены одной темой и направлены на формирование
самостоятельного монологического высказывания студента и на развитие
умения вести беседу на языке.
Пособие предлагает работу по следующим темам: «Мой институт».
«Моя будущая специальность». «Москва». «Россия». «США».
«Великобритания». «Выдающиеся личности». «Моё хобби». «Мой
рабочий день». «Мой родной город». «Достижения науки и техники».
«Охрана окружающей среды». «Экосистемы».
Особый интерес представляет разработка устной темы «Мой институт
и моя будущая специальность», которая полностью охватывает тематику
специальностей технических вузов (на примере МЭИ), а также устные
темы «Москва» и «Россия», которые формируют у студентов не только
навыки устной речи, но также чувство патриотизма и гордости за свою
столицу и страну.
Весь представленный учебный материал подобран с учетом
необходимости нравственного воспитания и носит глубокий
познавательный и воспитательный характер.
Пособие может быть использовано для обучения устной речи в группах
студентов и магистров технических специальностей.

6
 UNIT 1. MY INSTITUTE
1. Pre-reading task. Answer the following questions.
1. What Institute do you study at?
2. When was the Institute founded?
3. What else do you know about your Institute?

Text A. Our Institute

Part I
1. The Moscow Power Engineering Institute (Technical University) has got a
very high reputation all over the world. That’s why many students from
different places come to study there. The University has long been
acknowledged as the leading higher educational institution in the field of
technology and power engineering. The MPEI was founded in 1930 in Moscow
at the very beginning of the energetics development in Russia. So, in fact, we
can say that the MPEI and Russia Power Engineering are practically the same
age.
1. Today the MPEI is the largest Russian Power Engineering University and
a leading scientific center. Since 1992 the University has also got the status of
technical University.
1. More than 1500 professors, associated professors, lecturers, tutors and
instructors are in the MPEI’s teaching staff. Now more than 20,000 students are
trained in the MPEI, among them there being two thousand foreign students.
1. The MPEI gives the students the highest standard of academic education
and professional training. There they have got great possibilities for
implementation and carrying out their research work.
1. After completing a course of five years, the University graduate gets the
Bachelor’s Degree in science, engineering, technology or production
management and economics. Later he can continue the studies and research to
get Master’s Degree. Furthermore, a student can take up a postgraduate course
with defending a thesis in order to gain the Candidate of Sciences Degree and
Doctor’s Degree to follow.
1. At present the MPEI comprises 12 separate educational institutes which
are part of the University (see the Supplementary page)
1. All the institutes mentioned differ from each other in tradition, size,
teaching methods and subjects. There are experienced tutors and instructors who
help students plan and organize homework material, select reading topics and
7
get ready for the Degree in the best possible way.
1. The MPEI’s teaching staff offers the students a unique view of the
academic subjects through the detailed and reliable presentation of lecture
material with applying very modern teaching techniques and methods.
1. The academic year consists of two terms or semesters of about 20 weeks
each with the vacation between them.
10. Today the basic curriculum includes such subjects as mathematics,
physics, Russian history, philosophy, science and engineering, computer
sciences, foreign languages, production management and economics.
Part II
11. Nowadays everyone realizes that science and engineering, especially
power engineering, is the largest single destination for the University leavers.
The MPEI highest executive power is vested in Rector. The Rector’s Academist
ration, including Vice – Rector, deputy vice – rectos, the heads of institutes,
makes up the so – called Rectorate that is, Rector’s Cabinet.
12. Today the MPEI is a unity of modern educational and research labs,
lecture and study halls, equipped with up – to – date installations and facilities,
control and measuring systems, modern computers.
13. The MPEI is the only technical institution of higher education having its
own Power Plant.
14. The MPEI has also pioneered in teaching foreign languages as a basic
speciality. And it is also the MPEI which has been equipped with the
professional audio – language lab for synchronous translation teaching.
15. The MPEI’s technical library is worth mentioning since it enumerates
about 1,000,000 volumes.
16. A lot of the MPEI’s teachers do their best to educate “the whole man”
thus devoting much of their time and efforts not only to teaching students
academic subjects but training them for social life and sports as well.
17. The MPEI’s sport club has got all the modern facilities for going into
sports – a stadium for outdoor sports’ activities, gymnasiums for indoor games,
a swimming pool, a shooting gallery and a tourist’s club.
18. The MPEI’s Palace of Culture is very popular with the students. It’s
musical and literary soiree’s, theatrical performances, the old friends’ warm
reunions gather a lot of people of different age and profession.
19. Every year a great number of professors, instructors, research workers,
employeés, postgraduates and students go abroad either on business trip or to
work as a probationer. Thus, they carry out joint research, participate in
conferences, scientific meetings and discussions, work on probation or as
8
instructors at higher schools abroad.
20. The rapidly changing world is launching a challenge to the educational
systems of many developed countries. And, no doubt, the MPEI with its high
educational standards is ready to face it. The level of higher education received
at the MPEI enables its leavers to take top positions in a society, namely, in the
country’s national economy and social life.
Questions to the text
Part I
1. When was the MPEI founded?
1. Since what time has the MPEI got the status of Technical University?
1. How many students are trained in the MPEI?
1. What can you tell about the MPEI’s teaching staff?
1. Why do many students come to study to the MPEI?
1. How long is the course of education?
1. What educational programmes are available for the University graduates?
1. How many educational institutes does the MPEI comprise at present?
1. How many terms does the academic year consist of?
Part II
1. Why are science and engineering so important today?
1. What top people are there among the MPEI’s graduates?
1. Who is the head of the MPEI?
1. What is the Rectorate?
1. What is the MPEI today?
1. Why is the MPEI a unique technical institution?
1. What facilities does the MPEI provide for education?
1. Why do the MPEI’s teachers do their best to educate “ the whole man”?
1. Why is the MPEI’s Palace of Culture very popular with the students?
1. Why do students and postgraduates work on probation abroad?
1. What enables the MPEI to take top positions?

Text B. Future Profession

Part I. Future profession
It is not an easy thing to choose the right job out of more than 2000 existing
in the world. Many roads are opened for a school – leaver; vocational and
technical schools, different colleges and universities.
Practically all careers are open to men and women alike. There is no doubt,
9
however, that a large number of careers traditionally considered musculine in
the west such as engineering, piloting planes or ships, building houses, driving
buses or trams are filled in Russia by women as well. Most doctors, ecologists
and engineers are women. The important thing is that no one considers these
matters as a question of sex. It is up to women as men to decide what they wish
to do, and then do it!
The Moscow Power Engineering Institute is one of the largest universities in
Russia. Educational standards are high and the whole educational process is
highly selective at the Institute. The students are trained in about 70 specialities.
When they graduate from the Institute, they are ready to work at various
research institutes and centres, power plants, designing bureaus, industrial
power engineering enterprises and banks.
Mass education is intended to serve the interests of the nation economically
and socially. It is reasonable to hope that more education will open more doors
to successful careers.
The scientific and technical revolution has produced a tremendous impact
upon all spheres of material and spiritual life in our country. It has also
influenced upon the school leavers’ choice of their future profession.
In this connection any young people get their higher education at technical
universities so that they can become qualified engineers or research workers.
At present the value of knowledge is rapidly increasing. Therefore the
problem of training young scientific workers is of great importance.
Part II. At the Laboratory
A modern research laboratory in an essential part of any scientific centre for
performing experiments and collecting information. Nowadays science often
requires the most sophisticated experimental installations – such as large
telescopes, power plants, atomic reactors, or accelerators of charged particles.
Laboratories need provision of all up – to – date experimental facilities for
accumulation of necessary data for the advancement of science. As a rule, the
scientist plans experiments to test his hypothesis. It is known to everyone that a
laboratory is a place equipped to conduct scientific experiments – tests,
investigations.
Thus to an astronomer the starry skies become a laboratory. A biologist may
do experimental work in a field or an ocean.
Physicists and chemists are often surrounded by a maze of compounds and
apparatuses housed in buildings designed specially for their purposes. A future
power engineering student considers a power plant to be his main laboratory.
Any scientific research, almost in all fields, is now dependent on computers for
10
they can handle very large amounts of data obtained from certain experiments.
Various types of computers, and especially mini – computers, are in wide
laboratory use.
A computer is an “electronic brain”. It is an electronic apparatus that can
receive, process, store and retrieve data, can carry out mathematical and display
the results.
No matter how much sophisticated is that electronic brain applied in any
research lab, it must be programmed by a human brain. So, to cut a long story
short, all the scientific work in any research laboratory involves performed
imagination and creative thinking as well as collecting facts and information and
performing experiments. But once the French mathematician, Pooncare, said:
“Science is built with facts just as a house is built with bricks, but a collection of
facts cannot be called a science any more than a pile of bricks can be called a
house”. And you? Do you share his opinion?
Answer the questions
Part I
1. Why is it not an easy thing to choose the right job?
2. What are the roads opened for a school-leaver?
3. What careers are traditionally considered musculine in the west?
4. What is the important thing in choosing a career?
5. Why does the MPEI occupy the leading position among Russian
Universities?
6. How many specialities does the MPEI provide for students?
7. Where can the MPEI graduates work?
8. What is mass education intended to?
9. Why is it necessary to get a successful career?
10. What impact has the scientific and technical revolution produced?
11. Why do many young people get their higher education at technical
universities?
12. Why is value of knowledge rapidly increasing at present?\
13. Why is the problem of training young scientific workers so important?
Part II
1. Why is a modern research laboratory an essential part of any scientific
centre?
2. What installations does science require nowadays?
3. Why do laboratories need for the advancement of science?
4. Why is it necessary to carry out tests, experiments and investigations?

11
 5. What becomes a laboratory for an astronomer?
6. Where may a biologist do experimental work?
7. Why is it necessary for physicists and chemists to conduct their labtests?
8. What is considered to be the main laboratory for a future power
engineering student?
9. Why are computers widely used?
10. What is a computer?
11. How can computers be programmed?
12. What does all the scientific work in any research laboratory involve?
13. Is human brain of any importance?
14. Do you understand the idea of a science introduced by the French
mathematician Pooncare? Do you share his opinion?

Text C. Structure of the University

1. The Institute of Power Engineering Machine Building
– Boiler and reactor manufacture
– Construction of turbines
– Hydraulic machines, hydrodrives and hydro and pneumatic control
– Dynamics and strength of machines
– Equipment and technology of high efficiency manufacturing
– Robotic systems and complexes.
2. The Institute of Thermal Power Engineering and Technical Physics
– Thermal power stations
– Water and fuel technology at thermal power stations
– Automatic production and technology processes (in industry)
– Thermophysics
– The physical methods and equipment in introscopy
– Cryophysics and cryogenic engineering.
3. Faculty of Industrial Heat Engineering
– Heat technologies
– Heat technologies in flying objects
– Automatic production and technology processes (in industrial installations)
4. The Institute of Electrical Power Engineering
– Electric power station
– Electrical power systems and networks
– Hydro-power engineering and renewable energy sources
– Electric power supply
– High – voltage physics and technologies
– Automatic control of Electrical Power systems
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 – Nuclear power plants
5. The Institute of Electronic Technique and Radio Engineering
– Illumination technology and light sources
– Microelectronics and semiconductor devices
– Electronics devices and systems
– Power industrial electronics
– Radio technologies and technique
– Radiophysics and electronics
– Radioelectronics devices and systems
– Optical devices and systems
6. The Institute of Electrical Engineering
– Electromechanics
– Electrical Apparatuses
– Electrical insulation and cables
– Electrical equipment of flying vehicles
– Electrical Installation and Systems of Enterprises and Institutions
– Relay Protection and Automatization of electric power engineering system
7. The Institute of Automatics and Telemechanics
– Automatics and control in technical systems
– Information System in Technics and Technologies
– Computer – aided design
– Computating machine, complexes, systems and networks
8. The Institute for Applied Humanities and Arts
– State and Municipal Management
– The Art Fashion Design
– Applied Informatics in Management
9. The Institute of Technology, Ecology and Business
– Management (Ecological and Financial)
– Ecology
10. The Institute of Business Safety
– Management of Organization and Management of Complex Safety system
– Economy and Management in Industry
11. The Institute of Linguistics
– Translation and Translation Theory
12. FESTO – The Russian – German Institute
– Automatization of Technological and Industrial processes
– Management in the Field of Automatization

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 Text D. The Directions and Specialities Which Can Be Chosen by
the MPEI Students
 Bachelor Courses Directions:
Applied mathematics and informatics; Automatics and control; Heat
technologies;
Non-traditional and renewable sources of energy;
High-voltage physics and technologies.
 Thermal power stations.
 Environmental engineering (in industry: power engineering).
 Optical-electronic devices and systems;
 Materials and components for solid-state electronics;
 Microelectronics and semiconductor devices;
 Electronic devices and systems;
 Economy and enterprises management (in thermal power engineering);
 Management (in industries: electrical engineering; electrical power
engineering);
 Decorative designing of articles for the textile and light industry (stylist);
 Design-decorative modeling of articles for every day life (modeler);
 Interior and equipment – decorative design for private and public buildings
interiors;
 State and municipal management;
 Finances and credit;
 Accountancy and audit;
 Electronics and microelectonics
 Technological machines and equipment
 Thermal power engineering
 Electrotechnique, electromechanics and electrotechnologies;
 Instrumentation technologies
 Electrical power engineering:
 Radio engineering;
 Power engineering industry;
 Informatics and computer engineering;
 Management in Power and Electrical engineering;

 Engineer and Master Courses Specialitles:

 Applied mathematics;

14
 Dynamics and strength of machines;
 Low temperature physics and technology;
 Thermophysics;
 Robots and robotic systems;
 Electric drive and automatics of industrial installations and technological
complexes;
 Boiler and reactor manufacture;
 Turbine manufacture;
 Equipment and technology of high-efficiency manufacturing;
 Hydraulic machines, hydraulic drives, hydro- and pneumatic control;
 Electromechanics;
 Electrical and electronic apparatus;
 Electrical insulators and cables engineering, capacitors technology;
 Electrotechnological installations and systems;
 Illuminating technology and light sources;
 Electrical transport;
 Electrical equipment of flying vehicles;
 Internal electrical equipment for factories;
 Electric power supply (in industry: electrical supply of cities and
agriculture);
 Power industrial electronics;
 Radiophysics end electronics;
 Radio engineering;
 Radio electronic devices and systems;
 Household radio electronic systems ;
 Biotechnical and medical apparatus and systems;
 Informational and measurement technologies and technique;
 The instruments and methods for quality testing and diagnostics;
 Control and informatics in technical systems;
 Automatic production and technology processes;
 Automatic control of electrical power systems;
 Computing machines, complexes, systems and networks;
 Computer-aided-design systems;
 Electric power stations;
 Electrical power systems and networks ;
 Nuclear power plants;
 Water and fuel technology on the thermal power station;
 Industrial heat engineering.

15
 Philosophy Doctor (PH. D.) and Doctor of Science (D. Sc.) Courses
Specialities:
Physics of semiconductors;
 Electrophysics, electrophysical installations;
 Thermophysics and theoretical heat engineering;
 Robots, mechatronics and robotics systems;
 Machines and equipment, processes of а refrigeration and cryogenic
technique, air condition and life support systems;
 Turbo-machines and combined turbine installations;
 Hydraulic machines and hydro– and pneumo– equipment;
 Electromechanics and electrical equipment;
 Electrotechnical materials and products;
 Electrical complexes and systems;
 Theoretical electrotechnique;
 Illuminating technologies;
 Electrotechnologies;
 Power electronics;
 Equipment and methods for electrical and magnetic measurements
 Radio engineering, involving systems and equipment of radio navigation,
radar and TV systems;
 Antennas, ultra-high-frequency systems and its technology;
 Systems, nets and equipment for telecommunications channels;
 System analysis, control and treatment of information;
 Elements and devices for computer technique and control systems;
 Automation and control of technological processes and manufactures;
 Mathematical methods and software for computers, complexes, computer
networks and systems;
 Systems of automatic designing (in branches);
 Systems of telecommunications and computer networks;
 Theoretical bases of informatics;
 Mathematical simulation, numerical methods and software complexes;
 Electrical power systems and complexes;
 Electrical Power stations and electrical power systems;
 Nuclear power equipment, involving designing, putting in and putting out
from operation;
 Industrial heat engineering;
16
  Power installations on the base of renewable energy sources;
 High-voltage technologies;
 Thermal power plants, their power systems and equipment;
 Labour protection
 Solid-body electronics, radio electronic components, micro- and
nanoelectronics upon quantum effects;
 Vacuum and plasma electronics;
 Quantum electronics;
 Technology and equipment for production of semiconductors, materials
and equipment of electronics.

Text E. Dialogue
Dialogue 1. At the Institute
Victor: Hello, Kate!
Kate: Hello, Victor! Glad to see you. Are you a student of our University?
Victor: Yes, I am а student, but only not of your University
Kate: Really? What did you enter?
Victor: I entered the Moscow Power Engineering Institute (Technical
University).
Kate: Oh, yоu are a day-time student, aren’t yоu?
Victor: Yes, just so.
Kate: And where is your Institute located?
Victor: It is in Lefortovo in the East of Moscow.
Kate: Is it а large University?
Victor: Yes, it is. About twenty thousand students study there.
Kate: What institutes has it got?
Victor: It has 12 institutes.
Kate: What institute do you study at?
Victor: At the Radio Engineering Institute.
Kate: Dо you have lectures and classes?
Victor: Yes, we have got them in all the subjects.
Kate: Do you attend lectures regularly?
Victor: Oh, yes, I do. I seldom miss lectures.
Kate: What is your favourite subject?
Victor: Mathematics. And what is yours?
Kate: Mine is chemistry. Who delivers lectures on maths?
Victor: Professor Petrov does.
Kate: At what time do your lectures begin?

17
Victor: Usually at nine thirty.
Kate: And when do they end?
Victor: At five.
Kate: Do you have lectures every day?
Victor: No. We have them only three times а week.
Kate: What foreign language do you study?
Victor: I study English. And you?
Kate: German. What mark do you have in English?
Victor: I have а five. And what about your German?
Kate: Oh, I am not so lucky as you are. I have only а four in it. Have you
ever failed at an examination?
Victor: Oh, yes, last month I failed in chemistry.
Kate: If you are not good at chemistry, I can help you.
Victor: Oh, thanks a lot.
Dialogue 2. The Opportunities for an Institute Graduate
Two friends are talking about the opportunities an institute graduate has for
continuing his studies. Nick is а post-graduate of the Power Engineering
Institute. Воris is an engineer and works at а plant.
Boris: Hello, Nick! Well, that’s а surprise!
Nick: Very glad to see you again, old chap!
Boris: I thought you had left for Moscow. If I remember rightly, you said
you were going to work for one of the Power Engineering
Companies. What made you change your mind?
Nick: Well, as you know, after the graduation from the institute I worked as
а junior research worker under Professor Pavlov. And he encouraged
me to take up a postgraduate course. Well how are you getting on?
What are you doing?
Boris: Life is fine with me. I am a metallurgist of the steelworks. We are
working out а method of an entirely new steel-making process.
Nick: So, it's а kind of research work. I think it would be rather useful for
you to take up post-graduate studies by correspondence.
Boris: I’ve never thought about it but it’s а good idea. I believe you know
everything about the requirements for applicants1.
Nick: In fact, the requirements are well-known. You can specialize in any
field of science you prefer. Then you should take entrance
competitive examinations in the History of Russia, a foreign language

1
an applicant: one who asks for or tries to get smth (especially а position)
18
 and your speciality.
Boris: Well, I’ll have to think everything over. I’m not sure I’ll be able to
combine work and study. It will take much time, won’t it?
Nick: You know, Воris, a post-graduate course lasts three years. During this
period of time a student collects and processes data for his research
paper, writes and, as а rule, successfully proves his thesis for the
Master of Science degree.
Boris: So, I’ve got some information I needed, but 1 think it’s going to be
rather difficult to get through the competitive exams.
Nick: The subjects need brushing up2, of course. But it is certain that
examiners will give you full marks.
Boris: Luck counts for so much in exams.
Nick: Well, the exams’ll soon separate the sheep from the goats 3, as they
say. Surely there are no chances these days for the students who learn
facts parrot-fashion4. By the way, do you know the exams are only а
month away?
Boris: Only а month? So it is! Well, I must be off, I’m afraid. It’s rather late.
It was а real pleasure to have met you. Good-bye.
Nick: Bye-bye. Good luck to you!
Dialogue 3. Research Work Problems
Two science students are discussing some problems concerning their
research work.
Bob: Good morning, Alfred.
Alfred: Good morning, Воb. I haven’t seen you around lately. What have you
been doing?
Bob: Oh, I’ve been working pretty hard lately. I’m trying to
finish my paper on the photosynthetic process for the
next issue of the journal.
Alfred: Say, that' s interesting. What’s new?
Bob: Well, it seems that plant organisms not only form а kind of reservoir of
light energy but also convert it into chemical energy. Nature has
covered the Earth with living plants which capture and store sunlight.
They do this by converting it into an immobile form.
Alfred: I don' t quite understand this.
2
to brush up: to study or practice smth in order to get back skill that has been lost
3
sheep … goats: those who are good (at their work) and those who are bad
4
parrot- fashion: like а parrot; as uncritical repeaters of the words of others, in the same
way as а parrot
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Bob: I don' t have time to explain it now, Alfred, but I’ll send you а copy of
the paper as soon as it' s finished.
Alfred: Thanks а lot. So long, Воb.
Bob: Good bye, Al.
Dialogue 4. Have You Chosen the Subject of Your Graduation Thesis?
Is it difficult or easy to write а graduation thesis?
Helen: What’s the subject of your graduation thesis, Mike?
Mike: I haven’t chosen it yet.
Helen: But there is very little time left, you should join а research team
(=group) and do some experimental work.
Mike: Perhaps, I’ll try and forecast (=say in advance) computer systems of the
future.
Helen: То forecast future developments in computer architecture is very
difficult. Have you got enough information on the subject?
Mike: I wish I had.
Helen: Oh, it' s impossible to talk seriously with you.
Mike: And you haven’t got the slightest sense of humour.
Dialogue 5. Mike Is Working in thе Robot Laboratory
Why is the preparatory work the most important stage of any experiment?
Helen: Hello, Mike, what are you doing here?
Mike: I’m a lab assistant, and we are getting ready for а very important experiment.
We want to test а new robot with several degrees of freedom.
Helen: The preparatory work is the most important part of any experiment.
Mike: Yes, it’s necessary to prepare the apparatus and the measuring
instruments well.
Helen: And who will check (= inspect) and adjust (= regulate) all the devices?
Mike: That' s my job.
Helen: Oh, Mike, I envy you, you will be taking part in such an important
experiment!
Mike: The team leader is а magnificent man! He says he will give me а
practical trial (= test), and, if I’m good enough, he’ll make me а
member of his research team.
Helen: That’s wonderful!

20
 Dialogue 6. We Are Very Optimistic
Why are the members of the research team so optimistic?
Dr Grekov: Good morning, Dr. Starov.
Dr Starov: Good morning, Dr. Grekov.
Dr Grekov: I know you start your experiment today, and I’ve come to wish
you good luck.
Dr Starov: Thank you, Dr. Grekov, we’re very optimistic. We’ve made all
the necessary preparations, the instruments have been checked,
the devices have been adjusted. Fred Platov will follow the
process with measuring instruments.
Dr Grekov: And who will take the readings (= record the readings)?
Dr Starov: Mike, our lab assistant, and Nick Kedrov, our research worker.
We hope our method is reliable.
Dr Grekov: We' re very interested in the results of the experiment and
hope to hear from you as soon as possible. Good-bуе!
Dialogue 7. You Shouldn’t Be Discouraged by a First Failure
What does Dr. Starov thank Dr. Grekov for?
Dr Grekov: How are you, Dr. Starov?
Dr Starov: You want to say you' re sorry our experiment ended in failure.
Dr Grekov: No, I want to say that you shouldn’t be discouraged by а first
failure.
Dr Starov: Thank you, Dr. Grekov. The thing is that we can’t find the
error (='mistake) in our calculations.
Dr Grekov: So what next?
Dr Starov: I only know that we should start our experiment again and we
are going to try the same approach again.
Dr Grekov: I hope you’re successful.
Dialogue 8. Now We Have a Convincing Proof of Our Theory
What should you do next?
Dr Grekov: Take my congratulations, Dr. Starov.
Dr Starov: Yes, this time our experiment was а success, and now we have
convincing proof of our theory.
Dr Grekov: And what went wrong in the first experiment?
Dr Starov: We made а thorough (=careful) examination of all the devices
and found one which was inoperative (=did not work).

21
Dr Grekov: I’m glad, Dr. Starov. Now you must process and evaluate the
data obtained quickly and carefully. The results are very
important for further research.
Dr Starov: Yes, we know.
Dialogue 9. We Can’t Do Without Electronic Computers in Modern
Research
What is the final stage of an experiment?

Helen: Hello, Mike! I haven’t seen you for ages!

Mike: You know, Helen, I’ve been very busy this week! We have
examined and analysed the results, and now we are processing the
data.
Helen: Who are "we"? You – too?
Mike: Naturally! And you know, I’ve come to realize that соmputers are
the most suitable and reliable machines for making calculations.
Helen: How clever of you!
Mike: All the great discoveries in science have been the result of accurate
measurements and calculations.
Helen: Thank you for the interesting information and good-bye!
Mike: Say, Helen, what about going to а discotheque tomorrow?
Helen: But you’re very busy this week!
Mike: But tomorrow is Saturday!
Dialogue 10. Necessary to Combine Work and Leisure
Which is the best way to recreate spent energy?
Dr Grekov: Now that your experiment is over, what are you going to do next?
Dr Starov: I’m planning to make а report on the results of our work at а
scientific conference, my colleagues, junior research workers Nick
Kedrov and Fred Platov are going to write an article for the
Computer Science journal, and then we intend to start on some
new research.
Dr Grekov: But first of all, I suppose, you need change and а good rest.
You’ve been working very hard.
Dr Starov: I know you want to say that а scientist must be able to relax and
recreate (= restore) his spent energy, but I never know how to rest.
Dr Grekov: The best forms of relaxation are sports and watching TV.
Dr Starov: But I prefer reading detective stories.
Dr Grekov: Well, why not?

22
 Dialogue 11. Advertisements for jobs
Mary: Have you seen an interesting advertisement in the last issue of “The
Economist”?
John: I have not read it yet.
Mary: The School of Engineering offers a new programme in information
system. Applications are invited for jobs in this field.
John: Professor Smith has told me about it. This programme is interesting. It
is designed to meet the need of persons with a computing background
for their work in management and industry.
Mary: Don’t you think that our son can lecture on this new programme?
John: Why not? He graduated from the Department of Computer Science and
for some years was taking part in the research project connected with
the problems of supercomputers and their manufacturing.
Mary: As far as I remember his research interest covers software and
application.
John: And what do they say about the contract?
Mary: It is a three years contract and it may be extended for further two years.
I’ll write Mike a letter.
John: It’s too long. You’d better call him.
***
A: How do you like these new electronic games?
B: I am crazy (mad) about them. And you?
A: Really, I don’t know what you see in them?
B: Well, I think a real computer game resembles real life as closely as
possible, doesn’t it?
A: May be you are right, but I’m not sure.
B: Oh, but I find them rather relaxing for a change and try to spend every
spare minute playing.
Dialogue 12. Student’s problems
A: Hello!
B: Is that you, Alec! This is Boris speaking. Why didn’t you attend
lectures? The whole group’s anxious about you, you know.
A: Oh, I’m sorry I’m not well and I have to stay at home.
B: Can I do anything for you?
A: Please, bring your notes. I missed some lectures and now I can’t catch
the idea of what difference between bipolar and bubble memory is, and

23
 what random access memory and read-only memory are … and what
chips are…
B: All right. By the way? I’ve got a textbook “Microcomputer Design”.
I’ll bring it if you like.
A: Thank you, I need it badly See you in the evening.
B: Good bye.
Notes:
1. to be anxious – беспокоиться;
2. to miss – пропускать занятия;
3. to catch the idea – понять.

Dialogue 13. Students’ talk

A: Hello, B! Where are you going?
B: Hello, A! Haven’t see you for ages! I’m going to the Institute.
A: Oh! You are a student now! What Institute have you entered?
B: I’ve entered the Technical University.
A: Good for you! And what faculty do you study at?
B: I study at the Electrical Engineering Faculty. My speciality is Electronic
Computers (Applied Mathematics, Computer Control Systems).
A: You liked mathematics at school, didn’t you? They say one should know
that subject well to study your speciality.
B: You are right. Mathematics was my favourite subject at school.
A: And you already know what a computer is, don’t you?
B: Yes. I do. A computer is a machine, which performs a sequence of
reasonable operation on information. I also know what simple and complex
computers are.
A: It’s very interesting! Tell me, please.
B: With pleasure, listen to a simple computer is an ordinary business adding
machine, and a complex computer is a modern electronic digital computer
which performs more than 100 mil operations a second.
A: Can you say, please, what kind of operations a modern electronic computer
performs.
B: Yes. I can. It performs addition subtraction, multiplication, and division.
These operations are called arithmetical operations. But modern computers
perform logical operations too.
A: Well, what are they?
B: Logical operations, which I know are comparing and selecting.
24
A: In what capacity will you work after graduating from the Institute?
B: I shall work as a system-engineer (an engineer – mathematician). But I am
sorry. I must hurry to the Institute, I’m afraid to be late for the lectures. So
long.
A: Wish you luck in your study. So long.
Notes:
1. The Electrical Engineering Faculty – зд. электромеханический факультет.
2. Computer Control System – автоматизированная система управления.
3. Applied Mathematics – прикладная математика.
4. In what capacity will you work? – Кем ты будешь работать?
5. an engineer-mathematician – инженер-математик.

Dialogue 14. “Have to study”

Tom: Are you going to attend the seminar tonight?
Bill: I should go. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to do so.
Tom: Why should you go there?
Bill: The speaker will talk about composite ceramics. I must know all about
this subject. As you know, I’ll do some experimental work in this field
next June. So, I’ll have to know about it.
Tom: In that case, you ought to cancel your other plans and attend the
seminar. You shouldn’t miss it.
Bill: You are right. But I can’t go.
Tom: Why can’t you?
Bill: Don’t you remember? We are to take an exam in French tomorrow. I
have to study for the examination.
Tom: Do you have to study? Is it necessary?
Bill: Well, I suppose the expression “have to study” is too strong. No one is
forcing me. But I really ought to study tonight. Shouldn’t you do it too?
Tom: I don’t have to study. I studied last night and I am sure I can pass it.
Besides that, I must attend the seminar.
Bill: Why must you attend it?
Tom: Have you forgotten? I must introduce the speaker to the audience.
Bill: Yes, that’s right.
Tom: Well, I have to go now. I may be late. I’ll see you later.

25
 Text F. Focused Practice
I. Составьте сообщение о своем университете. Используйте ответы на
вопросы:
1. What University do you study at? 2. Where’s it located? 3. When was the
University established? 4. How many students are there at your Institute? 5.
Who may enter your University? 6. When did you enter your University? 7.
What year student are you? 8. At what institute do you study? 9. What
specialists does your Institute train? 10. Is your friend a day-time student? 11.
When does your friend study? 12. Does he get а scholarship? 13. When do you
have your studies? 14. How many times а week do you study? 15. When do
your studies begin and end? 16. How many lectures a day do you have? 17. Is
attendance at your institute voluntary? Do you attend all the lectures and
classes? 18. What students pass their examinations more successfully? 19. What
marks do they get? 20. What is your favourite subject? 21. Who delivers
lectures on this subject? 22. What foreign languages are taught at your institute?
23. What language do you study? 24. When does the academic year start and
end? 25. Is the academic year divided into terms? 26. When do the students
usually take their examinations and tests? 27. What do the students have at their
disposal? 28. What lab works do the students perform in the training
laboratories?
II. Составьте сообщение об эксперименте, который вы проводите.
Используйте следующие выражения и словосочетания:
We decided to perform an experiment: а highly specific experiment; an
experiment to provide information about electron penetration through thin
monocrystals of various materials– copper, silver and gold; this experiment is
going to be . . . ; the leader of the experimental group; to make а good team; to
prove а hypothesis; to explain some facts; to verify some data; I think, suppose,
believe; it' s necessary, important, possible; we are going (planning) to; to my
mind, as far as I know, in my opinion.
We are busy with preparations for the experiment: to make preparations
for an experiment; to face difficulties; to design new devices for an experiment;
to get the equipment ready; to check and adjust devices; to master lab
techniques; to use а new method; to try а new approach; we are very busy; we
are very tired; we are very optimistic; we hope everything will turn out all right.

26
 Text G. Post-graduate Research Work and Degrees in Britain
The undergraduate course1 of studies at English universities is completed
when students are ready to take their degree examinations 2. After graduating
they obtain the first academic degree or distinction of а Васhelor of Arts,
depending on satisfactory examinations results. Bachelor's degrees are at two
levels, Honours and Pass3. Honours degrees are first, second or third class, and
usually only about 5 per cent of the students are placed in the first class. Those
that have а bent for research work may apply for an advanced course of study
extending over not less than two academic years for full time post-graduates and
not less than three; academic years for part-time graduate students.
The first post-graduate degree is normally that of Master, conferred for а
thesis based on one or two years’ full-time work. In а few of the biggest
universities there are some seminars for post-graduate students, but usually there
are no regular courses for them.
Every post-graduate working on а research problem is provided with an
adviser and referees for the refereeing and evaluation of his thesis.
On completing his course of study every candidate must submit а thesis. He
is also required to forward а short abstract of his thesis comprising not more
than 300 words.
If the thesis is satisfactory on all points, the candidate will be awarded the
degree and will continue his work in the academic field.
Everywhere the degree of Doctor is given for а thesis, which is considered to
be an original contribution to knowledge.
______________________________
Note:
1. the undergraduate course – последний год обучения в университете;
2 degree examination – экзамен на степень;
3. Honours degree – степень с отличием; pass degree – степень без отличия.

27
 UNIT 2. MOSCOW
1. Pre-reading task. Answer the following questions.
1. When was Moscow founded?
2. Is there a monument to Yuri Dolgoruky in Moscow?
3. Where is this monument?
4. When did Moscow become the capital?
5. Why was the capital moved to St. Peterburg in 1712?
6. When did Moscow become the capital again?
7. What is the total area of modern Moscow?
8. What is the population of Moscow?
9. What places of interest in the centre of Moscow do you know?
10. What can you say about St Basil’s Cathedral?
11. Who built this cathedral?
12. What theatres do you know?
13. What is your favourite place in Moscow?

Text A. Russia’s Ancient Capital

Moscow is the capital of Russia. It’s an ancient historical city. It was first
mentioned in the records dated back to the year 1147. Now Moscow is the fifth
largest city in the world.
The centre of Moscow is the Kremlin which was built on the left bank of the
Moskva River Among the historical monuments inside the Kremlin there are the
Tsar Cannon, the Tsar Bell, the assumption and the Annunciation Cathedrals.
Moscow is the centre of political, commercial, cultural and educational life
in the country. There are a lot of theatres and concert halls in Moscow. The most
popular theatres are the world-famous Bolshoi Theatre, the Maly Theatre, the
Chaikovsky Concert Hall, the International Music House and others. There are
also a lot of museums and art galleries in Moscow. The most famous and
popular art museums are the Tretyakov Art Gallery and the Pushkin Fine Arts
Museum.
There are over 80 institutes and universities in Moscow, among them
Moscow State University named after Lomonosov, one of the first higher
educational institutions in Russia.
Moscow grows day after day and becomes more and more beautiful. Of
course, like all big cities, Moscow is a noisy city. The traffic is heavy both in the
28
daytime and at night. During rush hours buses, trolleybuses and trams are
overcrowded. Muscovites prefer to travel by the metro, which is the fastest and
the most reliable means of transportation. The Moscow metro began its work on
the 15th of May, 1935. There were 13 stations at that time. Now it has about 200
stations. Our metro is a beautiful and convenient one.
There are nine railway stations in Moscow and some airports around the
city.
2. Comprehension check. Answer the following questions:
1. What kind of city is Moscow now?
2. What historical monuments are there inside the Kremlin?
3. What are the most famous art museums of Moscow?
4. Why is Moscow considered to be the educational centre of Russia?
5. What places of interest would you like to see in Moscow?
3. Retell the Text
Text B. The Arbat
The Arbat is a true symbol of old Moscow, and has recently celebrated its
500th anniversary. Its name is first mentioned in the city chronicles of 1493. In
that year the whole city was engulfed in a terrible fire, sparked by a candle in
the Church of St. Nicholas which is situated on the Arbat. This disaster led to
the well-known saying: “A penny candle razed Moscow to the ground”.
It is far from certain where the famous name Arbat comes from. It might be
from the Slavonic root gorbat (humpy), which at that time meant “hilly
ground”. The word is sometimes linked with the Arabic word arbad meaning
“suburb”, for in the 15th century only the Kremlin itself was regarded as the city
proper. In those days the Arbat was the place where caravans with goods from
the East would stand, and an Arabic word could well have been assimilated into
the local tongue.
Initially there were many slobodas in the Arbat. The word sloboda meant a
settlement exempted from certain obligations to the State. However, from the
second half of 18th century the Arbat became the most aristocratic quarter of the
city; just like Prechistenka. It was often described as the St. Germain of
Moscow, and the Muscovite intelligentsia settled in this area. The Arbat and
Prechistenka have much in common in their history and character. There have
never been any factories here, no any workers’ huts, and there were no taverns
or bazaars. In 1986 the Arbat was repaved as the first pedestrian street in
Moscow.
29
4. Comprehension check.
Are these sentences true or false? Correct the false sentences.
1. The Arbat is a new street in Moscow.
2. The word «Arbat» means a surburb.
3. From the second half of 18th century the Arbat became the place, where
poor people lived.
4. There are a lot of factories there.
5. Answer the questions:
1. How old is the Arbat?
2. Where does the famous name Arbat come from?
3. When did the Arbat become the most aristocratic quarter of the city?
4. Why did the Arbat become the most aristocratic quarter of the city?

Text C. Moscow – the Capital of Our Country

Moscow was founded in 1147 by prince Yuri Dolgoruky. Moscow is the
capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the capital of Moscow region. It
stands on the banks of the Moskva River. More than nine million people live in
the city. Moscow is the economic, political and cultural centre of Russia.
Railways and numerous airlines link the city with all parts of Russia. Moscow
Canal, Moskva River, and Volga-Don Canal link Moscow with the Baltic Sea,
the White Sea, the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Sea of Azov.
Moscow covers the area of about 880 square kilometres. Concentric
boulevards divide the city into several sections. At the centre of the concentric
circles are the fortress Kremlin and the Red Square.
The Kremlin has the shape of а triangle with one side along the north bank
of the Moskva River. А stone wall, up to 21 m in height with 19 towers,
surrounds this triangular complex of former palaces, cathedrals, and other
monuments. The Great Kremlin Palace, completed in 1849, is the most
impressive structure inside the Kremlin. Other famous Kremlin palaces are the
Granovitaya Palata (Chamber) (built in 1491) and the Terem (built in 1636).
Among many cathedrals, now used mainly as museums, are the Cathedral of
the Assumption (Успения) and the Archangel Cathedral, each with five gilded
domes, and the Cathedral of the Annunciation (Благовещения) (built in 13th –
14th century), with nine gilded domes. The bell tower of Ivan the Great has the
height of 98 metres. On а nearby pedestal there is the Tsar Bell (nearly 200
tons), one of the largest in the world. А recent addition to the Kremlin is the
Palace of Congresses, completed in 1961.
St Basil’s Cathedral, а masterpiece of Russian architecture with coloured domes,
30
stands at one end of Red Square and at the other end there is Historical Museum.
Other points of interest in Moscow include the Central Lou zhnikee
Stadium, comprising about 130 buildings for various sports and the tall
Ostankino TV tower, which contains а revolving restaurant and an observation
platform. Moscow has а modern railway underground system (Metro) famous
for its marble-walled stations.
Moscow is а scientific and cultural center with а lot of institutes,
universities, libraries and museums. The city leads а vast cultural life. It has а
lot of cinemas, clubs, concert halls, more than 40 drama and musical theatres,
including the Bolshoi Theatre, the Art Theatre, the Maly Theatre, the
Vakhtangov Theatre.
Muscovites are proud of their museums: the Tretyakov Art Gallery, the А. S.
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and the State Historical Museum. Crowds of
people visit Tretyakov Gallery admiring beautiful pictures of Russian painters.
There are а lot of big plants and factories in Moscow. Among the products
are aircraft, high-quality steel, ball bearings, cars and other motor vehicles,
machine tools, electrical equipment, precision instruments, radios, chemicals,
textiles, shoes, paper, furniture. Food processing, printing, and the repair of rail
equipment are important industries.

Text D. The Face and Spirit of Moscow

For centuries Moscow has been the traditional heart of Russian culture, the
holy city of Russian Orthodoxy. Moscow has always puzzled and delighted its
guests with the symphony of onion domes, а pleasant confusion of narrow
twisting streets, the city-village character of its centre and an unconquerable
spirit. Unlike many other cities it managed to preserve а typically Russian
image. This is an unpredictable city, full of surprises. Walking along а modern
street you turn round the corner and find yourself face to face with а medieval
church or а quaint wooden house that witnessed so many outstanding events of
Moscow's glorious history and hosted so many famous people.
The historical past of Moscow is reflected not only in its monuments, but in
the structure of the city. Traditionally it grew in concentric circles of battlements
surrounding its core – the Kremlin. But there were three more protecting walls
with towers besides the Kremlin. The remnants of the famous Kitay-Gorod wall
can still be seen near the namesake metro station. The one around the White-
Gorod is repeated in the semi-circle of the Bulvar Ring and our present day
Garden Ring replaced the last battlement – Zemlyanoy Gorod. Radial lines of
streets cross these circles in places where the fortified passgates used to be.
Thus the names – the Square of Nickitsky Gates, Yauzsky Gates, еtс.
31
 The names of Moscow streets and squares immortalize the most memorable
pages of our history. Ordynka, Donskaya, Oslyabinskaya streets remind us of
the liberation fight against the Tatar-Mongolian yoke for the independence of
Rus. Dmitrovskoye highway, Smolenskaya and Serpuhovskaya streets are
named so after ancient Russian towns closely related to Moscow politically and
by trade in times of consolidation of Rus.
Moscow was the city of many monasteries. They were not only the places
where monks lived and prayed, but served mainly as forts protecting the
outskirts of the city from enemy attacks. Monks in those times easily turned into
warriors and often won undying glory. Many monasteries, churches and city
landscapes could not survive in the course of centuries, but their names still
warm our hearts and add to the charm of Moscow: Plushikha, Kuznetsky Most,
Volhonka, Razgulyay, Nickolskay, etc.
We remember nothing about the house owner Lavrushina, but the street
named after her will always be associated with Pavel Tretyakov and his gallery,
Prishvin and other writers who lived there and signed their works "written in
Lavrushensky pereulok".
Old names get new meanings and it proves that Moscow is а living and
breathing city that can tell you endless stories and legends from its past. But it
reveals its face and discloses its secrets only to those who are interested.
Rushing passers-by will see nothing. They will never know why small houses
neighbour brightly painted churches and imposing palaces, why we treasure а
centennial oak in Tverskoy Bulvar (it saw Pushkin and Gogol), why our bards
compare Muscovites with musicians who touch the strings of Moscow streets
and produce cords – sometimes lyrical, sometimes pathetic.

Text E. Moscow: a Journey in Time

Though Moscow is young as compared with Rоme, Athens or even London,
you can hardly imagine the history of Russia or world history without it. As
early as in 1380 on Kulikovo field the Russian troops under the banner of the
Moscow Prince Dmitri Donskoi dealt а crushing blow to the Tartars and thus
shielded Europe from their invasion. In 1941 – 1945 in the heroic struggle
against Hitler's troops Russia played а vital role in saving the world from
fascism. The symbol of this was the 1945 Victory Parade on the Red Square in
Moscow. It was from Moscow that mankind made its first step into space. The
history of world art would be incomplete without the names of great artists,
poets, writers, actors, ballet dancers, composers and musicians who were
inspired by Moscow.
Let us travel through the ages and have а glimpse of Moscow at the crucial
32
moments of its history.
1147 – Moscow is first mentioned in Russian chronicles. Yuri Dolgoruky,
the Prince of Suzdal, to whom Moscow belonged then, agreed to meet his
kinsmen Svyatoslav and Oleg of Novgorod on the banks of the Moskva River.
He entertained them so well that the fame of Moscow spread abroad.
1325 – Ivan I surnamed "Kalita" (the Purser) becomes the first real Prince of
Moscow (Moscow becomes а principality in its own right). Ivan surrounded the
hill with а wall of oak and gave to the enclosure the Tartar name of "Kreml", or
fortress. He built magnificent churches, Uspenski Sobor (the Assumption
Cathedral) among them. The residence of the Metropolitan of "All Russia" was
moved to Moscow. Ivan Kalita had but one goal in life, "One faith and one
system of weights and measures throughout the whole of Russia – and Moscow
the capital of it. " During his lifetime, Moscow became the capital of one of the
most powerful Russian principalities.
1380 – the Moscow Prince Dmitri Donskoi led the Russian troops against
the Tatar hordes and defeated them. Moscow becomes the symbol of the
freedom and independence of the Russian people.
1520 – Moscow is а city of great size – 41,500 dwellings and 100,000
inhabitants – and national importance. Towards the end of the 15th and the
beginning of the 16th century the unification of Russia around Moscow is
completed and the modest capital of а minor principality is transformed into the
magnificent capital of the entire Russian State.
1552 – the Cathedral of Vasili Blazhenny (Basil the Blessed) is erected on
orders of Ivan the Terrible to commemorate his victory over the Tartars of
Kazan on the Volga. The Cathedral, eccentric and baroque, with its unique array
of different coloured cupolas, light and graceful galleries, and fantastic motley
of figured ornaments is а real masterpiece of Russian art. The construction is
assigned to 2 Russian architects, Barma and Postnik, who were blinded when
they finished their work because the Tsar did not want them to build anything
else.
It was in the 16th century that Moscow acquired international significance.
Ambassadors, merchants and craftsmen from many countries came to Moscow.
Near Red Square (close to the Rossiya Hotel) there is а striking building with
narrow, asymmetrical windows. This is where visiting English merchants and
diplomats used to stay. The English Town House dates back to 1556.
1610 – Through the treachery of а group of boyars Moscow is taken by the
troops of the Polish King Sigismund, ruined, burnt and devastated. In the
autumn of 1612 an army of volunteers led by Prince Dmitri Pozharsky and
Nizhny Novgorod citizen'Kozma Minin fulfilled their liberating mission. А
33
monument to them was erected on the Red Square in 1818 with money raised by
public subscription. Among the figures on the bas-relief you can see an elderly
man with а clean-shaven face so uncharacteristic of 17th century Russia. He
gives to his motherland the most precious gift he has got – his son. This is the
self-portrait of the sculptor Ivan Martos and а tribute to his son who perished in
battle in another patriotic war – that of 1812.
1755 – On the 7th of May Moscow University, the first in Russia, was
opened. It is alma mater of outstanding Russian scientists and scholars and
thousands and thousands of the "Russian intelligentsia", а cultural and spiritual
phenomenon with no parallels in any other country.
1812 – the climax of the Patriotic War against Napoleon. The French troops
are close to Moscow, the Field Marshall Prince Golenistshev Kutuzov takes а
momentous decision. "We determined to allow the enemy to enter Moscow! . . .
Moscow was left а mere desert of walls and houses, without an inhabitant. Call
to mind what the human body is when deserted by the soul! Sо is Moscow when
abandoned by its citizens. The soul of an empire is its people; and wherever they
are, there is Moscow, there is the Empire of Russia. . . . the entrance of the
French into Moscow is not the conquest of Russia. . . " The battle of Borodino
was the beginning of Napoleon' s end. In the hearts of Russian people the
victory over Napoleon is connected with Moscow though Moscow was taken by
his troops and completely ruined by the great fire. Afterwards it was reborn in
new beauty like the legendary phoenix.
19th century Moscow is Princess Volkonsky's literary salon (so closely
connected with the Decembrists' movement), Alexander Griboedov's comedy
"Woe from Wit", Herzen and Ogarev, Раvel Tretyakov and his Gallery, Maly
Theatre with Ostrovsky's plays and Moscow Art Theatre with Checkov's plays.
1712 – 1917. Though St. Petersburg is the official capital of Russia, all
emperors of the vast Russian Empire stretching from the Baltic sea to the Pacific
Ocean were crowned in Moscow. Upon receiving the blessing of God and
People there, the Emperors returned to the new capital built by Peter the Great.
1918 – Moscow is again the capital of Russia, though it is а new,
revolutionary Russia. The red stars of the Moscow Kremlin are the symbol of
changes.
1922 – Moscow becomes the capital of the USSR. Throughout the 20th
century peoples of the world follow the news from "Moscow" (very often
meaning the whole of the vast country)– some with admiration, some – with
loathing and always with а kind of amazement.
1991 – the USSR ceased to exist, but Moscow remains the heart of Russia.

34
 UNIT 3. RUSSIA
1. Pre-reading task. Answer the following questions.
1. Where does Russia lie?
1. What is the territory of Russia?
1. What oceans and seas is Russia washed by?
1. What countries does Russia border on?
1. How large is the population of Russia?
1. What can you say about the climate of Russia?
1. What is the political system of the country?
1. What official symbols of Russia do you know?
1. Do many foreign tourists visit Russia?
1. What are the most popular cities and towns for them to visit?
1. What are the most popular places in Russia?
1. Have you ever traveled about Russia?
1. What places have you been to?
1. Where did you go last time?
1. What impressed you most?
1. What places would you like to visit in the future?
1. What is your favourite national holiday?

Text A. Russia: Geography 2007

Location: Northern Asia (that part west of the Urals is sometimes included
with Europe), bordering the Arctic Ocean, between Europe and the North
Pacific Ocean.
Land boundaries:
total: 19. 917 km
border countries: Azerbaijan 284 km, Belarus 959 km, China (southeast)
3,605 km, China (south) 40 km, Estonia 294 km, Finland 13 km. Georgia 723
km, Kazakhstan 6,846 km, North Korea 19 km, Latvia 217 km Lithuania
(Kaliningrad Oblast) 227 km Mongolia 3,441 km, Norway 167 km, Poland
(Kaliningrad Oblast) 206 km Ukraine 1,576km
Coastline: 37,653 km
Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: ranges from steppes in the south through humid continental in

35
much of European Russia; subarctic in Siberia to tundra climate in the polar
north; winters vary from cool along Black Sea coast to frigid in Siberia;
summers vary from warm in the steppes to cool along Arctic coast.
Terrain: broad plain with low hills west of Urals: vast coniferous forest and
tundra in Siberia; uplands and mountains along southern border regions.
Elevation extremes:
The lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m
The highest point: mount Elbrus 5,633 m
Natural resources: wide natural resource base including major deposits of
oil, natural gas, coal and many strategic minerals and timber.
Note: formidable obstacles of climate, terrain, and distance hinder
exploitation of natural resources
Geography: largest country in the world in terms of area, but unfavorably
located in relation to major sea lanes of the world; despite its size, much of the
country lacks proper soils and climates (either too cold or too dry) for
agriculture.
“Britanica”
2. Comprehension check. Match A and B.
A B
a The greater part of the 1. into the European and Asian parts.
territory of Russia is…
b The Urals divide Russia… 2. area.
c The Arctic Ocean 3. natural resources, especially in
influences… gas, oil and forests.
d The country is very rich in… 4. vast plains with low mountain
ranges and long rivers.
e Russia is the largest country 5. the weather on a great territory of
in terms of… Russia.
f Despite its size, the country 6. proper soils and climates.
lacks

Text B. Population
Russia is the sixth most populous country in the world after China, India, the
United States, Indonesia and Brazil. About 75% of the people live in urban
areas. The population is unevenly distributed across the country. Majority of the
population remains concentrated in European Russia with average population
density of about 25 per sq km, while most of Siberia and Far North has less than
1 person per sq km.
36
 Russia’s total population is around 135 million and it is decreasing at a rate
of 0.33% per year (1999 estimate) due to low birth rate and high male mortality.
There is a large gap in life expectancy for Russian males (59 years) and females
(72 years). There are more women (53%) than men (47%) in Russia due in part
to the decimation of the male population by World War II and its so-called
“demographic echo”.
The ethnic composition of the Russian society is dominated by the Russian
who make up 81.5% of the population, followed by Tatars (3.8%), Ukrainians
(3%), Chuvashes (1.2%), Bashkirs (0.9%), Byelorussians (0.8%), Moldavians
(0.7%) and other ethnic minorities that account for 8. 1% of the population.
More than 100 nationalities inhabit Russia, making it one of the most
multinational states in the world. Over 25 million Russians live outside the
country in former Soviet republics.
More than 100 languages are spoken in Russia, but Russian is the official
language of Russia and is spoken as a native language by about 98% of
population. English and German are the most common second languages.
Russians are well-educated with a literacy rate of 98% and a rate of 96%
enrollment in a secondary education. The average Russian completes 11 year of
formal schooling. Free, compulsory education extends until the age of 16.
The state symbol of Russia is a three-coloured banner. It has three horizontal
stripes: white, blue and red. The white stripe symbolizes the Earth, the blue one
stands for the sky and the red one symbolizes liberty. It was the first state
symbol that replaced the former ones in 1991. A new national emblem is a two-
headed eagle. It is the most ancient symbol of Russia. It originates from the
heraldic emblem of Ruricovitchies.
4. Work in pairs. Put 7 questions for comprehension check and answer them.

Text C. Тhе Russian Federation

I am а citizen of the Russian Federation or Russia. The Russian Federation is
the largest country in the world. It occupies about 1/7 (one seventh) of the Earth
surface. The country is situated in Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia.
Its total area is over 17 million square km.
Our land is washed by 12 seas, most of which are the seas of three oceans:
the Arctic, the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the south and in the west the country
borders on fourteen countries. It also has а sea-border with the USA.
There is hardly а country in the world where such а great variety of flora and
37
fauna can be found as in our land. Our country has numerous forests, plains and
steppes, taiga and tundra, highlands and deserts. The highest mountains in our
land are the Altai, the Urals and the Caucasus. There are over two thousand
rivers in the Russian Federation. The longest of them are the Volga, the Ob, the
Yenisei, the Lena and the Amur. Our land is also rich in various lakes with the
deepest lake in the world, the Baikal, included.
On the Russian territory there are 11 time zones. The climate conditions are
rather different: from arctic and moderate to continental and subtropical. Our
country is one of the richest in natural resources countries in the world: oil,
natural gas, coal, different ores of ferrous and non-ferrous metals and other
minerals.
The Russian Federation is а multinational state. It comprises many national
districts, several autonomous republics and regions. The population of the
country is over 140 million people.
Moscow is the capital of our Homeland. It is the largest political scientific,
cultural and industrial center of the country and one of the most beautiful cities.
Russian is the official language of the state. The national symbols of the Russian
Federation are а double headed eagle and а white-blue-red banner.
The Russian Federation is а constitutional republic headed by the President,
the country government consists of three branches: legislative, executive and
judicial. The President controls only the executive branch – the government, but
not the Supreme Court and Federal Assembly.
The legislative power belongs to the Federal Assembly comprising two
chambers: the Council of Federation (upper Chamber) and the State Duma
(lower Chamber). Each chamber is headed by the Speaker. The executive power
belongs to the government (the Cabinet of Ministers) headed by the Prime
Minister. The judicial power belongs to the system of Courts comprising the
Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and federal courts.
Our country has а multiparty system. The foreign policy of the Russian
Federation is that of international cooperation, peace and friendship with all
nations irrespective of their political and social systems.
I am proud of being а citizen of Russia.

38
 Text D. The System of Government of the Russian Federation

THE SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

HEAD OF THE STATE

THE PRESIDENT
Elected for 4 years by direct popular vote (over 35 years old; a citizen of
Russia, a resident of the country for at least 10 years)
LEGISLATIVE AND REPRESENTATIVE BRANCH
FEDERAL ASSEMBLY
The COUNCIL of FEDERATION The STATE DUMA
Two representatives from each
450 members elected for 4 years
subject of Federation
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
The GOVERNMENT of the RUSSIAN FEDERATION
The PRIME MINISTER The CABINET
Appointed by the President and Formed by the Prime minister and
approved by the State Duma approved by the President
JUDICIAL BRANCH
The
The SUPREME The ARBITRATION
CONSTITUTIONAL
COURT COURT
COURT
All appointed by the Council of Federation
5. Comprehension check. Complete the following sentences:
1. The president is at the *
2. The federal government consists of three branches:*
3. The president is elected for *…
4. The president is elected by *…
5. The president must be *…
6. The legislative branch is represented by *…
7. There are two chambers in *…

39
 8. The members of the State Duma are elected for *…
9. The executive power belongs to *…
10. The judicial branch is appointed by *…
11. The judicial branch is represented by *…

Text E. Russia: the 20th– 21st centuries

The history of Russia in the end of the 20 th – the beginning of the 21 st
centuries is of central importance to all our lives. When we listen to the news,
we are all involved in the history of Russia.
In 1900 Russia was under the rule of the tsar – the head of the royal family.
The Tsar’s family ruled Russia until 1917.
The participation of Russian Empire in World War I led to the seizure of
power by the communists and the formation of the Soviet Union (USSR). The
brutal rule of Josef Stalin (1924-1953) and Russian Victory in World War II
(1939 – 1945) resulted in numerous people losses – over twenty two million
lives.
The Victory of the Soviet Union over Germany and Japan in World War II
strengthened the dominance of the Soviet Union in the world; the destroyed
Soviet economy and society were reconstructed and progressing. However, in
the last decades of the 20th century after huge achievements the economy began
stagnating.
Newly elected in 1985 General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev introduced
glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) in an attempt to modernize
communism. But his initiatives inadvertently released forces that by December
1991 broke up the USSR into 15 independent republics. Since then Russia has
struggled in its efforts to build a democratic political system and market
economy to replace the strict social, political and economic controls of the
communist period.
Reforms and innovations have been lasting till now.
3. Discussion
1. Which do you think the most important events are in the history of Russia
of the 20th century? Why?
2. Which were the problems Russia faced in the 20th century? Name some of
them.
3. What political system replaced the communist period?
4. What did Mikhail Gorbachev introduce?
5. Who was the first President of Russia?

40
 Text F. Global Thinking in the 21st Century
At the end of the 20th century, the world was changing in important ways.
Until recently, nations acted independently. Each country did its business and
tried to solve its problems alone. But now, the economy is worldwide and
communications technologies have connected people all over the globe. Many
problems are global, too, and can no longer be solved by individual nations.
Environmental destruction is one of these problems. As the world's
population has grown and technology has developed, the environment has
suffered. Some nations have begun to try to stop the pollution and the
environmental destruction. But the environment is global – the atmosphere, the
oceans, and many forms of life are all connected. Thus, the solutions require
global thinking.
The problem of ocean pollution is а good example. All the oceans of the
world are connected. Pollution does not stay where it begins. It spreads out from
every river and every harbor and affects bodies of water everywhere.
For centuries, people have used the oceans as а dumping place. Many cities
take tons of garbage out to sea and dump it there. The quantity of garbage that
ends up in the water is incredible. Five million plastic containers are thrown into
the world’s oceans every day! Aside from plastics, many other dangerous
substances are dumped in oceans. These include human waste and chemicals
used in agriculture. And every year, oil tankers accidentally spill millions of
gallons of oil into the sea.
Some people believe that the oceans are so large that chemicals and waste
will disappear. However, many things, such as chemicals and plastics, stay in
the water and create problems. They eventually float to shore and are eaten by
tiny sea creatures. Then the larger animals that eat the tiny creatures are
poisoned and die. Harbors and coasts around the world have become unsafe for
humans or animals. The world’s fish populations are rapidly shrinking.
Another global pollution problem concerns the atmosphere. Until recently,
chlorfluorocarbons (CFCs) were used around the world in manufacturing
refrigerators. Scientists discovered that these CFCs were destroying the ozone
layer in the atmosphere. The ozone layer helps protect the earth from the sun’s
rays. Without this layer, most forms of life on earth – including humans –
probably would not be able to live.
CFCs will soon be completely banned in the United States and in most
developed countries. But many other countries still use CFCs in manufacturing.
Among these countries are some of the most populous on earth, such as India
and China. These countries need to change their refrigerator factories to non-

41
CFC processes. But they may not be able to make this change alone. They will
need help from the industrialized countries. This is what global thinking means
– working together for solutions.

Text G. Holidays
International Women’s Day was established in 1909 to mark the victory of
women textile workers in New York who went on strike to protest long hours
and little pay. The movement quickly spread across the Atlantic to Europe,
where women numbering in the millions took part in meeting to demand
suffrage.
The first marches in Russia were held in 1913 on the last Sunday in
February, as part of the peace movement brewing on the eve of World War I.
Four years later, with 2 million Russia soldiers killed in the war, an army of
women took to the streets on March 8. They called for bread and peace. Less
than a week later, Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate and the provisional
government granted women the right to vote.
Now, more than 80 years after its explosive beginnings, International
Women’s Day is still an essential part of the calendar. A combination of
Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day, old and young alike see it as a tradition that
should continue.
6. Discussion
Answer the questions on the text.
 What holiday is the text about?
 How long has it been celebrated in Russia?
 Why is it celebrated on the 8th of March?
 In what way is this day celebrated in your family?
7. Match A and B
A B
th
1. Are there many national a. On the 9 of May
holidays in Russia?
2. Which do you think the most b. I don’t think they do. They are the
memorable holiday is? days of family reunion, relax and
happiness.
3. When is Victory Day c. Yes, there are some.
celebrated?
4. What does Victory Day d. Christmas is marked on the 7th of
commemorate? January. Easter has no fixed date.

42
 5. Are there any holidays of
religious origin?
6. Do you know when they are
marked?
7. Do they still have their
religious significance?
8. What other holidays can you
name?
9. What is your favourite
holiday?
e. I think it is the Victory Day.
f. Oh, it’s New Year. It is loved by
adults and children.
g. Yes, there are two. They have
appeared recently. They are
Christmas and Easter.
h. The Victory of Russia over the Nazi
invaders.
i. Oh, there are some more holidays.
May Day, for example and
Constitution Day.

Text H. The Romanovs House

Tsar Ivan the Terrible began his reign in triumph but ended it in disaster. He
succeeded in strengthening the power of the Tsar and consolidating Russian
lands in the Muscovite state, conquering the Khans of Kazan and Astrakhan and
moving the borders closer to the Baltic Sea. But Ivan's violent temper deprived
Russia of the successor who would have continued the consolidation process. In
1581 in a fit of rage, Ivan struck his eldest son and mortally wounded him.
When the Tsar died in 1584 his domains were left in the hands of Feodor
Ivanovich, his feebleminded younger son, who produced no heirs and whose
death in 1598 led to the demise of the House of Rurik which had ruled Russia
for about 7 centuries.
In her search for a new dynasty Russia went through a period of chaos and
violence which is referred to as the Time of Troubles (Смутное время). In the
brief space of 12 years three Tsars rose and fell (Boris Godunov, False Dmitry,
Vassily Shuisky). The culmination of the political, social and military crisis was
the fall of Novgorod to the Swedes and the occupation of Moscow by the Polish
Army in 1611. Three men – Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, the Patriarch of Moscow
Germogen and Kuzma Minin, a citizen of Nizhny Novgorod led Russia out of
those dark days. After the Polish were driven out of Moscow, an Assembly of
the Land (Земский собор) was summoned to the capital. There, early in 1613,
about five hundred delegates met to decide Russia's fate.
On February 7 (old style) the Assembly of the Land chose as Russia's new
Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov. He belonged to a family that had served
Russia loyally in high office for many years. Mikhail's great-aunt had been the
Tsarina Anastasia, Ivan the Terrible's beloved wife, who died mysteriously at
the age of thirty (some sources say, she was poisoned).
43
 Her elder brother, Nikita
Romanovich Yuriev-Zakharin
was a general and a statesman at
Ivan's court. He brought Russia
many important victories during
the Great Livonian War and
defended the southern borders
against the Tatar-Mongols.
Nikita's descendants assumed his
father's patronymic as a family
name – Romanov and it quickly
became one of the most
prominent names of the time.
Nikita's eldest son, Feodor,
became the Patriarch of the
Russian Orthodox Church and
Nikita's grandson Mikhail was
chosen to start a new dynasty. On
February 21 (old style), in the
Great Kremlin Palace, Mikhail
was proclaimed Tsar of All
Russia.Though the first Romanov
seems not to have played а very
important role in Russian history,
he established а dynasty that
ruled Russia from July 1613 until
March 1917 and produced quite а
number of outstanding
personalities, among them Tsar
Aleksey, Peter the Great, Tsarina
Elizaveta, Catherine the Great,
Alexander I, Nicholas I,
Alexander II and ten others in
between. During their rule Russia
grew into а vast Empire which
spread over one-sixth of the
Earth' s surface with more than
one hundred million subjects.

44
45
 UNIT 4. THE USA
1. Pre-reading task. Answer the following questions.
1. How vast is the USA?
2. What is the population of the USA?
3. Who is the president of the USA now?
4. What are the branches of the federal government?

Text A. The USA

The USA is a federal republic in North America, including Hawaii and
Alaska. 89% of people are white, 10% – Afro-American and mulatto, small
American Indian, Japanese, Chinese and Fillipino. They are minorities.
America is often called “the melting pot” as it is a nation of immigrants.
There were three major countries involved in the colonization of America –
Spain, France and England. Russians came to America as early as the 18 th
century and in 1812 established fort Ross in California.
The colonies united as the USA under the Articles of Confederation (1781),
superseded by the U. S. constitution (1789), which gave the federal government
greatly increased powers. Washington, the leader of the Americans colonies
during the War for Independence became the first president of the USA (1789-
97) under the constitution. George Washington and a group of men who wrote
the US Constitution are called the Founding Fathers.
Under the Constitution, the federal government is divided into three
branches:
The Executive Branch: It is represented by the President. He is considered
to be the Chief Executive. And he forms the government. The president is
elected for four years. He can not be younger than 35 years and he must live in
the USA for at least 14 years. The President can not be elected for more than
two terms. People don’t vote for the President, they vote for electors. This group
of electors is called an Electoral College. When Americans vote for a president,
they are actually voting for the Electoral College elector.
The Legislative Branch: The Legislative Branch makes laws and is called
Congress. It has two Houses: The House of representatives and the Senate. The
Senate has 100 senators, two from each state. They are elected for six years. The
head of the Senate is the Vice-President. The members of the house of
Representatives are elected on the basis of a State population for two years.

46
There are 435 members. The head of the House of Representatives is the
Speaker.
The Judicial Branch: It consists of the Supreme Court and the system of
federal courts. There are three main courts in the federal court system: district
court, court of appeal (аппеляция) and the Supreme Court. Ninety one district
courts operate around the country. District courts judges are appointed for life.
The court of appeal studies the case. It deals only with legal procedures. Only
two kinds of cases can be heard in the Supreme Court- disputes between the
States and cases involving foreign ambassadors.
A bill (proposed law) must be approved by both the Senate and the House
and signed by the President before it becomes a law. If the president
disapproves, the Senate and the House each by 2/3 vote may over ride this veto.
Each of the two chambers divides its work into committees. There are 15
regular or standing committees in the Senate and 22 in the House. These
committees meet to make new laws or to change old laws. Committee hearings
are held in Washington, D. C. , and in the other parts of the U. S. A committee
then reports its recommendations to its chamber of Congress. The same process
must take place in the other chamber of Congress.
Senators and Representatives usually belong to one of the two major
political parties, Republican or Democratic. In each chamber, the party with the
most members select the leaders: the Speaker of the House
There are two major political parties in the United States – the Democratic
Party and the Republican Party. A party symbol of Democrats is a donkey, a
party symbol of Republicans is an elephant. These animals as symbols for these
parties were first used in cartoons in 1870’s.
Washington is the Nation’s Capital. Washington, District of Columbia, at the
beginning of the 19th century was called “the city of wilderness”. There is the
first milestone of the city. It is called “Zero Milestone”, from which all distances
away from Washington are measured. It is situated on the bank of the Potomac
River.
The population of Washington D. C. consists of 75% of Negro population.
Negro population is occupied in service and trade. The metropoles of the USA
is New York, the largest city of the country. New York is a city of contrasts
between the interests of monopoly capital and the needs of the people. The
symbol of New York city is a red apple. So, City of New York is called
“Apple”.
In 1800 capital moved to Washington, District of Columbia (the first Capital
of America – Philadelphia, the second one – New York, the third Capital –
Washington).
47
2. Answer the following questions.
1. How many states does the USA consist of?
2. What are the Houses of the Congress?
3. How many countries were involved in the colonization of America? What
are they?
4. Why did the colonies unite?
5. What was George Washington during the War for Independence?
6. Who wrote the 1st Constitution?
7. When did the USA declare its independence?
8. What are the functions of the Executive branch?
9. What are the functions of the Legislative branch?
10. What are the functions of the Judicial branch?
11. How many chambers does the Congress consist of?
12. How many committees are there in the Senate and in the House?
13. What are the functions of these committees?
14. Where are committee hearings held?
15. What party do Senators and Representatives usually belong to?
16. What are the main Political Parties in the USA?
17. What are their symbols?
18. Where is the capital located?
19. What is the population of Washington?
3. Read the sentences below and say if the statements are true or false:
1. The USA is situated in South America.
2. Five major countries were involved in the colonization of America,
among them Russia.
3. George Washington didn’t take part in the war for Independence, he only
wrote the US Constitution.
4. Alaska belongs to Russia.
5. The city of Washington is the capital of 50 federal states.
6. The Executive branch is headed by the vice president.
7. A bill must be approved by both the Senate and the House and signed by
the President.
8. Senators usually belong to Democratic party.
48
 9. The population of Washington D. C. consists of Negro population.
10. New-York was the second capital of the USA.
4. Make up a plan of the text.
5. Make up dialogues on the basis of the text.

Text B. Holidays
In the USA different states celebrate different holidays, but everyone
remembers July 4th, “Independence Day”. On this day in 1776, America signed
the “Declaration of Independence” and started the fight for freedom from British
rule. People go out into the streets on July 4 th, dress up, and take part in parades.
In the evening there are always parties and fireworks.
The second big American festival is Thanksgiving Day. On the fourth
Thursday in November, American families meet for a special dinner, usually
with turkey, pumpkin and pies. They give thanks to God for the past year, and
remember the first harvest of the first European Americans in 1621.
Children always have fun at Halloween on October 31st. They are dressed up
as ghost and witches. They cut up a pumpkin to look like a frightening face and
put a light inside. They go from house to house and say “Trick or Treat”. If they
get a ”Treat” (something nice, like sweets or apple) they go away happy. But if
they don’t, they play a “Trick”. They might put soap on the windows, or throw
rubbish into the garden.
There are two days in the year when both the Americans and British
remember special people, February 14th is St Valentine’s Day. People in love
send “Valentines” to each other, special cards with hearts, flowers and loving
words.
The second Sunday in May is “Mother’s Day”. People buy cards, flowers
and chocolates for their mothers.
Presidents’Day. Until the mid – 1970’s the birthday of George Washington,
the first president of the United States was observed as a federal holiday
(February, 22). In the 1970s Congress declared that in order to honor all past
presidents of the USA, a single holiday, to be called Presidents’ Day, would be
observed on the third Monday in February.
Veteran’s Day. This holiday was originally called Armistice Day and was
established to honor those Americans who had served in the first World War. It
falls on November 11, the day on which the war was ended in 1918. Now it
49
honors veterans of all the wars in which the United States has been involved.
6. Put 7 questions to each other for comprehension check and answer them. Use
the following words:
to celebrate, to sign, to fight for freedom, to take part in, to meet for, to have
fun, to play a “trick”, to be in love, to mean, to declare, to establish, to serve.
7. Speak on and discuss the holidays celebrated in your country. Work in pairs.

Text С. Presidential Elections in the USA

On February 4, 1789, George Washington was elected to be the first
American President and since then the election has been held every four years –
as established by the US Constitution.
The national presidential election consists of two separate campaigns. The
first is for the nomination of candidates at national party conventions and it is a
competition between members of the same party. To win the nomination, a
candidate must get the majority of votes at his or her party’s national
convention. From February to June of the election year at the primaries and
caucuses would be candidates are trying to gain the majority of votes for their
national party convention. At these convention (held in June or August) the
Republican and Democratic parties officially declare the names of their
candidates for the presidency and vice- presidency.
The second campaign is to win the actual election. The culmination is the
election day when the voters go to the polls. However, the citizens theoretically
vote not for the president but for the “Electoral College”. But in many states the
ballot contains the names of the candidates and not the “electors”. According to
the Constitution, if the majority of voters in state vote for the candidate of the
party, that person is supposed to get all of that state’s “electoral votes”. The
number of these depends on the population of the given state and it is equal to
the number of Senators and Representatives each state has in Congress. The
candidate with the largest number of these electoral votes wins the election. The
President and Vice – president are considered officially elected only when the
results are officially announced in the US Congress in January of the next year.

50
 UNIT 5. GREAT BRITAIN
1. Pre-reading task Answer the following questions.
1. Where does Great Britain lie?
20. What separates Great Britain from the mainland?
21. What parts does the United Kingdom include?
22. What are the main British ports?
23. Can you define the climate of Great Britain?
24. What was the origin of smog in the UK?
25. What goods are produced in the UK?
26. Which international organization is Britain a member of?
27. Name three major sports which originated in Britain?
28. Which do you think the most important British achievements are?

Text A. The United Kingdom

Strictly speaking, ''Great Britain' is a geographical expression but ''The
United’ Kingdom'' is a political expression. Britain is in fact the biggest of the
group of islands which lie between the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is
approximately two and a half times the size of Ireland, the second largest one.
Together they are called the British Isles. The British Isles today are shared by
two separate and independent states. The smaller of these is the Republic of
Ireland, with its capital in Dublin. The larger, with London as its capital, is the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This long title, (usually
shortened to the United Kingdom or the UK) is the result of a complicated
history. The Island of Great Britain contains three 'nations' which were
separated at earlier stages of their history: England, Scotland and Wales. Wales
had become part of the English administrative system by the sixteenth century.
Scotland was not completely united with England until 1707. The United
Kingdom is a name which was introduced in 1801 when Great Britain became
united with Ireland. When the Republic of Ireland became independent of
London in 1922, the title was changed to its present form. 'Britain' and 'British'
have two meanings. They sometimes refer to Great Britain alone, and
sometimes to the UK including Northern Ireland. 'England' and 'English' are
often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Great Britain.
In theory, there are three branches of power: Parliament which makes laws,
the government, which executes law i. e. puts them into effect, and the law
courts which interpret laws. Although the Queen is officially head of all three

51
branches, she has little direct power. Parliament has two parts: the House of
Commons and the House of Lords. Members of the House of Commons are
elected by the voters of 650 constituencies. They are known as MPs, or
Members of Parliament. The Prime Minister, or leader of the Government is
also an MP, usually the leader of the political party with a majority in the House
of Commons. The Prime Minister is advised by a Cabinet of about twenty other
ministers.
Members of the House of Lords (peers) are not elected. About 70 per cent of
them are hereditary peers because their fathers were peers before them. The
other 30 per cent are life peers whose titles are not passed on to their children.
They are officially appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Government, for
various services to the nation. Many countries have a written constitution like
that of the United States. Because this is not the case in Britain there are no
special procedures for changing the laws which govern the country. If a political
party has a clear majority in the House of Commons it can make new laws and
give itself new powers. This allows a Government to make radical changes in
the law.
It should be said that Britain is a stable and democratic society. Its citizens
have freedom of speech and political and religious belief. It is a leading member
of both the European Community and the Commonwealth and has a major
world role as a permanent member of the Unite Nations Security Council.
The home of the industrial revolution, it continues to be an important
industrial nation. Britain is the fourth largest trading nation in the world, it is
one of the largest exporters of goods and a major centre for financial and
insurance services. It has the largest energy resources of any country in the
European Community and is an important world producer of oil, natural gas and
coal. Its labour force has high levels of technical and commercial skill. British
agriculture is noted for its efficiency and productivity and at the same time
comprehensive planning and control have steadily reduced air and water
pollution.
Britain's National Health Service is famous worldwide and its universities
and institutes of higher education attract over 50,000 foreign students a year.
Britain has for centuries encouraged research and innovation and its record of
achievements has been maintained throughout the twentieth century. Nobel
prize for science have been won by sixty eight British citizens, a number
exceeded only by the United States. In the fields of arts, broadcasting and sports
Britain continues to lead the world.
2. Divide the group into two small parts. Each group reads its part of the text
then asks questions to the partner’s part of the text.
52
a) Questions for group A.
1. What examples are given of Britain’s industrial power?
2. What evidence is given of Britain’s it educational?
3. Name three other areas in which Great Britain leads the world.
4. Do you find the official view accurate?
5. How many British citizens won Nobel prize?
b) Questions for group B.
1. Which of these people are not elected: a peer, a MP, a civil servant, the
Prime Minister?
2. What is the difference between life peer and hereditary peer?
3. What are civil servants?
4. Find two examples of executive organizations outside central government.
5. What differences are there between the Parliament and the Government?
6. Name some similarities and differences between the UK parliamentary
system and the Russian parliamentary system.

Text B. London Overview

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life: for there is in London all
that life can afford, – wrote Samuel Johnson in 1777. He would recognize many
of the great sights on both sides of the Thames which winds its way downstream
from Windsor and Hampton Court, past Westminster Abbey, St Paul's
Cathedral, the Tower, and on down to Greenwich and the sea.
In 1911 H. G. Wells wrote that “London is the most interesting, beautiful
and wonderful city in the world to me”. Today London is a cosmopolitan city,
about 1600 square km, an exciting world which many visitors from abroad see
first from the sky, surprised that the ribbon-like Thames is so curvaceous and a
score of bridges so decorative. Down there, seven million people are at home,
not in anonymous suburbs but in the Cities of London and Westminster and in
districts which have remnants of their countrified past, in Marylebone and
Kensington, Hampstead and Highgate with their own high streets and historic
monuments remembering famous men and women who built a London which
each generation discovers anew.
Documented history goes back to the time when Westminster was still a
marsh. The Romans had inhabited the land which became the City, building a
bridge across the Thames by AD 60 and creating a celebrated centre of
commerce filled with traders. Westminster, established as a royal palace shortly
before the invasion of William the Conqueror in 1066, gradually grew in
importance as it became the seat of government, beside the Thames and next
53
door to Westminster Abbey a couple of minutes from the City.
Big Ben, the voice of London, has been telling the time since 1859.
Construction of the 96 m clock tower began in the year Queen Victoria came to
the throne, 1837, as part of the reconstruction of the Houses of Parliament
following the devastating fire of 1834. Clock designer, Sir Edmund Grimthorpe,
the architect and clockmaker all died before the 13 1/2 ton bell was mounted
behind the four clock faces, which each measure 7 m in diameter. The Great
Bell cracked, was recast and cracked again, giving us the famous resonating
boom. Why Big Ben? There are two answers – either can be chosen. It could
have been named after Sir Benjamin Hall, chief commissioner of works at that
time. Or, perhaps, it was named by workmen, who brought the bell from
Whitechapel Foundry on a cart pulled by 16 white horses. Their hero of the day
was Benjamin Caunt, a 17 stone prize fighter.
3. Comprehension check. Answer the following questions:
1. What is the capital of Great Britain?
2. Where is London situated?
3. Name the places of interest in London.
4. What is London famous for?
5. How old is London?
6. What are the most important parts of London?
4. Ask your partner:
 if he has ever been to London;
 if it is possible to see anything of London in one day;
 if he is interested in churches and cathedrals;
 whether he knows the history of Britain;
 what big university he knows in London;
 what places of interest he would like to see first.
5. Retell the Text if
1. You were a Londoner.
2. You were a tourist.
6. Speak on
1. The general impression of London.
2. The history of London.
3. What modern London is like.
4. Westminster.
5. Big Ben.
54
 Text C. Dialogues
Fill in the gaps in the dialogues with the sentences from the following list.
 We have already missed it.
 I’d much like to see the Poet’s Corner.
 “The Changing of the Guard”, he declared.
 Oh, it resembles Norte Dame in Paris.
 That’s Downing Street.
 The Mall leads to Backingham palace.
 Downing Street was built on it.
Dialogue 1. Buckingham Palace
It has been the royal residence since the nineteenth century. Queen
Victoria’s Memorial is facing the Palace.
A. –Shall we see the changing of the guard?
B. – Unfortunately, * it takes places at 10.30 a. m. I remember that one of
the “Beatles” was asked: “What military events impressed you most of
all?
A. ” * ”
C. – If all military events could be reduced to the changing of the guard, this
world wouldn’t know war.
Dialogue 2. Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey is notable for its architecture, stained glass windows and
historic associations.
A. *
– All English Kings are crowned and buried here.
B. *
A. It is the place where poets and writers are buried: Chaucer, Ben Johnson,
Dickens, Thomas Hardy, Kipling and other. Memorials to Shakespeare
and Milton, Burns and Byron, Scott, Thackeray and Longfellow are also
here.
Dialogue 3. Downing Street
A. – What is that street famous for? Why should a policeman be standing
there? *
B. The name has nothing to do with “down”, has it?
A. – No, it is called after the owner of the property in it: George Downing –
a political adventure. He received money from Cromwell for spying on
55
 Charles the First’s son. The exiled prince paid him too. Downing informed
him of Cromwell’s activities.
B. After the restoration of the Monarchy, the grateful King rewarded him
with a piece of land. For the last 200 years, each prime Minister has lived
there.
A. Just along there on the left is the New Scotland Yard, the headquarters of
the Metropolitan Police and Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
7. Retell the dialogues in reported speech.

Text D. Golden Jubilee: 50 Years on the Throne

Once upon а time, exactly 50 years ago, а beautiful young princess became
queen. To mark this event the British government has declared 2002 to be the
Golden Jubilee Year. The celebrations to honour Elizabeth II’s 50 years on the
throne started in April and will continue throughout the rest of the year, but the
most important and spectacular ceremonies took place at the beginning of June.
Many people say that the monarchy is no longer popular. Many sceptics had
predicted that people would be interested only in the World Cup and all this
summer planned ceremonies and street parties would leave them indifferent.
Even weather forecasters had predicted rain on the Queen' s parade. They were
all wrong. The sun came out and so did millions of people, singing and dancing
in the streets. It was an astonishing show of love for the Queen, which proved
that respect for the Royals is stronger than ever.
The Golden Jubilee weekend began on Saturday evening with the first
concert ever held in the gardens of Buckingham Palace. The Royal family and
12,000 people who had been lucky to get the tickets were enjoying classical
music and outside the palace more than 40,000 people watched the concert
broadcast on huge screens around the gates and in nearby parks. At the end of
the concert the whole audience stood and turned towards the Queen to sing God
Save The Queen:
God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen. . .
The Queen spent the next day at Windsor where she attended а church
service and а Jubilee street party. To spread the Jubilee spirit around the nation
Princess Ann and her husband attended а service at Ayr in Scotland, and Prince
Charles and his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, went to St Mary' s
Church in Swansea, Wales.
William and Harry had hoped to watch Britain' s game with Sweden at the
56
World Cup, but they had to go to church instead. They were rather disap-
pointed, but still after the service they were all smiles when they greeted over
3000 people who were waiting outside the church. William discovered that he
was even more popular than England' s football captain David Beckham. "We
love you more than Becks," screamed girls in the crowd.
At that time back in London rehearsals for the following day' s pop concert
suddenly came to а halt – people saw thick smoke and flames rising from the
top floor of Buckingham Palace. Luckily, the fire which broke out on the roof
was quickly extinguished.
Mondays event was the huge ''Party at the Palace'', а pop concert staged in
the Queen’s back garden at Buckingham Palace.
More than 12,000 people watched it in the garden and about 15 million
people in the UK and 200 million people all over the world watched it on
television. This event can be called the greatest show of the century.
The concert had а very spectacular start– legendary Queen guitarist Brian
May played а rock version of the national anthem on the roof of the Palace.
Then Ricky Martin with backing dancers in patriotic Union Jack shorts gave а
stunning performance of two of his hits. After that girl grouр Mis-Teeq
appeared on stage. . . They were followed by S Club 7, then legendary Annie
Lennox, then Atomic Kitten, Tom Jones, Will Young, Emma Bunton, who
yelled from the stage "Big kisses to William". . . Other stars at the event
included Rod Stewart, Sir Cliff Richard, Eric Clapton, Sir Elton John, Joe
Cocker and Ozzy Osbourn. Then Sir Paul McCartney (who once sang "Her
Majesty' s а pretty nice girl, some day Гт gonna make her mine") took to the
stage for Неу, Jude and All You Need Is Love.
The Queen who is not too fond of рор music, arrived towards the end of the
show, but she got а bigger cheer than any of the pop stars on the programme. On
stage Dame Edna Everage announced to the audience: "The jubilee girl is here!"
Then she joked to the Queen: "The show is а little loud. You may enjoy it more
in Balmoral. Even Windsor is too near! "
After the concert Queen Elizabeth II led the Royal family on stage to thank
the performers. Charles gave а short speech. Не began by addressing the Queen
as "Your Majesty – Mummy", which brought more applause from the audience.
Then he continued: "We are here tonight because we feel proud of you. Proud
and grateful for everything you have done for this country and the
Commonwealth over 50 years… You have been а beacon of tradition and
stability… You have defended our laws and given us cause to shout а heartfelt

57
God Save the Queen. "
А loud "three cheers" rang out around the gardens, leaving, the Queen, who
normally doesn' t show her emotions, nearly in tears.
Immediately after the concert а breathtaking firework display began. А
waterfall of fire cascaded down the walls of Buckingham Palace, huge wheels of
fire were spinning and red, yellow and green rockets rose into the sky. In 15
minutes more than 2 tons of fireworks were used. The display was followed by а
spectacular laser show.

Text E. What’s It Like Being Queen?

Being Queen is а really busy job. Elizabeth II gets up early and begins the
day by looking through the newspapers. Then she reads letters from the public
(she gets more than 1000 each week), and tells her staff how she would like
them to be answered. The Queen has daily meetings with her Private Secretary
who helps her to go through her paperwork, and lots of meetings with
ambassadors, new judges, and bishops.
In the afternoon Elizabeth II often goes out on public engagements – she
gets thousands of invitations each year. She opens new hospitals, bridges and
factories.
Being Queen is not a 9 to 5 job, and Elizabeth II has to work from early in
the morning until late at night. And people watch her all the time. But the
greatest spectacle of all was on Tuesday. In the morning the Queen went to а
service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral in the dazzling State Coach. The
coach is 240 years old and it really looks like а thing from а book of fairy-tales.
After the service Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip, her husband, attended а
banquet where the Queen made а speech expressing her "gratitude, respect and
pride in the people of Britain." The Queen also spoke about her children. "We
have а special place in our hearts for our children," she said. "I want to express
my admiration for the Prince of Wales and for all he has achieved for this
country. Our children and all my family have given me such love and help over
the years and especially in recent months. " (The Queen was referring to the loss
of Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. )
And in the afternoon the Queen and the Royal family watched the Jubilee
parade. It began with а colourful procession of carnival dancers in fantastic
costumes, then came representatives of Armed Forces, а noisy gang of Hell’s
Angels. The procession seemed endless. The Queen was enjoying it – people
noticed her tapping her programme in time to the music. After the parade the
Queen surrounded by singing and dancing children from а theatre company

58
went to Buckingham Palace. А few minutes later she and her family appeared
on the balcony to greet the enormous crowd of people. The band began to play
Land of Hope and Glory and thousands of voices joined.
At last the Queen and Prince Philip left the balcony, but the crowd kept on
shouting "We want the Queen!" – and they had to come back twice. Later the
Queen said that she was "basking in the delight" of this day.
Some minutes after the Queen finally left the balcony it began to rain. Even
changeable English weather hadn't spoiled the Golden Jubilee.

Text F. Madame Tussaud’s

Madame Tussaud's is the world's most famous wax museum. Here you can
see historical characters, modern stars of stage, screen and pop music and even
notorious criminals. The Chamber of Horrors featuring these was for а long time
considered unsuitable for children, but nowadays with all the horror films on ТV
children can hardly be scared by Jack the Ripper. Over 2 million visitors come
to the museum every year. The story of its development is just as interesting as
the exhibition itself.
Marie Grosholtz lived in Paris with her mother who worked as housekeeper
for Dr Curtius. Dr Curtius was а skilled modeller and in 1770 he opened а wax
museum in Paris. Marie became his assistant and soon learned how to make wax
figures. She began to model famous figures of the time – among them the
French philosopher Voltaire and American statesman Benjamin Franklin. At
one time during the French Revolution Marie and her mother were imprisoned
in the Bastille and released only on condition that Marie modelled death masks
of the Revolution's victims. Marie made the death masks of the French King
Louis the Sixteenth and Queen Marie Antoinnette. Their wax heads are still on
display together with the real guillotine blade used for their execution.
In 1794 Dr Curtius died and Marie inherited his business. The next year she
married а French engineer Francois Tussaud and in 1802 left France tо tour the
exhibition around the British Isles. She never saw France or her husband again.
After 33 years of touring, in 1835 Madame Tussaud placed her exhibition in
London in Baker Street, where she died in 1850. Moved tо its present site near
Baker Street, in Marylebone Road, in 1884, the exhibition was reconstructed
after а fire in 1928. Madame Tussaud's has become one of the major London
attractions.

59
 UNIT 6. OUTSTANDING PERSONALITY
1. Pre-reading task. Answer the following questions:
1. What features of character do you like in people?
14. What qualities of character don’t appeal to you in people? And why?
15. What do you judge a person by? By his words or by his actions?
16. Are you interested in politics and political life?
17. What political leaders of the past do you like?
18. Would you like to be a famous politician?
19. Do you like to read books?
20. What do you prefer to read fiction or science fiction?
21. What modern writer do you know?
22. Would you like to be a scientist?
23. What kind of scientific problems are you interested in?

Text A. Sergei Korolev, the Famous Inventor

and Constructor of Russian Rocketry

1. Sergei Korolev(1907 – 1966): Father of the Soviet Union’s

success in Space
Sergei Korolev is the man responsible for the first human
spaceflight. Although the world knew of his achievements –
Sputnik, Vostok, Soyuz – the man himself remained a total
mystery until his death, as his identity was a well-kept state
secret. After his death he became an icon of Russian rocketry
and both his rocket and spaceship designs are still flying
today.
Sergei Pavlovich Korolev would have been 100 this year.
The son of a teacher of Russian literature, he was born on 12
Sergei Korolyov
January 1907 in Zhytomyr, Ukraine. Fascinated by aircraft, he
at the Kapustin
Yar firing range designed his first glider when he was only 17. After
in 1953 graduating from the Kiev Polytechnic Institute, he joined the
University of Moscow and his interest shifted to rocket
propulsion, at the time still a theoretical subject only.
In 1931 he founded the Group for Investigation of Reactive Motion (GIRD),
which developed the first Soviet liquid-fuelled rockets: the GIRD-9 and 10. The
group was taken over by the military in 1933 and became known as RNII
60
(scientific and research institute), the official centre for research and the
development of missiles and rocket-powered gliders. Korolev was in charge of
aerospace structures while his colleague, Valentin Glushko (1908 – 1989), was
responsible for propulsion systems. Together they designed the RP-318, the first
Soviet piloted rocket-powered glider.
These were difficult times in the Soviet Union as the great purges began
under Stalin. On 23 March 1938, Valentin Glushko was arrested. To reduce his
charges he denounced Korolev, which resulted in his arrest on 7 June and a
sentence of 10 years forced labour. From that day on, the two men were bitterly
opposed to each other.
In all Korolev spent more than 2 years in various jails, including 4 months in
the labour camps of Gulag. At that time, the famous aircraft designer Andrei
Tupolev (1888 – 1972) was also a prisoner. At Tupolev’s request, Korolev was
finally allowed to join the design team arranged by Tupolev. They were permitted
to continue in the prison their research activities. All these future famous and
talented Russian constructors (and their collegues) were reported not to have
designed any rockets or aircraft and to have wasted money without results. Even
there was a dirty denunciation from rivals – envious persons.
2. Designer of Russia's first missiles
In November 1944, Korolev was promoted to the helm of his own team and
given just three days to come up with a proposal for a Soviet equivalent to the
German V2 missile. He met the challenge although his proposal had a range of
only 75 km, just one quarter that of the V2.
One year later Korolev was sent to Germany to assess the hardware and the
technicians left behind at the end of the war by the US operation ‘Paperclip’.
Wernher Von Braun and the best elements of the German rocket design team
had moved to the United States, but a new research centre, called NII-88, was
set up in Russia the following year. Although still a political prisoner, Korolev
was made chief engineer responsible for designing a Soviet equivalent to the
V2. The outcome was the R1 rocket, the forerunner of a family of missiles
known in the West under their NATO codename: Scud.
NII-88 developed various missiles before Korolev decided in 1953 to
develop the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile with a 7000 km range.
The R-7 was based on a concept of stacked stages once considered by the
Germans. On 21 August 1957 the R-7 was successfully launched from a new
rocket site near Baikonur in Kazakhstan.

61
 3. From Sputnik to Vostok
Dubbed ‘Semyorka’, the R-7 was sufficiently powerful to put a satellite into
orbit. However, as the development of a science payload took longer than
planned, Korolev's team designed a ‘minimum satellite’. Sputnik 1, the first
satellite to be placed in orbit, was launched on 4 October 1957 and its ‘beep-
beep’ signal shook the world
To build on this resounding success, in less than one
month Korolev and his team designed a second satellite. On
3 November, just in time for the 40th anniversary of the
Bolshevik Revolution and before the first (failed) US
attempt to launch a satellite, Sputnik 2 was launched. On
board was the dog Laika, the first animal to orbit Earth.
Vostok was Korolev and the R-7 rapidly scored yet more firsts: the first
launched into space probe to the Moon, the first picture of the far side of the
on 12 April 1961 Moon, the first probes to Venus and Mars…
The next big challenge was to place a man into orbit and return him safely to
Earth. To achieve this, Korolev decided to modify a spy satellite concept and
turn it into a human spacecraft by replacing the imaging payload with an
ejection seat. After a series of test flights using dummy astronauts and dogs,
Vostok was launched into space by an improved version of the R-7 rocket on 12
April 1961. On board was Yuri Gagarin.
4. Towards the Moon
The US answer came on 15 May with a direct challenge from President
John F. Kennedy, who promised to put a man on the Moon before the end of the
decade.
Sergei Korolev had his own plan to beat the US in the ‘Moon Race’. He
proposed building a giant rocket, the 100 m tall N-1 as well as a modular
spacecraft which had a promising future: Soyuz.
Despite his successes – or maybe because of them – Korolev was widely
criticised by high-ranking military dignitaries and other space designers who
pointed out that his missiles were poorly designed for a strategic role. Sergei
Korolev remained undismayed by his critics; the R-7 may not have been very
useful as a weapon but it was the best space launcher of its time.
The situation with the N-1 was more complex as Sergei Korolev could not
come to an agreement with his old colleague, Valentin Glushko. Glushko, now
62
the leading designer of Soviet rocket engines, believed cryogenic propulsion to
be a dead end. To bypass him Korolev turned to Nikolai Kuznetsov, who came
from the aeronautical propulsion field. The problem was that as Kuznetsov’s
engines were very small, the enormous N-1 would need 42 of them, 35 just for
the first stage alone. Work on the N-1 was frozen and its development was only
approved in 1964. By that date, the US lunar programme had been a national
priority for three years.
5. A Long-lasting Legacy
Sergei Korolev never saw the completion of his huge
baby. In 1965 he was diagnosed with cancer and advised to
undergo colon surgery. Korolev was now recognised to be a
national asset and the Ministry of Health decided to carry out
the operation himself. Unfortunately, the operation was a
failure and Sergei Korolev died on the operating table on 14
The Soyuz January 1966. Just two weeks after Korolev’s death, Luna 9
spacecraft remains
one of the
landed on the Moon. This was to be the last big Soviet first
workhorses of the in space for a long time.
Russian space After Korolev's death, the whole Russian space
programme programme experienced numerous difficulties. The N-1
mega-launcher was not ready in time to beat Apollo to the
Moon, and its four launches all ended in disaster. In August 1974 the
programme was cancelled by Valentin Glushko, who had taken over Korolev's
design bureau.
The Soyuz spacecraft and the R-7 launcher – whose latest version is also
known as Soyuz – remain the workhorses of the Russian space programme and
are still active more than 40 years after their designer's death. With more than
1700 flights, the Soyuz family of launchers still holds the record for the most
launches and will probably continue to hold it for several more decades. In the
near future Soyuz will be launched from spaceports in three different countries:
Baikonour in Kazakhstan, Plesetsk in northern Russia and, starting in 2008,
from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana (South America, spaceport Kourou)
on behalf of ESA (European Space Agency).
More than 40 years after their inventor’s death, both Soyuz designs still have
potential for further evolution, proof of Korolev's talent.

63
 Text B. Yuri Gagarin, the First Cosmonaut in the World
Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space.
Imagine leaving Earth before anyone had done it
before! Nobody could tell what would happen to
him; nobody really knew how the brain would
function in weightlessness, or how the body
would adapt.
On March 9, 1934, a boy was born in the
country-side west of Moscow. His name was
Yuri Gagarin. He grew up on a collective farm,
where his father worked as a carpenter. When
Yuri was seven years old, the German armies
invaded Russia. Yuris father joined the army,
while his mother took him and his
older brother and sister away from the fighting.
In high-school, Yuri decided to train as a technician, and attended a technical
school on the outskirts of Moscow. He left school in 1951 as a trained
metalworker and enrolled at an industrial college. While he was a student he
became interested in aircraft and took lessons at a local flying school. Pretty
soon, it became obvious that young Yuri had a natural talent for flying, and
when he graduated from college in 1955, he joined the Soviet Airforce. It
became evident that Gagarins abilities as a pilot were beyond normal, and he
was taken of normal duties to work as a test-pilot, flying new and experimental
aircraft.
Soon Yuri went to his officers and volunteered to become a cosmonaut. His
officers were stunned, since no-one had ever before volunteered for such a
mission, and consequently there were no procedures for this. However,
Gagarin’s name was passed on to the people in charge of the top-secret Soviet
space-project, and after a while he was contacted by some representatives who
wanted to test him.
Yuri Gagarin was selected among a special group of the Soviet Union’s 20
best test-pilots. Later, due to economical restrictions, this group was limited to
six pilots. These went on to further training, while the others returned to test-
flying. During the very tough and difficult training-period, Yuri obtained top
grades from the instructors.
Among other things Gagarin withstood 13 Gs in the centrifuge, and, as a part
of the psychological training, sat in a soundless, lightless room for 24 hours.

64
The instructors described him as a man who "...submits useful suggestions at
meetings. Always sure of his resources... very difficult, if not impossible to
upset... Stands out among his colleagues thanks to his great scope of active
attention, bright mind and quick reaction".
The official announcement of Gagarin as pilot was made on April 11, but he
was privately informed on April 9.
In 1961, at the age of 27, Gagarin left the earth. It was April the 12th, 9.07
Moscow time (launch-site, Baikonur). 108 minutes later, he was back . The
period of orbital revolution was 89:34 minutes (this figure was "calculated by
electronic computers"). The mission’s maximum flight altitude was 327 000
meters. The maximum speed reached was 28 260 kilometers per hour.
"On the 12th of April, 1961, the Soviet spaceship-sputnik was put in orbit
around the Earth with me on board" "...there was a good view of the Earth
which had a very distinct and pretty blue halo. It had a smooth transition from
pale blue, blue, dark blue, violet and absolutely black. It was a magnificent
picture."
The vessel used was the Soviet spaceship/satellite Vostok 1, which was a
small one-manned spherical descent module with a diameter of 2.3 meters. The
module was mounted on top of an instrument module containing the engine
system. Together these weighed less than five tonnes. The cosmonaut was
strapped into an ejection seat, from which he would exit the descent module
upon re-entry.
The Vostok 1 was mounted on a SL-3 variant of the SS-6 Sapwood rocket,
which was 38.36 meters long and weighed 287.03 tonnes at launch. It had three
stages, the first stage being four breakaway boosters, strapped on to the second
and third stages. The first stage used RD-107 engines, which provided 102,000
kg of thrust.
Basically, Gagarin was sitting in a tin-can on top of a bomb.
During the flight of Vostok 1, Gagarin was not given control of his craft.
This was because of the above mentioned insecurity regarding reactions of the
mind and physics in weightlessness. The Russians didn't want to risk the
cosmonaut losing control over himself while in space, and thus endangering the
mission.
There was a key available in a sealed envelope which enabled the cosmonaut
to take control over the vessel in case of an emergency. The Vostok also
contained a supply of food and water for ten days in case of retrorocket failure.
Due to the orbit chosen, the ship was expected to return naturally during this
period. However, Gagarin did not encounter any problems. "The spaceship put
in orbit, and the carrier-rocket separated, weightlessness set in. At first the
65
sensation was to some extent unusual, but I soon adapted myself" "I maintained
continuous communication with Earth on different channels by telephone and
telegraph".
Upon return, the Vostok capsule itself landed too heavily, with an impact
making it impossible for humans to remain inside during landing. Gagarin
ejected at an altitude of approximately 7 kilometers, and landed safely.
(At 7000 meters above the surface of Earth, the temperature is
approximately -30 degrees Celsius. Gagarin was wearing a space-suit, and didn't
suffer from the cold, but one might guess that he enjoyed quite a free fall before
releasing his parachute.)
In the official Soviet documents, there is no mention of the parachute
ejection system included for Gagarin. However trivial a lie, this was due to the
international rules for aviation records, which stated that "The pilot remains in
his craft from launch to landing". This rule, if applied, would have
"disqualified" Gagarin’s space-flight.
Yuri Gagarin’s flight into space was headline news all over the world, and
he was awarded the medal and official title Hero of the Soviet union.
He died seven years later, on March 7, 1968 (sometimes stated as the
th
27 ).He died in an airplane accident, flying the MIG-15 as a test-pilot. By then
he was 34 years old.

Text C. Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton is famous for his discoveries about gravitation, but this work
was only one of his many brilliant researches. The great astronomer was born in
1642. He did not show any signs of cleverness in his early schooldays. When he
grew older his mother wanted him to help her on the farm, for his father was
dead. But the boy did not like this; he was now fascinated by mathematics, and
in 1661 he went to Cambridge University, where he took his first degree four
years later. Then came the Great Plague. The university was closed, and Newton
went back to his native town. It was during the next few months that he carried
out his first important researches into the nature of light.
The fact is that telescopes had been known for more than half a century, but
they had never been satisfactory, because they collected their light by means of
glass lenses which produced false colour. Newton saw no way to overcome this,
so he followed up an idea suggested by the Scottish mathematician Gregory, and
finally produced a telescope based on an entirely different principle. It collected
its light by means of a curved mirror, so that it became known as a reflector.
Newton's original reflector, completed about 1671 had a mirror two and a half
centimetres across; the largest telescope in the world today has a mirror over
66
500 centimetres across!
Of course, he went back to Cambridge as soon as the Plague danger was
over. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society, the leading scientific society in
Britain, and came into contact with many other brilliant men. Among them there
were the astronomers Christopher Wren, better known as an architect, and
Edmund Halley, head of Greenwich Observatory.
Britain had always been a seafaring nation, and it had been difficult for
sailors to find out their position after weeks out of sight of land. The only way to
solve the problem was by making observations of the positions of the celestial
bodies, and this needed a very accurate star-catalogue. The best catalogue
available at that time was not good enough, and so it was decided to compile a
better one.
Meanwhile, at Greenwich Observatory, Wren and Halley had been
discussing the movements of the planets round the Sun. There were certain
questions that they could not answer, but they knew that Newton was a better
mathematician than any of them. So at last Halley went down to Cambridge and
asked Newton for advice. To his surprise, he found that Newton had solved the
problems several years earlier, but had not published his discoveries.
It has been said that Newton was sitting in his garden when he saw an apple
fall off a tree. This started a chain of thoughts in his mind, and he realized that
the force pulling on the apple was the same as the force which keeps the Moon
in its path round the Earth. From this he was led to draw up the laws of
gravitation, according to which every particle of matter in the universe attracts
every other particle with a force which becomes weaker with increasing
distance. There is strong evidence that this story – unlike most of its kind! – is
true. At any rate, Halley persuaded Newton to rework the calculations and
publish them in a book. The result was the great volume which was completed
in 1687, and which laid the foundation of astronomy.
For many years Newton served as President of the Royal Society. When he
died in 1727, he was buried in Westminster Abbey.
2. Comprehension check.
Work in pairs. Ask and answer as many questions as you can on the Text.
3. Retell the Text.
Text D. Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was admired throughout the world for her vitality,
determination and beauty. She was killed in the car accident when she was only
36. When she first came on the royal scene in 1981 she brought а new

67
dimension to the Royal Family, and was soon regarded as one of the most
glamorous women in the world. Her charm was apparent to all her style, her
influence immense. She truly was the People's Princess.
The Princess of Wales was not royal by birth, although her family descends
from Henry VII. She was born the Honourable Diana Frances Spencer in July
1961 in Park House in the Sandringham Estate, in Norfolk. Diana had two older
sisters, Sarah and Jane, and а younger brother, Charles. When Diana was six
years old, her parents separated and later divorced, the children remaining with
their father.
Diana went to а school in Switzerland, where she studied domestic science,
typing and correspondence, and found plenty of time to enjoy skiing.
When Diana returned to Britain from Switzerland she lived in London,
sharing an apartment with old school friends. Diana became а nanny to а
number of children, and took а three-month cookery course, before joining the
Young England Kindergarten as а helper. She enjoyed the social whirl,
attending parties in the evenings and going so the country every weekend.
Most of Diana's circle of friends came from similar backgrounds, and when
her relationship with the Prince of Wales began, automatically provided her
with а shield of protection. Once the media suspected Lady Diana and Prince
Charles new romance, press reported and cameramen pursued her relentlessly.
Diana learned to keep her head down, literally, becoming known as "Shy
Di". But once the engagement was official, Diana moved into an apartment in
Clarence House, home of the Queen Mother.
The wedding of the Prince Wales and Lady Diana Spencer took Place at St
Paul's Cathedral on 29 July 1981, barely а month after the bride's 20th birthday.
It was а day of joy for everyone: the bride and groom, their families and the
millions of people watching on television all over the world.
Diana was everyone' s idea of а fairy-tale bride.
From the moment they were married, the Prince and Princess of Wales
became the focus of public attention to an extent never before experienced in
Britain, even by the Royal Family. They most closely watched couple in the
world, and while Prince Charles was used to being into spotlight, for Diana it
was а new experience. She coped impressively, and soon became the most
photographed woman in the world.
Here early clays as Princess of Wales were not always easy. Diana’s natural
role in life was motherhood. She had always had а special affirmity with
children of all ages and she never doubted for а moment that she was intended
to be а mother. Speaking about her children she once said, "They mean
everything to me" and later added, "I always feed my children love and
68
affection. It' s so important. " She was an affectionate mother. She said she had
found her true destiny. Her first son was born on 21 June 1982. Harry was born
on 15 September 1984.
As she freely admitted, Diana was not an intellectual. But despite her lack of
academic achievement she possessed a quick wit and an understanding that
enabled her to survive those early years and adapt to her new role.
With the collapse of her marriage in 1992 – reparation, followed in 1996 by
devorce – Diana got out to find а new life for herself as а single parent. She
wanted to create an independent role outside the Royal Family but, as the
mother of а future King, she was never completely able to shed her
responsibilities, or her image throughout the world as "Princess Di". Diana
worked hard at keeping physically fit by visiting gymnasium most days, and she
sought the company of people whom she believed would not try to exploit her.
She made many visits to the USA where popularity never waked, and where
she continued to be treated as royalty. Americans saw her as both an innocent
victim and а winner the divorce battle, and acclaimed her as а great survivor and
а successful single mother.
Once the publicity of the marriage breakup had died down Diana began
working towards her goal, which was to be taken seriously in her own right.
At one time Diana was involved with over а hundred Charities, which she
liked to call her "Family of Organizations".
She said "Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to try to help the most
vulnerable people in society".
In 1993, Diana announced her retirement from public life and relinquished
her position with nearly all her Charities.
One of the most courageous and important of Diana's public appearances
was undoubted when she decided to open the first specialist AIDS ward in
Britain.
Diana's concern for the dispossessed and the underprivileged knew no
national boundaries. Together with her friends she visited Pakistan to support
their efforts in famine relief; and after meeting Mother Teresa in
Diana died in а car crash on 31 August 1997 in Paris. Few events in Britain's
history have produced the sense of national dismay and bewilderment that
followed. People travelled from all parts of the country to pay tribute to the
Princess. Thousands of bouquets of flowers were placed at the gates of
Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace, and people queued for up to twelve
hours to sign the books of condolence at St James's Palace.
The Queen appeared on television and spoke movingly of her former
daughter-in-law. "She was an exceptional and gifted human being. In good
69
times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire
other with her warmth and kindness. " Diana's body was laid to rest at Althorp,
on а peaceful and secluded island in the middle of а lake. Diana will be
remembered as an inspirational woman who once said she wanted to be known
as a “Queen of Hearts”. Perhaps in death that is exactly what she has become.

Text E. Famous Writer A. Cristie

Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie is possibly the world's most famous detective
story writer. She wrote 79 crime novels, 150 short stories, 19 plays. By one
count, more than 2 billion copies of her books and plays had been sold in 104
languages – outselling even William Shakespeare. However, behind all her
works was a painfully shy woman, whose life was often lonely and unhappy.
She was born in 1890 in Devon, and she was the third child of Clarissa and
Frederick Miller, and grew into a beautiful and sensitive girl with golden hair.
Agatha didn’t go to school but was educated at home by her mother. Her father
died when she was 11 and it was a tragedy for her and her mother.
During World War I she was working in a hospital dispensary, and there she
learned about chemicals and poisons, which proved very useful in her later
career. She wrote her first detective novel “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” in
1920. In it she introduced Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective who appeared in
many subsequent novels. Her other main detective was an elderly spinster called
Miss Marple.
In 1914, at the beginning of the war, she had married Archibald Christie. But
the marriage was unhappy and they divorced in 1926. That year there was a
double tragedy in her life because her much-loved mother died. Agatha suffered
a nervous breakdown, and one night she abandoned her car and mysteriously
disappeared. She went missing for 11 days and was eventually found in a hotel
in Harrogate, in the North of England. That time she was suffering very much.
But it was that time that she wrote one of her masterpieces “ The Murder of
Roger Ackroyd. ”
Agatha desperately wanted to be alone and developed very bitter feelings
towards the media because the newspapers had given her a hard time over her
breakdown and disappearance. She was determined never to let them enter her
private life again and she buried herself in her work. On 25 November 1952 her
most famous play “The Mousetrap” that over 8 million people have seen opened
in London. Today, about 50 years later, it is still running. It is the longest
running show in the whole world.
She enjoyed a very happy second marriage to Max Mallowan, an
archaeologist. Her detective skills were a help to him in his excavations in Syria
70
and Iraq. In 1971 she became “Dame of the British Empire” which is an
honorary rank equal to knighthood but awarded much more rarely. Agatha
Christie died peacefully in 1976.
4. Comprehension check. Read the text and answer the questions
1. When and where was Agatha Christie born?
2. Where did she get education?
3. How many novels did she write?
4. What was her first novel to write?
5. What was she doing during World War I?
6. When did she die?
7. What was Poirot?
8. Why did she have bitter feelings towards the media?
5. Make up a dialogue on the basis of the text.

71
 UNIT 7. SPARE TIME ACTIVITY
1. Pre-reading task. Answer the following questions.
1. Do you like to travel?
2. When do you usually travel?
3. How do you spend your holiday?
4. Would you like to collect information about the places where you have a
rest?
5. Do you take pictures that you pass through?
6. What is the idea behind taking pictures?
7. Do you think that travel broadens one’s mind?
8. Would you like to go hiking, for example, in the Caucasus?
9. Have you been to any other country?
10. What did you like there?
Text A. Summer Holiday in England
I don't like crowds when I'm on holiday. I remember that when I was a small
boy we – my brothers and sisters and I – always tried to get away from other
people. We always had our holidays on the coast. Sea and sunshine, that’s what
we looked forward to every summer. We always went to a small fishing village
on the Devon coast. And if, when we got to the place where we usually bathed,
there were other people there, we stopped and said, “Oh, we can't bathe here
today! Somebody's got here before us!” Today people seem to like crowds.
Hotels at the large seaside towns on the south coast, such as Folkestone,
Hastings or Brighton are expensive. It would cost you, probably, for the two of
you, at least ₤ 25 a week. I don’t know whether that’s more than you want to
pay. Besides, hotel rates are highest in July or August.
But you can if you like go to a holiday camp. That doesn’t mean sleeping
and eating in tents. The kind of holiday camp I mean is nothing like an army
camp, or the kind of camp that Everest climbers live in. Holiday camps in
England are permanent buildings with every modern convenience and comfort.
There are wooden cabins with good beds, electric light, running hot and cold
water. There are large buildings – a dining-hall, a large hall for dancing (and
good dance bands), a cinema, a theatre, a bar, a cafe, rooms for games such as
billiards. In fact there is, in the camp, everything you want. The camp usually
has its own swimming- pool and tennis courts. Some camps are large enough for
a thousand people; others take a much smaller number. A camp of medium size
takes about five hundred guests.

72
 I'm not quite sure what the rates will be for holiday camps this summer.
About two-thirds of the cost of a good hotel, perhaps less.
Here's another suggestion – a caravan holiday. If you arrived by your car in
England, you could hire quite a comfortable caravan for a few pounds a week.
There’s a caravan association that would give you information about places
where you could stay. There are caravan camps all round the coast, and at these
you can get water and other things you need. A caravan holiday isn’t lonely, as
you might think at first. Every evening you'd be in a camp with lots of other
people. They are all very friendly, I believe. Of course, you'd have to cook. You
can see a lot of places in a month, or, if you wish, stay in one place for several
days and then move on to another place. If I were as young as you are, I'd have a
walking holiday.
Walking holidays are much cheaper than the kind of holidays I've been telling you
about. Maybe you know something about the Youth Hostels Association, I'm sure. It's
international. There are hostels all over England now and thousands of young people
use them. Members of the Association get beds for 2s. 6d. a night and meals are very
cheap indeed. Members can even take their own food to the hostels and cook it in the
kitchen. They have to help by sweeping and cleaning the rooms, or washing up after
meals. But that's not a hardship, is it? You'd meet young people of all classes – factory
workers, office workers, shop girls, college students, and many young people from
European countries and sometimes from Russia. A walking holiday depends for
enjoyment upon the weather, of course. But nobody can promise you good weather!
You needn’t walk. Cyclists are allowed to stay at our youth hostels. But
you’re not allowed to stay in them if you arrive in a motor-car, or on a motor-
cycle or motor-scooter or even on a bicycle with one of those little motors on
the back wheel. Youth hostels are for people with not much money to spend.
You wouldn’t have to worry about clothes if you decided to use youth hostels.
Any old clothes would do.
2. Comprehension check. Work in pairs. Ask and answer as many questions as
you can about a holiday.
3. Make up a short story about the summer holiday of your own.
Text B. Hobby
My hobby is collecting things, connected with the Royal family.
I first got interested in the Royal family when I saw the wedding of Princess
Margaret on TV in 1960. My father wouldn't let us have a television in the
house because he said it would stop me doing my homework. So on the day of
the wedding, I went round to the friend's house, and I just sat in front of the

73
screen, mesmerized. But it wasn't until later that I started collecting. I've been
collecting for eighteen years. The first thing I bought were a dish with the
Queen's head in the center, and a few Coronation mugs to go with it.
What sort of things have I got? Oh, everything! Oh, pictures, paintings,
ashtrays, hundreds of mugs, tea-pots, tea-cloths, biscuit tins, posters, books,
flags, toast racks, egg cups, candle sticks, the lot! I've got over four thousand
Royal souvenirs.
And they all are in this house. The house has been extended three times to fit
it all in. They are in, all the rooms downstairs, and in the four bedrooms upstairs
and in the attic, too.
I should say that it takes all my spare time to keep everything clean and
dusted I'm always playing around, making a special area for one of the Royals
or another. It keeps me amused for hours, and the visitors who come mainly
foreign visitors, never get tired of talking about our Royal family.
But of course, there is one piece that's my favourite. I was desperately upset
when Princess Diana and Prince Charles split up, and I wrote to Princess Diana,
saying I hoped they might get together again. I got a lovely letter back from her
Lady-in-Waiting Sarah Campden and that is the most important part of my
whole collection. As for money I have had to spend a lot of money on my
collection.
I don't know exactly. I have never thought about it. No, I don’t think so.
Once, when Prince Andrew married Fergie, a shop filled its windows with
nothing else but mementoes of them and I walked in and bought the lot.
But I can’t remember how much it was. I collect it all over the place. There
are a lot of people who collect this stuff. I go up down the country. We have
conventions where we swap things. And there are specialist magazines and
shops, and jumble sales.
Sometimes, but very seldom one has to fight to get something you really
want. In this connection I remember once I was in a shop and shop keeper was
drinking his tea from a lovely Coronation mug. I offered to buy it from him, but
he wasn’t interested. So off I went to a shop nearby and bought a plain mug and
presented it to him. “Now will you do a swap?” I said to him. And he did. Oh, it
was driving me mad, the thought of him using this mug every day! I wanted to
give it a proper home.
4. Divide the text into two parts and the group into two smaller groups. Each
group reads its part of the text. Then one representative of each group has a
conversation with the representative of the other group about the part they
have just read.

74
 UNIT 8. MY WORKING DAY
1. Pre-reading task. Answer the following questions.
1. When do you usually get up?
2. Do you work or study at a college or an institute?
3. What is your future trade?
4. How do you get to the institute?
5. How many lessons do you have every day?
6. What is your favourite subject in the institute?
7. Do you like gardening?
8. Have you got any hobby?
9. Can you drive a car?
10. Do you know how to behave at interviews at an office?
11. Would you like to get a job connected with business trips?
12. When will you graduate from the institute?
13. What are you going to do after leaving the institute?

Text A. My Working Day

On weekdays the alarm-clock wakes me up at 6.30 and my working day
begins. I don’t like to get up early, that's why it's very difficult for me to get out
of bed, especially in winter. I switch on my tape-recorder and do my morning
exercises. Then I go to the bathroom, take a warm shower, clean my teeth and
shave. After that I go to my bedroom to get dressed.
Usually my mother makes breakfast for me. But sometimes I make breakfast
myself. While having breakfast, I listen to the latest news on the radio.
I leave the house at 7.30 and go to the nearest underground station. Last year
I tried to enter Moscow University, but unfortunately I failed my entrance
examinations. After that I entered the institute of technology, ecology and
management. There are not entrance examination. But studying is charged. So I
thought I should work somewhere. It wasn’t easy to find a job, but I managed to
get a position of a secretary in a small business company. They agreed to take
me because I had studied typewriting, computing and business organisation at
school. And besides, I passed my English school-leaving exam with an excellent
mark.
It takes me an hour to get to work. But I don't want to waste my time while
going to my office. I've got a small cassette-player and I listen to different texts
and dialogues. Sometimes I read a book and retell it silently. If I come across an
interesting expression I try to memorise it. I also write some English words on

75
flashcards and learn them.
I usually arrive at work at ten minutes to nine though my working day
begins at 9 sharp. There are always some fax messages to translate from English
into Russian. Sometimes my boss wants me to write a letter to our business
partners abroad. There are also a lot of phone calls which I have to answer.
At 1 o'clock in the afternoon we have lunch. We usually have lunch in a
small cafe just round the corner. At 2 o'clock we come back to work. And we
work hard till 5 o'clock. After that I go to my institute. Lessons usually last from
6 to 10 p. m.
I come home at about 11 o'clock in the evening. My parents are usually at
home, waiting for me. I eat something and go to bed.
Of course by the end of the week I get very tired. All I can do on Sundays is
to sleep till eleven o'clock, watch television, listen to music and read something
in English.
And still I always look forward to my next working day because I like my
job. I think I get a lot of useful experience, and shall be a good manager.
2. Comprehension check. Work in pairs. Ask and answer as many questions as
you can about working day.
3. Match up A and B

A B
a. I go to my bedroom 1. His entrance exam

b. It takes him 2. To my next working day

c. The boss wanted me 3. Waiting for me
d. I left the house 4. I try to memorize it
e. My friend failed 5. An hour to get to the office
f. I always look forward 6. To translate this letter
g. My parents are usually at home 7. To get dressed
h. If I come across an interesting 8. At 8. 00 yesterday
expression
4. Retell the text

76
 UNIT 9. THE PLACE I LIVE IN
1. Pre-reading task. Answer the following questions.
1. What is your home town?
2. Where is it situated?
3. What places of interest are there in you town?
4. What theatres and museums are there?
5. What is your native town famous for?
6. Are there any higher educational institutions in the town?
7. Where do people usually spend their free time?
8. Are there any sports facilities?
9. What is your favourite place in the town?
10. How often do you go to your native town?

Text A. My Native Town

I am Ann Sokolova. I`ll tell you about my lovely hometown – Sochi. I am
sure everyone knows where Sochi is. For those who are not really sure I remind
that it is situated on the Black Sea coast about 1500 km south from Moscow.
Sochi is the only southern subtropical city in Russia. One can bathe in the
Black Sea from May till October because the water of the Black Sea is still
warm. The water of the Black Sea contains many chemical substances. That
reacts with your body and makes you healthier. There are many mineral water
springs in Sochi and its area.
Have you ever heard the name Big Sochi? Sochi is one of the most stretched
cities along the sea coast – it is 148 km long! Small towns and cities Adler,
Khosta, Kudepsta, Dagomys and Lazarevskoye belong to Big Sochi.
The history of this area goes back to the ancient times.
One can call this area «the Cradle of Mankind». People came here from the
Asia Minor 400-350 thousand years ago. There are more than 150 historical
places of interest in the area. Here the camps and caves of prehistoric people
have been found.
The dolmens – massive prehistoric grave structures from the 2 nd thousand B.
C. are the features of the Bronze era. The most ancient five-stone dolmens are
found in the Sochi area. Travellers of the 19th century called dolmens «the
houses of the giants» because each grave stone weighs from 500 to 3000 kg. It
is still uncertain what technical developments made it possible to construct such
structures.

77
 The rich lands of the Caucasus always attracted Greeks, Romans, Arabs,
Turks and other invaders.
Christian religion was brought over from the Byzantynne three centuries
earlier than to Russia. In the end of X th – beginning of the XIth centuries A. D. the
first known Christian constructions were built in Loo, Galitsino and Veseloye.
During the XVIIIth – XIXth centuries Russia conducted long wars with
Turkey for the exit to the Black Sea. In 1829, after the end of Russian-Turkish
war, by the peace treaty the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, from the mouth of
the Kuban river up to a fort St. Nicholas (to the south of modern city Poti), has
departed to Russia.
Symbol of the victory of the Russian weapon in the war of 1829 is the
monument near modern hotel “Leningrad” – “Anchor and Cannon”.
The end of Russian-Turkish war has not solved all the problems of
strengthening of Russia on the Black Sea coast. The Black Sea coastal line
consisting of 17 forts was created with this purpose.
On April 21st, 1838 a small wooden fortress was established in the Sochi
river area to protect this land from local tribes. But in 1854, because of the
beginning of the Crimean war, the fortress was destroyed by Russian army.
Russians left this area. Only 10 years later the new fortress named Dakhovskiy
was established on the place of the fortress.
In 1896 by the decision of the Tsarist government fortress Dakhovskiy was
renamed in the settlement of Sochi, after the name of the river Sochi.
In Soviet times Sochi was a quickly developing port, industrial and resort
city on the Black sea. The fast development of the city and construction of
modern houses was due to Joseph Stalin's sympathy to this place. Many streets
in the center of Sochi look like the center of Moscow built in 30s and 50s.
Until now the favourite residence of Russian Presidents was Bocharov creek.
Ski resorts of Krasnaya polyana, warm blue waters of the Black Sea, luxurious
tennis courts create irresistable atmosphere around the place.
2. Comprehension check. Work in pairs. Ask and answer as many questions as
you can about
1. The location of Sochi;
2. The history of this town;
3. The resorts of the town.
3. Retell the text if you were
1. A citizen of Sochi;
2. A visitor.

78
 UNIT 10. SUPPLEMENTARY READING
Part I. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Text A. Environmental Science: Two World Views
1. The problem is making the changeover. Surveys in the United States show
that a large majority of people profess to be environmentalists. Yet, we are all
part of a society that has developed and continues to function according to
cornucopian assumption. For example, although we profess to be
environmentalists, we continue to drive cars, which burn fuels that contribute to
the global warming effect, because we are part of a society that has created
virtually no practical alternatives for everyday transportation.
2. The changeover to sustainable alternatives will involve much more than
simple "Band-aid" measures; it will involve basic changes throughout society in
the ways we transport ourselves and our products, in the ways we heat and cool
our homes and workplaces, in the ways we produce crops, in the way we
manufacture products, handle wastes, and so on.
3. In other words, assuming that we do make a changeover to become a
sustainable society, this current period will be looked back on in a history as a
major revolution – the environmental revolution – and you will have been
players in this "absolutely unique time in humanity's stay on earth". You all will
have been players, yeas, but some as part of the solution and success of the
revolution and others as part of the problem very nearly causing the revolution
to fail. The thought is scary, but the challenge also provides an opportunity that
few (perhaps no other) generations have ever had or will have.
4. In accepting the challenge to work toward a sustainable society, you will
not be alone. You will be joining millions of people around the world in all
walks of life who have already made a similar commitment. Individually and
through thousands of organizations, they are mounting actions to protect the
natural environment. Actions range from the radical to the highly professional
and scientific. For example, members of Earth First have chained themselves to
trees to prevent their cutting. Members and leaders of the Natural Resources
Defense Council, Environmental Defense Fund, and other groups focus their
efforts on promoting legislation for environmental protection, much of U.S.
pollution control legislation is in no small part a result of their efforts.
Organizations such as World Wildlife Fund and Conservation International are
working in cooperation with governments in many countries around the world to
set up and manage biological reserves, areas of natural habitat expressly for the
purpose of saving particular species from extinction.
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 5. Even labor unions, which traditionally have been anti-environment
because of fear that environmentalism would lead to the loss of jobs, are
beginning to change. For example, a 1990 report of the United Steelworkers of
America included the statement: "In the long run, the real choice is not jobs or
environment. It's both or neither. What kind of jobs will be possible in a world
of depleted resources, poisoned water and foul air, a world where ozone
depletion and greenhouse warming make it difficult even to survive?"
6. In June 1992 the United Nations held a Conference in Rio de Janeiro on
the Environment and Development, at which leaders of all member nations
pledged to work toward making environmental protection an integral part of
furthering development.
7. While the fact that world leaders and organizations recognize the
seriousness of environmental issues is an encouraging sign, leaders and
organizations cannot solve the problem by themselves. As noted above, the
changes must ultimately involve all of us and the way we conduct our daily life.
Furthermore, "this change will have to be a fully conscious operation, guided by
the best foresight that science can provide."
8. This is where environmental science enters the picture. Environmental
science is the science of looking at the cause-and-effect relationships underlying
environmental issues. In short, it is the science of understanding how the world
works on the level of the natural environment – how the natural environment
regenerates natural resources and how this generative capacity is being affected
by human activities. Armed with this understanding, the objective of
environmental science is to provide the foresight required to make changes
toward a sustainable society.

Text B. Ecosystems: What They Are

1. There are two "sides" in every ecosystem, the organisms on one hand and
the environmental factors on the other. All the organisms – plants, animals, and
microbes – in the ecosystem are referred to as the biota (bio, "life"). The way
the categories of organisms fit together is referred to as the biotic structure. The
nonliving chemical and physical factors of the environment (climate, soil quality
and so forth) are referred to as abiotic (a, "non") factors.
2. As it was noted before, the environment involves the interplay of many
physical and chemical, or abiotic factors, the major ones being rainfall (amount
and distribution over the year), temperature (extremes of heat and cold as well
as average), light, water, wind, chemical nutrients, pH (acidity), salinity
(saltness) and fire. The degree to which each is present or absent, high or low,
profoundly affects the ability of organisms to survive. However, different
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species may be affected differently by each factor. We shall find that this
difference in response to environmental factors determines which species may
or may not occupy a given region. In turn, which organisms do or don't survive
determines the nature of a given ecosystem.
3. In any study of the abiotic side of ecology, the key observation is that
different species thrive under different conditions. This principle applies to all
living things, both plants and animals. Some like it very wet; others like it
relatively dry. Some like it very warm; others do best in cooler situations. Some
tolerate freezing, others don't. Some require bright sun; others do best in shade.
Laboratory experiments clearly bear this fact out. Plants may be grown in a
series of chambers in which all abiotic factors are controlled. Thus, a single
factor – temperature, say – can be varied in a systematic way, while all other
factors are kept constant. Experiments show that, as temperature is raised from a
low point that fails to support growth, plants grow increasingly well until they
reach some maximum. Then, as temperature is raised still further, the plants
become increasingly stressed; they do less well, suffer injury and die.
4. The point that supports the maximum growth is called the optimum.
Actually, since maximum growth usually occurs over a range of several degrees,
we speak of an optimal range. The entire span that allows any growth at all is
called the range of tolerance. The points at the high and low ends of the range of
tolerance are called the limits of tolerance. Between the optimal range and the
high or low limit of tolerance, there are zones of stress. That is, as temperature
is raised or lowered from the optimal range, the plants experience increasing
stress until, at either limit of tolerance, they cannot survive. Similar experiments
have been run to test other factors, and the results invariably follow the same
general pattern. Of course, not every species has been tested for every factor;
however, the consistency of such observations leads us to conclude that this is a
fundamental biological principle: Every species (both plant and animal) has an
optimum range, tones of stress, and limits of tolerance with respect to every
abiotic factor.
5. This line of experimentation also demonstrates that different species differ
markedly with respect to the values at which the optimum and limits of
tolerance occur. For instance, what may be an optimal amount of water for one
species may stress a second and result in the death of a third. Some plants
cannot tolerate any freezing temperatures, others can tolerate slight but not
intense freezing, and some actually require several weeks of freezing
temperatures in order to complete their life cycles. While optimums and limits
of tolerance may differ from one species, however, there may be great overlap
in the ranges of tolerance for various species. Thus many plants may grow under
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the same conditions, although these conditions may not be optimal for all of the
plants.
6. Since the results just described apply to any and all abiotic factors, we
observe what is known as the Law of Limiting Factors: Any one factor being
outside its optimal range at any given time will cause stress and limit the growth
of an organism. The factor that is limiting the growth is called the limiting
factor. It may be any factor that affects the organism. The Law of Limiting
Factors includes the problem of "too much" as well as the problem of "too
little". For example, plants may be stressed or killed by overwatering or
overfertilizing as well as by underwatering or underfertilizing, a common pitfall
for amateur gardeners. The factor that is limiting may change from one time to
another. For example, in a single growing season, temperature maybe limiting in
the early spring, nutrients may be limiting later, and then water may be limiting
if a drought occurs. Also, if one limiting factor is corrected, growth will increase
only until another factor comes into play.
7. The Law of Limiting Factors was first presented by Justus von Liebig in
1840 in connection with his observations regarding the effects of chemical
nutrients on plant growth. He observed that restricting any one of the many
different nutrients at any given time had the same effect: it limited growth.
Thus, this law is also called Liebig's Law of Minimums. Observations since
Liebig's time, however, show that his law has much broader application. Beyond
its application to all abiotic factors, it may be applied to biotic factors as well.
Thus the limiting factor for one species may be competition or predation from
another. This is certainly the case with our agricultural crops, where it is a
constant struggle to keep them from being limited or even eliminated by weeds
and "pests".
8. In summary, the biosphere consists of a great variety of environments,
both aquatic and terrestrial. In each environment we find plants, animal, and
microbial species that are adapted to all the abiotic factors and also to each other
in various feeding and nonfeeding relationships. Such environment supports a
more or less unique grouping of organisms interacting with each other and with
the environment in a way that perpetuates or sustains the entire group. That is,
each environment with the species it supports is an ecosystem. Every ecosystem
is interconnected with others through ecotones and through some species that
cross from one system to another. At the same time, each species and, as a
result, each ecosystem, is kept within certain bounds by limiting factors. That is,
the spread of each species is at some point limited by its not being able to
tolerate particular conditions, compete with other species, or cross some
physical barrier. Significantly, nowhere in nature do we find a species
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restraining its own spread and influence in and of its own volition; restraint is
always due to one or more limiting factors.
9. A major concern of many environmentalists is how altering any factor,
abiotic or biotic, may upset these limits and have far-reaching consequences
through a ripple effect. Recognizing that everything in the biosphere is
interconnected leads to the conclusion that nothing can be changed without
affecting everything else to a greater or lesser degree. Obviously, humans have
changed and are continuing to change things on a very large scale. What will
these changes bring? Many environmentalists, including a number of scientists,
promote the idea that we may be on the verge of a sudden and catastrophic
"collapse of the biosphere" in which most if not all life may perish. On the other
hand, cornucopians, also including a number of scientists, point out that there is
no solid evidence to support such a "doomsday scenario", much less that it is
imminent. Indeed, they argue that all our experience to date should lead to the
quite opposite conclusion: Humans have already caused the extinction of
thousands of species and made manifold changes over most of the earth, but we
and the biosphere are still doing well. Therefore, they maintain that continuing
development as we have been does not pose an environmental threat.

Text C. Ecosystems: Mechanisms of Population Balance

1. There are some specific mechanisms that provide population balance
in nature. It is necessary to focus on one mechanism at a time, but keep in mind
that in natural ecosystems all of the mechanisms are working in concert to create
the overall balance. Knowledge of these mechanisms will make us aware of how
ecosystems may be upset and the consequences that may result.
2. A classic example of population balance is that between the lynx, a
member of the cat family, and hares, a member of the rabbit family, as observed
in Canada from 1850 to 1930. When the hare population is low, each hare can
find abundant food and plenty of places, to hide and raise offspring. In other
words, the hares' environmental resistance is relatively low, and their population
increases despite the presence of the lynx predator. As the hare population
increases, however, each hare has relatively less food and fewer hiding places.
More hares provide easier hunting for the lynx so that, with plenty of hares to
feed lynx young, the lynx population begins to fall. As the hare population falls,
the food and shelter available to each hare again increase. Also, surviving hares
are those that are healthiest and best able to escape from the lynx. Hunting
becomes harder for the lynx; many of them starve, and their population begins
to fall. These factors sum up to lower environmental resistance for the hares,
and their population increases again, repeating the cycle. These events explain
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the fluctuating but continuing balance found between the hare and lynx
populations.
3. Much more abundant and ecologically important in population control
are a huge diversity of parasitic organisms. These organisms range from
tapeworms. which may be a foot or more in length to microscopic disease-
causing protozoans, fungi, bacteria, and viruses. All species of plants, animals,
and even microbes may be infected by parasites. In terms of population balance,
parasitic organisms act in the same way as large predators. As the population
density of the host organism increases, parasites and their vectors (agents that
carry the parasites from one host to another), such as disease-carrying insects,
have little trouble finding new hosts, and infection rates increase, causing
dieback. Conversely, when the population density of the host is low, transfer of
infection is impeded, and there is a great reduction in levels of infection, a
condition that allows the population to recover.
4. Parasites may not kill their host, but they generally weaken it and
make it more vulnerable to adverse conditions and to attack by larger predators.
It is commonly observed that the animals killed by large predators are infected
with parasites, whereas animals killed by hunters are generally healthy. In a
food web, a population of any given organism is affected by a number of
predators and parasites simultaneously. Consequently, the balance can be
thought as a balance between the population of an organism and its natural
enemies. The wide swings in populations noted in the hare-lynx case are
generally typical of very simple ecosystems involving relatively few species.
Balances between an organism and several natural enemies are generally more
stable and less prone to wide fluctuations because different natural enemies
come into play at different population densities. Also, when the preferred prey is
at a low density, the population of the natural enemy may be supported by its
feeding on something else. Thus, the lag time between increase of the prey
population and that of the natural enemy is diminished. These factors have a
great damping effect on the rise and fall of the prey population.
5. In all such balances, however, whether simple or complex, it is
extremely important to recognize that a high degree of adaptation is involved on
the part of both the prey or host and the natural enemy. This adaptation is such
that a given natural enemy is incapable of completely eliminating its prey or
host but yet is capable of limiting the prey or host population to a certain
density. Putting any predator and prey or host and parasite together does not
lead to an automatic balance. Such lack of balance is shown all too clearly by
what may occur when a species from one region is introduced into another.
Such introductions may lead to what are commonly called ecological disasters
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as balances fail.
6. In discussing predator-prey balances, it was said that in lean times the
excess carnivore population – the lynx, for instance, – simply starved. Actually,
another factor is often involved in the control of carnivore and some herbivore
populations: territoriality, which refers to individuals or groups claiming a
territory and defending it against others of the same species. For example, the
males of many species of songbirds stake out a territory at the time of nesting.
Their song has the function of warning other males to keep away. Male wolves
and other carnivores, including dogs, stake out a territory by spotting it with
urine, the smell of which warnes other males to stay away. The territory
defended is large enough to assure the "owners" of being able to gather enough
food to successfully rear a brood. The size of the territory defended varies with
resources available. In lean times territories are larger; in good times they are
smaller.
7. The obvious advantage of territoriality is that individuals that are able
to successfully claim and defend a territory will have enough resources to rear a
well-fed, healthy next generation. Those individuals unable to claim a territory
generally meet an unhappy end. Continually chased out of one territory after
another, they fall victim to any of the factors of environmental resistance, or at
the very least they are unable to breed and raise young. Territoriality does not
change the basic principle of population being a dynamic balance between biotic
potential and environmental resistance. In the face of limited resources,
however, territoriality creates a mechanism of selecting the strongest and fittest
to survive and breed, while eliminating the genes of the weaker individuals.
8. Territoriality is an instinctive behavioral trait in many species. By
keeping populations in check, territoriality helps to maintain the balance of the
ecosystem and thus to ensure survival of the species. Many people have
observed that humans are also a territorial animal, even to an extent that greatly
exceeds any other species. Almost all of us aspire to owning a piece of land that
we can put a fence around and call ours, and the bigger the piece of land, the
better. Throughout history, virtually all wars between nations have involved
territorial disputes, and nations continue to arm themselves to the teeth with the
most sophisticated weaponry available – always, they say, to defend themselves
against the threat of territorial encroachment by their neighbors.

Text D. Ecosystems: How They Work

1. The environmental problems we face and the questionable long-term
viability of our current human system are caused by our failure to adhere to
basic ecological principles of sustainability. These principles may show us the
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direction we need to take. Let's look at our human system from the point of view
of each of the principles of ecosystem sustainability.
2. First Principle of Sustainability: For sustainability ecosystems
dispose of wastes and replenish nutrients by recycling all elements. In contrast
to this principle, we have based our human system in large part on one-
directional flow of elements. We mine elements in one location and dispose of
them in another. For example, phosphate withdrawn from soils by agricultural
crops comes to us with our food supplies, but then effluents of our wastes
containing the phosphate are discharged into various waterways (rivers, lakes,
bays and estuaries) rather than back into the soil. To make up for the removal of
phosphate from soil, phosphate rock is mined at various locations and added to
soil as a constituent of fertilizer. Thus, there is basically a one-way flow of
phosphate from mine to waterways. The same can be said for such metals as
aluminum, mercury, lead, and cadmium, which are the "nutrients" of our
industry. We have created a flow of these elements from natural deposits
through our systems to dumps and landfills.
3. This one-way flow leads to two problems: depletion of the resource at
one end and pollution at the other. Pollution has proved to be, by far, the more
severe problem. Countless waterways around the world and even sections of the
ocean are suffering severe ecological disturbances from being oversupplied with
nutrients such as phosphate. This problem is known as eutrophication. Likewise,
many rivers and other bodies of water are contaminated with toxic elements
from various discharges. For example, thousands of kilometers of tributaries of
the Amazon are badly contaminated with mercury, a waste product of gold
mining. Putting such waste materials into dumps is problematic on two counts.
Finding space for dumps and landfills is reaching crisis proportions in many
regions. Then, even when such toxic materials are put into dumps, they tend to
leak out causing pollution of both ground and surface water.
4. Aggravating the problem is the fact that we produce and use thousands
of products, such as plastics, that are synthetic organic compounds that are non-
biodegradable. That is, detritus feeders and decomposers are unable to attack
and break them down. Thus, enormous amounts of non-biodegradable products
compound the problem of finding dump sites. Also, many such synthetic
products are toxic and cause pollution in the same way lead and other elements
do. The rapid development of recycling programs in the last few years is an
encouraging sign that we are beginning to recognize and implement the first
principle of sustainability.
5. Second Principle of Sustainability: For sustainability ecosystems use
sunlight as their source of energy. In contrast to this principle, our fantastic
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technological and material progress of the past 200 years has been in large part a
story of developing machinery, engines, and heating plants that run on fossil
fuels – coal, natural gas, and crude oil. Just consider that virtually all cars,
trucks, aircraft, and other vehicles run on fuels refined from crude oil; 70
percent of the electricity in our country comes from coal-fired power plants, and
most homes, buildings, and hot water are heated with natural gas. Even food
production, which is basically derived from solar energy (photosynthesis of crop
plants), is heavily supported by fossil fuels used in farm machinery, production
of fertilizer and pesticides, transportation, processing and canning, refrigeration,
and finally cooking. In all, more than 10 calories of fossil fuels are consumed
for every calorie of food that is served in the United States.
6. From meager beginnings in the late 1800s, oil consumption now tops
50 million barrels per day worldwide. The byproducts of burning fossil fuels
enter the atmosphere and are directly responsible for our most severe air
pollution problems – urban smog, acid rain, and most recently, the potential of
global warming. Also, we are facing increasingly severe crises because of
depletion of present oil reserves and environmental destruction in the effort to
find more. Nuclear power is being promoted as an alternative, but this source
also seems dubious because of the hazards of its radioactive waste products.
7. Thus, the danger in continuing to ignore the ecosystem principle
regarding solar energy seems clear. In addition to being nonpolluting and
nondepletable, solar energy is also extremely abundant. Green plants, including
agricultural crops utilize a very small fraction of the solar energy that hits the
earth. Most of the rest is converted directly to heat as it is absorbed by water or
land. In turn, this heated water and land heats the air and causes the evaporation
of water. Thus, solar energy is the major driving force behind ocean currents,
wind, and rain – i.e., weather. There is ample opportunity to harness some of
this energy and put it to work. According to the Laws of Thermodynamics, the
final heat at the end of the line is the same whether the energy is harnessed to
perform useful work along the way or not. Therefore, even using solar energy
on a vast scale would not change the overall dynamics of the biosphere.
8. Third Principle of Sustainability: For sustainability the size of
consumer populations is maintained such that overgrazing does not occur. In
contrast to this principle, the human population has increased more than five-
fold in the past 200 years. It has nearly tripled in just the last 60 years and is
continuing to increase at a rate of over 90 million people per year. It can be
argued that this ever-accelerating growth rate is irrelevant because humans are
supported by a technological agricultural system, not a natural ecosystem. On
the other hand, signs of overgrazing are becoming all too evident. First, there is
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literal overgrazing. Over the world millions of acres of productive grasslands
have been badly degraded or even turned into desert because of overgrazing
cattle.
9. Then, there are any number of examples of overgrazing in figurative
sense. Consider the destruction of tropical and other forests; depletion of
groundwater supplies; farming practices that are leading to deterioration of soil
and hence of productivity; poor people in a number of less developed countries
picking hillsides bare in their guest for firewood, which is their only fuel;
depletion of fishing areas, and so on. Perhaps the most serious form of figurative
overgrazing, however, may be the ever-expanding human development and
exploitation that displace and degrade natural ecosystems and consequently
cause the extinction of countless species. The effects that this extinction may
have will be discussed further. The principle of maintaining a stable
(nongrowing) population is a principle that cannot be ignored.

Part II. FACTS FROM THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE

AND ENGINEERING
Text A. Period I (1900-1945)
1. The decisive events of the first period have been the conception of the
Theory of Relativity and that of Quantum Mechanics. Rarely in the history of
science have two complexes of ideas so fundamentally influenced natural
science in general.
2. There are important differences between the two achievements.
Relativity theory should be regarded as the crowning of classical physics of the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The special theory of relativity brought
about a unification of mechanics and electromagnetism. These two fields were
inconsistent with each other, when dealing with fast-moving electrically charged
objects. Of course, relativity created new notions, such as the relativity of
simultaneity, the famous mass-energy relation, the idea that gravity can be
described as a curvature of space. But, altogether, the theory of relativity uses
the concepts of classical physics, such as position, velocity, energy, momentum,
etc. Therefore it must be regarded as a conservative theory, establishing a
logically coherent system within the edifice of classical physics.
3. Quantum mechanics was truly revolutionary. It is based on the
recognition that the classical concepts do not fit the atomic and molecular
world: a new way to deal with that world was created. Limits were set to the
applicability of classical concepts by Heisenberg’s uncertainty relations. They
say «down to here and no further can you apply classical concepts». This is why

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it would have been better to call them «Limiting Relations». It would also have
been advantageous to call relativity theory «Absolute Theory», since it describes
the laws of Nature independently of the systems of reference. Much
philosophical abuse would have been avoided.
4. It took a quarter of a century to develop non-relativistic Quantum
Mechanics. Once conceived, an explosive development occurred. Within a few
years most atomic and molecular phenomena could be understood, at least in
principle. It is appropriate to quote a slightly altered version of a statement by
Churchill praising the Royal Air Force: «Never have so few done so much in so
short a time».
5. A few years later, the combination of relativity and quantum mechanics
yielded new unexpected results. P.A.M. Dirac conceived his rel-ativistic wave
equation which contained the electron spin and the fine structure of spectral
lines as a natural consequence. The application of quantum mechanics to the
electromagnetic field gave rise to Quantum Electrodynamics with quite a
number of surprising consequences, some of them positive, others negative.
6. The positive ones included Dirac’s prediction of the existence of an
antiparticle to the electron, the positron, which was found afterwards in 1932 by
CD. Anderson and S.H. Nedermeyer. Most surprising were the predictions of
the creation of particle – antiparticle pairs by radiation or other forms of energy
and the annihilation of such pairs with the emission of light or other energy
carriers. Another prediction was the existence of an electric polarization of the
vacuum in strong fields. All these new processes were found experimentally
later on.
7. The negative ones are consequences of the infinite number of degrees of
freedom in the radiation field. Infinities appeared in the coupling of an electron
with its field and in the vacuum polarization when the contribution of high-
frequency fields is included. These infinities cast a shadow on quantum
electrodynamics until 1946 when a way out was found by the so-called
renormalization method.
8. Parallel to the events in physics during Period I, chemistry, biology, and
geology also developed at a rapid pace. The quantum mechanical explanation of
the chemical bond gave rise to quantum chemistry that allowed a much deeper
understanding of the structure and properties of molecules and of chemical
reactions. Biochemistry became a growing branch of chemistry. Genetics was
established as a branch of biology, recognizing the chromosomes as carriers of
genes, the elements of inheritance. Proteins were identified as essential
components of living systems. The knowledge of enzymes, hormones, and
vitamins vastly increased during that period. Embryology began to investigate
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the early development of living systems: how the cellular environment regulates
the genetic program. Darwin’s idea of evolution was considered in greater
detail, recognizing the lack of inheritance of acquired properties. A kind of
revolution was also started in geology by A. Wegener’s concept of plate
tectonics and continental drift. W. Elsasser’s suggestion of eddy currents in the
liquid-iron core of the Earth as the source of the Earth’s magnetism was
published at the end of Period I, and led to the solution of a hitherto unexplained
phenomenon.
9. The year 1932 was a miracle year in physics. The neutron was
discovered by J. Chadwick, the positron was found by Anderson and
Neddermeyer, a theory of radioactive decay was formulated by E. Fermi in
analogy with quantum electrodynamics, and heavy water was discovered by H.
Urey. The discovery of the neutron initiated nuclear physics; the atomic nucleus
was regarded as a system of strongly interacting protons and neutrons. This
interaction is a consequence of a new kind of force, the «nuclear force», besides
the electromagnetic and gravity forces, and the «weak force» that Fermi
introduced in his theory of radioactivity. Nuclear physics in the 1930’s was a
repeat performance of atomic quantum mechanics albeit on a much higher
energy level, about a million times the energies in atoms, and based on a
different interaction. It led to an understanding of the principles of nuclear
spectroscopy and of nuclear reactions. Artificial radioactivity, and later nuclear
fission and fusion were discovered with fateful consequences of their military
applications. One of the most important insights of nuclear physics in Period T
was the explanation of the sources of solar and stellar energy by fusion reactions
in the interior of stars.
10. What is most striking was the small number of experimental and
theoretical physicists who dealt with the new developments. The yearly
Copenhagen Conferences, devoted to the latest progress in quantum mechanics
and relativity, were attended by not more than fifty or sixty people. There was
no division into specialities. Atomic and molecular physics, nuclear physics,
condensed matter, astronomy, and cosmology were discussed and followed up
by all participants. In general, everybody present was interested in all subjects
and their problems. Quantum mechanics was regarded as an esoteric field;
practical applications were barely mentioned.
11. Most characteristic of pre-World-War II science were small groups and
low costs of research, primarily funded by universities or by foundations and
rarely by government sources. Foundations had a great influence on science.
Some of the impressive developments of the thirties in biology can be traced to
the decision of the Rockefeller Foundation under Warren Weaver to support
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biology more than other sciences.

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 Text B. Period II (1946-1970)
1. The time from 1946 to about 1970 was a most remarkable period for all
sciences. The happenings of World War II had a great influence, especially on
physics. Physicists became successful engineers in some large military research
and development enterprises, such as the Radiation Laboratory at MIT, the
Manhattan Project, the design of the proximity fuse, to the astonishment of
government officials. Scientists who previously were mainly interested in basic
physics, conceived and constructed the nuclear bomb under the leadership of
one of the most «esoteric» personalities J.R. Oppenheimer, E. Fermi constructed
the first nuclear pile, E. Wigner was instrumental in designing the reactors that
produced plutonium, J. Schwinger developed a theory of waveguides, essential
for radar. It was more than that: some of these people were excellent organizers
of large-scale research and development projects having good relations with
industry, such as the aforementioned military projects.
2. The progress of natural science in the three decades after the war was
outstanding. Science acquired a new face. It would be impossible in the frame of
this essay to list all the significant advances. We must restrict ourselves to an
account of a few of the most striking ones without mentioning the names of the
authors. The choice is arbitrary and influenced by my restricted knowledge. In
quantum field theory: the invention of the renormalization method in order to
avoid the infinities of field theory that made it possible to extend calculations to
any desired degree of accuracy. In particle physics: the recognition of the quark
structure of hadrons establishing order in their excited states, the existence of
unstable heavy electrons and of several types of neutrinos (two were discovered
in Period II, the third in the next period), the discovery of parity violation in
weak interactions, and the unification of electromagnetic and weak forces as
components of one common force field. In nuclear physics: the nuclear shell
model, an extensive and detailed theory of nuclear reactions, and the discovery
and analysis of rotational and collective states in nuclei. In atomic physics: the
Lamb shift, a tiny displacement of spectral lines which could be explained by
the new quantum electrodynamics, the maser and the laser with its vast
applications, optical pumping, and non-linear optics. In condensed matter
physics: the development of semiconductors and transistors, the explanation of
superconductivity, surface properties, and new insights into phase transitions
and the study of disordered systems. In astronomy and cosmology: the Big Bang
and its consequences for the first three minutes of the Universe, the galaxy
clusters and the 3° radiation as the optical reverberation of the Big Bang, and
the discovery of quasars and pulsars. In chemistry: the synthesis of complex
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organic molecules, the determination of the structure of very large molecules
with physical methods such as X-ray spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic
resonance, the study of reaction mechanisms using molecular beams and lasers.
In biology: the emergence of molecular biology as a fusion of genetics and
biochemistry, the identification of DNA as carrier of genetic information
followed by the discovery of its double helical structure, the decipherment of the
genetic code, the process of protein synthesis, the detailed structure of a cell
with its cellular organelles, the study of sensory physiology investigating
orientation of homing birds and fish. In geology: the development and
refinement of plate tectonics using newly available precision instruments, and
the discovery of ocean floor spreading by means of sonar and other electronic
devices.
3. Many of the new results and discoveries were based upon the instrumental
advances in the field of electronics and nuclear physics due to war research. One
of the most important new tools decisive for all sciences was the computer. The
development and improvements of this tool are perhaps the fastest that ever
happened in technology.
4. Important changes in the social structure of science took place, especially
in particle physics, nuclear physics, and astronomy. The rapid developments in
these fields required larger and more complex accelerators, rockets and satellites
in space, sophisticated detectors, and more complex computers. The government
funding was ample enough to provide the means for such instruments. The size
and complexity of the new facilities required large teams of scientists,
engineers, and technicians, to exploit them. Teams of up to sixty members were
organized, especially in particle physics. (In Period III the sizes of teams
reached several hundred.) Other branches of science, such as atomic and
condensed matter physics, chemistry and biology, did not need such large
groups; these fields could continue their research more or less in the old-
fashioned way in small groups at a table top with a few exceptions, for example,
in the biomedical field, where larger teams are sometimes necessary.
5. The large teams brought about a new sociology. A team leader was
needed who had the responsibility not only for intellectual leadership, but also
for the organization of subgroups with specific tasks, and for financial support.
A new type of personality appeared in the scientific community with character
traits quite different from the scientific leaders of the past. The participation in
these large teams of many young people, graduate students and post-graduates,
creates certain problems. It is hard for them to get recognition for their work,
since their contributions get lost in the overall effort of the team. In order to
attract young researchers to join big teams, the subgroups must have some
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independent initiative for well-defined tasks, so that the performers of these
tasks can claim credit for their work.
6. The development of huge research enterprises caused a split in the
character of science into «small» science and «big» science. Small science
consists of all those fields that can be studied with small groups at relatively
small cost, whereas big science is found in particle physics, in some parts of
nuclear physics and astronomy, in space exploration, and in plasma physics.
There is also big science in condensed matter physics and in biology: the use of
synchrotron radiation in the former and the human genome project in the latter.
Big science needs large financial support, so that the question of justification
plays a decisive role.

Text C. Period III (from 1970 to the end of the 20th century)
1. Basic and applied science are interwoven; they are like a tree whose
roots correspond to basic science. If the roots are cut, the tree will degenerate.
2. Another intellectual value is the role that basic science plays in the
education of young scientists. It fosters a kind of attitude that will be most
productive in whatever work the students will finally end up with. Experience
has shown that training in basic science often produces the best candidates for
applied work. Basic science also has ethical values. It fosters a critical spirit, a
readiness to admit «I was wrong», an anti-dogma attitude that considers all
scientific results as tentative, open for improvements or even negation by future
developments. It also engenders a closer familiarity with Nature and a deeper
understanding of our position and role in the world nearby and far away.
3. Much too little effort is devoted by scientists to explaining simply and
impressively the beauty, depth, and significance of basic science, not only its
newest achievements, but also the great insights of the past. This should be done
in books, magazine articles, television programmes, and in school education.
The view should be counteracted that science is materialistic and destroys
ethical value systems, such as religion. On the contrary, the ethical values of
science should be emphasized. Finally, it would help to point out the positive
achievements of applied science, the contribution to a higher standard of living,
and the necessity of more science to solve environmental problems.
4. It looks as if we are facing a more pragmatic era, concentrating on
applied science. Perhaps the end is nearing of the era of one hundred years full
of basic discoveries and insights under the impact of the Theory of Relativity
and that of Quantum Mechanics. Even so, we will always need basic research
based on the urge to understand more about Nature and ourselves.

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 Text D. Lasers
The story of the laser, a device that produces a powerful beam of very pure
light able to slice through metal and pierce diamond, began when physicists
were unravelling the secrets of the atom.
In 1913 the Danish physicist Niels Bohr pointed out that atoms can exist in a
series of states and each state has a certain energy level. Atoms cannot exist
between these states but must jump from one to another. An atom at a low-
energy level can absorb energy to reach a high-energy level. When it changes
from a high to a low-energy level, it gives out the surplus energy in the form of
radiation. If the radiation is given in the form of visible light, the light will all be
of the same wavelength (that is, colour). The atom at a high-energy level may
emit this radiation spontaneously. Or, as the German-born physicist Albert
Einstein pointed out in 1917, it may be triggered into doing so by other
radiation. It is on this latter process, called the stimulated emission of radiation,
that the laser depends.
Stimulated emission was not thought useful until the early 1950s, when the
physicists C.H. Townes in the United States and N.G. Basov and A.M.
Prokhorov in Russia suggested how it could be used to amplify microwaves –
electro-magnetic radiation with very short wave-lengths outside the visible
spectrum – and used, for example, in radar.
In 1953 Townes built the first device to amplify microwaves using
stimulated emission. He used ammonia gas as the source of high-energy (or
«excited») atoms. Later it was found that a ruby crystal could be used as well.
The device became known as the maser, from the initials of «Microwave
Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation». For their pioneering work
on masers Townes, Basov and Prokhorov were jointly awarded the 1964 Nobel
Prize for physics.
In 1958 Townes and his brother-in-law, Arthur Schawlow, outlined a design
for an optical maser – that is one producing visible light rather than microwaves.
This idea gave birth to the laser – «Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission
of Radiation».
Two years later the American physicist Т.Н. Maiman built the first laser,
using a cylindrical rod of artificial ruby whose ends had been cut and polished
to be exactly flat and parallel. It produced brief, penetrates pulses of pure red
light with 10 million times the intensity of sunlight. The pulsed ruby laser is still
the most powerful type of laser.
The emergent laser beam differs from an ordinary light beam in several
respects. Whereas ordinary light is made up of several wave» lengths (colours),

95
the laser light consists of a single wavelength. And whereas ordinary light
spreads out from its source in all directions, a laser beam is almost perfectly
parallel.
The ruby laser was followed, also in 1960, by a gas laser, developed by D.R.
Herriott, A. Javan and W.R. Bennett at Bell Telephone Lab» oratories in the
United States. Gas lasers are not as powerful as ruby lasers but emit a
continuous beam that can be left on like a torch, in contrast to the ruby laser
which emits its light in very short pulses.
The purity of wavelength and straight-line beam of lasers have many
applications. In industry the heat of the beam is used for cutting, boring and
welding. In tunnelling, lasers guide the boring machines on a perfectly straight
line; the laser beam remains accurately focused over long distances. Even after
travelling a quarter of a million miles from the earth to the moon, a laser beam
would have spread only a few miles.
Using the laser in a way similar to radar – sending out a light pulse and
timing when its reflection («echo») returns – provides a very accurate method of
distance measurement in space as well as on earth. By this means the distance to
the moon at any time can be calculated to the nearest foot. Lasers are used in
telecommunications by FIBRE OPTICS, and create three-dimensional
photographic images in HOLOGRAPHY.
In medicine, lasers are used in eye surgery to weld back in place a detached
retina – the light-sensitive screen at the rear of the eye-ball. The heat of a ruby
laser pulse causes a «burn» which, in healing, develops scar tissue that mends
the tear. Lasers can be used to treat glaucoma, a condition in which pressure
builds up in the eye-ball. The laser punches a tiny hole in the iris to relieve the
pressure, the patient feeling no more than a pinprick. Laser scalpels are also
coming into use. They make a fine incision and at the same time cauterise (heat
seal) the blood vessels, reducing bleeding.
Lasers are applied in art as well. It is possible to mention the famous concert
with laser effects of J.M. Jarre near Egyptian pyramids at the beginning of the
3rd millennium.

Text E. Holography
A holographic image is a three-dimensional photograph of an object; but
unlike a photograph made by a camera, it is seen as a ghostly image in space
behind or in front of a photographic plate. On the plate is a hologram – a pattern
of light and dark areas formed by beams of laser light. When pure light such as
that from a laser is shone through the developed plate, the observer sees an exact
three-dimensional image of the object beyond the plate. As the observer moves
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round the image, it changes its aspect as the object would have done. Using a
curved plate, the top and bottom of an object can also be seen. In a development
of holographic technique, it is possible to create an image that appears between
the observer and the plate.
Holography became practical after the laser, a source of sufficiently pure
light, was invented in 1960. It was developed in 1963 by two University of
Michigan scientists, Emmett Leith and Juris Upatnieks. Holography is used in
industrial research to make three-dimensional pictures of rapidly moving objects
such as turbine blades.

Text F. An Oblique View of Climate

One explanation for certain patterns of glacial ion in the past invokes a large
and comparatively swift decline in the tilt, or obliquity, of the Earth. A
provocative hypothesis provides a mechanism by which such a decline could
have occurred.
How do variations in Earth’s orbital and rotational geometry influence
climate? Does the climate system, in turn, influence rotation? We all experience
the radiative and thermal cycles of night and day, winter and summer. So we are
familiar enough with the influence of Earth’s rotational and orbital motions on
the spatio-temporal pattern of light and temperature to make it easy to imagine
how long-term variations in the orbit and rotation would affect climate. Much
recent data and modelling help confirm that principle.
Somewhat further removed from human experience is the notion that
climatic change itself could influence the rotational dynamics of the Earth. The
basic idea is quite simple, and involves feedback between Earth’s obliquity (the
angular separation between the spin pole and orbit pole around the Sun) and its
oblateness (departure from spherical symmetry).
First, however, it is useful to recall how orbital and rotational geometry
influences climate. The main seasonal cycle is primarily determined by the
orientations of the spin axis, and only secondarily by the eccentricity of the
orbit. Currently, perihelion (Earth’s closest approach to the Sun) occurs several
weeks after winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere (shortest daylight).
However, neither the orbit nor the spin axis is fixed in space. Gravitational
interaction with other planets (principally Venus) causes the shape and
orientation of the orbit to change on a variety of timescales, with the dominant
period near 70,000 years (70 kyr) and subsidiary oscillations at periods ranging
from 50 kyr to 1.9 million years (Myr).
Gravitational torques exerted by the Moon and Sun on the oblate figure of
the Earth cause the spin axis to precess with a period of 25.8 kyr. If the orbit
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plane were fixed, the path of the spin pole would be a circle centred on the orbit
pole, keeping the obliquity fixed. However, because the orbit is also precessing,
the obliquity oscillates by ± 1° about its present value of 23.5°, with a period of
41 kyr. These obliquity oscillations modulate the seasonal and latitudinal pattern
of incident radiation, and thus affect climatic variations.
How then does climate change influence rotation? One way is to change the
spin precession rate by changing the oblateness of the Earth’s mass distribution.
During major glacial cycles, mass transport between the oceans and ice sheets is
sufficient to change the precession rate by about 1%. The net change includes
accumulation of continental ice and partially compensating subsidence of the
Earth’s surface. If the obliquity and oblateness oscillations are exactly in phase,
there is no long-term net effect. But if the oblateness lags behind the obliquity,
there will be a secular change in obliquity, with a rate that depends on the
amplitude and phase of the oblateness variations.
The long-term stability of Earth’s climate system is an important question,
but one that remains elusive. Despite progress in short-term weather prediction
(based on improved quality and quantity of observations, faster computers and
better understanding of the system dynamics), our understanding of long-term
climate dynamics is still quite primitive. Part of the problem, of course, is that
the further back into the past we go, the more difficult it is to reconstruct which
path the climate system has followed. When we still don»t know what has
happened, how can we reconstruct why? In this situation, the role of theoretical
models is not so much to explain what actually happened as to broaden our
perspectives on the types of behaviours that might have occurred. As always,
more work is needed. In this case, distinguishing between the two competing
climatic possibilities (equatorial versus global glaciation) should be easily
resolvable by searching for contemporaneous high-latitude and low-latitude
glacial deposits. Reconstructing an unambiguous obliquity history will be more
of a challenge.

Text G. New Test Spots Cancer Cells in Blood

US scientists have developed a sensitive method that can spot cancer cells at
a much earlier stage. The method, which can detect a single cancer cell among
100 million cells, may also help physicians choose among cancer therapies and
monitor treatment results. Earlier methods employing microscopic staining
methods and amplification of genetic materials using polymerase chain reaction
(PCR) could spot one cancer cell among one million cells. A team led by
Jonathan W. Uhr of the University of Texas, used microscopic iron particles
attached to antibodies. The antibodies bind to surface proteins present on
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epithelial cells – from which most cancers originate – but not on blood cells.
The scientists used a magnet to separate epithelial cells from other cells in the
blood. Mr. Uhr and his colleagues then added to the remaining cells an antibody
that binds to another surface protein on epithelial cells. The antibody is fused to
a molecule that fluoresces, letting the investigators use a laser to isolate the
marked cells.
The laser also helps them examine properties of cells such as size. This
formation and data from additional tests suggest that the detected epithelial cells
indeed come from tumours. When tested on 30 people with breast cancer, three
with prostate cancer, and 13 with no cancer, this technique revealed that people
with cancer had significantly more epithelial cells – presumably shed by
tumours – in their blood. Moreover, those with the most widespread cancer had
the highest number of epithelial cells, they Sported in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences. "The dumber of tumour cells in the blood
correlated quite well with the clinical status of the patients," says Mr. Uhr. The
investigators also followed eight "feast cancer patients for up to ten months,
relating changes in epithelial cell numbers directly to responses to therapies.
Epithelial cells disappeared from one patient’s blood when she responded to
chemotherapy but rose when she stopped treatment and suffered a relapse.
When another round of chemotherapy put the disease into remission, the
epithelial cells again vanished, which is a sign that the test is working.
But researchers caution that many more patients need to be examined before
physicians can reliably use any information about the number of epithelial cells
in blood. Mr. Uhr also plans to examine whether noncancerous diseases also
cause epithelial cells to be shed into blood. It’s also vital to determine how
many of these cells can show up in the blood of a healthy person, so that
physicians won’t mistakenly diagnose disease.

Text H. Silicon Valley

It was not called "Silicon Valley" when I was growing up there in the 1940s
and 1950s. It was simply the Santa Clara Valley, a previously agricultural area
of apricot and cherry orchards rapidly filling with suburban housing. Industrial
"parks" also appeared as the postwar boom in electronics took hold in
California. Blessed with a temperate climate, the valley stretches beside San
Francisco Bay from the college town of Palo Alto to what was once the sleepy
city of San Jose.
Today this is the nation’s ninth largest manufacturing center, with me
fastest-growing and wealthiest economy in the United States. In the last Ю
years, San Jose has grown by over a third, jumping from 29th to j7th largest city
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in the United States. In the same period, the median family income in the valley
went from $18,000 a year to an estimated $27,000. There are 6000 Ph.D.s living
here – one of every six doctorates in California – and they are a hard-working
lot. Many engineers put in 15-hour days and seven-day work weeks, and talk
about achieving success in 10 years. The rewards they seek are apt to be the
more material badges of success, such as cars and real estate. Porsches and
Mercedes abound, and one local Ferrari dealership is second in size only to the
one in Beverly Hills. A Monopoly-like board game developed locally is almost
a satire on this success/failure frenzy. Called "Silicon Valley: In the Chips", it
has very little to do with silicon chips and computers. Rather, the object of the
game is "to negotiate your way through the valley and make your wealth
through proper management of your income in home purchases and business
investments".
As one who has watched not a few cow pastures become parking lots, I
regard all this change with a great deal of ambivalence. How did such a
concentration of high-tech industry come about?
One name often mentioned as being pivotal is Frederick Terman. In the
1940s, Stanford University, located near Palo Alto, was a respectable regional
university, but not yet the world-class institution of higher learning it is today.
For development on its scientific and technical side, a great deal of credit must
go to Terman, who in 1946 became dean of the School of Engineering. On one
hand, Terman urged former students with last names like Hewlett and Packard
and Varian to establish their electronics businesses locally. On the other hand,
he wholeheartedly encouraged Stanford to join the effort of establishing the
region as a center °f advanced technology. He encouraged engineering faculty to
go out attd consult. He offered training to industry engineers. He sat on the
boards of small businesses. He helped persuade the university administration
and trustees to lease Stanford land to local electronics compares, thus beginning
the Stanford Industrial Park, the nucleus of commercial high technology in the
region.
Today the 660-acre park has some 70 advanced-technology businesses
located there. Hewlett-Packard Co., Varian Associates, and other early tenants
were followed into the valley in the 1950s by such large firms as Lockheed,
General Electric, Ford, and GTE. The U.S. government established research
facilities at Moffett Naval Air Station and nearby Berkeley and Livermore.
It has been said there would be no "Silicon Valley", however, if William
Shockley’s mother had not lived in Palo Alto. One of the inventors of the
transistor (for which he won a Nobel Prize) while he was at Bell Laboratories in
New Jersey, Shockley returned to the town where he was raised and in 1956 set
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up Shockley Transistor Co. Two years later several of his associates left and set
up Fairchild Semiconductors Co., which many observers believe represents the
true beginning of the semi-conductor industry. The 1960s became a turbulent
time as many others left Fairchild to start companies with now well-known
names such as National Semiconductor, Intel, and Advanced Micro Devices.
Among computer manufacturers, IBM was the first to arrive in the valley, but
one of its executives, Gene Amdahl, resigned in 1970 and started his own
company. Tandem Computers, Inc., was founded in 1974 by several former
Hewlett-Packard employees. Peripheral equipment manufacturers – makers of
storage devices and media and related equipment – also sprang up. Ampex,
started in 1944 and a pioneer in magnetic recording systems, was followed by
companies such as Memorex, started in 1961. Electronic games began when
Atari, Inc., created "Pong" in 1972. The company now makes personal
computers, but it was not prepared to enter into that market when one of its
employees, a young college dropout named Steve Jobs, first urged it to do so.
Jobs joined forces with Steve Wozniak of Hewlett-Packard and founded Apple
Computer, one of the valley’s huge success stories.
Today, the Santa Clara Valley seems to an old-time resident to be strangling
on its own success. Housing is among the most expensive in the country: former
$25,000 homes sell for $300,000 and up. The pace and intensity of work leads
to job burnout, and the divorce rate is higher than the rate for the state as a
whole. Traffic chokes the eight-lane freeways. Local zoning boards and city
councils are resisting further growth.
However, Silicon Valley is no longer a single region. It is a way of
life-"Silicon Valley" has moved beyond Santa Clara County to the so-called 128
Belt of Boston; to the "Sci/Com" area along Route 270 outside of Washington,
D.C.; to Colorado; to Oregon – and to many places overseas.

Text I. Keynesian Principles of Macroeconomic Policy

The theory of macroeconomic policy, the subject of bitter controversy today,
really developed after World War II and after Keynes’s death. The principles of
what came to be known as keynesian policies were expounded in the postwar
"neoclassical synthesis" by Paul Samuelson and others. They occupied the
mainstream of economics until the powerful monetarist and new classical
counterrevolutions of the last fifteen years. They were the intellectual
foundations of official U.S. policies in the Kennedy-Johnson years, when the
media discovered them and somewhat misleadingly called them the "New
Economics". They are expounded in the 1962 Economic Report of the Kennedy

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Council of Economic Advisers.
Let’s review those principles, with particular reference to the items that are
now particularly controversial, some of which are explicitly rejected by U.S.
policymakers, as well as by those of other countries, notably the Thatcher
government.
The first principle, obviously and unambiguously Keynesian, is the explicit
dedication of macroeconomic policy instruments to real economic goals, in
particular full employment and real growth of national output. This has never
meant, in theory or in practice, that nominal outcomes, especially price inflation,
were to be ignored. In the early 1960s, for example, the targets for
unemployment and real GNP were chosen with cautious respect for the inflation
risks. Today, however, a popular anti-Keynesian view is that macroeconomic
policies can and should be aimed solely at nominal targets, for prices and/or
nominal GNP, letting private "markets" determine the consequences for real
economic variables.
Second, Keynesian demand management is activist, responsive to the
actually observed state of the economy and to projections of its paths under
various policy alternatives. The anti-Keynesian counterrevolutionaries scorn
activist macroeconomic management as "fine-tuning" and "stop-go" and allege
that it is destabilizing. The disagreement refers partly to the sources of
destabilizing snocks. Keynesians believe, as did Keynes himself, that such
snocks are endemic and epidemic in market Capitalism; that government
policymakers, observing the snocks and their effects, can partially but
significantly offset them; and that the expectations induced by successful
demand management will themselves be stabilizing. (Of course, Keynesians
have by no means relied entirely on discretionary responsive policies; they have
also tried to design and build automatic stabilizers into the fiscal and financial
systems.) The opponents believe that government itself is the chief source of
destabilizing snocks to an otherwise stable system; that neither the wisdom nor
the intentions of policymakers can be trusted; and the stability of policies
mandated by nondiscretionary rules, blind to actual events and forecasts, are the
best we can do. When this stance is combined with concentration on nominal
outcomes, the results of recent experience in Thatcher’s Britain and Volcker’s
America are not hard to understand.
Third, Keynesians have wished to put both fiscal and monetary policies in
consistent and coordinated harness in the pursuit of macroeconomic objectives.
Any residual skepticism about the relevance and effectiveness of monetary

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policy vanished early in the postwar era, certainly in the United States though
less so in Britain. Keynesians have, of course, opposed the use of
macroeconomically irrelevant norms like budget balance as guides to policy.
They have, however, pointed out that monetary and fiscal instruments in
combination provide sufficient degrees of freedom to pursue demand-
management objectives in combination with whatever priorities a democratic
society chooses for other objectives. For example, Keynesian stabilization
policies can be carried out with large or small government sectors, progressive
or regressive tax and transfer structures, and high or low investment and saving
as fractions of full-employment GNP. In these respects, latter-day Keynesians
have been more optimistic than the author of The General Theory: they believe
that measures to create jobs do not have to be wasteful and need not focus
exclusively on bolstering the national propensity to consume. The idea that the
fiscal-monetary mix can be chosen to accelerate national capital formation, if
that is a national priority, is a contribution of the so-called neoclassical
synthesis. Disregard of the idea since 1980 is the source of many of the current
problems of U.S. macroeconomic policy, which may not only be inadequate to
promote recovery but also perversely designed to inhibit national investment at
a time when greater provision for the future is a widely shared social priority.
Fourth, as was observed earlier, Keynesians have not been optimistic that
fiscal and monetary policies of demand management are sufficient to achieve
both real and nominal goals, to obtain simultaneously both full employment and
stability of prices of inflation rates. Neither are Keynesians prepared, as
monetarist and new classical economists and policymakers often appear to be, to
resolve the dilemma tautologically by calling "full employment" whatever
unemployment rate results from policies that stabilize prices.
Every American administration from Kennedy to Carter, possibly excepting
Ford, has felt the need to have some kind of wage-price policy. This old
dilemma remains the greatest challenge; Keynesian economists differ among
themselves, as well as with those of different macroeconomic persuasions, on
how to resolve it. It may be ironically true that, thanks to good luck and to the
severity of the depression – the two Eisenhower-Martin recessions of the late
1950s helped pave the way for an inflation-free Keynesian recovery in the early
1960s, and the Volcker depression may do the same – revival of inflation is
unlikely during recovery in the 1980s, just when policymakers are acutely afraid
of it. But it would be foolish to count on that, even more to assume the problem
has permanently disappeared.

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 Text J. Fuel Cells Start to Look Real

Fuel-cell technology
Unlike electrochemical batteries, which use chemical reactions to store and
discharge electricity, fuel cells generate electricity from hydrogen fuel. Haul
around enough fuel, and the fuel cell will power an electric vehicle as far as the
motorist wants to drive.
The fuel cell was first demonstrated in principle by British scientist Sir
William Robert Grove in 1839. Grove’s invention was based on the idea that it
should be possible to reverse the already well-known electrolysis process to
produce electricity. In electrolysis, an electric current is introduced into a
conducting liquid known as an electrolyte, where it flows between two
electrodes causing the splitting of water or other chemical compounds into their
ionic (charged) components, which then react chemically.
Many engineers believe that SOFCs (solid oxide fuel cells), together with an
onboard gasoline fuel processor or reformer, would be highly suited as auxiliary
power units (APUs) for cars and trucks in the relatively near term. Engineers
have long desired to rid automobiles of the alternator and its notoriously low
efficiency. And as vehicles are crammed with more and more electronic
equipment and move toward higher electrical loads, a larger burden will be
placed on the alternator. An auxiliary power unit based on SOFC technology
could provide an ideal alternative. A research alliance including BMW, Renault,
and Delphi Automotive Systems is pursuing this fuel-cell application.
DaimlerChrysler, Ford, and their fuel-cell-stack development partner,
Ballard Power Systems – the two automakers together own a third of Ballard
and collaborate in a precompetitive development venture called XCELLSiS –
have spent nearly a billion dollars on fuel-cell technology. Their current effort to
mass produce fuel-cell cars and light-duty trucks over the next four years will
cost billions more.
General Motors is making similar hefty investments in automotive fuel cells,
while Japan’s Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and Mitsubishi reportedly laid out close
to a billion dollars on the new technology during the past decade. With an
estimated $6-8 billion having already been sunk into the fuel-cell industry,
including both stationary and portable power types as well as transportation
versions (according to analysts at Citibank), automakers are working to take fuel
cells off the lab bench and move them onto the showroom floor.

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 Hybrid-electric vehicles
Another reason fuel-cell technology is favored is because it may be able to
liberate electric cars from the electrochemical battery. While batteries are the
cleanest automotive energy source, the technology is still highly problematic.
And however responsive battery-powered electric cars are, their limited range
and slow charging constrains them to a niche market segment, as GM’s EV-1,
Honda’s EV-Plus, and other abortive electric car models have shown. Despite
decades of research and investment, electrochemical batteries simply haven»t
attained the power densities needed for effective automotive propulsion power.
One way to extend the range of the electric car is to carry fuel and a small
1С engine onboard to generate electricity to power the electric drive-train.
"Hybrids convert the problem of energy storage in a battery to one concerning
the storage of fuel," explained Scott Staley, Chief Engineer for Fuel-cell
Systems Engineering at Think Technologies, Ford’s electric-car enterprise. This
hybrid-electric approach is employed in the recently introduced Toyota Prius
and Honda Insight, which combine modest-size, high-efficiency combustion
engines with batteries that supplement engine power during acceleration and
hill-climbing, and recover energy from the brakes during stopping. Besides
continuing to emit some pollutants, the combined electric and mechanical drives
tend to make them complex and costly. Thus, automakers must subsidize current
hybrid car models heavily to make them affordable.
Nevertheless, because hybrid vehicles use proven technology that has yet to
be fully optimized and refined, many experts believe they will provide strong
competition to fuel-cell-powered vehicles well into the future. A recent study by
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers concluded that hybrid-
electric vehicles will be more common than fuel-cell-powered cars two decades
from now. Indeed, the influential California Air Resources Board (CARB)
recently reorganized its credit structure to emphasize hybrid-electrics as well as
fuel-cell vehicles, while de-emphasizing battery-powered electric cars and
trucks.
Whether fuel-cell-powered or any next-generation vehicles attain
commercial success depends on three factors: technical feasibility (it must
work), an appropriate fueling infrastructure (it must keep working), and
customer acceptance (someone must buy it). Whereas the majority of today’s
efforts center on developing technical feasibility, in reality, all three factors are
interrelated and interdependent. While the latter two issues remain unclear, it is
evident that the three key elements must be developed in parallel.

105
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2. Great Moscow Guide. – М. : Exim, 1997.
3. Headway Advanced. – Oxford University Press, 2000.
4. Moscow Power Engineering Institute (Тechnical University) MPEI Publisher –
М. : МЭИ, 2001.
5. New Headway Intermediate Сourse. – Oxford University Press, 2000.
6. New Headway. Intermediate. – Oxford University Press, 2000.
7. Агабекян И. П. Английский для технических вузов. – Ростов-на-Дону: Феникс,
2001.
8. Андрианова Л. Н., Багрова Н. Ю., Ершова Э. В. Курс английского языка.
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9. Бурмистрова Н. С. и др. Устные темы. – М. : Издательство МЭИ, 1997.
10. Власова Е. Л. . Focus on the USA. – С. Пб. : Наука, 1991.
11. Выборова Г. Е и др. Easy English. – М. : Аст-пресс, 1998.
12. Губарева Т. Ю. Практикум по грамматике английского языка. – М. : Лист, 1998.
13. Ермоленко Т.А. Английский язык. Проблемы окружающей среды. Учебное пособие
для студентов и аспирантов неязыковых вузов. – М.: Высшая школа, 2005.
14. Кошманова И. И. , Сидорова Н. А. Topics for discussion. – С-Пб. : Союз, 1999г.
15. Лебедева А. П. . , Сизова Л. М. . Пособие по развитию навыков разговорной речи
на английском языке. – М. : Высшая школа, 1984.
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для техничеких университетов и вузов – М. : МГТУ им. Баумана.
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22. Материалы Internet

106
 СОДЕРЖАНИЕ
UNIT 1. MY INSTITUTE....................................................................................................................4
Text A. Our Institute.....................................................................................................................4
Part I........................................................................................................................................4
Part II.......................................................................................................................................5
Text B. Future Profession.............................................................................................................6
Part I. Future profession..........................................................................................................6
Part II. At the Laboratory........................................................................................................7
Text C. Structure of the University...............................................................................................9
Text D. The Directions and Specialities Which Can Be Chosen by the MPEI Students............11
Bachelor Courses Directions:................................................................................................11
Engineer and Master Courses Specialitles:...........................................................................11
Text E. Dialogue.........................................................................................................................14
Dialogue 1. At the Institute...................................................................................................14
Dialogue 2. The Opportunities for an Institute Graduate......................................................15
Dialogue 3. Research Work Problems..................................................................................16
Dialogue 4. Have You Chosen the Subject of Your Graduation Thesis?.............................17
Dialogue 5. Mike Is Working in thе Robot Laboratory........................................................17
Dialogue 6. We Are Very Optimistic....................................................................................18
Dialogue 7. You Shouldn’t Be Discouraged by a First Failure............................................18
Dialogue 8. Now We Have a Convincing Proof of Our Theory...........................................18
Dialogue 9. We Can’t Do Without Electronic Computers in Modern Research......................19
Dialogue 10. Necessary to Combine Work and Leisure.......................................................19
Dialogue 11. Advertisements for jobs...................................................................................20
Dialogue 12. Student’s problems..........................................................................................20
Dialogue 13. Students’ talk...................................................................................................21
Dialogue 14. “Have to study”...............................................................................................22
Text F. Focused Practice.............................................................................................................23
Text G. Post-graduate Research Work and Degrees in Britain...................................................24
UNIT 2. MOSCOW............................................................................................................................25
Text A. Russia’s Ancient Capital................................................................................................25
Text B. The Arbat.......................................................................................................................26
Text C. Moscow – the Capital of Our Country...........................................................................27
Text D. The Face and Spirit of Moscow.....................................................................................28
Text E. Moscow: a Journey in Time...........................................................................................29
UNIT 3. RUSSIA................................................................................................................................32
Text A. Russia: Geography 2007................................................................................................32
Text B. Population......................................................................................................................33
Text C. Тhе Russian Federation..................................................................................................34
Text D. The System of Government of the Russian Federation.................................................36
Text E. Russia: the 20th– 21st centuries.......................................................................................37
Text F. Global Thinking in the 21st Century...............................................................................38
Text G. Holidays.........................................................................................................................39
Text H. The Romanovs House....................................................................................................40
UNIT 4. THE USA.............................................................................................................................43
Text A. The USA........................................................................................................................43
Text B. Holidays.........................................................................................................................46
Text С. Presidential Elections in the USA..................................................................................47
UNIT 5. GREAT BRITAIN................................................................................................................48
Text A. The United Kingdom.....................................................................................................48
 Text B. London Overview...........................................................................................................50
Text C. Dialogues........................................................................................................................52
Dialogue 1. Buckingham Palace...........................................................................................52
Dialogue 2. Westminster Abbey...........................................................................................52
Dialogue 3. Downing Street..................................................................................................52
Text D. Golden Jubilee: 50 Years on the Throne........................................................................53
Text E. What’s It Like Being Queen?.........................................................................................55
Text F. Madame Tussaud’s.........................................................................................................56
UNIT 6. OUTSTANDING PERSONALITY.....................................................................................57
Text A. Sergei Korolev, the Famous Inventor and Constructor of Russian Rocketry...............57
1. Sergei Korolev(1907 – 2007): Father of the Soviet Union’s success in Space...............57
2. Designer of Russia's first missiles.....................................................................................58
3. From Sputnik to Vostok....................................................................................................59
4. Towards the Moon............................................................................................................59
5. A Long-lasting Legacy......................................................................................................60
Text B. Yuri Gagarin, the First Cosmonaut in the World...........................................................61
Text C. Isaac Newton..................................................................................................................63
Text D. Diana, Princess of Wales...............................................................................................64
Text E. Famous Writer................................................................................................................67
UNIT 7. SPARE TIME ACTIVITY...................................................................................................69
Text A. Summer Holiday in England..........................................................................................69
Text B. Hobby.............................................................................................................................70
UNIT 8. MY WORKING DAY..........................................................................................................72
Text A. My Working Day...........................................................................................................72
UNIT 9. THE PLACE I LIVE IN.......................................................................................................74
Text A. My Native Town............................................................................................................74
UNIT 10. SUPPLEMENTARY READING.......................................................................................76
Part I. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE..............................................................................................76
Text A. Environmental Science: Two World Views...................................................................76
Text B. Ecosystems: What They Are..........................................................................................77
Text C. Ecosystems: Mechanisms of Population Balance..........................................................80
Text D. Ecosystems: How They Work........................................................................................82
Part II. Facts from the History of Science and Engineering................................................................85
Text A. Period I (1900-1945)......................................................................................................85
Text B. Period II (1946-1970).....................................................................................................88
Text C. Period III (from 1970 to the end of the 20th century)......................................................90
Text D. Lasers.............................................................................................................................91
Text E. Holography.....................................................................................................................92
Text F. An Oblique View of Climate..........................................................................................93
Text G. New Test Spots Cancer Cells in Blood..........................................................................94
Text H. Silicon Valley.................................................................................................................95
Text I. Keynesian Principles of Macroeconomic Policy.............................................................97
Text J. Fuel Cells Start to Look Real........................................................................................100
Fuel-cell technology............................................................................................................100
Hybrid-electric vehicles......................................................................................................101
Bibliography......................................................................................................................................102