Read the text again and put a, an, the or – in each gap.

a) Archimedes in his bath

Do you remember the story of 1____Greek scientist Archimedes? He was trying to solve 2____problem in 3_____physics – how to show if the king’s crown was made of 4_____ gold or not.

He thought and thought, but he could not find the answer. So he stopped worrying and had 5___ bath instead. Suddenly, 6___ answer came to his mind. He was so excited that he jumped out of his bath, naked, and ran down the street shouting, ‘I’ve found it!’ Actually, what he said in 7____ Ancient Greek was ‘Eureka!’ We still use this word in 8____English when we suddenly find 9___ answer to a problem.

b) Einstein on the tram

Albert Einstein had 1___ first idea about 2____ Theory of 3____ Relativity when he was traveling home from 4____ work on the tram in Geneva.

c) The scientist who saw the solution on a bus

The chemist ‘Kekule’ is famous for having discovered a lot about how 1____ atoms and 2____ molecules are arranged.

3____ first discovery happened when he was riding on a bus, one evening in about 1855, thinking about other things. Suddenly, he saw 4___ atoms dancing before his eyes. Then one atom joined another one to make 5____ chain. When he got off the bus he understood how 6___ atoms join together to make molecules.

3. Fill in the gaps with the, a, or –. Underline the correct word.

__ Scientists do __ lot of __ research in order to find __cues for various diseases.

__ lot of money is/are spent on ___ equipment every year, but ___ information collected is/are invaluable.

SCIENCE

Look through the text and prove the importance of science and scientists. Discuss in pairs the answer to the questions: 1. What impact does science have on our life?

2. What great discoveries and inventions have revolutionized the way we live and work?

 

Science is important to most people living in the modern world for a number of reasons. In particular, science is important to world peace and understanding, to the understanding of technology, and to our understanding of the world.

Science is important to world peace in many ways. On one hand, scientists have helped to develop many of the modern tools of war. On the other hand, they have also helped to keep the peace through research, which has improved life for people. Scientists have helped us understand the problem of supplying the world with enough energy; using energy from the sun and from the atom. Scientists have also analysed the world's resources. Scientists study the Universe and how to use its possibilities for the benefit of men.

Science is also important to everyone who is affected by modern technology. Many of the things that make our lives easier and better are the results of advances in technology.

Scientists are learning to predict earthquakes, to study many other natural events such as storms. Scientists arealso studying various aspects of human biology and the origin and developments of the human race. The study of the natural world may help improve life for many people all over the world.

II. GREAT SCIENTISTS

TEXT A

Vocabulary

M.A. Master of Arts – магистр гуманитарных наук

to expose(to) – подвергать воздействию

behavior of ions – поведение ионов

x-rays – рентгеновские лучи

radium emanation – излучение, испускание луче радием

to devisea method – разрабатывать метод

alpha particle – альфа частица

to emit from – излучать, испускать, выделять

scattering of alpha rays – рассеяние альфа лучей

postulation – постулирование, принятие без доказательства

nucleus – ядро, центр

positive charge – положительный заряд

to steer – править рулем. управлять, руководить

direct or indirect suggestion – прямое или косвенное предположение

knight – посвящать в рыцари, возводить в рыцарское достоинство

to appoint to the Order of Merit – награждать орденом «За заслуги»

elected fellow – избранный на должность члена совета колледжа/стипендиата, занимающегося исследовательской работой

honour – награда, почесть, знак отличия

honorary doctorates – присвоенные докторские степени

in the nave of Westminster Abbey – корабль церкви (архит. термин для узкой части строения, расположенной в центре здания и окруженной колоннами)

to be concerned with – быть 1) озабоченным, 2) заинтересованным

Do you know that ……….

double first – (in Britain) two first-class university degrees obtained at the same time. People have to be very clever to achieve this.

first degree – obtained after completing a basic university degree such as BA or BSc. referred to the basic degree as the first one.

 

ERNEST RUTHERFORD

1. Read the text to learn more about the great physicist E. Rutherford whose discoveries brought major alterations into our life.

 

Ernest Rutherford was born on August 30, 1871, in Nelson New Zealand, the fourth child and second son in a family of seven sons and five daughters. His father James Rutherford emigrated to New Zealand with Ernest's grandfather and the whole family in 1842. His mother was an English schoolteacher, who with her widowed mother also went to live there in 1855.

Ernest received his early education in Government school and at the age of 16 entered Nelson Collegiate School. In 1899 he was awarded a University scholarship and he proceeded to the University of New Zealand, Wellington, where he entered Canterbury College. He graduated M.A. in 1893 with a double first in mathematics and physical science and he continued with research at the college for a short time receiving the B.Sc. degree the following year. In 1897 he was awarded the B.A. Research Degree.

Rutherford's first researches in New Zealand were concerned with the magnetic properties of iron exposed to high-frequency oscillations and this thesis was entitled «Magnetization of Iron Frequency Discharges». He was one of the first to design highly original experiments with high-frequency alternating currents.

On his arrival at Cambridge his talents were quickly recognized by Professor Thomson. He worked jointly with Thomson on the behaviour of ions observed in gases which had been treated with x-rays. In 1898 he reported the existence of alpha and beta rays in uranium radiation and indicated some of their properties.

In Manchester, Rutherford continued his research on the properties of the radium emanation with H. Geiger, he devised a method of detecting a single alpha particle and counting the number emitted from radium. In 1910, his investigations into scattering of alpha raysand the nature of the inner structure of the atom led to the postulation of his concept of the «nucleus» his greatest contribution to physics. According to him practically the whole mass of the atom, and at the same time all positive chargeof the atom concentrated in a minute space atthe centre.

An inspiring leader of the Cavendish Laboratory, he steered numerous future Nobel Prize Winners towards their great achievements. Chadwick, Blackett, Cockroff, Walton C.D. Ellis, his co-­author in 1919 and 1930, pointed out «that the majority of the experiments at the Cavendish were really started by Rutherford's direct or indirect suggestion».

Rutherford was knighted in 1914, he was appointed to the Order of Merit in 1925. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1903 and was its President from 1925 to 1930. Amongst his many honours, he was awarded D.Sc. degree of the University of New Zealand and honorary doctorates from the Universities of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Melbourne, Yale, Glasgow, Giessen, Copenhagen, Cambridge, Durhan, Oxford, Liverpool, Toronto, Bristol, Capetown, London and Leeds.

He died in Cambridge on October 19, 1937. His ashes were buried in the naveof Westminster Abbey, just west of Sir Isaac Newton's tomb and by that of Lord Kelvin.

2. Supply with the English equivalents from the text:

1. магнитные свойства

2. высококачественные колебания

3. крошечное пространство

4. высокочастотные, переменные токи

5. наблюдаемые в газах ионы

6. существование альфа и бета лучей

7. радиевое излучение

3. Read the text again to find the answer to the questions:

1. Where was Rutherford born?

2. What family did he come from?

3. Where did he receive his early education?

4. When did he continue his research?

5. What discovery did he make in New Zealand?

6. What were his greatest discoveries?

7. Which of his contributions to physics remain valid?

8. What honours did he have?

4. Use the appropriate tense forms in the Passive voice:

1. He ……..(bear) in Nelson, New Zealand in 1871.

2. In 1899 he …. …… (award) a University scholarship.

3. His first researches …. …..(concerned) with the magnetic properties of iron.

4. His talents ………(recognize) by Professor Thomson.

5. Rutherford ……(knight) in 1914 and ……(appoint to) the Order of Merit in 1925.

6. The scientist’s ashes … …… (bury) in Westminster Abbey.

5. Complete the sentences with the information from the text:

1. E. Rutherford was born in a family………....

2. He received his early education in …………….

3. He graduated M.A. with …………………....

4. In 1897 he……………………….

5. He worked jointly with Thomson on…………….....

6. He devised a method of …………………..

7. In 1914 he – and in 1925 he………………..

8. E. Rutherford was the first to carry out experiments with……..……

9. He discovered alpha and beta rays……….…….

10. E. Rutherford came to conclusion that the whole mass of atom ad its positive charge………...

6. Sum up the text using the key-words:

· Rutherford's origin

· his main interests

· his main discoveries in physics

· Rutherford's contribution to chemistry

· his honours

TEXT B

Vocabulary

superconductor properties – свойства сверхпроводников

semi-conductor – полупроводник

solar cells – солнечный элемент/батарейка

LED (light emitting diodes) – СИД светоизлучающий диод

authority on physics – крупный специалист, авторитет

transistor-based circuits – транзисторная схема, схема на полупроводниковых приборах

Zhores Alferov – Nobel Prize Winner

Zhores Alferov was born in 1930, in Vitebsk, USSR. He has been awarded many international prizes for his groundbreaking research in physics. His best known works are his published papers on superconductor properties – especially important today, as superconductors form the heart of modern computer technology. Alferov has also investigated lasers, solar cells and LEDs (light emitting diodes) and is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading authorities on electro-physics. In 2000 he was given science’s greatest award – the Nobel Prize.

Alferov was too young to take part in the Second World War and instead spent the war years with his father, a factory director in Sverdlovsk. After the war he continued his education in Minsk before attending the Electrotechnical Institute in Leningrad. He graduated in 1952 and accepted a position at the Physico-Technical Institute. He became its director in 1987. It was at the Physico-Technical Institute that he found the opportunity to do what really fascinated him - practical research in the laboratory. He designed some of the earliest transistor-based circuits at the beginning of a new and exciting technological era, and the Institute’s policy of introducing young scientists at the highest level helped to keep their work updated and groundbreaking. In a few short years he had developed electronic components for the Soviet submarine fleet, before going on to improve semi-conductor lasers.

In the late 1960s, he visited London to work with top British scientists. He was disappointed by the fact that the British seemed more interested in theory than in conducting experiments using this new technology. He returned home to his experiments and to marry Tamara Darskaya. Tamara worked in the aerospace industry in Moscow and the two would fly between Moscow and Leningrad every weekend. Eventually the traveling became too much and Tamara moved to Leningrad.

From1969 to 1971 he worked in both the USSR and the USA. He found the experimentation in America more to his liking than the theories of the British. In 1971 he was given his first international award, the USA’s Franklin Institute Gold Medal. This pleased him greatly. He was not the first Soviet scientist to receive this award, but he is one of only a handful who have been honoured. The Lenin prize followed a year later on the same day that his son was born.

To date Alferov has published four books and hundreds of articles in academic journals. He has been awarded ten international prizes and holds 50 patents for his inventions in semi-conductor technology.

2. Answer the questions in your own words.

1. Why do you think Alferov’s work on superconductors is important?

2. What did he find so interesting at the Physico-Technical Institute?

3. How did the institute ensure their research was always new?

4. How did the scientists in London disappoint him?

5. Why do you think he was so pleased to be given the Franklin institute’s award?

6. What evidence do we have of the success of Alferov’s work?

3. Match the words with their definitions.

1. research a. idea that explains how or why something happens

2. property b. very significant and positive, providing some

new ideas

3. theory c. detailed study of something

4. handful d. a ship that can travel both above and below the

surface of the sea

5. groundbreaking e. new, modern

6. updated f. parts of electronic devices

7. superconductors g. small number

8. semiconductors h. metal that allows electricity to pass through it

without resistance at low temperatures

9. components i. substances used in electronics whose ability

to conduct electricity increases with greater heat

10.submarine j. a quality or feature of something.

4. Look through the text and say why these dates and numbers are very important in the life of the outstanding Russian scientist.

A. 2000 b. 1987 c. 1971 d. 1972 e. 50 f. 10 g. 4

5. Read the text again and complete the chart with the most important events happened in the life of the Nobel Prize winner.

R & D	Awards	Positions occupied

6. Writing

You’ve won a prize for your university project. Write a letter to your friends to tell them about it.

1.Think about what prize you have one and what you have won it for. Then use some of these notes to help you: