Таганрог, изд-во ТРТУ, 2000, 73 стр.

УЧЕБНОЕ ПОСОБИЕ

по английскому языку для студентов ФБФО

(I-II курс)

 

 

 

МИНИСТЕРСТВО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ

 

ТАГАНРОГСКИЙ ОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ РАДИОТЕХНИЧЕСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ

 

КАФЕДРА ИНОСТРАННЫХ ЗЫКОВ И КУЛЬТУРОЛОГИИ

 

Т.А. Нечаева, В.Т. Олехнович, С.П. Стародубцева, О.С. Тарасенко

 

 

Учебное пособие

по английскому языку для студентов ФБФО

 

(I-II курс)

 

Таганрог 2000

Составители: Т.А. Нечаева, В.Т. Олехнович, С.П. Стародубцева, О.С. Тарасенко

 

Под общей редакцией проф. И.А. Цатуровой

Таганрог, изд-во ТРТУ, 2000, 73 стр.

Учебное пособие предназначено для студентов I-II курсов ФБФО. Данное пособие состоит из двух частей.

I часть включает тексты страноведческого характера с обзорными вопросами, заданиями, выводящими студентов на говорение по пройденным темам. Задания к текстам составлены с учетом современных требований методики изучения иностранного языка.

Во II часть включены дополнительные тексты общенаучного характера, которые подводят студентов к чтению литературы по специальности.

Тексты могут быть использованы как при работе в аудитории под руководством преподавателя, так и для внеаудиторного чтения.

 

Рецензенты: О.Н. Черноморова, к.п.н, доцент каф. ИЯиК

А.Е. Павленко, к.ф.н., доцент каф. ИЯиК.

 

Содержание

 

Часть I. 6

GREAT BRITAIN. 6

SCOTLAND. 7

NORTHERN IRELAND. 9

FROM THE HISTORY OF LONDON. 10

STRADFORD.. 12

HIGHER EDUCATION IN BRITAIN. 14

OXFORD.. 15

POST - GRADUATE RESEARCH WORK AND DEGREE IN BRITAIN. 17

SCIENCE IN BRITAIN.. 19

TELEVISION AND RADIO. 20

BRITAIN’S PRESS. 22

JAMES CLERK MAXWELL.. 23

HENRY CAVENDISH AND HIS DISCOVERY.. 25

FATHER OF OUR COUNTRY.. 26

CHICAGO. 29

Часть II. 31

FROM THE HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN OF SCIENCE.. 31

A LESSON IN THE HISTORY OF LITTLE THINGS. 32

STRUCTURE OF MATTER.. 33

STATES OF MATTER SOLIDS, LIQUIDS AND GASES. 33

WHAT IS AN ELECTRON?. 34

GRAVITATION.. 35

USES OF ELECTRICITY.. 36

SOLAR ENERGY.. 37

ATOMIC ENERGY. 38

PEACEFUL ATOM... 38

THE TELEGRAPH.. 39

MODERN ELECTRONICS. 41

COSMONAUTICS. 41

RADIO-ELECTRONICS TODAY.. 42

ASTRONOMY AND RADIO.. 43

THE FUTURE OF CYBERNETICS. 44

OUR SOLAR FAMILY.. 45

LIFE IN SPACE.. 46

THE MORNING STAR (VENUS) 47

THE MOON.. 48

WHY DOES THE MOON FOLLOW US WHEN WE DRIVE. 49

WHY IS THE SKY BLUE?. 50

WHAT IS THE MILKY WAY?. 50

COMETS. 51

COMET IN OUR UNIVERSE. 52

ECLIPSE EXPERIMENT MAY EXPLAIN WHY SUN IS SO HOT.. 54

MAN AND HIS ENVIRONMENT.. 55

THE ENVIRONMENT.. 56

POLLUTION.. 57

DID DRAGONS EVER EXIST?. 58

HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT DINOSAURS WERE LIKE?. 59

HOW DID DINOSAURS EVOLVE?. 60

TORNADOES. 60

COMPUTERS. 62

THE HISTORY OF PERSONAL COMPUTING.. 63

MASTERS OF INVENTION.. 64

WHAT'S YOUR OPINION OF COMPUTER GAMES?. 65

LIFE IN THEIR HANDS. 67

INTERNET.. 68

WEB JAM... 69

WILL THE INTERNET AFFECT THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE?. 69

BY BILL GATES. 70

INNOVATION FEEDS SUCCESS IN THE PC INDUSTRY.. 70

MICROSOFT: COMPETITION ONLY WITH ITSELF. 71

THE CHECKERED FLAG OF THE LEADER.. 72

 

Часть I

GREAT BRITAIN.

 

1. Great Britain is formed of the following parts: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and is situated on the British Isles which. lie to the west of the continent of Europe. Great Britain is separated from the European continent by the North Sea and the English Channel. It is washed on the western coast by the Atlantic Ocean and by the Irish Sea, the latter separating England from Ireland.

Great Britain being an island, its climate is rather mild. Thus the weather, which is greatly influenced by the cool wind that blows from the sea, is cooler in summer and warmer in winter then in most other countries of Northern Europe. There is not a single point in Great Britain which is more then 120 kilometres away from the sea.

2. There are many rivers in Britain, the Thames, the Mersey, the Aire and others but none of them is very long. Many of the rivers are joined by canals, so that it is quite possible to travel by water from one end of England to the other.

3. Great Britain is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, the average density being over 200 people per square kilometre, 80 per cent of the population live in towns. The population of Great Britain is more then 52 mln. England is one of the most powerful capitalist countries in Europe. There are many big industrial cities here, such as Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield and many others.

4. London, its capital, which is situated on the river Thames, is one of the biggest commercial centres of the world.

One of the leading industries of Great Britain is the textile industry. Coal, iron and steel as well as various machines are also produced there. Shipbuilding and motor industry are highly developed too.

5. Northern and Western England is a coal, metal and textile industry. The most ancient centres of English iron and steel industry are Birmingham and Sheffield. Iron smelting based on local ore deposits has been practised here since ancient times. In the period of England’s industrialisation Birmingham and Sheffield played the leading role in the creation of England’s heavy industry.

6. Each of the two towns became the centre of various industries. Especially great is the variety of industries of Birmingham. One can find any type of production here, from steel smelting to manufacturing the most delicate articles. Rifles, pistols, various machinery, railway cars, motor cars, electrical equipment, scientific instruments and many other things are produced in Birmingham in great quantities. Alongside with the most modern big plants, a lot of old small enterprises are to be found in this town.

7. Sheffield is the city of steel. It has specialised in producing high-quality steel and articles of steel, heavy armaments, wheels of railway cars, weaving looms, knives, fine instruments, etc.

Задание к тексту.

I. Ответьте на вопросы:

1. What parts does Great Britain consist of?

2. What is Great Britain washed by?

3. Are there many rivers in Britain?

4. Great Britain is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, isn’t it?

5. Which industrial centres are situated in Great Britain?

6. What is one of the big commercial centres in Great Britain?

7. Where are the most ancient centres of iron and steel industry situated?

II. Скажите по-английски:

- отделена от, омывается океаном, быть основанным, путешествовать по воде,

- средняя плотность, такой как, высокоразвитая промышленность.

III. Найдите в тексте слова, образованные от следующих основ:

- - popular, industry, west, lead, create, produce, manufacture, equip, science.

V. Закончите предложения.

1. The White Tower was the royal...

2. The dark water of the Thames...

3. The White Tower was surrounded...

Часть II

Общенаучные тексты для дополнительного чтения

FROM THE HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN OF SCIENCE

Science had its origin in some distant era when people began to show desire to know about their environment and to record what they saw. In time, studies of these observations led to the idea that nature is knowable, that it operates according to "laws".

The actual birth of science took place in prehistoric times, pro­bably in Egypt and Babilonia, more than 2,000 years before our era.

But true progress in science did not begin until about the sixth century before our era, when the Greek civilisation began to flourish. The next 500 years was the age of the great philosophers of anti­quity — Thales, Pythagorus, Aristotle, Archimedes, and others.

Archimedes discovered some of the basic laws governing me­chanisms and floating bodies. To Archimedes we owe the first ap­plication of mathematics to the description of nature. He was very far in advance of his time.

In the period from the Greeks to the Renaissance few contribu­tions were made to the development of science. First in importance among the scientific achievements of the Renaissance was the idea that the sun, rather than the earth, is the centre of our system of sun, moon, and planets. At the beginning of the sixteenth century the prevailing idea was that of an earth-centred universe, as de­scribed by Ptolomy.

The Polish astronomer N. Copernicus assumed that the earth is merely one of the planets and that all of them moved about the sun. It is hard now to understand the courage required to advance an idea of this nature because of the great wave of opposition which.confronted Copernicus.

COMMENTARY

did not begin until about the sixth century начался приблизительно только в шестом столетии

far in advance значительно опередил

Rather than the earth а не земля

to advance an idea of this nature выдвинуть подобную мысль

because of вследствие, из за

A LESSON IN THE HISTORY OF LITTLE THINGS

Until the beginning of the seventeenth century mankind had little understanding of the structure of the material world. Man believed that stones were stones, fire was fire, and water was simply water. Now we know that all kinds of substances consist of very small invisible particles — atoms. They make up all the elements and com­pounds that exist in the world, the air that man breathes, the ground on which he walks, man's food. Their interactions provide the energy that man uses.

In this connection, the question at once arises what are atoms like? The determination of the exact nature of nature was a very difficult and interesting problem. For a hundred years some of the best men of science on earth thought of it, and today many scientists do a lot of research.

The word atom came from the Greek and means "indivisible". The ancient Greeks studied the structure of matter and noted that it is possible to divide and further subdivide a stone until the par­ticles become like powder, which they thought was the limit of divi­sibility. The same was true for other common substances, such as wood or -water or minerals. They called.these smallest panicles atoms. But since the Greeks were philosophers arid not experimenters, they had no real-understanding and knowledge of the true structure of matter.

It was at the beginning of the nineteenth century that the scien­tists first established experimentally the atomic theory of the struc­ture of matter. They found that the simple forms of matter were chemical elements which consisted of atoms —particles of very small size.

At the end of the nineteenth century scientists achieved a great quantity of information on the atomic structure of matter and the general nature of the atom. They discovered most of the chemical elements and found that the atoms of each element were different in chemical and physical properties from the properties of other ele­ments.

A further discovery was that the atoms combine in small num­bers and form units of matter or molecules and that in all substan­ces the atoms and molecules are in a state of rapid motion. Besides, some fundamental chemical characteristics became clear. One of these was that atoms group according to their atomic weights into eight groups the chemical properties of which are similar.

ПОЯСНЕНИЯ К ТЕКСТУ

have little understanding мало понимать

at once сразу, тотчас же

what are atoms like что представляют собой атомы

all kinds of substances всевозможные вещества

a great quantity of очень много

in this connection в связи с этим

 

STRUCTURE OF MATTER

To understand the electronic theory, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of the structure of matter. In elementary physics we are taught that matter consists of very small particles called molecules. These molecules are the smallest physically divisible parts of matter—physically divisible because they can be further subdivided by other means into. smaller particles, for instance, by chemical means.

A molecule of water consists of three of these particles: two of hydrogen and one of oxygen. These smaller particles are called atoms. A molecule of water is, therefore, made up of three atoms. Similarly, any substance can always be subdivided into atoms. In some elements, the atom is the same as the molecule.

The atom is still further divisible into smaller kinds of particles which are nothing but particles of positive and negative electricity. Each atom has a nucleus electrically positive and consisting of-particles of which the main are the proton, and the neutrons. Out­side the nucleus and very far apart from it move electrons, which are negative particles of electricity. All the protons and electrons are the same in all kinds of atoms and the properties of matter are dependent on the way in which they are arranged.

The atom as a whole is neutral, since in any atom there are as many protons as there are electrons, so if one of the electrons leaves the atom, it becomes positively charged.

ПОЯСНЕНИЯ К ТЕКСТУ

for instance например

which are nothing but particles которые являются не чем иным, как частицами

As a whole в целом as many... as столько же... сколько

 

STATES OF MATTER SOLIDS, LIQUIDS AND GASES

To understand the various states of matter and their connection to each other, we must understand the meaning of the word mo­lecule.

We can divide a piece of material into small parts and then sub­divide each of these small parts into still smaller parts. We shall continue this process of division until the parts become very, very small. In the end they will become so small that it will be impos­sible to divide them further. We call these smallest particles atoms. They are the fundamental building blocks of all materials and they have a definite attraction for each other.

Atoms combine into molecules and molecules may contain one, two, three and more atoms. In metals there is only one atom in a molecule, for example.

The molecules of a solid are very close together and have a great attraction for each other. The -closer they are together, the heavier is the solid; however, the molecules are in a state of continual vibra­tion. In this state their attraction for each other is very great, and that is why it is very difficult to change the shape of a solid.

Now, if we heat the solid, the molecules begin to vibrate more and more and therefore there is less attraction for each other. Thus, a solid expands when we heat it. When the molecules are quite far apart from each other, the solid changes into a liquid.

If we continue to heat the liquid, the molecules begin to vibrate so strongly and they move so far apart from each other that they will have very little attraction for each other. Now the liquid be­comes a gas which has no definite size.

The three states of matter — solid, liquid and gaseous — are very close to each other and more heat or less heat will change the substance from one state to the other. Ice, water and steam are examples of this change of state.

ПОЯСНЕНИЯ К ТЕКСТУ

...have a great attraction for each other сильно притягивают друг друга

They move so far apart from each other они так далеко отодвигаются друг от друга

 

WHAT IS AN ELECTRON?

What is an electron? We can think of the electron as a very small, indivisible, fundamental particle—a major constituent of all 'matter. All electrons appear to be iden­tical and to have properties that do not change with time. Two essential characteristics of the electron are its mass and its charge. Qualitatively, we can think of an electron as a "piece of matter" that has weight and is affected by gravity. Just as the mass of any object is defined, we can define the mass of the electron by applying a force and measuring the resulting rate of change in the velocity of the electron, that is, the rapidity with which its velocity changes. This rate of change is called acceleration, and the electron mass is then defined as the ratio of the applied force to the resulting acceleration. The mass of the electron is found to be about 9.11 X 10-²⁸ grams.¹ Not only the elec­tron but all matter appears to have positive mass, which is equivalent to saying that a force applied to any object re­sults in an acceleration ² in the same direction as the force.

How does the other aspect, the charge of the electron, arise? If we investigate further, we find that all electrons have an electric charge, and the amount of charge, like the mass, is identical for all electrons. No one has ever succeed­ed in isolating an amount of charge smaller than that of the electron. The sign of the charge of the electron fs con­ventionally defined as negative; the electron thus represents the fundamental unit of a negative charge.

No experiment has yet succeeded in removing the charge from the electron, leaving only its mass. Therefore, instead of considering the electron a "massive" body that has some-how acquired a charge, it seems more realistic to think that the charge and the mass are two inseparable aspects of a single unity.

The motion of an electron, like that of any other body, results from a force acting on it. How can force be applied to an electron? One way is by gravity. Another is by bring­ing a second charge near the electron, thus exerting an at­tractive or a repulsive force on it. In this case we may say that the second charge sets up an electric field which ap­plies a force to the first charge. Finally, we find that an electric current flow will affect the motion of a nearby charge, but only if that charge is already in motion. In this case, we say that the current sets up a magnetic field which applies a force to the moving charge. These three are the only known ways of applying force to an electron. The relationship between these fields, the charges pro­ducing them and the resulting effects on other charges are the Jaws or electron motion.

Notes

1. 9.1 IX 10-²⁸ grams—nine point eleven multiplied by ten to the minus twenty-eighth power

2. to result in an acceleration — вызывать ускорение

 

GRAVITATION

Gravitation is a very important force in the universe. Every object has a gravitational pull which is like magnet­ism. But, unlike magnetism, gravitation is not only in iron and steel. It is in every object large or small; but large objects, such as earth, have a stronger pull than small ones.

Isaac Newton, the great scientist of the seventeenth century, first studied gravitation. When he was a boy, he often saw how apples fell to the ground. He wondered why they fell towards the earth and why they did not fly up into the sky.

According to ^l the law which he later produced every­thing in the universe attracts everything else towards it­self. The sun attracts the earth and the earth attracts the sun. The earth attracts the moon and the moon attracts the sun. Although the bigger object has the stronger attraction, all objects, in fact,² have some attraction too but we do not notice the gravitational pull of a book be­cause the pull of the earth is very much greater.

Why does the earth always move round the sun, and not fly off into cold space? The sun's gravitation gives the answer. The earth always tries to move away in a straight line, but the sun always pulls it back. So it con­tinues on its journey round and round the sun.

The sun is one of the stars in the galaxy, in which there are about 100,000 million stars. It is not in the middle of the galaxy, but rather ³ near one edge.

There are millions of galaxies in the universe and so there are thousands of millions of millions of suns. Many astronomers believe that some of these suns have planets as our sun does.

Gravitation is the force which holds all the atoms of a star together. It holds the sun together and it holds the atoms of the earth together. It holds us on the earth.

Einstein produced a new law of gravitation. Its main results are the same as the results of Newton's law; but in very small and fine matters Einstein's law gives differ­ent results. One of these is that gravitation bends light a little; but according to Newton's law gravitation has very little effect on light. Einstein showed this fact by means of mathematics and not by experiment. And astron­omers later proved by experiments that Einstein was right.

Notes

1. according to—в соответствии с

2. in fact — на самом деле, фактически

3. but rather — а скорее

 

USES OF ELECTRICITY

Electricity is the power that has made possible the engineering progress of today. Wherever we look around us, we can find this power serving us in some way.

When we use a switch and have our room instantly flooded with light, we seldom think of what is happening to make it possible. Probably the most important use of electricity in the modern home is producing light.

Do you know that the first ever man-made electric light illuminated the laboratory of the St. Petersburg physicist Vasily Petrov in 1802? He had discovered the electric arc, a form of the gas discharge. But in Petrov's experiments the arc flame lasted for only a short time.

In 1876 Pavet Yablochkov invented an arc that burned like a candle for a long time and it was called "Yabloch-kov's candle". The source of light invented by Yablochkov won world-wide recognition. But while he and several other inventors were improving the arc light, some engi­neers were working along entirely different lines. They sought to develop an incandescent lamp.¹ It was a young Russian engineer, Alexander Lodygin, who made the first successful incandescent lamp. The famous American in­ventor Thomas Edison improved the lamp having used a carbon filament. But it was again Lodygin who made anoth­er important improvement in the incandescent lamp, having invented a lamp with a tungsten filament, the lamp we use today.

Another electric light we use today is the light of the luminescent lamp—a "cold" daylight lamp.² Artificial daylight lamps are much cheaper than incandescent lamps and last much longer. This is the lighting of the future.

The uses of electricity in the home do not end with lighting. There are more and more electric devices helping us in our home work.

But we should not forget that electricity is the most important source of energy in industry as well. A worker in- a modern manufacturing plant uses on the average in the machines which he operates over 10,000 kilowatt-hours of electrical energy a year. This means that he uses enough electrical energy to supply seven or eight modern homes during a year.

Automation which is one of the main factors of techni­cal progress today is impossible without electricity.

Our life can't be imagined without telephone, telegraph and radio communications. But it is also electricity that gives them life. In recent years electricity has made a great contribution to radio communication between the space­ships and also between the astronauts and the earth.

Little could be done in modern research laboratory without the aid of electricity. Nearly all of the measuring devices used in developing nuclear power for the use of mankind are electrically operated.

Notes

1. incandescent lamp '— лампа накаливания

2. "cold" daylight lamp — «холодная» лампа дневного света

 

SOLAR ENERGY

Our sun, although it is not the largest star in our universe, is a gigantic body. If we make a non-stop flight around it in an aeroplane at a speed of about 300 km per hour, it will require 565 days to go around it at the equator. The diameter of the sun is 1,391,000 km, that is, 19 times that of the Earth. The sun has a sur­face temperature of about 6,000°C.

Modern research into the atom indicated that under certain con­ditions matter itself may be transformed into energy. It is now thought that the source of the sun's energy results from nuclear fission’s and is practically unlimited.

The earth's surface receives energy from the sun in enormous quantities. But only half of the energy that strikes our atmosphere ever reaches the earth's surface, while the rest is reflected and absorbedly the air.

What an done with this vast amount of power? Let us briefly review how man utilises the sun's energy.

Man has used and is still using solar energy through photosynthe­sis as one of his sources of heat and power Another way to use solar energy is in the solar machines, still another is he use of solar neat for cooking and house heating. The future will undoubtedly bring us a lot of new applications of solar energy.

COMMENTARY

non-stop flight беспосадочный полет

it is now thought в настоящее время предполагают '

 

ATOMIC ENERGY.

We live in the world, of atoms which make up everything around, us, All things surrounding us on the earth, the moon, the sun, and. all other stars are made of atoms. You cannot see them even with a power­ful microscope, for every atom is too small. But scientists have not only explained the structure of the atom, "but have also found ways of splitting atomic nucleus. Tremendous energy is released when the atomic nucleus is split» This energy is millions of times greater than that produced by ordinary chemical reactions. The amount of energy which may be released when the nuc­leus of one atom is split is very small, but man has learned to split the nuclei of billions of atoms and release great amounts of energy.

Atomic nuclei are bound to each other differently. Some of them are more tightly bound together than others. Some kinds of atomic nuclei can split more readily than others. And some of them explode suddenly by themselves.Such atoms are called radioactive.When radio­active atoms are split in nature some of the energy which was bound in their nuclei is released in the form of heat and radiation «This energy is known as atomic energy.

The discoveries of physicists in the field of atomic, energy have a very great effect on science and the life of mankind

 

PEACEFUL ATOM

Achievements in studying structure have opened up new, practically unlimited possibilities to humanity for further mastering nature's forces. The discovery of atomic energy provides as profound effect for the benefit of civilization as the discovery of fire and electricity.

After having recovered from the shock of unimaginable horror of the explosion of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima people asked scientists how soon they would be able to apply the immense power of fusioned nucleus to peaceful purposes. Many problems to be solved the one of braking the released neutrons efficiently so that the chain could be. The classical solution of this question is conducting the heat generated by the fission process out of the reactor, making it boil water and forcing the resulting steam to drive turbines which, in their turn drive electric generators It is a way which well although it is still rather expensive.

It is to be noted that the first power station fed by atomic fuels which was also the worlds first atomic power station working in Obninsk near Moscow, in 1954. Its capacity was 5 000 kilowatts. Thirty⁷ years later in the Soviet Union there were already 13 atomic power station with the total capacity of over 21 million kilowatts, At the same time with large atomic station smaller mobile electricity producing units have been created based on the discovery of radioactive sources - isotopes, Mobile nuclear installations may be carried by rail and then by transporters to the out-of-the-way regions even in areas having no roads. Such a station according to estimates can operate without being recharged for two years. Today scientists are looking for new more efficient nuclear processes of producing energy. But it was only lately that physicists understood that the process of producing tremendous energy by start, our Sun, was the very process they were looking for - Now we that this thermonuclear process is called fusion and it place at fantastically high temperatures • It can be done only by imitating on the Earth the process that makes the Sun shine. There are many difficult problems to overcome before thermonuclear power station based on this process can a reality, but the of fuel supply is the of the of the are practically an inexhaustible source of deuterium which plays the decisive part in the fusion process and its extraction from sea water is neither complicated nor expensive, In short, peaceful of atomic energy are vast - but we must stop using it on of annihilation.

 

THE TELEGRAPH

Text:

More than one hundred years we are using the telegraph. By means of it we can easily send a friendly message or some business information to a person in the next town or even clear across the continent in a few seconds. Most of the news printed in our newspapers is sent by telegraph; we can read of happenings in distant places almost as soon as those happenings have taken place. Our weather reports are sent by wire. In this way farmers and sailors and anyone interested in the kind of weather may learn when a severe storm or a cold wave is approaching.

At first people would not believe that messages could possibly come ova" a wire. They waited until the mails brought the same news before they would believe it. Even then they had queer ideas about the telegraph. "How large a bundle can be sent over the wires?" one man inquired. A woman who saw a telegraph pole planted in her yard complained, "Now I suppose I can't punish my children any more without the whole world knowing about it." She did not know that it was necessary to have operators to send or receive messages.

At first very few messages were sent. After a while people became convinced that the telegraph could be depended upon; so the wires were gradually extended until today there is a regular network of telegraph wires over the country.

Should you like to know something of the man who invented this wonderful instrument? His name was Samuel Morse. He had studied both painting and sculpture and expected to earn his living as an artist. But as there was little or no demand for this kind of work he had plenty of time for other things.

He and his brother spent many of their evenings planning an improved force pump for fire engines; but the pump was not a success. Morse then began tramping from town to town, painting portraits for a living for himself and his three children.

All the time, however, he was thinking of other inventions. One evening he was talking with a group of men about some recent experiments with electricity.

"Do these experiments mean," one man asked, "that an electric current passes through any length of wire in less than a second?"

"Yes," replied another man, "it passes almost instantly over any length of wire."

"If electricity can be sent ten miles without stopping, I can make it go around the globe," said Morse. "I believe that messages could be sent by electricity."

That very night Morse began working on his invention. For twelve years he planned and worked on it. During all these years he had to earn money for the support of his three motherless children; so he had to give much time to his painting, too. But he did not give up.

There was no such thing as telegraph wire in those days. The ladies wore a kind of high bonnet, called a "skyscraper," the front of which was stiffened with wire. Morse found that this wire made excellent telegraph wire; so he bought up all the bonnet wire on the market.

He also had to invent an alphabet to use in sending telegrams. It consisted of dots, dashes. and spaces. For instance, a dot, represents the letter "e"; a dash, the letter "t"

Finding the right kind of wire for his telegraph and inventing an alphabet for it were not the hardest part of Morse's work. Many times when he thought that his invention was about completed, something about it did not work out right. He found it difficult, too, to persuade people to lend him money to carry on his work. Often he had to live for days upon crackers and tea because he could not afford other food.

But at last, after having all these trials and discouragement’s. Morse was successful. Sitting at the instrument that he had himself placed for trial. Morse sent the following message which a friend had chosen: "What hath God wrought!" Forty miles away the message was instantly received; the telegraph was successful! Morse had given the world a wonderful gift.

 

MODERN ELECTRONICS

I. Many scientists believe at present that mankind has entered the era of a new technological revolution which was brought about by the advent of cybernetics, whose ideas and methods found their way into virtually all branches of science and en­gineering, all the way from biology and medicine to economy and industrial management.

2 Electronics is one of the main sciences, which forms the technological basis for using these new methods* Electronics studies the problems connected with the application of instru­ments and devices, the action of which is based on the utilisation of various phenomena that result from the, movement of electrons through vacuum, gases and solid bodies»

3 Electronics surrounds us everywhere» Television, tape-re­cording, radio-receiving - electronics is at the heart of them all. Extremely complicated electronic systems control the work of huge plants, enterprises and power stations. Electronic computers are widely used in scientific research and industrial designing. Huge radio-telescopes equipped with sensitive in­struments and powerful amplifiers enable man to gain, an insight into a remotest comers of apace, discover new phenomena of nature.

4. It was in 1957 that the first man-made satellite was laun­ched in our country, and now man has already set his foot on the Moon, sends probes to distant planets and orbits the earth in space-ships. Radio-electronics systems ensure reliable com­munication with space probes at distances amounting to scores of millions of kilometres. Hundreds of electronic devices per­form various tasks on board every satellite and spaceship. It may be said that in near future electronics will surely make great stride (несомненное сделает большие успехи) and help the humanity gain new victories in science and engineering.

 

COSMONAUTICS

The word cosmonautics comes from the Greek word "cosmos" meaning "universe" and "nautike"—"navigation" ("seafaring"). But cosmonautics means not only flights into space. It includes various branches of science and technology. Without them space flights would be impossible.

Tsiolkovsky was a pioneer of the science cosmonautics. In his works he studied many problems which served as basis for the de­velopment of cosmic flight theory. The 4th of October 1957 is the birthday of space era. It was the day when powerful rockets launch­ed the first sputnik into orbit around the earth. It orbited our planet like a tiny moon. Since then a great number of sputniks flew into space. They sent back important information about the universe. On the 12th of April 1961 the first manned flight took place. The first.cosmonaut Y. Gagarin was a Soviet citizen.

Following this, a great number of artificial satellites as well as =other space vehicles travelled into space. They carried instruments to collect interesting information about the universe. In space cos­monauts carry out various observations and experiments to solve the many space travel problems. Their discoveries help increase our knowledge of the Moon, Venus and other terrestrial planets as well as the planets-giants, such as Jupiter, Saturn, and others. These discoveries include many interesting facts about meteors, the atmosphere, the earth's magnetic arid electrical fields, the conditions of life in space and many others.

The time will come when scientists from the Moon and orbital stations will send robots (automatic instruments) to replace men in distant and dangerous travels to far-off planets and stars.

 

since then с тех пор

solve the problems решать проблемы

following this вслед за этим

terrestrial planets планеты солнечной системы

space vehicles космический корабль

carry out проводить

 

RADIO-ELECTRONICS TODAY

Much of our successes in the field of space research is due to radio and electronics. This is why on May 7, Radio Day, we honour the memory of A. Popov, the great Russian scientist who was the first in the world to invent radio as a means of wireless communication. Today, radio or more widely electronics, a very young and a very promising science, has become a powerful tool of progress.

It will give us a deeper knowledge of the properties of outer space. Radio has already helped man to learn more about the sun's atmosphere, the atmosphere of many planets, it enabled our cosmo­nauts to locate their position in space, and there is radio commu­nication not only between the spaceships and their home bases, but also between the spaceships themselves.

¹ Radio is not the only carrier of information in space. There are infra-red and ultra-violet radiation, X- and gamma-rays, elementary particles and fields, etc. The time is not so far off when these and other carriers will be used for space communication — a great ad­vance comparable with Alexander Popov's achievement in putting radio waves at the service of mankind, when he built the first radio receiver.

There are many more uses for electronics besides communica­tions. A good deal of progress made in space would not have been possible without electronic computers making thousands upon thous­ands of operations a second. They solve logical problems, supply

information on many aspects of science and technology, translate from one language into another, automatically control industrial processes, etc. In medicine electronic devices help to diagnose the disease and find the best treatment.

COMMENTARY

is due to radio обусловлен (а) радио

a good deal of progress made in значительный прогресс, достигнутый

thousands upon thousands миллионы

 

ASTRONOMY AND RADIO

The science of radio astronomy has become the most efficient of all methods of probing the universe. It was the intense development of radio and radar techniques that stimulated the development of radio astronomy and gave astronomy a new and enormously powerful tool for the exploration of space.

The huge parabolic dishes of giant radio telescopes listening to the voices of distant stars majestically domi­nate the landscape for many kilometres around.

Radio telescope is an instrument so penetrating that it can receive radio waves from distances of thousands of millions of light years away. With ordinary telescopes it is possible to work only when the sky is not covered with clouds, whereas clouds are no obstacle to radio tele­scopes.

Radio telescopes are supplied with a precise control system. It takes 15-20 minutes to make a full rotation of the huge reflector.

With the help of a young science—radio astronomy— the astronomers have made great achievements which were undreamt of¹ only a few decades ago.

Radio telescope can measure the temperature of plan­ets, can probe the structure of the planets and provides the astronomers with the data which could not have been received without this wonderful device. In order to achieve better results, highly sensitive reception devices were made for radio telescopes.

Soviet astronomers use radio waves to study celestial bodies on behalf of science,² peace and progress, for the benefit of mankind. Astronomers hope that radio waves will continue helping them to reveal the mysteries of the universe.

Notes:

Which were undreamt of – о которых и не мечтали

On behalf of science – во имя науки

 

THE FUTURE OF CYBERNETICS

The new science dealing with the problems of maximum control and governing of processes, known as cybernetics, occupies a leading place among the sciences of the future. The objective of this new science of controlling complicated natural processes and phenomena of society and industry is to increase the efficiency of human labour.

The field of research which has been attracting man's resources and effort for many centuries is our environment of living nature. However, progress in biology and medicine has been comparatively slow for developments in living organisms are extremely com­plicated.-

Advances in instruments construction, the theory of information, mathematical logic’s, electronics and cybernetics open up great pro­spects of accelerating the pace of research in biology and medicine.

The part played by cybernetics in increasing the efficiency of those engaged in planning, finance, supply and other spheres of economic activity will also grow. This field of human endeavour is becoming increasingly important in our rapidly expanding and well planned socialist economy, in particular. We are facing the task of continuous planning and ensuring a well balanced development of all the branches of the national economy.

At present there are thousands of electronic computers in opera­tion throughout the world.

The existence of hundreds of computing centres equipped with learning and rapid acting machines, and connected by automatic communication lines with industry, supply centres, transport and organs of finance will fundamentally change national economic ma­nagement. Controlled by cybernetics, industrial enterprises will operate at their most efficient peak. This, in its turn, will effect tremendous economy of time and resources.

The comparatively simple methods of automation used for some technologies will become more and more complicated. As production techniques become more efficient, they can be more effectively con­trolled, with the aim of raising the quality and the quantity of ma­nufactured goods and improving working conditions.

Despite the numerous results of research into cybernetics, open­ing up breath-taking prospects for science, industry and economics generally, it is still hard to predict the achievements this wonderful science may make in the near future, since the pace of technical progress is exceptionally great and continually increasing.

The advance in the technical progress is the outcome, primarily of the talent, inventiveness and the effort of man — this great re-maker and master of nature.

COMMENTARY

this field of human endeavor эта об­ласть человеческой деятельности

in its turn в свою очередь

breath-taking захватывающие дух

 

OUR SOLAR FAMILY

Our solar family consists of the sun, nine known planets and their satellites, asteroids, comets and meteors.

The most important body in this great family is the sun. There are few- kinds of energy on the earth that are not the gift of the sun.

The sun's mass is 750 times that of all the planets put together. Like all the other bodies in the universe, it is composed of the same sort of materials, we find on the earth. Of all the elements or build­ing blocks of nature which we have discovered, some 68 have been found on the sun, and none have been found in the sun which are not now known on earth.

Our sun has a surface temperature of about 6,000°C. A star as hot as the sun must radiate an enormous amount of heat. Every square metre of the sun's surface radiates energy equal to 84,000 horse power. Yet, the total amount the earth receives is only a very small fraction of it. Here is a possible source of energy for the fu­ture. The age of the earth is about two billions of years. The sun must have been in existence long before the earth was formed. Dur­ing all that time the sun has been radiating heat continuously, and still continues to do so. To produce this great amount of heat would require the hourly burning over its entire surface of a layer of high-grade anthracite coal sixteen feet thick. If the heat of the sun were produced by burning coal, it would require an inexhaustible supply to furnish such intense heat over this great period of time.

Mars aroused more metres than any of the other planets. When nearest the earth, as it was in September 1956, it is an object of great beauty.

There are many ways in which this planet is similar to the earth. It rotates on an axis in about the same time as does the earth. It has seasons similar to the seasons on the earth, except that they are nearly twice as long.

Small bodies located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter are called asteroids.

Of these bodies, called "planetoids" or miniature planets, the largest is Ceres — 780 kilometres in diameter. Their origin is, as. yet, not fully known. It is thought that they represent small masses of matter that were not able to combine into larger ones during the genesis, of the solar family.

COMMENTARY

the sun must have been in existence солнце, должно быть, существовало

are of greatest interest to man представляет наибольший интерес для человека

twice as long в два раза длиннее

 

LIFE IN SPACE

Ever since human science has enabled us to, we have searched for signs of life in our solar system and beyond.

This is one version of a classic science fiction story. It illustrates several aspects of the question that has haunted our civilisation since we began to understand our universe in terms of since, rather than religion: Is there intelligent life in the universe? If so, will we ever find it?

The universe is vast, so vast we can't really imagine it. There are billions of suns out there, surrounded by billions of planets. There may even be other universes, with ever more stars and planets.

Ever since human science has enabled us to, we have searched for signs of life in our solar system and beyond.

We send out messages in various different formats. Using signs and symbols, sounds and ever radio waves, we send messages that say, more or less, "Here we are! Drop by and see us. We can think! And we're friendly".

Why do scientists do this? Do they really believe they will find something? Actually, most scientific theory suggests that the universe should be full of life. The atoms on Earth are constructed in the same way as atoms in a galaxy on the other side of the universe. They obey the same physical laws.

Most astronomers believe that our sun is a very average kind of star, and that stars similar to it occur billions of times in the universe.

Theory suggests that life has evolved again and again throughout the history of the universe. But there is no proof.

One estimate is that intelligent life has probably appeared in one out of every three million solar systems.

We know that one day, out sun will use up all of the fuel in its core. Its great mass will start to shrink.

Without our sun, life on Earth will die. But that's still five to tern billions years away. There should be no other limitation on how long life can exist.

 

THE MORNING STAR (VENUS)

Venus is our closest neighbour¹ among other planets of the solar system. It is also one of our most interesting cosmic neighbours. There is hardly a person² who hasn't observed the brilliance of Venus at daybreak or at sunset. Since time immemorial³ this planet has been known as the Morning Star.

Venus is the second closest planet to the Sun, and is separated from it by approximately 108 million kilometres (two-thirds the dis­tance from the Earth to the Sun). This is why⁴ we always observe Venus in the sky close to the Sun and can watch it in the evening at sunset or in the morning before sunrise against the clear back­ground of the dawn.

Venus is an extraordinary bright planet. No other planet⁶ is so bright as this one. Its brilliance is 13 times that of the brightest star⁶ in the night sky Sinus.

Since long ago ⁷ Venus has attracted the attention of astronomers. The fact is that. the.planet is generally shrouded in a dense layer of clouds which makes observation by means of an ordinary telescope extremely difficult. This is why Venus is sometimes called the "Planet of Mystery".

The atmosphere on Venus was discovered in 1761 by Mikhail Lomonosov. Loinonosov's discovery played an important part in the study of Venus and, as a matter of fact,⁸ laid the beginning for research into the physical properties of the planets of the solar system.

The study of Venus through optical telescopes which gave a visual picture has led to a number of fundamental discoveries.

The development of science and technology has considerably widened the possibilities of astronomical research. An important discovery was made after radio waves had been received from Venus. The distance from our planet to Venus has been checked with great accuracy and reliability by radar and reliable data have been obtained for the first time about the rotation of this planet. It has been found that a day on Venus is approximately 10 earth days.

Thanks to ¹⁰ the methods of planetary radio astronomy, scientists have estimated the probable temperature of the surface of Venus, and have obtained a number of other important data about its nature. The first attempt to study Venus with the aid of a rocket was undertaken in the Soviet Union on February 12. 1961, when Venera-l automatic space probe was launched from a heavy sputnik. By May 19—21, it had reached the area of Venus and passed the planet at a distance of about 100,000 kilometres.

 

THE MOON

By the beginning of the twentieth century the physical features of the moon had become well known, although questions about its origin and history were still unsettled. Its size, weight and density had all been accurately determined. Its motions had been precisely observed, and its location could be predicted for millions of years to come.

The basic statistics of the moon have been well established for the last 75 years. The moon swings around the earth in a nearly circular orbit that is about 382,000 kilometres away. This is not a great distance; an active executive might travel that far in less than two years.

The moon is a sphere whose diameter is 3,500 kilometres — about equal to the distance between New York and El Paso, Texas, or between St. Louis and San Francisco. The surface area of the moon is about 38 million square kilometres-nearly that of North and South America combined.

Although the diameter of the moon is about one quarter that of the earth, the moon weighs only about one-eightieth as much as the earth. The force of gravity at the moon's surface is only one-sixth that of the earth. A fully suited astronaut weighing about 350 pounds on the earth weighs only about 60 pounds on the moon.

Out of these basic statistics emerges a fundamental difference between the earth and the moon. The moon's density is 3.35 grams per cubic centimetre whereas the density of the earth is 5.5. The fact that the earth is 60 per cent denser than the moon suggests that there is some basic difference in their chemical composition — a difference hard to explain in two bodies that are so close together in space,

The moon has no atmosphere. When stars pass behind the moon they disappear sharply and suddenly with none of the gradual dimming that would be produced if their light was passing through a lunar atmosphere. More recent studies have shown that natural radio sources in the sky are cut off in the same sudden way as the moon moves in front of them. These movements show that at the lunar surface there is more complete vacuum than can be produced in any terrestrial laboratory.

The absence of a lunar atmosphere is not surprising; the moon's gravity is too weak to hold an atmosphere like the earth's. If relatively light gases like oxygen, nitrogen and water vapour were ever present on the moon, their molecules must have escaped into space long ago.

This lack of atmosphere means that, unlike the earth, the surface of the moon has no protection from continuous bombardment by tiny meteorites and from scorching by lethal X-rays, gamma rays, and cosmic rays that emanate from the sun and the rest of the universe. Fortunately for us, this dangerous matter and energy is absorbed by our atmosphere before it reaches the surface of the earth.

The moon completes one orbit around the earth in 27.3 days. However, the earth also moves along its orbit around the sun while the moon is swinging around the earth. As a result, the angle of illumination of the moon by the sun changes slightly, and a longer period

passes before the moon returns to the same phase as seen from the earth. This latter period, the time between one full moon and the next, is 29.5 days, and it has long been the basis of the lunar calendar.

The moon is also locked in its orbit, and as it moves around the earth, it turns so slowly that it always keeps the same side facing toward the earth. The moon thus rotates once on its axis in the same time that it makes one trip around the earth. To keep one face turned always to the earth, the moon must turn its back on the sun during half its orbit.

As a result of these motions, the 29.5-day month is divided on the moon into a lunar «day» and a lunar «night», each about two weeks long. Because the moon has no insulating atmosphere, the «daytime» temperature in direct sunlight.is about 134°C, well above the boiling point of water. During the lunar «night» the temperature drops suddenly to about — 170°C much colder than the freezing point of carbon dioxide ("dry ice").

 

WHY DOES THE MOON FOLLOW US WHEN WE DRIVE.

The moon doesn't look as if it's very far away, but its distance from the earth averages 239,000 miles. The diameter of the moon is 2,160 miles, or less than the distance across the United States. But when the moon is observed with a very large telescope, it looks as if it were only about 200 miles away,

Because the moon seems so close and big to us, we sometimes forget that 239,000,miles is quite a distance away. It is this great distance that explains why the moon seems to follow us when we drive in an automobile and look up at it.

To begin with, our feeling that this is happening is just that-only a feeling, a psychological reaction. When we speed along a road, we notice feat everything moves past us. Trees, houses, fences, the road - all fly past us in the opposite direction.

Now there's the moon, part at what we see as we look out, and we naturally expect it also to be flying past us, or at least to be moving backward as we speed ahead. When this doesn't happen, we have the sensation that it is "following" us.

But why doesn't it happen? Because the distance of the moon from tile earth is quite great. Compared to the distance our automobile travels in a few minutes, that distance is enormous. So as our automobile moves along, the angle at which we see the moon hardly changes.

In fact, we could go along a straight path for miles and the angle at which we would see the moon would still be basically the same. And as we notice everything else flying past, we get that feeling of me moon "following" us.

 

WHY IS THE SKY BLUE?

You know that the sky is blue, but have you ever thought why it isn't white, green or red? Here is the reason. Light from the sun is white. But white is composed of many colours - yellow, orange, red, green, blue and violet. Blue and violet have shorter wave lengths then the light waves of other colours.

Small particles of dust and moisture in the atmosphere bend the blue and violet waves of the sun's rays and spread them all over the atmosphere. Therefore, we see these colours more clearly than other colours in the rays, and the sky seems blue.

Try this easy experiment.

Fill a glass with water. Add a few drops of milk to represent the air filled with dust and moisture.

Take a pocket torch. Now darken the room. The beam from the pocket torch represents the light from the sun. Hold the pocket torch two inches from the glass and at a right angle to it.

The water looks blue! Why?

The particles of milk in the water have bent the blue waves which are contained in the white beam from the pocket torch. In the same way, the dust and moisture in the air bend the blue waves in the sun's rays and make the sky look blue.

 

WHAT IS THE MILKY WAY?

There is probably nothing more mysterious and wonderful then to observe meteoric rain. Most meteors are destroyed entirely by heat as they pass through the earth atmosphere. Only the larger meteor fragments ever reach the earth. Scientists believe that thousands of meteors fall to earth each day and night, but since most of the earth's surface is covered by water, they usually fall into oceans and lakes. Meteors may appear in the sky singly and travel in practically any direction. But meteors usually occur in swarms of thousands. As the earth travels in its path around the sun, it may come close to such swarms of meteors, and they be-come fiery hot upon contact with the upper layers of the atmosphere, and we see a "meteoric shower." Where do meteors come from? Astronomers now believe that the periodic swarms of meteors are the broken fragments of comets. When comets break up, the millions of fragments continue to move through space as a meteor swarm or stream. The swarms move in regular orbits, or paths, through space. One such swarm crosses the earth's path every 33 years.

When a piece of meteor reaches the earth, it is called "a meteorite." It has fallen to the earth because gravity has pulled it down. Far back in Roman times, in 467 B.C., a meteorite fell to the earth and its fall was considered such an important event that it was recorded by Roman historians!

 

COMETS.

Comets. What are they? Have you ever through about is? Where do they come from? Have you ever asked yourself about it? Of course we all know that comets consist of a body and tail, but if I ask you for much more information, you probably won't for answer me. But I also didn't know much about comets before I had read some books about them. I have always been interested in astronomy, space, and especially comets. Have you ever thought why comets don't fall on our Earth? You might say that this is a regularity, that they don't fall on Earth. It's all has been provided by scientists in facts.

In this article I would like to reveal you all the secrets about comets that were closed for you. I would to give you a key that will open the door into the strange and unknown world of comets, for better understanding of this phenomenon.