Exercise 11. Read the passage and answer the questions about it.

 

Charles Snow was born in a lower middle-class family in England in 1905, educated there at secondary school and the university college. He went to Christ's College, Cambridge, and after taking a PhD for research in physics he joined the government service where he worked as a scientific expert during the Second World War, and as a Civil Service commissioner (1945-60).

Snow's first work of fiction was a detective story «Death Under Sail» (1932). Starting in 1935, he wrote a seguence of novels under the general title of «Strangers and Brothers», covering more than fifty years of the life of a lawyer, Lewis Eliot, his brother Martin Eliot, a physicist, and the various friends and colleagues they associated with in business, scientific endeavor and the public service. In these books Snow, being an upholder of realistic traditions, draws a vast canvas of the British way of life, as well as of complex moral problems. Among his other books are «The Search» (1934), «Time of Hope» (1949), «The Masters» (1951), «The Sleep of Reason» (1968), «Corridors of Power» (1964), «The Physicists» (1980). Snow has also written a collection of biographical portraits and a critical biography.

For his service in industry and government Snow received a knighthood in 1964 and was made a Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Technology. His public lectures were collected in a volume «Public Affairs» (1971). In one of them ho speaks of himself as of a bridge between the literary traditional culture and the culture of science.

C. Snow died in 1980.

 

1. What is the best title for the passage?

a. England's greatest writers

b. The life and works of C. Snow

c. A famous scientist

d. American playwrights

 

2. It can be inferred from the passage that Snow

a. became a scientist as well as a writer

b. studied at Oxford

c. did not care much for academic studies

d. has written a lot of plays

 

Chapter 11 191

3. According to the passage Snow was

a. a modernist

b. a realist

c. a post-modernist

d. a pessimist

 

4. It can be inferred from the passage that Snow was 59 years old when he

a. wrote «The Masters»

b. became a Parliamentary Secretary

c. received the Nobel Prize

d. died

 

5. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as Snow's literary works?

a. detective stories

b. biographical portraits

c. critical biography

d. science fiction

 

Exercise 12 Choose the one word or phrase that best keep the meaning of the original sentence if it is substituted for it.

 

1. The question is quite straightforward.

a. complex

b. original

c. unusual

d. simple

 

2. They've accomplished a great deal in the last few weeks.

a. acquired

b. advertised

c. achieved

d. finished

 

3. This constuction is anything but safe.

a. somewhat

b. not at all

c. quite

d. very

 

4. Innovators have little hesitancy in trying something new.

a. time

b. indecision

c. experience

d. hope

 

5. These negotiations are crucial to our project.

a. of little importance

b. of some importance

c. of no importance

d. of deciding importance

 

6. I think it's a fairly difficult exercise.

a. rather

b. very

c. an unusually

d. anything but

 

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7. Gravity works equally on all bodies.

a. objectively

b. energetically

c. identically

d. clearly

 

8. Inventors do combine patience, skill and pragmatism.

a. finally

b. now

c. really

d. jointly

 

9. The situation is not impossible.

a. not possible

b. possible

c. quite easy

d. not difficult

 

10. It's really the spirit of innovation.

a. ultimately

b. realistically

c. metaphorically

d. indeed

 

 

Noteworthy

 

Appendix 193

Appendix

 

Appendix I

I

 

USEFUL EXPRESSIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Expression of

FEEDBACK

SAY Oh, sure. О, так Oh, I see. О, зрозуміло Uh-huh. Uhm-hmm. Well. All riqht. Добре

DO Make eye contact with the speaker. Nod your head. Smile. Look surprised when something surprises you.

During the discussion:

 

INITIATE THE DISCUSSION

 

Perhaps we could begin by discussing our problem.

Можливо, ми почнемо з обговорення нашого питання.

Could I suggest that we get everyone's opinion on that?

Будь ласка, ваші думки з цього приваду?