Прочитайте диалог и расскажите Об участниках конференции.

Scientists from different countries representing various sciences have come to attend the conference on “Science and Global Security Problems”. We can hear fragments of a talk and an exchange of news between old friends, as well as spontaneous introductions of those who are less fortunate.

 

Laura: Hallo, James. Glad to see you again.

James: Hallo Laura! Happy to see you. You are looking as charming as ever.

Laura: Thanks. Meet Robert Roy, a geologist from Illinois. He has written a paper on the role of soils in prospecting for oil.

James: How do you do, Mr. Roy. Happy to meet you!

Robert: How do you do. It’s pleasure.

James: What’s your mission here?

Robert: I’m to give a talk on environmental pollution as a result of nuclear tests. This is my friend and colleague, Dr. Ronald Onyx. He works at the laboratory of radioelectronics at Oxford.

Ronald: Good morning, everybody.

James: Good morning. Dr. Onyx, are going to give a paper at the conference?

Ronald: Yes, I’m a contributing participant.

James: What are going to talk about?

Ronald: I haven’t decided yet what field to choose.

Susan: Excuse my interrupting you. I’m Susan Dewston, a chemist from Houston.

All: Glad to meet you.

Ronald: I believe I’ve heard your name before, but I can’t place it. What’s your field of investigation?

Susan: I’m a chemist at a city perfumery. Also I write reviews for the ‘Chemical News”.

Ronald: Oh, I’ve got it. I heard your name from my friend Rosy Snow. She is a well-known sociologist from Rome. Her goal is to study global sociological problems on the whole, including those of lonely hearts. She is a nice person. Here she is. This is Rosy Snow, a sociologist from Rome.

All: Hallo, Rosy. Pleased to meet you.

Rosy: Glad to see everybody. Romans used to say: “All roads lead to Rome.” Now we should say: “All roads lead to peace.” That’s why I’m here. I’d like you to meet my friend, Clyde Brian. He is a young psychiatrist from Brighton. He is very bright, has an inquisitive mind and is highly competent in his field. Clyde, are going to speak on after-effect of nuclear tests on psychics?

Clyde: Right. To begin with…

Radio Announcement: Attention! Attention! Participants of the conference are invited to proceed to the Conference Hall. The session starts in five minutes.

 

8. Прочитайте диалог и укажите, какие вопросы обсуждаются, выскажите своё мнение.

Is It Worth Doing Science?

James: Hallo, Laura. I’m sorry to be late for the morning session; I’ve missed the bus and had to go there by taxi.

Laura: Take it easy. There’s nothing to worry about. You didn’t miss much.

James: What’s on the agenda?

Laura: During the morning session only two papers were given.

James: Aha! I’ve missed two. What was the subject?

Laura: The first paper was “Methods of Science and Scientific Methods’. It was followed by the second one “The Layman and his Attitude to Science.”

James: Did you find them interesting?

Laura: Both papers were presented in a rather peculiar way. The first speaker followed the classical principle “stand up, speak up, shut up”. A number of slides were shown and even some jokes were told.

James: What about the second one?

Laura: As to the second paper, the subject was a bit boring, the presentation monotonous, and the translation poor.

James: Have taken any notes?

Laura: I’m looking through them right now and I can’t help feeling frustrated. On the one hand, according to the speaker, there’s an ever growing number of scientists in every branch of knowledge. On the other hand, not every researcher qualifies for an academic degree.

James: Obviously female researchers are meant here. They got married too soon and give up science.

Laura: You’re being unfair.

James: Actually making a decision on one’s career is not easy. Every University graduate is faced with it. If one intends becoming a scientist, before making the final decision he’s advised to weigh all the pros and cons, lest he should regret taking the step later.

Laura: And when you’ve made up your mind, if you’re sure that you’re capable of doing science, if you’re interested in research, stick to the strategy: (1) collect information, (2) put forward a hypothesis, (3) make experiments, (4) confirm your theory with experimental data, and (5) submit your thesis to the Academic Board.

James: Still many people don’t enjoy sacrificing their personal life for science. Research will prevent them from visiting friends, going out, playing with their kids.

Laura: I think you’re exaggerating.

 

9. Составьте диалог по следующей ситуации:

Yesterday I met one of the students of our course. I asked him what he was doing. He answered he was fooling a post-graduate course. I asked him when he had begun studying and who was his scientific supervisor. He said he had been a post-graduate for a year and his scientific supervisor was the head of the department. I was interested to know if he had passed any examination and whether he had published any articles on the subject of his thesis. He answered that one of his articles had already been published, two more would have been published by the end of the year. He added that he had already passed two exams, language and philosophy.