Read the text and find the word equivalent to «scientific method».

ВОЛГОГРАДСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ТЕХНИЧЕСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ

(ВолгГТУ)

Кафедра иностранных языков

Методические указания по английскому языку по теме:

«НОРМЫ НАУЧНОГО СТИЛЯ РЕЧИ»

для студентов групп ЦИПС

Волгоград, 2004

 

 

Методические указания по теме «Нормы научного стиля речи».

Английский язык /Сост. О.В.Леднева. - Волгоград: ВолгГТУ, 1986. – 28 с.

 

 

В paботе представлены различные задания, отражающие специфику стиля научной речи. Целью работы является совершенствование умений и навыков, необходимых как для бесед, дискуссий и других форм устного общения, свойственных ученым, так и для чтения и написания статей по специальности.

 

Печатается по решению редакционно-издательского совета

Волгоградского государственного технического университета

 

 

© Волгоградский государственный технический университет, 2004

 

 

UNIT 1

 

Read the text and find the word equivalent to «scientific method».

SCIENTIFIC МЕTHOD AND МЕTHODS OF SCIENSE

 

It is sometimes said that there is no such thing as the so called «scientific method»; there are only the methods used in science. Nevertheless, it seems clear that there is often a special sequence of procedures which is involved in the establishment of the working principles of science. This sequence is as follows: (1) a problem is recognized, and as much information as possible is collected; (2) a solution (i.e. a hypothesis) is proposed and the consequences arising out of this solution are deduced; (3) these deductions are tested by experiment, and as a result the hypothesis is accepted, modified or discarded.

 

1.2. Remember some of the verbs followed by a preposition which, is retained in the passive structure.

to account for объяснять /служить объяснением, учитывать

to agree upon договариваться о

to call for требовать, призывать к

to deal with иметь дело с, рассматривать

to refer to ссылаться на, упоминать

to refer to аs называть

to rely on/upon полагаться на

to substitute for вводить, подставлять вместо

to think of думать о

tothink of as считать

 

This method has been referred to in an earlier paper. I do not think this instrument can be relied upon. The data cannot be accounted for by the existing theory. Rapid development of chemicaltechnology has been called for by the needs of the national economy.

 

Try to evaluate a METHOD (TECHNIQUE or PROCEDURE) using the words given below.

Current, modern, up-to-date, improved, modified, new; old, out-of-date, outdated; conventional, routine.

Accurate, adequate, appropriate, suitable; precise, sensitive; effective, efficient, workable; practicable; satisfactory, good, useful, valuable; reliable; valid; promising.

Inaccurate, inadequate, inappropriate, unsuitable; insensitive, ineffective, inefficient, unworkable, unpracticable; unsatisfactory, poor useless; unreliable, invalid; laborious, time-consuming.

 

Translate into Russian.

The method these authors have used seems most efficient in performing studies of this kind. This is, without doubt, the most valid and practicable method of characterizing such units. The authors described a tedious but reliable method of preparation of pure material. The newly -developed method makes it possible to formulate a number of hypothesis, which is, in itself, its most valuable feature. The procedure described above is very laborious and time-consuming. It is therefore no longer applied in our studies of the phenomena.

 

Compose sentences using the parts in A, B, C.

A

The method they used

The technique the authors applied

The procedure we followed

The method applied in this study

The technique used in this set of experiment

The newly-developed method

The newly-elaborated technique

B

differs (greatly, essentially) from; is (a little, slightly, somewhat) different from; is quite (totally, altogether) different from; has something (little, much) in common with; has nothing in common with; has some (several, certain) advantages over; has many (few, no) advantages over; has certain limitations as compared with...

C

the routine one; the conventional one; other existing techniques; the one used earlier in similar studies; the one used earlier for the same purpose; the techniques which are now generally accepted; the methods which, now appear inadequate and out-of-date; the procedures which are now rarely applied in laboratory conditions; the techniques which are generally regarded as very inadequate for such purposes; the commonly used techniques some of which are, obviously, inappropriate now days; the current techniques used in such studies; the methods previously used in similar situations; the techniques used by other workers in the field; the one we employed in our recent experiments.

 

1.6. Name a familiar method, technique or procedure of which you would say that it:

a)... allows... (observation, evaluation, determination, etc.);

b)... allows (enables) us to... (compare, detect, identify, etc.);

c)... makes it possible to... (evaluate, examine, measure, etc.);

d)... is capable of... (providing, producing, revealing, etc.);

e)... has one (several) advantage(s) over…;

f)... has many applications in...;

g)... fails to... (detect, reveal, provide, etc.);

h)... is rather ineffective because of its (relatively) small sensitivity.

 

1.7. Give a description of the technique and the experimental procedure you have followed in your studies of... This is meant as part of a paper, to be presented at a conference or of an article supposed to be published in one of the journals. Use one of the patterns below to introduce the passage.

a) The experimental procedure we followed is like this;

b) The technique the author has used in the above studies is as follows;

c) The technique of these experiments can be briefly outlined as follows;

d) The above technique can briefly be outlined as follows.

 

1.8. Translate the following words which are used to characterize this or that PROBLEM.

Basic, chief, main, major; fundamental, essential, important; broad, vast; minor; specific, highly-specific, peculiar.

Difficult, challenging, complex, complicated, involved, intricate; confusing, puzzling; obscure, vague.

Attractive, exciting, fascinating, interesting, intriguing, temping.

 

Complete the following sentences.

which deals with the nature of...

relating to the influence of...

bearing on the measurement of...

This is a problem dealing with the role of...

concerned with the effects of...

which bears on the activity of...

 

Translate into Russian the following sentences.

a) It seems impossible to obtain knowledge of the problem in the near future.

b) The problem under discussion presents considerable difficulties.

c) The problem you mention here is not too complicated to discuss in detail.

d) The problem, аз follows from the presentation, is how to isolate these components.

e) Since then the problem has been referred to in a number of investigations,

f) The problem you have just outlined lies within the scope of the given research.

 

Make statements about problems which in your opinion are difficult to solve, to present or to discuss. Use the following phrases.

a)... involves considerable difficulties which, I think, cannot be soon overcome because...

b)... presents tremendous difficulties which are not easy to overcome in view of...

c)... seems too difficult to discuss it in detail. There are many aspects and each one is...

d)... is too broad to formulate in precise terms because...

e)... seems too specific and too complicated to present it in all its complexity. We had better concentrate on...

f)... Much further research is needed to elucidate...

g)...is not easy to investigate with the existing techniques. Scientists cannot possibly solve it too soon because...

 

1.12. Name some problems that can be regarded as:

fundamental ones, most challenging ones, most obscure ones.

 

Introduce your statements wherever possible by:

«In my opinion», «To my knowledge», «It’s common knowledge that...», «In all probability», «Probably», «Obviously»

 

UNIT 2

 

2.1. Read the text and say how the author increase the accuracy of his results.

Recently much attention has been given to the study of this phenomenon. In this paper new experimental observations are presented and discussed.

The data have been obtained assuming a new model of the mechanism involved, which was suggested in an earlier study by the author. The measurements have bean carried out with a conventional apparatus slightly modified by the author. All possible sources of error are taken into account and consideration is given to the advantages and shortcomings of the present appro­ach. The results are analysed and the analysis is followed by a comparison of the data obtained with those available in literature. It is hoped that the disagreement may be accounted for by an improved experimental technique of the present investigation.

 

Our preliminary results

All these data

The above findings

The results of the experiments reported here

B

show(ed); demonstrate(ed); indicate(d); point to; suggest(ed); seem to suggest; strongly suggest(ed); strongly indicate(d).

C

a highly-specific mechanism involved in the interaction» some such possibility of direct influence of this factor; a totally different mechanism of these changes; some other factor responsible for these effects; that the slow down was presumably due to the presence of a strong magnetic field; that the changes wore due to external factors alone; that the system remain unaffected.

UNIT 3

РURЕ AND APPLIED SCIENCE

 

As students of science you are probably sometimes puzzled by the terms «pure» and «applied» science. Are these two totally different activities, having little or no interconnection? Let us begin by examining what is done by each.

Pure science is primarily concerned with the development of theories (or, as they are frequently called, models) establishing relationships between the phenomena of the universe. When they are sufficiently validated these theories (hypotheses, models) become the working laws or principles of science. In carrying out this work, the pure scientist usually disregards its application to practical affairs, confining his attention to explanations of how and why events occur.

 

3.2. Substitute the proper English words from the list below for the Russian words in brackets.

a) His research (привело k установлению) a new principle.

b) The success of the space research program (явился результатом соединения) the latest achievements in science and technology.

c) Using modern installations and techniques the scientists (удалось решить) a complicated engineering problem.

d) Pure science (стремится постичь) the laws of the material world.

e) Prof. E. was the first to see the advantages of the new approach and (настаивал на использования) it to interpret the results.

f) Adequate theories often (избавляли ученых от проведения) many useless experiments.

g) This group of engineers (ответственна за модернизацию)the laboratory equipment.

 

to aim at understanding; to be responsible for modernizing; to insist on making use of; to prevent scientists from making;

to result from combining; to result in establishing; to succeed in working out.

 

Translate into Russian.

a) His theory proceeds from the notion that the apparent magnitude of the effect is relatively large.

b) The new hypothesis uses the concept that the probability for collapse is roughly the same for each component of thesystem.

c) This very fruitful working hypothesis postulates that such modifications may persist for much longer periods.

d) They have developed a theory which proves to be true for equi­librium conditions.

e) The validity of the theory has become obvious in the light of recent findings.

 

UNIT 4

 

INFORMATION

Earlier, previous, preliminary, past, present, current, further. Sufficient, complete, extensive, ample; detailed, exact, precise; good, reliable, valuable; insufficient, incomplete, fragmentary; poor, scanty, sparse; uneven, unreliable.

 

Translate into Russian.

a) The information the authors have presented here suggests that the changes observed were due to external factors alone.

b) Our information, however, does not seem sufficient to indicate a likely cause of the observed striking effect.

c) This information, though essential and, to a certain extent, reliable, seems too scanty to permit any such conclusions.

d) Previous information obtained from similar studies led the authors to conclude that the apparent magnitude of the effect is relatively large.

e) All this information seems sufficient to suggest a similar mechanism responsible for the acceleration of particles at lower heights in the solar atmosphere.

f) Some of the information now available in literature was furnished by those pioneer experiments performed only a few years ago.

UNIT 5

 

SCIENTIFIC ATTITUDE

 

What is the nature of the scientific attitude, the attitude of the man or woman who studies and applies physics, biology, chemistry or any other science? What are their special methods of thinking and acting? What qualities do we usually expect them to possess?

To begin with, we expect a successful scientist to be full of curiosity-he wants to find out how and why the universe works. He usually directs his attention towards problems which have no satisfactory explanation, and his curiosity makes him look for the underlying relationships even if the data to be analysed are not apparently interrelated. He is a good observer, accurate, patient and objective. Furthermore, he is not only critical of the work of others, but also of his own, since he knows man to be the least reliable of scientific instruments.

And to conclude, he is to be highly imaginative since he often looks for data which are not only complex, but also incomplete.

 

5.2. Distinguish between the following structures. Translate into Russian.

the data analysed - the data to be analysed

the choice made - the choice to be made

the factor taken into consideration - the factor to be taken into consideration

new complexities disentangled - new complexities to be disentangled

a distinction made - a distinction to be made

 

ВОЛГОГРАДСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ТЕХНИЧЕСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ

(ВолгГТУ)

Кафедра иностранных языков

Методические указания по английскому языку по теме:

«НОРМЫ НАУЧНОГО СТИЛЯ РЕЧИ»

для студентов групп ЦИПС

Волгоград, 2004

 

 

Методические указания по теме «Нормы научного стиля речи».

Английский язык /Сост. О.В.Леднева. - Волгоград: ВолгГТУ, 1986. – 28 с.

 

 

В paботе представлены различные задания, отражающие специфику стиля научной речи. Целью работы является совершенствование умений и навыков, необходимых как для бесед, дискуссий и других форм устного общения, свойственных ученым, так и для чтения и написания статей по специальности.

 

Печатается по решению редакционно-издательского совета

Волгоградского государственного технического университета

 

 

© Волгоградский государственный технический университет, 2004

 

 

UNIT 1

 

Read the text and find the word equivalent to «scientific method».