I. Read the article and divide it into four or five paragraphs. What is the purpose of each paragraph? Complete the chart below.

SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION

Throughout history, scientific knowledge has been transmitted chiefly through written documents, some of which are more than 4000 years old. From ancient Greece, however, no substantial scientific work survives from the period before the geometrician Euclid's Elements (circa 300 BC). Of the treatises written by leading scientists after that time, only about half are extant. Some of these are in Greek, and others were preserved through translation by Arab scholars in the Middle Ages. Medieval schools and universities were largely responsible for preserving these works and for fostering scientific activity. Since the Renaissance, however, this work has been shared by scientific societies; the oldest such society, which still survives, is the Accademia del Lincei (to which Galileo belonged), established in 1603 to promote the study of mathematical, physical, and natural sciences. Later in the century, governmental support of science led to the founding of the Royal Society of London (1662) and the Academie des Sciences de Paris (1666). These two organizations initiated publication of scientific journals, the former under the title Philosophical Transactions and the latter as Memoires. During the 18th century academies of science were established by other leading nations. In the U.S. in 1743, Benjamin Franklin organized the American Philosophical Society for “promoting useful knowledge.” In 1780 the American Academy of Arts and Sciences was organized by John Adams, who became the second U.S. president in 1797. In 1831 the British Association for the Advancement of Science met for the first time, followed in 1848 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and in 1872 by the Association Francaise pour l'Avancement des Sciences. These national organizations issue the journals Nature, Science, and Compte-Rendus, respectively. The number of scientific journals grew so rapidly during the early 20th century that A World List of Scientific Periodicals Published in the Years 1900-1933 contained some 36,000 entries in 18 languages. A large number of these are issued by specialized societies devoted to individual sciences, and most of them are fewer than 100 years old. Since late in the 19th century, communication among scientists has been facilitated by the establishment of international organizations, such as the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (1873) and the International Council of Research (1919). The latter is a scientific federation subdivided into international unions for each of the various sciences. The unions hold international congresses every few years, the transactions of which are usually published. In addition to national and international scientific organizations, numerous major industrial firms have research departments; some of them regularly publish accounts of the work done or else file reports with government patent offices, which in turn print abstracts in bulletins that are published periodically.

 

S C I E N T I F I C C O M M U N I C A T I O N
Historical period	Countries, people	Achievements

 

II. Match the words with their definition.

a) GRE; b) graduate school; c) GMAT; d) transcript; e) Bachelor’s degree; f) TOEFL; g) teaching assistant; h) application fee; i) college; j) application form.

1.is part of college or university entirely devoted to postgraduate school.

2. ________ earns part of his graduate support by helping a professor teach an undergraduate course.

3. ________ represents successful completion of four-year course at a college or university.

4. ________ is a test of skills and knowledge given to undergraduate students who want to enroll in graduate programs in arts and sciences.

5. ________ is a test given to undergraduate students who want to enroll in graduate programs in management.

6. ________ is a test of English for the nonnative of English.

7. ________ is an official document enumerating the exams and courses taken and grades received.

 

8. ________ is a school offering specialized instruction in some profession.

9. ________ is if your printed or typewritten letter is sent out in great numbers.

10. _______ is entrance money for an examination.

III. Use the required tenses instead of the infinitives in brackets.

1. By next Friday you (to stay) with us for six weeks.

2. If I (not to get) home before seven, they (not to do) everything.

3. Nobody knows when it all (to be settled).

4. He said he (to wait) for more than an hour.

5. The rain that (to fall) since the morning (to cease) by the afternoon, but a strong wind still (to blow).

6. It (to be) the poorest room Hilary ever (to see).

7. No wonder he (to be) very tired. He (to work) too hard for the last three months.

8. The garden (to look) quite different now when the leaves (to fall).

9. She was sure I (not to tell) you the bad news.

10. It was now over a year. We (not to hear) from him since he (to leave), except a postcard.

IV. Complete the questions with a preposition from the box.

in of by with to from at about for on

a. Who was that book written -----?

b. Who does this dictionary belong -----?

c. What are you looking -----?

d. What did you spend all your money -----?

e. What is your home town famous -----?

f. What sort of books are you interested -----?

g. What are you talking -----?

h. What are you so afraid -----?

i. “You’ve got a postcard.” “Oh. Who is it -----?”

j. Who are you angry ------? James or me?

V. Words that go together. Choose the best answer A, B, C, or D.

a) He said I hadn't given him his book, but I was ____sure I had.

A entirely B totally C quite D rather

b) If you want to_____success in life, you have to work hard.

A achieve B receive C award D earn

c) He was homesick, and he_____all his family and friends.

A lost B lacked C desired D missed

d) I wanted to put my new stereo together, but I couldn't make ____of the instructions.

A sight B sense C reality D understanding

e) If I breathe in, I get a sharp_____ in my chest.

A hurt B wound C ache D pain

f) The _____ of living goes up and up. It'll never go down.

A price B value C cost D expense

VI. Supplementary reading. Translate the article and write a paragraph about the role of computers in your life.

USES OF COMPUTERS

People use computers in a wide variety of ways. In business, computers track inventories with bar codes and scanners, check the credit status of customers, and transfer funds electronically. In homes, tiny computers embedded in the electronic circuitry of most appliances control the indoor temperature, operate home security systems, tell the time, and turn videocassette recorders on and off. Computers in automobiles regulate the flow of fuel, thereby increasing gas mileage. Computers also entertain, creating digitized sound on stereo systems or computer-animated features from a digitally encoded laser disc.

Computer programs, or applications, exist to aid every level of education, from programs that teach simple addition or sentence construction to programs that teach advanced calculus. Educators use computers to track grades and prepare notes; with computer-controlled projection units, they can add graphics, sound, and animation to their lectures.

Computers are used extensively in scientific research to solve mathematical problems, display complicated data, or model systems that are too costly or impractical to build, such as testing the air flow around the next generation of space shuttles. The military employs computers in sophisticated communications to encode and unscramble messages, and to keep track of personnel and supplies.

UNIT 12

I. Read the biographical information about a famous American educator and answer the following questions in a written form.

JOHN DEWEY

John Dewey (1859-1952) is an American philosopher, psychologist, and educator. Born in Burlington, Vermont, Dewey received a B.A. degree from the University of Vermont in 1879 and a Ph.D. degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1884. Dewey’s long and influential career in education began at the University of Michigan, where he taught from 1884 to 1888. In 1888-1889 Dewey taught at the University of Minnesota, returning to the University of Michigan from 1889 to 1894. He continued his career at the University of Chicago from 1894 to 1904 and at Columbia University from 1904 until his retirement as professor emeritus in 1931. Dewey lectured, acted as an educational consultant, and studied educational systems in China, Japan, Mexico, Turkey, and the Soviet Union.

During his tenure at Chicago, Dewey became actively interested in the reform of educational theory and practice. He tested his educational principles at the famous experimental Laboratory School, the so-called Dewey School, established by the University of Chicago in 1896. These principles emphasized learning through varied activities rather than formal curricula and opposed authoritarian methods, which, Dewey believed, offered contemporary people no realistic preparation for life in a democratic society. Dewey felt, moreover, that education should not merely be a preparation for future life but a full life in itself. His work and his writings were largely responsible for the drastic change in pedagogy that began in the United States early in the 20th century as emphasis shifted from the institution to the student. Dewey’s theories have often been misinterpreted by the advocates of so-called progressive education; although Dewey opposed authoritarian methods, he did not advocate lack of guidance and control. He criticized education that emphasized amusing the students and keeping them busy, as well as education that was oriented toward pure vocational training.

As a philosopher, Dewey emphasized the practical, striving to show how philosophical ideas can work in everyday life. His sense of logic and philosophy was ever-changing, adaptive to need and circumstance. The process of thinking, in his philosophy, is a means of planning action, of removing the obstacles between what is given and what is wanted. Truth is an idea that has worked in practical experience. Dewey followed the American philosopher and psychologist William James as a leader of the pragmatic movement in philosophy; Dewey’s own philosophy, called either instrumentalism or experimentalism, stems from the pragmatism of James.

Dewey’s influence can be seen in many fields besides education and philosophy. A political activist, he advocated progressive and sometimes radical approaches to international affairs and economic problems. His voluminous writings include Psychology (1887), The School and Society (1899), Democracy and Education (1916), Reconstruction in Philosophy (1920), Human Nature and Conduct (1922), The Quest for Certainty (1929), Art as Experience (1934), Logic: The Theory of Inquiry (1938), and Problems of Men (1946).

1. When and where was John Dewey born?

2. How did his teaching career begin?

3. What was the object of his studies?

4. What educational principles did Dewey point out?

5. Were his theories popular with the scientists?

6. What is Dewey’s philosophical heritage?

7. What fields of science did he work in?

II. Explain the italicised parts:

1. The years at secondary school may lead to GCSE. 2. The students can broaden their range by taking A- levels. 3. Many polytechnics have close links with business. 4. Good exam passes are not enough. 5. Com­petition for places at university is fierce. 6. The grant covers tuition fees. 7. They are called freshers.