III. Speaking

Summarize the following points:

• The kind of construction that harbours the NIF laser;

• The possible uses of the NIF laser;

• The principle of its work;

• The reason why the Government has invested so much in the project;

• The difficulties the researchers have faced.

• Make up an abstract of the article (6 – 8 sentences).

IV. Discussion

Preliminary work. Find out more about the possible non-military laser uses.

Discussion topic. "We never intended to spend $5 billion to $6 billion to build a laser facility for civilian research''. Would you personally intend to do that if you were a senator? Which is more important, civilian or military research? Give your reasons.

Text VII

I. Read the article, suggest the idea of the title for it.

II. Match the parts of the article with the subheadings: Better than Bulbs, Happy Accident, New Dilemma, Judging by Appearance, Likely Alternative.

1.________ The main light source of the future will almost surely not be a bulb. It might be a table, a wall, or even a fork. An accidental discovery has taken LED lighting to a new level, suggesting it could soon offer a cheaper, longer-lasting alternative to the traditional light bulb. The miniature breakthrough adds to a growing trend that is likely to eventually make Thomas Edison's bright invention obsolete. LEDs are already used in traffic lights, flashlights, and architectural lighting. They are flexible and operate less expensively than traditional lighting.

2. _________ Michael Bowers, a graduate student at Vanderbilt University, was just trying to make really small quantum dots, which are crystals generally only a few nanometers big. That's less than 1/1000th the width of a human hair. Quantum dots contain anywhere from 100 to 1,000 electrons. They're easily excited bundles of energy, and the smaller they are, the more excited they get. Each dot in Bower's particular batch was exceptionally small, containing only 33 or 34 pairs of atoms. When you shine a light on quantum dots or apply electricity to them, they react by producing their own light, normally a bright, vibrant color. But when Bowers shined a laser on his batch of dots, something unexpected happened. "I was surprised when a white glow covered the table," Bowers said. "The quantum dots were supposed to emit blue light, but instead they were giving off a beautiful white glow."

3. __________ Then Bowers and another student got the idea to stir the dots into polyurethane and coat a blue LED light bulb with the mix. The lumpy bulb wasn't pretty, but it produced white light similar to a regular light bulb. The new device gives off a warm, yellowish-white light that shines twice as bright and lasts 50 times longer than the standard 60 watt light bulb. Until the last decade, LEDs could only produce green, red, and yellow light, which limited their use. Then came blue LEDs, which have since been altered to emit white light with a light-blue hue.

4. _________ LEDs produce twice as much light as a regular 60 watt bulb and burn for over 50,000 hours. The Department of Energy estimates LED lighting could reduce U.S. energy consumption for lighting by 29 percent by 2025. LEDs don't emit much heat, so they're also more energy efficient. And they're much harder to break.

5. _________ Other scientists have said they expect LEDs to eventually replace standard incandescent bulbs as well as fluorescent and sodium vapor lights. If the new process can be developed into commercial production, light won't come just from newfangled bulbs. Quantum dot mixtures could be painted on just about anything and electrically excited to produce a rainbow of colors, including white. One big question remains: When a brilliant idea pops into your mind in the future, what will appear over your head?

III. A. Give synonyms using vocabulary units from the article: old-fashioned, a set of similar things, brilliance, give off, change, brand new.

B. Explain the following: LED lighting, flashlight, a graduate student, a quantum dot, lumpy, efficient.

IV. Are the statements below true or false?

1. Small discoveries can give life to new big trends.

2. To excite the bundles of energy electricity is required.

3.The new invention doesn't live up to the Edison's bulb.

4.Quantum dot mixtures didn't use to produce white light.

V. Questions:

1. What has led to the discovery?

2. How is light produced due to the quantum dots?

3. What colours can be produced by the new device?

4. Speak about the use of quantum dot mixtures.

5. Why do they tend to operate less expensively?

VI . What do you personally think about the invention? Is its future as colourful and radiant as shown in the article? Discuss it with your partner.