8. Read and translate the text.

Isaac Newton

I saac Newton was born in 1642 at Woolsthorpe in Lincolnshire. He did not show any signs of cleverness in his early schooldays. When he grew older his mother wanted him to help her on the farm, for his father was dead. But the boy did not like this; he was now fascinated by mathematics, and in 1661 he went to Cambridge University, where he took first degree four years later. Then the Great Plague came. The university was closed, and Newton went back to his quiet home in Woolsthorpe. It was during the next few months that he carried out his first important researches into the nature of light. Newton’s original reflector, completed about 1671, had a mirror two and a half centimeters across; the largest telescope in the world today has a mirror over 500 centimeters across! He went back to Cambridge as soon as the Plague danger was over. He became the Fellow of the Royal Society, and came into contact with many other brilliant men. Among them there were Christopher Wren, and Edmund Halley. It has been said that Newton was sitting in his Woolsthorpe garden when he saw an apple fall off a tree. This started a chain of thoughts in his mind, and he realized that the force pulling on the apple was the same as the force which keeps the Moon in its path round the Earth. From this he was led to draw up the laws of gravitation. There is strong evidence that this story – unlike most of its kind – is true. At any rate, Halley persuaded Newton to rework the calculation, and public them in a book. The result was the great volume known generally as “The Principia”. It was completed in 1687. For many years Newton served as president of the Royal Society. When he died, in 1727, he was buried in Westminster Abbey.

9. For questions (1–6) choose the correct answer (a, b or c)

1. Was Isaac Newton born in __?

A. 1642

B. 1548

C. 1799

2. Did Newton go to __ in 1661?

A. Kiev National University

B. Cambridge University

C. Donets’k Medical University.

3. Did the Great Plague come then?

A. Yes, it did.

B. Yes, it does.

C. No, it didn’t.

4. Was Newton’s original reflector completed about __?

A. 1895

B. 1633

C. 1671

5. What fell on Newton’s head?

A. apple

B. banana

C. orange

6. Did Newton serve as __ for many years?

A. president of the Royal Society

B. president of the Royal Court

C. president of Ukraine.

10. Label the pictures with the following vocabulary. Rank the inventions in order of importance and give a reason why they are important to society.

bar code, microchip, mobile phone, ink pen, Internet, plastic, antibiotics

11. Read the following information and answer the questions. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone

In the 1870s, two inventors Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell both independently designed devices that could transmit speech electrically (the telephone). Both men rushed their respective designs to the patent office within hours of each other; Alexander Graham Bell patented his telephone first. Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell entered into a famous legal battle over the invention of the telephone, which Bell won.