Text 2 chemical warfare on plant pests and diseases

The First British Insecticide and Fungicide Conference was held at Brighton during November 7—9, 1961 under the presidency of Dr. H. G. Sanders, chief scientific advi­ser to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. It "was truly an international gathering, for of 470 delegates attending from official research stations. Government departments and manufacturing firms, nearly one-quarter came from fourteen countries overseas.

The conference consisted of ten successive sessions devoted to important present-day problems in plant pathology and their possible solutions by chemical means. During the first two days each session began with one or more introductory paper by authorities on the subject under discussion, and these were followed by brief reports of research in progress at various centres. The morning of the third day was given over to research reports on new insecticides and fungicides, and on novel formulations as well as new methods of applications. In the final session attention was directed to the problems involved in trans­lating research into practice and in introducing insectici­des and fungicides into agricultural practice both in Bri­tain and overseas. In all, more than fifty papers or reports were presented from the research departments of offi­cial agricultural institutes and industrial firms, including a number from Holland, Germany and Italy.

Exercises

Ex. 1. Give an adequate translation of the sentences below paying special attention to the parts in italics.

1. The First British Insecticide and Fungicide Confe­rence was held at Brighton under the presidency of Dr. Sanders, chief scientific adviser to the Ministry of Agricul­ture, Fisheries and Food. 2. It was truly an international gathering, for of 470 delegates nearly one-quarter came from fourteen countries overseas. 3. The conference consis­ted of ten successive sessions devoted to important present-day problems in plant pathology and their possible solu­tion by chemical means. 4. Each session began with an introductory paper by an authority on the subject under discussion. 5. These were followed by brief reports of re­search in progress at various centres. 6. The morning of the third day was given over to research reports on new in­secticides and on novel formulations. 7. In the final ses­sion attention was directed to the problems involved in translating research into practice and in introducing insecti­cides into agricultural practice. 8. In all, more than fifty papers or reports were presented from the research depart­ments of official agricultural institutes and industrial firms, including a number from Holland, Germany and Italy.

Ex. 2. Answer the following questions.

1. When, where and under whose presidency was the first British Insecticide and Fungicide conference held?2. Why can it be considered an international gathering? 3. How many sessions did the conference consist of? 4. Were there any simultaneous sessions held during this conference? 5.What problems were the sessions devoted to? 6. Describe the order of each session during the first two days. 7. What was the order of the third morning ses­sion? 8. To what problems was attention directed in the final session? 9. How many papers and reports were pre­sented in all? 10. Did all of them come from Great Bri­tain?

Ex. 3. Answer the following questions. Note that we say: an authority (conference, discussion, lecture, boots, pa­per) on some subject.

Model:

a)

1. Does he know literature well?

2. Yes, he is an outstanding authority on Russian literature.

b)

1. The subject of the lecture was photo­synthesis, wasn't it?

2. No, it wasn't. The lecture was on photo-respiration.

1. What was the theme of the conference? 2. The third morning session was devoted to plant growth, wasn't it? 3. What was the topic of the final discussion? 4. Is this book concerned with proteins? 5. Does chapter 3 treat amino acids? 6. What are your laboratory seminars devo­ted to? 7. What will your next paper deal with?

Ex. 4. Make sure you understood the statement right by asking a question. .Note that we say: a specialist (examination, course of lectures, lesson, classes) in a subject: specialize in some subject.

Model:

1. I missed my French lesson yesterday.

2. Did I get you right? You missed your lesson in French, didn't you?

1. John's speciality is genetics. 2. Ann has just passed her English examination. 3. I am going to take a course of lectures devoted to mathematics. 4. Last year I attended history classes.

Ex. 5. Insert prepositions in or on and read aloud the sta­tements.

1. Professor Ivanov specializes . . . French literature. 2. He is an outstanding authority . . . Voltaire. 3. Last year I attended a course of lectures . . . history. 4. The lecture . . . Napoleon attracted widespread attention. 5. He has got an interesting book . . . computers. 6. The session . . . radio astronomy was held in the great confe­rence hall. 7. We are going to take our examination . . . mathematics next month. 8. She has presented a paper . . . superfluidity.

Ex. 6. Translate into English using prepositions in or on.

1. Я посещаю курс лекций по истории. 2. Вы были на лекции о Байроне (Byron)? 3. Он сдал (passed) экза­мен по физике два дня тому назад. 4. Профессор Смит является крупным специалистом (leading authority) no химии полимеров (polymer chemistry). 5. Урок химии начнется в 3 часа. 6. Они представили доклад об ис­следовании Луны (the explorations of the Moon). 7. Засе­дание, посвященное проблемам радиосвязи (problems of radiocommunication) началось в 9 часов утра. 10. Он написал книгу о малых планетах (minor planets).

Еx. 7. Translate the following sentences into Russian.

1. The subject under discussion is of considerable in­terest. 2. He made a report on research in progress at his laboratory. 3. The book in question was published two years ago. 4. The problem under investigation is of great Importance. 5. Special attention must be directed to the main subject under study. 6. The paper under discussion was presented from the Research Department of our Insti­tute. 7. The theory in question was first advanced by Professor Bradford.

Ex. 8. Answer the following questions. Substitute attributive clauses by such attributes as: under discussion (considera­tion, study, investigation); in question; in progress.

Mоdel:

a)

1. Was the book you are referring to publi­shed last year?

2. No, the book in question was published a year ago.

b)

1. Who is an authority on the subject which is being discussed?

2. As far as I can judge, Dr. Brown is the greatest authority on the subject under discussion.

1. Did the problems which were being discussed at­tract general attention? 2. Were there any reports of the work which was being done at various research centres? 3. Are the methods which were being considered applied nowadays? 4. What are the most important problems which are being investigated at your laboratory? 5. Where can I get the book you have mentioned?

Ex. 9. Translate into English using the expressions: under / discussion {consideration, investigation, study}; in • progress; in question.

1. Рассматриваемая проблема имеет большое зна­чение для ядерной физики (nuclear physics). 2. Расска­жите нам об исследованиях, проводимых в вашей лабо­ратории. 3. Доктор Пирс — один из крупнейших спе­циалистов по обсуждаемому вопросу. 4. Доклад, о котором идет речь, был представлен научно-исследова­тельским отделом нашего института. 5. Данная книга была опубликована в прошлом году. 6. Я хочу знать об исследовательской работе, которая ведется в этом науч­ном центре. 7. Изучаемый вопрос представляет большой интерес для физиков.

Ex. 10. Say a few words about the problems under study at your laboratory, questions under discussion at your laboratory seminars and research in progress at your institute.

Ex. 11. Insert prepositions where necessary and read these statements aloud.

A

1. The conference was held . . . Brighton . . . November 7—9,1961 . . . the presidency . . . Dr. Sanders, chief scientific adviser . . . the Ministry . . . Agriculture. 2.Nearly one-quarter . . . the delegates attending . . . the conference came . . . abroad. 3. The conference consis­ted . . . ten sessions devoted . . . present-day problems . . . plant biology 'and their solution . . . chemical means. 4. . . . the first two days each session began . . . an introductory paper . . . an authority . . . the subject . . dis­cussion. 5. These introductory papers were followed . . . reports devoted . . . research . . . progress . . . various centres. 6. . . . the final session attention was directed . . . the problems involved . . . translating research . . . practice. 7. Insecticides are being introduced . . . agricul­tural practice both . . . Britain and adroad.

В

8. It is very important to introduce these new chemi­cals . . . everyday practice. 9. Are you sure problems in­volved . . . translating research . . . practice can be sol­ved . . . these means? 10. Their reports were devoted . . . research . . . progress . . . various research centres. 11. The opening session began . . . a discussion . . . reports presented . . . outstanding authorities . . . this subject. 12. The discussion began . . . introductory remarks . . . the president . . . the congress. 13. All our attention must be directed . . . the problem . . . consideration. 14. The book . . . discussion consists . . . ten chapters devoted . . important present-day problems . . . nuclear research. 15. Last year I attended . . . a symposium. . . nuclear research held . . . the presidency . . . Academician K.

Ex. 12. Confirm the statements below. Substitute words and expressions from the text for those in italics.

Model 1:

1. I believe that this conference was an inter­national meeting.

2. Yes, you are quite right. This conference was truly an international gathering for nearly one-quarter of the delegates came from abroad.

1. In my opinion, the sessions were concerned with important present-day problems. 2. I believe that every session started with an introductory paper by an authority on the subject which was being discussed. 3. As far as I know, those introductory papers were followed by short reports of research which was being conducted at various centres. 4. If I am not mistaken, over 50 papers and re­ports were submitted. 5. I was informed that the recent symposium on polymer chemistry contained 5 sessions following one another. 6. To my knowledge, almost 100 people were present at this meeting.

Ex. 13. Insert words and expressions from the text so as to form antonymic pairs with those in italics. Answer these questions.

Model:

1. Was it a national or an . . . conference.

2. It was an international conference for many delegates came from abroad.

1. Did the conference consist of simultaneous or . . . sessions? 2. Were most of the papers concerned with the theory or the . . . of agriculture? 3. Was the research under discussion conducted by private or by . . . centres? 4. Was the opening or the . . . session devoted to practical problems? 5. Were most of the reports detailed or . . . ?

Ex. 14. React to the wrong statements below using some of the following introductory phrases: you are not (quite) right you are mistaken; you. seem to be wrong; I can't agree with you.

Model:

1. The First British Insecticide and Fungicide Conference was held under the presidency of Dr. Brown, head of the Agricultural Research Station at Brighton, wasn't it?

2. I'm afraid you are mistaken. This conference was held under the presidency of Dr. San­ders who was at the time chief scientific adviser to the British Ministry of Agri­culture.

1. If I am not mistaken, the First British Insecticide Conference was a purely national scientific gathering. 2. I believe that both simultaneous and succesive sessions were devoted to the problem of plant growth. 3. As far as I could gather from the text, each session began with a general discussion. 4. To my mind, in the final session attention was directed to problems of theoretical interest. 5. As far as I know, all the papers read at this conference were presented from private firms.

Ex. 15. Translate into English.

A

1. Первая Британская конференция по инсектици­дам состоялась в Брайтоне в 1961 году. 2. Конференция была проведена под председательством доктора Сандерса. 3. Конференция состояла из 10 последовательных заседаний. 4. Заседания были посвящены важный современным проблемам патологии растений и решению их химическим путем. 5. В течение первых двух дней каж­дое заседание начиналось с вводного доклада специа­листа по данному вопросу. 6. За вводным докладом сле­довали краткие сообщения об исследованиях, которые ведутся в различных научно-исследовательских цен­трах. 7. На последнем заседании особое внимание было обращено на вопросы, связанные с внедрением в прак­тику результатов научных исследований. 8. Всего научно-исследовательскими отделами государственных институтов и промышленных фирм было представлено более 50 докладов.

В

9. Моя диссертация посвящена важным современным проблемам теоретической физики. 10. Она состоит из трех глав (chapters). 11. Первая глава является вводной.

12. В этой главе я обсуждаю теории, выдвинутые (ad­vanced) ведущими специалистами по данному вопросу.13. Во второй главе описываются результаты исследо­вания, которое я провел в прошлом году. 14. В это? главе я упоминаю (mention) также и исследования, которые проводятся в других институтах. 15. Последняя глава посвящена вопросам, связанным с практическим применением результатов моего исследования. 16. Профессор Н. является крупнейшим специалистом по бо­лезням растений (plant pathology). 17. В прошлом году я присутствовал на международном симпозиуме по физике. 18. Он был проведен под председательством ака­демика Н. 19. Научные собрания такого рода очень важны. 20. Они обычно проводятся в крупных научно-исследовательских центрах при колледжах.

Ex. 16. Say a few words about a laboratory seminar you have recently attended. Mention the order of the day, the main topics discussed, the possible practical application of the results obtained, etc.