Glossary

ENGLISH	RUSSIAN	KAZAKH
tissue	материя	материя
permafrost	вечная мерзлота	мәңгi тоң
revive	оживлять	жандандыру; тірілту
squirrels	запасы	қорлар
hibernation	зимняя спячка	қысқы ұйықы
thawed	оттепель	жылымық
regenerate	возрождать	тірілткізу; тірілттіру; тірілту

Home assignments

Ex. 3 (a,b,) p.28 [1]

SIW

Write a magazine article about regenerating ancient life forms. Include imaginary interviews with people who are for and against it.

Office hours

Ex. 4 (a,b,c,d,e,f), p.28 [1]

Are we any nearer a cure for cancer or AIDS?

Although a definitive cure for cancer seems as elusive as ever, scientists have produced an impressive list of things that might help prevent it: green tea, green salads, brazil nuts, spinach, kidneys, mushrooms, and even lipstick. And although no cure has yet been found for AIDS, extraordinary advances have been made in its treatment. Drugs called protease inhibitors can halt and perhaps even reverse the progress of the virus in the patient's body, so it may be that AIDS will soon no longer be an incurable disease. The problem is the expense: a course of treatment costs many thousands of dollars, and so will do nothing to stop the epidemic in poor countries, where the money would be better spent on preventing malaria, cholera and tuberculosis.

So what can we cure nowadays?

If you're a grey-haired, balding, colour-blind man who snores, there may be good news on the horizon. A doctor in England has announced that by adding a small amount of pigment to an ordinary pair of glasses he has been able to cure colour-blindness (though he admits he has no idea why it works!). A drug has been tested on dogs which stimulates muscles in their upper airway, thus stopping them from snoring. If it works for them, why not on humans? To prevent grey hair, a special shampoo has been developed that fools pigment cells into producing melanin, which gives hair its colour, and there may now even be a cure for baldness: a pill which reduces levels of the hormone dihydrotesterone, although there may be a less desirable side effect of a decreased interest in sex.

Why would anyone want to implant a computer chip into a human brain?

Could it be possible for all the things you need to know to be implanted in your brain on a silicon chip? Doctors at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Germany claim to have found a way of connecting nerve cells to a silicon chip. Such implants — which have so far only been successful in rats — could be used to restore vision to people who have become blind or repair nerve damage after a stroke, but also to increase human intelligence. In theory, chips could be programmed to include all the knowledge a human being is likely to need during their life, so eliminating the need for school work! [3]

1. What are the disadvantages of the new drugs that have been produced to treat aids?

2. What are the possible uses for microchips implanted into the human brain?

Exercises on http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=5247