Unit ten

• Grammar: Absolute Participial Construction (§ 14).

Functions of it (§ 20).

• Individual Work: Lab Work "Absolute Participial Construction".

Lesson one Pre-text Exercises

I. Practise the reading of the following words:

generation ["Genq'reISn], branch [brRntS], modern ['mPdn], serve [sE:v], superconducting ["sju:pq'kPndAktIN], versatile ['vE:sqtaIl], vital ['vaItl], exploration [ˏeksplq'reISn], tiny ['taIni], scholar ['skPlq(r)], circuit ['sE:kIt], tackle ['txkl], package ['pxkIG].

II. Make sure if you can read these words correctly and say what words in the Russian language help you to guess their meaning:

dynamic, discrete, economy, industrialized, national, complex, element, microprocessor, monitor, miniature, series.

III. State to what parts of speech the words in black type belong:

1. By means of electronic computers it is possible to translate from one language to another. 2. Electric typewriters and keyboard devices are the common means of input. 3. We usually measure volume in cubic centimetres. 4. A kilogram is a unit of weight measure in the metric system. 5. Certain types of equipment handle input information and also function as output devices. 6. The atmospheric pressure is the function of the altitude above the sea level.

IV. Make sure if you remember the meaning of the following verbs. Consult a dictionary if necessary:

to appear, to develop, to count, to contain, to serve, to use, to control, to prove, to require, to perform, to repeat, to start, to determine, to exist, to represent, to transform, to compose, to operate, to process, to bring.

V. Define the function of it in the following sentences and translate them:

1. A material which allows electricity to flow through it is called a conductor. 2. It took five years to develop the machine. 3. The computer doesn't really remember, information is stored in it. 4. It is necessary to protect the human eye when laser beams are being used. 5. In Russia it was Lodygin who invented the electric lamp. 6. It is hard to overestimate the role of radio-electronics in technical progress. 7. Electronics is a young science. It belongs to the twentieth century. 8. I find it necessary to continue the experiment. 9. Electronics makes it possible to raise industrial automation to a higher level. 10. At present mathematics is the language of science and it becomes the stimulator of discoveries. 11. It is the computer that makes a machine a robot.

VI. Translate the following sentences into Russian paying attention to the Absolute Participial Construction:

1. The experiments being demonstrated, all the students watched them with great attention. 2. There are two diagrams in this figure, one of them showing the relation between volume and temperature. 3. A new radio set having been shown to them, they began to examine its details. 4. Electrons leaving the surface, the metal becomes positively charged. 5. We defined the volume, all the measurements having been done with respect to the instruction. 6. The computer performing addition, two numbers to be added come from the memory. 7. Atoms consist of three kinds of particles — electrons, protons and neutrons, the number of particles determining the kind of element. 8. The workers increased the output of measuring instruments, new devices having been applied in all the shops of the plant. 9. The experiment having been carried out, the students left the lab. 10. I was writing the translation, my friend helping me. 11. Part of the energy being changed into heat, not all the chemical energy of the battery is transformed into electric energy.

VII. Choose the sentences with the Absolute Participial Construction from the ones given below. Translate them into Russian:

1. Speaking about the new method of work the engineer told us many interesting details. 2. The temperature of a conductor being raised, the motion of the electrons in the conductor increases. 3. Special instruments measuring cosmic radio signals are being installed in the observatory. 4. Transistors are very sensitive to light, some of them reacting even to star-light. 5. The first man-made satellite having been sent up, it became possible to investigate various types of radiation. 6. Obtaining new data engineers can improve their knowledge. 7. The resistance being very large, the current in the circuit was small. 8. When improving the design the constructor made many calculations. 9. A great variety of substances are semi-conductors, germanium and silicon being the most important of them. 10. A series of attempts having been made, Lodygin came to a successful solution of the problem.

VIII. Match up the words which are opposite in meaning:

1. young, joint, modern, simple, hardware, conducting;

2. complex, software, ancient, isolating, old, separate.

IX. Try to memorize all word-groups:

■ modern science and technology – современная наука и техника ■ ingenious – оригинальный, искусный, хитроумный ■ obsolete – вышедший из употребления, устарелый ■ the magnetic-core memory – запоминающее устройство на магнитных сердечниках ■ to retrieve – восстанавливать, извлекать ■ silicon – кремний ■ to coin a term – придумать термин ■ to encompass – включать