Vocabulary

1. Read the following.

The laws of physics – and in particular the constants of nature that enter into those laws, such as the strengths of the fundamental forces – might seem to be finely tuned to make our existence possible. Short of invoking a supernatural explanation, which would be by definition outside the scope of science, a number of physicists and cosmologists began in the 1970s to try solving the puzzle by hypothesizing that our universe is just one of many existing universes, each with its own laws. According to this "anthropic" reasoning, we might just occupy the rare universe where the right conditions happen to have come together to make life possible. Amazingly, the prevailing theory in modern cosmology, which emerged in the 1980s, suggests that such "parallel universes" may really exist – in fact, that a multitude of universes would incessantly pop out of a primordial vacuum the way ours did in the big bang. Our universe would be but one of many pocket universes within a wider expanse called the multiverse. In the overwhelming majority of those universes, the laws of physics might not allow the formation of matter as we know it or of galaxies, stars, planets and life. But given the sheer number of possibilities, nature would have had a good chance to get the "right" set of laws at least once.

Our recent studies, however, suggest that some of these other universes – assuming they exist – may not be so inhospitable after all.

2. Find adequate Russian variants of the underlined words.

3. Find in the text the English equivalents of the following.

По крайней мере; на самом деле; в частности; в конечном итоге; как минимум; чуть ли не прибегая; при наличии; вне науки; всего лишь одна из многих; не более чем одна из многих; подавляющее большинство.

4. Decide on the best way to translate the word « rare» in this context.

5. Translate the following sentences.

1. It should be noted that the idea of falsiability as the defining characteristic of science originated with philosopher Karl Popper in the 1930s

2. It should be noted, however, that one of the goals of science is not to prove theories right, but to prove them wrong.

3. Some other improvements can be noted that really have no effect on the architecture at all.

6. Find Russian equivalents of the word combinations.

at least

at most

at best

1. Almost without exception, I was shown at least one project that involved robotics.

2. To prevent this agricultural crisis would require an investment of at least $7 billion per year in the most affected countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America for increased agricultural research into, for example, drought-resistant crop varieties.

3. This blanket dismissal of evolution ignores important distinctions that divide the field into at least two broad areas.

4. As with molecular technology (and many other technologies), attempts to stop advances in one city, county, or country will at most let others take the lead. A miraculous success in stopping visible Al work everywhere would at most delay it and, as computers grow cheaper, let it mature in secret, beyond public scrutiny.

5. At most some 24 trillion metric tons of dark matter lies between Earth and the moon.

6. Those papers, however, rarely attack evolution directly or advance creationist arguments; at best, they identify certain evolutionary problems as unsolved.

7. Write a short paragraph (6 – 8 sentences) on the subject of your research.

Begin your sentences with:

In fact…

In particular…

After all…

Given…

At least…

It should be noted…