andreeva_tia_nauchnyi_angliiskii_iazyk_vypusk_14_nauka
.pdfpresent day. The resulting standard model of the Universe is only some twenty years old: in the mid 1960s, the discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation finally convinced astronomers and physicists that there really was a big bang. It was in 1965 that Amo Penzias and Robert Wilson, at the Bell Research Laboratories, discovered this weak radio noise with a temperature of about 3K that seems to fill the entire Universe. It was soon explained as a relict of the fireball which the Uni verse was bom out of. But although the outlines of the standard model seemed satisfactory, there were some remaining prob lems which bothered many cosmologists during the 1970s. The most important of these problems were:
The singularity problem. The state of infinite density and zero volume at time t = 0 is called a singularity. One may won der, what was there before the singularity? - or putting it an other way, where did the singularity come from? What is the origin of the Universe? The standard model of cosmology in the 1960s and 1970s made no attempt to answer this question, but started out from a state of very high energy density a frac tion of a second after the moment of creation.
The flatness problem. According to the general theory of relativity, developed by Albert Einstein, the geometry of our' Universe may be different from the Euclidean geometry of flat space. The Universe may be open in which case parallel lines diverge from one another, or it may be closed, in the way that the surface of a sphere is closed, so that parallel lines cross one another like the meridian lines on a globe of the Earth. All the observational evidence is that our Universe is very close to being flat. A question arises - why is our Universe so flat?
The homogeneity problem and the problem of galaxies. Astronomical observations also show that our Universe is ho-
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mogeneous on very large scales - matter is distributed .evenly through the Universe. The Universe is also isotropic on the large scale, it looks the same in all directions. The size of the observable Universe is about 1028 cm. On this scale, the devia tions of the density of matter from a perfectly smooth distribu tion amount to no more than one part in 10 000. However, on smaller scales, the Universe is not homogeneous. It contains galaxies made up of stars, clusters of galaxies, and superga laxies. What small disturbances in the early history of the Uni verse could have produced these minor inhomogeneities in an otherwise very smooth Universe.
The problem of the dimensionality of spacetime. There is a great deal of interest among mathematicians today in the possi bility that space may have more than three dimensions. In the most interesting of these models, space has ten dimensions (the 11th is for time), all but three of which have been "compactified", shrunk into thin tubes. But why should the compactification have stopped with three effective space dimensions, not two, or five, or some other number?
All these problems (and some others which are not given here) seemed for a long time more metaphysical than physical puzzles for philosophers, not scientists to debate. Most physi cists did not take the problems seriously, accepting that science might never find ultimate answers to such questions, or, at least, not for a very long time. If the standard model of cos mology could explain 15 billion years of cosmic evolution, there was no great concern that the theory could not explain what happened during the first millisecond. But in recent years, the attitude of physicists toward these metaphysical problems has changed radically. This shift in attitude began when physi cists studying the interactions of the elementary particles began to develop theories of the way particles interact under condi tions of very high energy densities, like those in the big bang.
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♦ Read the text as quickly as possible (3-4 minutes are pref erable). Work in pairs or small groups. Speak of scientific discov eries that made scientists change their attitude to the problems concerned with the universe origin.
Text 45
Sunshine as Powerfor Space Ships
Power from the sun is playing an important part in man's efforts to explore outer space.
The idea of generating useful electrical energy directly from light or heat has long stirred the scientific imagination, but practical methods of doing it have become available only within the past few years.
Practical application of the knowledge has been speeded up by the demands of space technology - by the need for lightweight portable generators that might draw energy from the sun to supply electric power for radio equipment, guidance and control mecha nisms, and instrumentation in satellites and space ships.
Scientists believe, that space ships which utilize the sun's rays to cruise indefinitely are now possible. They think that the free, unlimited energy given off by the sun may prove a cheap, simple and light-weight source of power for both manned and unmanned ships exploring distant planets and the moon.
Already devices have been developed that may lead to space flight in ships that carry no fuel. Such space ships, continually propelled by solar power would probably be relatively easy to control.
One promising development is a "solar sail" that would use sunshine like a sailboat uses wind. The sail, a thin plastic disc coated with evaporated aluminium, would be folded up inside
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a space ship. The space ship being sent into orbit, the sail would unfurl and begin its propulsion task.
♦ After reading the text talk on different spheres where sun shine as power could be used.
Text 46
Is the Earth Getting Hotter?
It sounded like nature's own apocalypse. "The earth's tem perature would rise, melting the icecaps, raising the seas, flooding the land. Arisona would turn into - a rain forest and the agricultural Midwest would become a desert". At least, that was how TV weathermen interpreted a report by the Environ mental Protection Agency (EPA) on the "greenhouse effect" that would begin altering the earth's climate by the 1990s. The EPA predicted "catastrophic consequences" if contingency plans weren't made with a sense o f urgency.
Fortunately, the news improved later when the National Academy of Sciences said that although the greenhouse effect was very real, "caution not panic" was in order.
In fact, the science of the phenomenon is more interesting than frightening. The greenhouse effect results when CO2 and certain other gases in the atmosphere allow the sun's ultraviolet rays to penetrate and warm the earth but then absorb the infra red energy the earth radiates back into space - much as glass in a greenhouse effect does-forming a kind of thermal blanket around the planet. By burning huge amounts of fossil fuels, which release CO2 into the atmosphere, man has raised the CO2 level from 280 to 340 parts per million since 1860. And con tinued use of coal and other fossil fuels is expected to double the concentration of CO2 by the year 2050, elevating the earth's temperature by 3 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit. The greenhouse ef fect will mean much more than hotter summers and milder
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winters. It may alter rainfall, affect crop yields and eventually - as glaciers begin to melt - raise the level of the sea.
Both reports predict that the temperature change will be greater in the polar regions than near the equator. In general, they speculate that snowfall will begin later, the growing season will lengthen and higher latitudes will get less rain. The EPA says that the sea level will probably rise at least two feet before the year 2100, which could flood, "many of the major ports of the world, disrupt transportation net works, alter ecosystems and cause major shifts in land de velopment patterns".
Although use of fossil fuels is the main cause of the C02 increase, the government agencies don't advocate any sweeping changes in energy policies. Even a total ban on the burning of fossil fuels in the United States wouldn't have much impact, because the United States accounts for only 25 per cent of the world's total man-made C02, emissions. A worldwide coal ban instituted in 2000 would delay the warming by about 15 years but is considered economically and politically unfeasible.
If we can't prevent the greenhouse effect, we can prepare for it. Suggestions include breeding plants that need less water, improving irrigation systems, and many others.
However not all experts are convinced that the heat is coming. Some think that the use of primary energy sources such as coal could decline 60 per cent by 2050 and, perhaps, "the opposite of the EPA scenario is true. If the rate of fos- sil-fuel use is going down, the amount of C02 we add to the air is getting less every year".
♦ Interpret the following idea: How can scientists so confidently predict what will ocur in the next 100 years when we can't even predict the weatherfor tomorrow? What is your idea on the problem?
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Text 47
International Auxiliary Tongue
By an international auxiliary tongue is meant an international language for use in intercourse between peoples of different mother tongues. It is intended to assist and not to replace the mother tongue. The idea of this kind of language is by far not a modem one. In fact, it was a subject treated by philosophers sev eral hundred years ago, notably by Descartes and Leibnitz. Over two hundred systems have been devised in the last 300 years.
Three classes of languages present themselves for consid eration: living or national languages, dead languages and, fi nally, artificial or synthetic languages.
Concerning the first class, many think that some national tongue ought to be adopted as an international language. A brief consideration of the facts, however, should easily reveal the fallacy of adopting a national language for the purpose. At various times in history some language has had a predominant position in the world or in a large part of it. In the West Greek, Latin, Arabic, Italian and French used to hold such a pre eminent position and now, in a way, English. Those languages have been displaced from their privileged positions. What may be the comparative value of English in some hundred years, in face of the growing -importance of Russian?
There is no doubt that if any national language were chosen as an international auxiliary tongue, the favoured nation would be given advantages over all others. The country would be re lieved of the necessity of learning any 'secondary language' at all. It would be required that other countries should leam the selected national language in addition to their mother tongues. It is obviously impracticable to adopt a living language for the
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purpose. This leads to a consideration, therefore, of the sec ond class, i. e., the so-called dead languages and the possible adoption of Latin, Greek or Sanskrit. They all possess the prime requisite of neutrality. It has often been proposed that Latin should be chosen for the role. The chief objection, however, is the great difficulty to learn any of the dead lan guages. In their unmodified, inflected forms they are too cumbrous to meet all modern conditions.
This leads naturally to the conclusion that the only practical solution of the problem is to adopt an artificial or invented lan guage. This conclusion is now most generally accepted.
♦ Read the text and discuss thefollowing statements.
1.By an international auxiliary tongue is meant: a) an inter national language intended to replace the mother tongue; b) a language that can preserve, transmit and continuously enrich the achievements of human culture; c) a language with all its com plexities and potentialities; d) an international language for use in intercourse between peoples of different mother tongues.
2.In the last 300 years: a) linguistic science has passed through a phase comparable to that of physical science in the times of Newton; b) over two hundred systems of interna tional language have been devised; c) Latin has been a means of communication among scholars in Western Europe; d) the Greeks have developed grammatical descrip tions of their own language.
3.Many think that a national tongue: a) sooner or later comes to be used as an international language; b) ought to be adopted as an international language; c) can be mastered by the inhabitants of one country only; d) a means of intercourse be tween peoples of different countries.
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Text 48
Received Pronunciation
Most of us have an image of such a normal or standard English in pronunciation, and very commonly in Great Brit ain this is "Received Pronunciation", often associated with the public schools, Oxford, and the BBC. Indeed, a pronun ciation within this range has great prestige throughout the world, and for English taught as a foreign language it is more usually the ideal than any other pronunciation. At the same time, it must be remembered that, so far as the Eng lish-speaking countries are concerned this "Received Pro nunciation" approaches the status of a "standard" almost only in England: educated Scots, Irishmen, Americans, and others have their own, different images of a standard form of English.
Even in England it is difficult to speak of a standard in pronunciation. For one thing pronunciation is infinitely vari able, so that even given the will to adopt a single pronuncia tion, it would be difficult to achieve. The word dance may be pronounced in a dozen ways even by people who do not think of themselves as dialect speakers; there is no sure way of any two people saying the same sound. In this respect, pro nunciation much more closely resembles handwriting than spelling. In spelling, there are absolute distinctions which can be leamt and imitated with complete precision: one can know at once whether a word is spelt in a "standard" way or not. But two persons' handwriting and pronunciation may both be per fectly intelligible, yet have obvious differences without our being able to say which is "better" or more "standard".
Moreover, while the easy and quick communications of modem times have mixed up levelled dialectal distinctions to a
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great extent, and encouraged the spread of "neutral", "normal" pronunciation, the accompanying sociological changes have reduced the prestige of Received Pronunciation. When Mr. Robert Graves returned to Oxford in October 1961 to take up the Professorship of Poetry, The Times reported him as saying, "Only the ordinary accent of the undergraduate has changed. In my day you very seldom heard anything but Oxford English; now there is a lot of north country and so on. In 1920 it was prophesied that the Oxford accent would overcome all others. But the regional speech proved stronger. A good thing!"
♦ Answer the questions.
1.What does the writer mean by "Received Pronunciation?"
2.Is it difficult to speak of a standard in pronunciation in England?
3.Why would it be difficult to achieve a single standard pronunciation?
4.In what way is pronunciation like handwriting?
5.What is meant by "neutral" or "normal" pronunciation?
6.What changes are taking place in the position of Re ceived Pronunciation, according to the writer?
7.Was Robert Graves glad that the regional speech had proved stronger?
Text 49
Publication Programs
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In the publication of documentary sources archivists and historians have helped each other. The publication of docu ments by archivists stimulated historical science. Historians first began to write history critically and with a degree of
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scientific exactness, when documentary sources became eas ily available to them. This was especially notable after the publication of certain of the great collections of medieval source materials.
In England the great collection of Chronicles and Memori als of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages was published in 1858-1911. The materials in the collection were edited by competent historians working with the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records in the Public Record Office Be sides including chronicles and memorials of the medieval pe riod this collection includes many calendars of state papers and lists and indexes of other public records that pertain to the modem period. The publication of the collection revealed the great wealth of historical sources in England and gave impetus in that country to the development of the modern school of critical historians.
Archivists have received much help from historians in publishing documentary source material. In compiling and ed iting the great medieval source collections they used the train ing they had received from historians. But besides a knowledge of history, they had to use the auxiliary historical sciences, e.g. diplomatics, paleography and sphragistics.
II
The printed form of publication is especially suitable for public documents that are dispersed among series and that are to be brought together in a different order in relation to some particular subject.
The printed form of publication is suitable for public rec ords when the individual items require editorial attention.
Microphotographic reproduction is a technique that is suited to the publication of many series of modem records that
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