Кондратева А wаы то суццессфул реадинг цомпрехенсион 2011

carry heavy loads of shopping. __4__, there can be problems, especially if you live in a city. Running a car can be expensive, and you have to spend money on items __5__ petrol, servicing the car, and repairs. You might __6__ have problems with parking, __7__ everywhere is becoming more and more crowded with cars. __8__, most people feel that the __9__ of owing a car outweigh the __10__. __11__ most young people of my age start driving __12__ they can. __13__, I think that cars nowadays have become essential, __14__ I also feel they cause a lot of problems, __15__ they are noisy and dirty. __16__, the large number of cars on the roads means that most towns and cities are organized for the convenience of cars, and the needs of pedestrians are ignored.

Ex. 3

Fill in the gaps with the linking words from the list below:

whether or not, alternatively, not only… but also, what is more, as a matter of fact, however, owing to, neither … nor, providing that, in order to, at the same time, firstly, thus.

There are many things you can do 1 in order to reduce pollution levels in the city. __2__, to decrease the amount of traffic on the streets, you should ask yourself __3__ your car journey is really necessary. It could be cheaper and healthier to walk. __4__, it could even be quicker, __5__ the amount of traffic at certain times of the day. __6__, you could use public transport, __7__ avoiding the stressful experience of driving in the city and __8__ freeing yourself from the time-consuming necessity of finding a parking space. __9__, when it comes to speed, health and convenience, __10a__ walking __10b__ the public transport system can compare with the simple bicycle. __11a__ has it been proven to be faster than a car for most city journeys, __11b__ you can park it almost anywhere __12__ you lock it securely. __13__, it is the cleanest and most energy-efficient form of transport known to man.

Ex. 4

This passage comes from “A Gentleman’s Guide to Modern Physics” by Otto H. Theimer. Read it and say what qualities you believe all creative thinkers will inevitably share and which ones you don’t regard as very important. Express your attitude through the use of modal verbs (see “Grammar and Vocabulary Revision for the Exam”, Unit 2). Add

41

more ideas into your talk. Use linking words and expressions given above.

Example:

In my opinion, you cannot be trained to be creative, you must be born it.

Nevertheless, you should get a good University degree, though you don’t have to be a Ph.D. to devise something important.

Creative thinkers seem to possess the following characteristics in common:

an acutely sensitive awareness of their environment;

the ability to generate a large number of ideas in response to a given problem;

the ability to focus their faculties* in sustained concentration;

in most cases the creative individual’s work place is likely to be a cheerfully haphazard* conglomeration of complete disorder;

the majority of truly creative persons are introverts;

they tend to be much less concentrated with what others think of them than most people are; also, they are often comparatively indifferent to clothing and appearance. Creative people do not seem to have a need to present themselves in a favorable light to others.

faculty – (formal) natural ability (mental faculties); skills that someone has (a great faculty for absorbing information)

haphazard (you read it ,hap’hazard ) – not organized or planned

Ex. 5

Combine separate sentences in each paragraph into single ones. e.g.

On 18 December 2003 a new window to the universe opened. The first dazzling images were released from NASA’s newly named Spitzer Space Telescope. It was formerly known as the Space InfraRed Telescope Facility. - On 18 December 2003 a new window to the universe opened with the release of the first dazzling images from NASA’s newly named Spitzer Space Telescope, formerly known as the Space InfraRed Telescope Facility.

1. Spitzer Space Telescope delivers first pictures. (published in 2004)

42

It is the fourth and last mission of NASA’s suite of Great Observatories. The list includes The Hubble Space Telescope, The Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory and the Chandra X-ray Observatory.

Spitzer consists of a 0.85m telescope and three cryogenically cooled science instruments. Spitzer is larger than the 0.6 m European Infrared Observatory. This facility was in operation from November 1995 until May 1998.

Spitzer’s mission will last for two and a half years. The next infrared space telescope will be European.

The Herschel mission of the European Space Agency is scheduled for launch in February 2007.

It will be equipped with a 3.5m mirror. It will detect much fainter sources than Spitzer. The survey will be done at longer wavelengths. It will cover the full far-infrared and submillimetre waveband.

China and CERN renew co-operation agreement for a further five years (published in 2004)

Liu Yanhua is the vice-minister of science and technology of the People’s Republic of China. On 17 February he was on a visit to CERN. He signed a new co-operation agreement with the laboratory.

The agreement is valid for a period of five years and is renewable. It lays down the framework for the development of scientific and technological co-operation between CERN and China.

China is a non-member state. The agreement includes China’s participation in CERN’s research. It also includes China’s participation in CERN’s main programmes.

Ex.6

The Wonders of the Modern World

The seven wonders of the modern world may be less spectacular than their ancient counterparts but they undoubtedly serve a more utilitarian purpose.

In 2006 the CNN news group organized a poll on its website asking readers to vote for the greatest wonder of the modern world. In the conviction that the challenges of our era are not confined to architecture but extend to science and technology, CNN nominated seven modern engi-

43

neering and scientific wonders and invited visitors to its website to state which they considered the most wonderful of them all.

Two of the seven nominations were CERN creations, which is in itself a remarkable achievement.

Read about these wonders and compare them. Which of them do you think is a real breakthrough? What projects would you vote for and why?

Debate the issue in pairs or groups of 3 or 4.

1. Linking nations deep under the sea By Matthew Knight for CNN

(CNN) -- Not since the last Ice Age, over 8,000 years ago, had the United Kingdom been joined with mainland Europe.

But on December 1, 1990, some 40 meters beneath the bed of the English Channel, construction worker Graham Fagg and his French counterpart Philippe Cozette shook hands through a hand-drilled hole to complete the longest undersea tunnel in the world.

This extraordinary engineering feat was the culmination of proposals from both sides of the Channel dating back as far as 1751 when the Amiens Academy in France held a competition to find a new way of crossing the Channel.

As early as 1880 tunnels were begun in Dover at Shakespeare Cliff and Abbot's Cliff -- the former measured over one mile before being filled, whilst the remnants of the latter still remain to this day -- but a combination of lack of funds and fears of invasion from the continent put a halt to the project.

These problems recurred when proposals were revived in 1984, but by 1986 the British and French governments had ratified a treaty specifying a tunnel length of 50 kilometers (39 of which were under the sea) traveling from Calais to Folkestone.

Construction began the following year with Transmanche Link -- a consortium of British and French construction firms -- chosen to implement the design by Mott Hay and Anderson.

In the seven years it took to complete the project, more than 15,000 workers were employed on site, along with 11 tunnel boring machines used to create three tunnels, two for trains and one service shaft.

The machines drove eight meter-wide cutting wheels which bored through the relatively soft chalky soil. In all, seven million tonnes of

44

spoil were removed from the three tunnels and progress from both English and French sides peaked at just over 400 meters per week.

By June 1991 the two main rail tunnels had met, and three years later on May 6, 1994, Britain's Queen Elizabeth and French President Francois Mitterrand officially opened the Channel Tunnel. Passengers and freight trucks waited a further six months before they could travel.

During and after its construction many doom-mongers predicted catastrophe should fire break out in the tunnel, but these fears were allayed when, on November 18, 1996, a fire that engulfed a shuttle train carrying trucks claimed no lives. Passengers and crew were evacuated to the adjacent service tunnel.

Regrettably, trains which have always whizzed through the French countryside at up to 300 kilometers per hour are restricted to just 160 once they arrive in the UK.

But this ongoing criticism of the British side should finally end when track improvements are completed in 2007, making the London to Paris journey time just 2 hours 15 minutes. It will also coincide with the opening of the spectacular new King Cross Central terminal at London's St Pancras station.

Although the financing of the Channel Tunnel should be filed under modern accounting disasters -- the costs more than doubled to $20 billion -- the Chunnel, as it is often referred to, has revolutionized travel to and from Europe.

2. Bridging technology and design gap By Matthew Knight for CNN

(CNN) -- There can be few less glamorous modern problems in the world than traffic congestion and often the solution of a bypass displaces people, wildlife and creates a vast ugly swathe of concrete through what was once a picturesque landscape.

But the people of the ancient town of Millau in the Languedoc region of Southern France now not only have quieter streets, but a bridge of breathtaking beauty and a modern structure which is a tourist attraction in its own right.

The fusion of modern technology, engineering and design displayed by the Millau Bridge has been seldom matched.

From its conception at the offices of world-leading architect Norman Foster to completion by the French construction company Eiffage, it has set new standards for design and construction.

45

Spanning two plateaus in the Massif Central mountains (France's paragliding capital) the bridge, at its highest point, towers over 340 meters above the floor of the Tarn valley. That's higher than the Eiffel Tower and tall enough to squeeze London's Canary Wharf underneath it.

The Millau Bridge is a cable-stayed structure consisting of seven reinforced concrete pillars ranging from 75 to 235 meters tall.

The masts which rise above the roadway and the multi-span cables are all made of steel. The height of the pillars meant that the usual way of laying the road deck -- using cranes to lift sections into place -- was not an option, so a new untried method in cable-stayed bridge construction was sought.

Using hundreds of hydraulic cylinders and pumps, the road deck (made from high grade steel) was literally rolled out from either end of the bridge.

Using GPS satellite system, 2000 pre-assembled pieces of road deck were painstakingly laid 60 cm at a time, finally meeting in the middle in June 2004, whereupon Felix Baumgartner, the famous BASE jumper put another notch on his skydiving bedpost and leapt from the newly completed platform.

In total the bridge weighs in the region of 290,000 tonnes and is a vast structure, but set against the landscape it succeeds in Foster's aims of having "the delicacy of a butterfly" and "fusing with nature."

Indeed when the fog shrouds the valley below, the sensation of floating above the clouds, when crossing the bridge, is palpable. The cables which anchor the road deck can take on the appearance of the masts and sails of seven ships. To counteract any sense of disorientation and reassure drivers who pass through the tollgates, the bridge was designed with a gentle curve and has a 3% incline which also improves visibility.

Jean Pierre Martin, the project director believes that the bridge is proof of the speed with which engineering techniques are improving. "Ten years ago", he said, "These problems might not have been overcome".

Delivered on budget (€400m), and on time (opening to drivers on 16th December 2004), the bridge has exceeded the best expectations its designers and builders had for it and has become a modern engineering wonder to look at again and again.

3. Subterranean secrets of the Universe By Matthew Knight for CNN

46

(CNN) -- In a cosmic-sized cavern 100 meters beneath the FrenchSwiss border, scientists from around the globe are making final preparations for the largest experiment the world has ever seen in an attempt to unearth the origins of the Universe.

Most tourists making their way up into the nearby Jura Mountains or to the slopes of the Alps will be unaware of the work of CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) who have been conducting scientific experiments for over half a century.

Founded in 1954 and now funded by 20 European states, it employs over 6,500 scientists from 80 countries and is the world's largest particle physics laboratory.

Devotees of the author Dan Brown might recall that CERN played a substantial part in his best-selling novel Angels and Demons.

World Wide Web historians will also know that the idea for it was conceived at the laboratory in 1989. But otherwise CERN has quietly gone about its business in relative anonymity. All this may be about to change.

In November next year the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) the largest (27km in circumference), and highest energy (7 Tera-electron Volts (TeV), particle accelerator ever constructed will be switched on.

The LHC is the successor to the Large Electron-Positron Collider (LEP) which was operational from 1989-2000. The job of the LHC is to fire protons (high-energy particles) in opposite directions around the 27 kilometer ring at 11,000 times per second, a velocity approaching the speed of light.

Black holes

It is so powerful, it is capable of creating mini-black holes. The hope is that the collisions -- up to one billion per second -- will reproduce the conditions that were in existence immediately after the Big Bang some 10 billion years ago.

The fired protons -- guided by the use of around 5,000 superconducting magnets which operate at a rather chilly -270 Celsius -- will smash into each other at a rate of 40 meters per second.

The information from these collisions will be collected in four particle detectorsATLAS, ALICE, CMS and LHCb. ATLAS, the largest detector ever built, measures 46 meters long and 25 meters high and weighs in the region of 7,000 tonnes.

47

What the scientists hope to unearth is the "God particle", the nickname given to the Higgs boson, the idea forwarded by Professor Peter Higgs a theoretical physicist at Edinburgh University.

The Higgs boson attempts to explain how particles acquire their mass and if it is found to exist, when the experiments are completed in the LHC, it would validate the so-called Standard Model of physics,a framework devised to explain the nature of particles and their interactions.

The LHC is expected to be firing on all cylinders sometime during 2008, by which time the question to end all questions, how was the universe created?, may be well on the way to being answered.

4. Spinning the web of knowledge By Matthew Knight for CNN

(CNN) -- On August 6, 1991 Tim Berners-Lee posted the World Wide Web's first Web site. Fifteen years on there are estimated to be over 100 million.

The pace of growth has happened at a bewildering rate and its success has even confounded its inventor.

It was in 1980 whilst on six-month stint working as a consultant at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, that Londonborn Tim Berners-Lee first devised a software program which he explained would "keep track of all the random associations one comes across in life and brains are supposed to be so good at remembering but sometimes mine wouldn't."

He called his program Enquire -- short for "Enquire Within Upon Everything" -- the name of an encyclopedia he had read as a boy. In essence it was a hypertext notebook which allowed words in a document to be linked with other files on his computer.

Universities and governments had been using an Internet to share information for several years and by 1989 CERN had the largest one in Europe.

But Berners-Lee imagined a system where all the world's computers could interact with one another, not just computers within organizations.

So he devised a relatively straightforward coding system HTML (HyperText Mark-up Language) which allowed for the creation and design of a Web page. He then created the URL (Universal Resource Locater) for addresses. And finally a set of rules HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) which allowed one Web page to be linked with another.

48

From the outset Berners-Lee has taken an altruistic approach to his creation.

He gifted the fruits of his labor to the world and remains fiercely protective of the way the Web is developed.

Whilst the Web has made billionaires of some people, Berners-Lee remains happy to head up the W3 Consortium -- a nonprofit organization -- which maintains standards and builds consensus about how Web technologies are implemented.

The new business opportunities that the Web presented led to a glut of investment in online companies. Throughout the mid-nineties, fancifully high valuations were recorded on stock exchanges around the world for Web start-ups -- some of which hadn't even turned a profit.

The ensuing dot com bubble predictably resulted in the dot com crash with hundreds of companies going to the wall. On March 10, 2000, Nasdaq -- the US technology index -- closed at 5048.62. By October 2002 the index had lost 78 per cent of its value, tumbling to just 1114.11.

Faster broadband connections have replaced the often infuriatingly slow dial-up connections and completely altered the surfing experience. Information and entertainment can truly be accessed at the click of a button.

We take so much of what the Web offers for granted now, it is sometimes difficult to imagine how we coped before its invention.

Bestowed with titles and awards and regularly topping the list of greatest ever inventors the publicity-shy Berners-Lee remains committed to maintaining the balance between commercial and social forces. Its future looks safe in his hands.

5. Robot science in reach for humans By Matthew Knight for CNN

(CNN) -- The 19th Century American lawyer turned author Christian Nestell Bovee once said, "It is the nature of thought to find its way into action."

A 26-year-old amputee from Maryland in the United States is living 21st Century proof of the power of the mind.

When former U.S. Marine Claudia Mitchell lost her arm at the shoulder in a motorcycle accident in 2004, she doubted whether she would ever get her old life back.

But with the aid of Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) under the direction of doctor Todd Kuiken, Mitchell has been able to trans-

49

form her life and with it transform the possibilities for amputees in the future.

The RIC, in association with the Neural Engineering Center for Artificial Limbs (NECAL), has pioneered a muscle reinnervation procedure which takes an amputee's own nerves and then connects them to healthy tissue.

The operation was successfully trialed four years ago when Jesse Sullivan, a double amputee had four nerves transferred from his shoulder to the muscles in his chest.

Once the nerves were embedded in his pectoral muscle, the prosthetic arm -- which has electrodes that detect muscle activity -- was then able to respond to his thoughts. If he thought "open hand", the electrodes detected the nerve activity and the arm responded accordingly.

Mitchell's arm, which weighs five kilograms and contains six small motors, is a further step towards a more full range of movement.

With six nerves transplanted to her chest, she is able to perform more complex procedures.

"It has changed my life dramatically", she said, "I use it to help with cooking, for holding a laundry basket and all kinds of daily tasks. My life is more rewarding and active."

In the future it is hoped that electrodes in the hand will send signals up the arm to the skin on the chest, which in turn will deliver a message to the brain. This will allow the patient the perception of sensation.

The fictional bionic man famously cost $6 million. In real life, Claudia Mitchell's bionic arm cost just 1 per cent of that figure totaling around $60,000.

According to Gregory Clark, a professor in bioengineering at the University of Utah, a natural arm is able to make 22 discrete movements.

The hope is that future prosthetic limbs will be able to perform much like a normal arm.

With scientists in the UK having recently developed technology that enables artificial limbs to be attached directly to the skeleton using a titanium rod, the prospects for more complex prosthetic limbs are wrestled from the grasp of science fiction films and books and become an astonishing reality.

At the end of the 21st Century, neural engineers will look back at the work of the scientists at RIC and NECAL and view them as pioneers. Their advances are probably just the tip of the iceberg.

50