Lesson 4. Scientific research

l.Read and memorize the following words and word combinations:

substantial - существенный, заметный

exploration - исследование

laypeople - дилетанты

to apply - применять , прилагать

solitary - уединённый

representative - представитель

participation - участие

to consume - потреблять

goal - цель

attribute - признак

to foster - способствовать

to involve - вовлекать, включать в себя

to employ - применять, использовать

2. Read and translate the text.

Scientific research requires substantial funding, especially when it involves the use of expensive equipment. This funding often comes directly from governments. In the U.S., for example, it is the federal government that sponsors most national defense and space exploration projects.

Funding for science can also come from science foundations. In 1950, the U.S. Congress passed an act that established the National Science Foundation¹. This independent federal agency develops a national science policy and supports scientific research and education. Two other well- known foundations that are involved in disease research are the American Cancer Society² and the National Heart Association.

Research is also conducted and supported by private-sector industries that employ scientists — especially from the applied sciences — who work at the development of industrial or commercial processes and products. Scientific research is also supported by universities through professorships. Most professors do not just give classes but also conduct scientific research. Indeed, what many professors are looking for is the opportunity to work at a university where they can continue their own research. These are the professors whose students have the chance to observe real research at firsthand. Most universities specialize in certain fields and they are frequently judged on the achievements of their research professors. Scientists whose research findings are published and talked about in scientific circles bring prestige to the institution where they work.

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Laypeople often think of R&D (research and development) scientists as solitary figures working in a laboratory on some abstract problem. Though this may be true for a handful of scientists working on basic research, the vast majority work on R&D projects in teams. These project teams include not only scientists from various disciplines but also representatives from diverse functional groups within a company, for example, marketing, manufacturing, and human resources.

Formerly, R&D projects were passed from one group of specialists to another in serial fashion. The term “throwing it over the wall” was often used to describe this way of working, in which each stage of the process was isolated from the others. Research evidence showed that this method was neither efficient nor cost-effective because it was very time­consuming.

Companies now bring together representatives from each stage of the process and, in this way, they try to achieve more cross-functional communication and participation. The goal is to coordinate processes better and to identify and avoid problems that otherwise might only be covered later. In order to work effectively in cross-functional project teams, scientists must have up-to-date knowledge of their technical fields and also skills in communication, problem-solving, and group decision-making — all necessary for successful teamwork. As a result, universities are now giving more importance to the development of these skills, and companies are looking for ways to foster these attributes in training programs for their employees.

Notes

‘The National Science Foundation (NSF) is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health. With an annual budget of about $6.02 billion (fiscal year 2008), NSF funds approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by the United States’ colleges and universities. In some fields, such as mathematics, computer science, economics and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing.

²American Cancer Society (ACS) is the nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy and service.

2. Give the Russian equivalents.

Scientific research, expensive equipment, exploration projects, a

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national science policy, disease research, professorships, at firsthand, solitary figures, a handful of scientists, research evidence, time-consuming, up-to-date knowledge, to foster.

5. Give the English equivalents.

Существенное финансирование, научные фонды, проводить научное исследование, исследование болезни, искать возможность, специализироваться в определенных областях, научные круги, горстка ученых, участие, техническая область, решение проблем, программы обучения.

5. Translate the words of the same root. Define speech parts.

Science - scientific - scientifically - a scientist; to explore - an explorer - an exploration - explorative; to develop - a developer - development - developing - developed; to specialize - special - a specialist - a specialty; an achievement - to achieve - achievable; manufacturing - to manufacture - a manufacturer; a representative - to represent - representative - representation; to employ - an employer - an employee - employment - the (un)employed; commerce - commercial.

5. Answer the following questions.

1. What are the financing sources of scientific research? 2. What is the role of science foundations? 3. Research is not supported by private- sector industries, is it? 4. How do the professors conduct and support scientific research? 5. What do laypeople often think of R&D scientists? 6.

What is the role of project teams? Why do they include scientists? 7. How do companies achieve more cross-functional communication and participation in research?

UNIT 2 Lesson 1. Electronics as a science

1. Read the text for gist and retell it briefly.

Electronics as a science studies the properties of electrons, the laws of their motion, and the laws of transformation of various kinds of energy.

Electronics is a science, which deals with devices and instruments that are operated by the control of the movement of electric charges in a vacuum, in gasses, or in semiconductors; or with the processing of information or the control of energy by such devices. This definition covers the whole complex family of vacuum and gaseous electron tubes and their

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application. It also includes semiconductor and transistor technologies to process information or to convert energy. Without electronics we would not have cybernetics, cosmonautics and nuclear physics. It is no mistake to compare the birth of electronics to such great achievements of mankind as the discovery of fire, and penetration into the secrets of the atom. Shortly speaking, electronics is not so much a new subject; it is rather a new way of looking at electricity.

2. Read and translate the text.

Overview of electronic engineering

Electronic engineering involves the design and testing of electronic circuits that use the electronic properties of such components as resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes and transistors to achieve a particular functionality.

Signal processing deals with the analysis and manipulation of signals. Signals can be either analog, in which case the signal varies continuously according to the information, or digital, in which case the signal varies according to a series of discrete values representing the information.

For analog signals, signal processing may involve the amplification and filtering of audio signals for audio equipment or the modulation and demodulation of signals for telecommunications. For digital signals, signal processing may involve the compression, error checking and error detection of digital signals.

Control engineering has a wide range of applications from the flight and propulsion systems of commercial airplanes to the cruise control found in many modern cars. It also plays an important role in industrial automation.

Control engineers often utilize feedback when designing control systems. For example, in a car with cruise control the vehicle’s speed is continuously monitored and fed back to the system which adjusts the engine’s power output accordingly. Where there is regular feedback, control theory can be used to determine how the system responds to such feedback.

3. Find international terms and practice their pronunciation.

4. Look through the text again and choose phrases or sentences with the most relevant information.

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