Guide_to_Scitnce

Mathematics

Before you read

Discuss this question with your partner.

Do you think it is a good idea to award prizes to scientists for their work? Why / Why not?

D Vocabulary

Match these words with their definitions.

5 semiconductor E characteristic of matter which can flow endlessly without resistance

6 heterostructure F when there is just one boundary between material that can transmit electricity

7 optoelectronics G angry physical force

8 superconductor H device that produces intense, concentrated beam of light

Reading 2

Russian Nobel Prize winners in Physics and Chemistry

Because of its long history of supporting scientific research and education, Russia has produced a number of internationally recognised leaders in physics and chemistry.

The Russian Academy of Sciences (or the USSR Academy of Sciences, as it was called before 1991), played a major part in all their careers. With one exception, all were members of the Academy, carrying out their research and publishing their findings with the

Academy's support.

1956 In 1956, Nikolay N. Semyonov was the first Russian to receive a Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his research into the mechanism of chemical reactions. He was trained as a physicist and chemist. During his career, working alone or with other distinguished scientists like Pyotr L. Kapitsa, he made many important discoveries and contributions to chemistry and physics. In 1931, Semyonov became the first director of the Institute of Chemical Physics of the Academy and was also one of the founders of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT).

1958 The collaboration of Pavel A. Cherenkov, Igor Y. Tamm and Ilya M. Frank resulted in the discovery and description of the CherenkovVavilov effect, a phenomenon which is very important in nuclear physics. For their work they received the Nobel Prize in 1958. All three of the scientists were professors at universities and the Academy's institutes and greatly influenced future generations of scientists.

1962 After receiving his doctoral degree from Leningrad University at the exceptionally young age of 19, Lev D. Landau went on to study abroad. When he returned to Russia, he became head of two of the Academy's institutes. Like Semyonov,

he was also involved in founding the MIPT. He received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1962, for his phenomenological theory of superfluidity in helium.

1964 Nikolay G. Basov and Aleksandr M. Prokhorov worked together on a project which led to the development of the laser and their receiving the 1964 Nobel Prize. Both worked at the Lebedev Institute of Physics (Basov was the Director from 1973-1988) and also taught at universities. Even though Prokhorov never became a member of the Academy, the Academy's General Physics Institute was renamed the

A.M. Prokhorov General Physics Institute in his honour.

1978 Pyotr L. Kapitsa went to England after he had completed his studies at Petrograd Polytechnic Institute. He studied at Cambridge and also worked on various projects there. He returned to Russia in 1934 and continued his career there. He was also one of the founders of the MIPT. In addition, Kapitsa was a member of the Soviet National Committee of the Pugwash movement, a group of international scientists who wanted to use science for the good of humankind and not for violence and war. Kapitsa won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1978, for his work on low-temperature physics.

2000 Zhores I. Alferov has been active in physics since graduating from the Electrotechnical Institute in Leningrad. He received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2000, for the development of the semiconductor heterostructures used in high-speed electronics and optoelectronics.

2003 More recently, Russian Nobel Prize winners in 2003 were Vitaly L. Ginsburg and Alexei A. Abrikosov. Ginsburg, who holds a doctoral degree from Moscow State University, became the director of the Academy's Physics Institute after Igor Tamm. Ginsburg was influenced by Landau, with whom he had worked, and by Tamm, who had been his teacher. Alexei Abrikosov was educated at Moscow State University. He worked at the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics for over 20 years (1965-1988) and also taught at Moscow State University during that time. They received the Nobel Prize for Physics for pioneering contributions to the theory of superconductors and superfluids.

Mathematics

Pronunciation guide

helium /"hi…lI´m/

heterostructures /het´r´√"strøktS´z/ superfluidity /"su…p´flu"Id´tI/

E Comprehension

Read the text and answer the questions in your own words.

1 How many Nobel Prize winners were members of the Academy?

2 Which scientists were among those who founded the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology?

3 Which scientists, apart from Lev Landau, had things or places named after them?

4 Which scientists left the country to further their studies?

5 Who was the director of the Academy’s Physics Institute before Vitaly Ginsburg?

Before you listen

Discuss these questions with your partner.

What does the Nobel Prize represent?

Why do you think it's such a prestigious award?

F Listening

Listen to an interview where a commentator is talking about the Nobel Prize. Then answer the questions.

1 According to Bradford, what is the greatest reward for winning a Nobel Prize?

A the money B the medal

C the certificate D the honour

2 How are people nominated for the Prizes? A Alfred Nobel chooses them.

B The committee chooses one of their friends.

C Institutions suggest people who have done outstanding work.

D They are voted for.

3 Why did Alfred Nobel decide to set up the Nobel Prizes?

A He didn't know what to do with his money.

Mathematics

B He wanted to do some good with his money.

C He wanted to help scientists only. D He wanted to show people how rich

he was.

4 How much money did Alfred Nobel give to set up the Prizes?

A more than $400,000

B more than $400,000,000 C more than $40,000

D more than $4,000,000

5 Which is true about the Nobel Prize winners? A Most of them are women.

B Most of them are men. C They must be European. D They must be young.

6 There is NO Nobel Prize for

Aliterature

Bphysics

Cpeace

Dmathematics

G Speaking

Discuss these questions with your partner.

What are some of the goals of the Russian Academy of Sciences?

Has the Academy of Sciences been successful in achieving its goals? Give examples to support your view.

Task

Give a two-minute summary of the history, goals and achievements of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Use the information in both texts.

Talk about:

●the history of the RAS – when founded / where / by whom; growth throughout USSR; work now continued by the RAS

●goals of the RAS – support scientific research; share knowledge with others, etc

●examples of the Academy's success – talk about one or two of the Nobel Prize winners: name / prize won and year / scientific achievements / education / where he worked / something special about him

Remember to:

●maintain eye contact with your audience

●glance at your notes, don't read from them

●take your time

Speaking tip

Focus on important information.

H Writing

Write an article on the history of the Nobel Prize and give some examples of scientists who have won it. Read text 2 again and listen to exercise F again if necessary. Use this plan to help you.

PARAGRAPH 1

Explain what the Nobel prize is and give a brief history of it.

PARAGRAPH 2/3

Give two or three examples of Russian scientists who have won the Nobel Prize for physics and chemistry and explain why they won it. Which achievement do you consider to be the most important one? Why?

PARAGRAPH 4

Sum up by saying what the prize represents and that many Russian scientists have been proud receivers.

Use a formal register (no short forms).

Use conjunctions (eg furthermore, however, because of, etc).

Write 200-250 words.

Unit 1

Before you read

Discuss these questions with your partner.

Обсуждение вопросов перед чтением текста проводится в небольших группах или парах. Даже при минимальном уровне знаний учащиеся могут дать начальную классификацию живых организмов: животные (animals), растения

(plants), грибы (fungi) и микроорганизмы (micro-organisms).

A Vocabulary

Match these words with their definitions.

Учащиеся должны подобрать правильные определения к словам из текста. Если некоторые слова представляют трудность, перевод можно посмотреть в Glossary в конце «Книги для студента» или воспользоваться словарём.

16 K; 17 Q

body. For instance, they help us digest our food. Of course, there are some bad ones which can make us ill too, giving us sore throats, for example.

Anyway, to be more specific, there are actually four basic types of germ – bacteria, viruses, protozoa and fungi. Starting with bacteria, they are single-celled animals and are found everywhere. Be it in the air, the water, the earth or even in us, this is where they find their food. As you know, we can’t see them without a microscope and that’s because they are so small that there can be literally billions in, for example, a few drops of water.

You may well ask what they look like and the answer is that it depends. They can be round, like balls, but others are completely different; perhaps long and thin. Alternatively, some have hairs over their bodies which help with their movement.

Now moving on to viruses …

Answers: 1 mistakenly; 2 microbes; 3 some; 4 germ; 5 different shapes

Reading 1

Biology.

An introduction

Внимательное чтение и перевод текста, который представляет собой очерк развития биологии на протяжении нескольких столетий.

B Comprehension

Read the text and decide if the following statements are true or false.

Answers: 1 T; 2 F; 3 F; 4 F; 5 T; 6 F

Before you listen

Discuss these questions with your partner.

Учащиеся должны проявить свои знания, отвечая на вопросы, предложенные к обсуждению перед прослушиванием аудиозаписи. Если вопросы вызывают затруднения, то к ним следует вернуться после прослушивания аудиозаписи, которая содержит необходимую информацию.

C Listening

Listen to this lesson about germs. Circle the correct word or phrase to make true statements.

Tapescript

Teacher: OK, listen up class. Today we’re going to learn what germs actually are. So let’s begin by clearing up one mistaken belief many people have. Germs are not all bad. No, indeed, germs are basically microbes and they can live in many places, such as in or on humans, animals or plants. While you might think that sounds disgusting, let me explain something: some germs actually help the human

Before you read

Discuss these questions with your partner.

Обсуждение общих вопросов до чтения текста: какие области биологии наиболее важны для общества и интересны учащимся, каким направлением биологии хотели бы заниматься учащиеся.

D Vocabulary

Complete the sentences below with words from the box.

Answers:

Reading 2

Biology today

Текст ‘Biology Today’ оформлен в виде письма, что дает преподавателю возможность в общих чертах познакомить студентов с особенностями деловой переписки. Стоит подчеркнуть следующие моменты: традиционное начало – Dear Sir/Madam, Dear Mr Shearer; отсутствие неформальных и сленговых выражений; традиционное завершение – Faithfully/Sincerely yours.

E Comprehension

Read the text and answer the questions in your own words.

Answers:

1 zoology, botany, molecular biology, genetics

2 molecular biology

3 By protecting them from becoming extinct.

4 By studying the effect of new types of food crops on the environment.

5 Astrobiology is the science of looking at the possibilities of life on other planets.

Before you listen

Discuss these questions with your partner.

Учащиеся в парах или группах высказываются по предложенным к обсуждению вопросам. Информация по теме:

‚ Climate change is otherwise known as ‘global warming’, which means the increase in global temperatures caused by the buildup of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, ozone etc) in the atmosphere as a result of destructive human activities.

Тема климатических изменений сейчас очень актуальна, и каждый найдёт, что сказать по этому поводу.

F Listening

Listen to part of a TV programme about climate changechange. Then decide if the following statements are true or false.

Tapescript

Presenter: Good afternoon. Today we’re considering how worried we really need to be about climate change. In particular, how worried we should be about plant life and the future of animals on this earth. Sarah’s report gives us some reasons to be optimistic and some reasons to really worry. Sarah.

Sarah: Hello there. Yes, it’s true that climatic change does affect animal and plant life but not always to the point of disaster. Many animals and plants are actually very adaptable – you know, able to change according to conditions. Of course, historically ice ages and droughts – a severe lack of water – have completely destroyed certain types of animal and plant life, but many managed to survive extreme, long-term climate change by adapting.

Now, many biologists and ecologists believe the Earth today may again be in the middle of climate change because over the last century many studies have shown rising global temperatures, on average about half a degree centigrade, and although this may seem very little, it is actually happening much faster than before and it can affect life enormously.

Climate change leads some plants and animals to find new homes, while others that are not so lucky become extinct. Mountains give a good example of this. A hotter climate means trees and plants can grow higher up mountains. In the Alps, it’s been observed that every decade sees plants moving up about four metres. And how does this influence animal life? Well, unfortunately, some animals, which have become highly specialised in order to live on mountain tops, have no escape if conditions change. They simply cannot survive in warm weather.

So let’s go over to Dr Bernard in Switzerland who will fill us in with more details …

Answers: 1 T; 2 F; 3 F; 4 T; 5 T

G Speaking

Учащиеся в парах или группах высказываются по предложенным к обсуждению вопросам, а затем в соответствии с планом готовят презентации на тему ‘What is biology?’. Учащимся предлагается следовать рекомендациям, данным в упражнении. Учитель может прослушать ход обсуждения и подготовленные выступления, переходя от одной пары/группы к другой.

H Writing

Учащиеся должны написать официальное письмо объёмом 100–140 слов, следуя предложенному плану и используя данные в упражнении ключевые слова и фразы.

Model answer

Dear Mrs Jones,

I am writing this letter to let you know about the areas of biology I am mostly interested in specialising in. These are molecular biology and genetics.

I have chosen these areas because I have always been interested in the cell, this tiny living organism, and the ways it works. I would like to know everything about how its different systems interact. Also, DNA is another great mystery to me. I would like to learn how all this genetic information is stored and passed on from one generation to the next.

I realise that there are no hard lines between these two areas of study, that is, molecular biology and genetics, so I would like to know how my choice now will affect my career prospects later. What I hope to do when I graduate is work with doctors and chemists and do research in order to find cures for different diseases.

I would very much appreciate it if you could meet me during your office hours in order to discuss my options. Would Monday 17th October at 10am be suitable for you?

Thank you very much for your time. I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely, Carly Browny

Unit 2

Before you read

Discuss these questions with your partner.

Обсуждение вопросов до чтения текста должно подготовить учащихся к восприятию новой информации. Информация по обсуждаемым вопросам:

‚Microscope – an optical instrument that uses lenses to make very small objects look larger, so that they can be examined and studied.

‚Equipment – tools, machines and other things that are needed for a particular purpose.

‚Tools and equipment: gloves, pipette, test tube, clamp stand, burner, slide, x-rays etc.