Algebra in Wonderland

By Melanie Bayley

Since “Alice’s 1) Adve_tures in Wonderland” was published, in 1865, 2) sc_olars have noted how its characters are 3) ba_ed on real people in the life of its author, Charles Dodgson, who 4) wr_te under the name Lewis Carroll. Alice is Alice Pleasance Liddell, the 5) dau_hter of an Oxford 6) de_n; the Lory and Eaglet are Alice’s sisters Lorina and Edith; Dodgson himself, a 7) stut_erer, is the Dodo (“Do-Do-Dodgson”).

In the mid-19th century, 1) _____ was rapidly blossoming into what it is today: a finely honed language for describing the 2) _____ relations between things. Dodgson found the radical new math illogical and lacking in intellectual rigor. In “Alice,” he attacked some of the new ideas as 3) ____ — using a technique familiar from Euclid’s proofs, reductio ad absurdum, where the validity of an idea is tested by taking its 4) _____ to their logical extreme. The word “algebra,” De Morgan said in one of his 5) ____, comes from an Arabic phrase he transliterated as “al jebr e al mokabala,” meaning restoration and reduction. He explained that even though 6) _____ had been reduced to a seemingly 7) ____ but logical set of operations, eventually some sort of meaning would be restored.

Alice 1) (have, has) slid down from a world governed by the logic 2) (on, of) universal arithmetic to 3) (ones, one) where her size can vary from nine 4) (foots, feet) to three inches. She thinks this 5) (am, is) the root of her problem: “Being so many different sizes in a day is very confusing.” The author 6) (ever, never) explained the symbolism in his story. But Dodgson rarely wrote amusing nonsense for children: his best humor was directed at adults.

Спеціальність: Фізика

Текст 1

Завдання до тексту

I.Вставте пропущені букви у словах першого абзацу.

II. Виберіть та вставте запропоновані у дужках слова (description,Examples,both,quantity,magnitude,fundamentals,occur) в другому абзаці.

III.В третьому абзаці підкресліть правильну граматичну форму, запропоновану в дужках.

IV. Складіть план до тексту.

V. Поставте 10 запитань до тексту.

VI. Напишіть анотацію.

From Physics Today

15.10.09

Vectors

By James Cornwall

A study of 1) m_tion will involve the introduction of a variety of 2) quant_ties which are used to describe the 3) phy_ical world. Examples of such quantities include 4) dist_nce, displacement, 5) spe_d, velocity, acceleration, force, mass, momentum, 6) ener_y, work, power, etc. All these quantities can by divided into two 7) cate_ories – vectors and scalars.

A vector 1) ______ is a quantity which is fully described by both magnitude and direction. On the other hand, a scalar quantity is a quantity which is fully described by its 2) ______. The emphasis is to understand some 3) ______ about vectors and to apply the fundamentals in order to understand motion and forces which 4) ______ in two dimensions. 5) ______ of vector quantities include displacement, velocity, acceleration, and force. Each of these quantities is unique in that a full 6) ______ of the quantity demands that 7) ______ a magnitude and a direction are listed.

Vector 1) (quantities, quantitys) are often represented by scaled vector diagrams. Vector diagrams depict a vector by use of 2) (a, an) arrow drawn to scale in a specific direction. Such diagrams are commonly 3) (call, called) as free-body diagrams. There are several characteristics of 4) (this, these) diagram which make it an appropriately drawn vector diagram:

• a scale is 5) (clearly, clear) listed;

• a vector arrow (with arrowhead) 6) (has drawn, is drawn) in a specified direction. The vector arrow has a head and a tail;

• the magnitude and direction of the vector is clearly labeled.

Текст 2

Завдання до тексту

I.Вставте пропущені букви у словах першого абзацу.

II. Виберіть та вставте запропоновані у дужках слова (cloud,positively,molecule, neutral, compounds, charges, chemi­cal) в другому абзаці.

III.В третьому абзаці підкресліть правильну граматичну форму, запропоновану в дужках.

IV. Складіть план до тексту.

V. Поставте 10 запитань до тексту.

VI. Напишіть анотацію.

From Physics World

07.08.08