3.4.4 Reproduce the Text

3.4.5 Read the following text without using a dictionary and give a summary of it The World’s First X–Ray Picture

Joseph Thomson Crookes was very much interested in the composition and possibilities of cathode rays which he had discovered.

But when cathode–ray tubes first appeared scientists thought that they were of no practical value, except for scientific research. Only in 1895 something changed that attitude. With the help of a cathode–ray tube, a German physicist, Doctor Wilhelm Konrad Rontgen, made his historic discovery of X–rays. One day, during the course of experimenting with the Crookes tube in his laboratory the scientist enclosed the tube in a lightproof box. Then he darkened his workshop to

check whether any light was coming from the tube. To his surprise he noticed a glow coming from a nearby object, a metal screen coated with a fluorescent chemical. Rontgen thought that his cathode tube was giving off some kind of radiation rather than emitting light, but what it was he could not say. Thus he gave the name X–ray to the unknown radiation.

Soon Rontgen found that those X–rays affected photographic plate. He made his wife place her hand on a photographic plate and armed the mysterious rays upon it. The bone structure of the hand was closely outlined on the plate. Thus he had taken the world’s first X–ray picture.

3.4.6 Read and translate the following text without a dictionary and write 8–10 questions covering the main idea of the text

It is assumed that the scientific revolution of our time began with the discovery of X–rays by Rontgen in 1895. In its turn the discovery of X–rays led to the study of the nature of the atom, then, through the quantum theory, to nuclear analysis. This was followed by the discovery of the properties of electromagnetic waves. The latter were immediately made use of for signalling, for the wireless and for the devices that made the wireless effective. One of those devices, actually the very first one, was the three–electrode valve, which had been successfully operating until it was replaced by a great variety of transistors, masers and lasers∗. There is no doubt that the use of highly sensitive semiconductors, masers and lasers and the rapidly improving electronic devices, especially those which can operate at very low temperatures and with very high speeds, will bring about still greater transformations both in science and industry and pave the way to new victories of Man over Nature.

* maser = microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation

laser = light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation

3.4.7 Translate into English

1. Говорят, что открытие рентгеновских лучей вызвало промышленную революцию. 2. Это открытие сделало возможным изучение природы атома. 3. За изучение природы атома последовало открытие свойств электромагнитных волн, которые использовались для специализации, для радио и для различных приборов. 4. Одним из этих приборов была трехэлектродная лампа. 5. Впоследствии трехэлектродную лампу вытеснили полупроводниковые приборы, мазеры и лазеры. 6. Так как, эти приборы могут работать при очень низких температурах и с огромной скоростью, они несомненно приведут к дальнейшим научным и техническим преобразованиям. 7. Все студенты технических вузов должны иметь представление о последних достижениях науки и техники.