The Scientists and the Watches

One night, a crazy scientist got involved in a rather silly argument with a fellow scientist. They were arguing about whose watch was the better, the Swiss one or the Japanese one. Being scientists, they decided to do an experiment to test the watches. The first part of the test was to see if both were waterproof. (They were both so convinced of the quality of their watches that they were willing to risk ruining them.)

They went into their laboratory looking very serious. They filled the sink with water, put the watches in, waited impatiently for ten minutes and took them out.

They could see there was something wrong with both watches, but being cautious men of science they observed them for a couple of hours before speaking to each other. The tension was unbearable. They silently realized that the Swiss watch was losing sixty minutes an hour and the Japanese one was 120 minutes slow.

The scientist with the Japanese watch then slowly raised his head and said, "Both watches are now defective but my watch is right more often than yours, so it's better." The scientist with the Swiss watch left the room without saying a word.

Was the man with the Japanese watch right? If so, how?

1. What were they arguing about at the beginning of the story?

2. Why couldn't they go on with the experiment after they took the watches out of the water?

3. What did they do for a couple of hours?

4. What did they realise the Swiss watch was doing?

5. If the Swiss watch was losing sixty minutes in sixty minutes, was it

a. going forwards?. b. stopped? c. going backwards?

6. So how often in every 12-hour periods would the Swiss watch show the right time?

a. Once. b. Twice.

7. How many minutes was the Japanese watch losing every hour?

8. If a watch loses 120 minutes every sixty minutes, is it

a. going forwards? b. stopped? c. going backwards?

9. How often in every 12-hour period will the Japanese watch show the correct time?

a. Once. b. Twice.

10. Was the scientist right when he said, "But my watch is right more often than yours"?

11. Why is this absurd?

From "Challenge to Think"

1. Word Bingo.

Note! Bingo is a popular gambling game played with cards on which numbered squares are covered as the numbers are called at random.

Look at the list of words given below. Write down any 5 words. The teacher is going to read the definitions of all the words in random order. If you hear the definition of one of the words you have chosen cross it out. The first student to cross all the words he or she has chosen calls out "Bingo" and reads the words to prove his claim:

foot, language, examination, physics, explanation, mathematics, traffic, invention, history, nature, achievement, time, steam, coal, tunnel, sandwich, experience, experiment, speed, accident, clay, science, discovery, railway, problem.

Unit 9

G r a m m a r:  1. Modal verbs and their equivalents 2. Functions of the verbs to be, to have T e x t s: A. British Economy B. C. The Subject of the Science of Economics D. Single Currency Not in Circulation Before 2002  C o n v e r s a t i o n: On Economics

Г р а м м а т и ч е с к и й м а т е р и а л