Practice

1. In the texts above find examples of international and ‘false friends’ words and translate them into Russian.

2. Sort out the words below into categories. Consult the dictionary if necessary.

International words	“False Friends”

Lecture, battery, detail, form, control, accurate, technology, massive, magazine,

fact, logic, pioneer, mixture, nature, intelligent, general, argument, prospect, effect, problem, actual, technique, intelligent, example, original, paragraph, transparent, focus, lamp, list, test, category, primitive, cyberspace, activity, priority, soda, application, metal, guarantee, industrial, type, location, material, vibration, phenomenon, physician, data, encyclopedia, menu, clay, system, correspondent, probe, familiar, unique, scheme, lava.

3. Can you name the English words we use in our daily life? What Russian words have become international?

4. There are the words that are frequently used in science. Many of them are common to several areas of science. Work with a partner. Sort out the words according to the areas of science they are used in. Consult the dictionary if necessary.

Biology

Chemistry

Geology

Mathematics

Physics

absorption, parent, shore, age, beaker, amplitude, metabolism, constant, collision, wild, eruption, buoyancy, ground, rotation, surface, glacier, momentum, fiber, reagent, erosion, particle, ratio, skull, unknown, mature, locus, drift, approximation, cell, compound, strength.

Writing

Work in groups. Choose one f the inventions you have discussed in this unit that you find the most important. Write a paragraph about it. Give at least three reasons to prove its significance. Make use of the expressions below:

It made it possible to …

It became possible/easy to …

It was a breakthrough in…

Study help: Listing 3 It is important when reading or writing to recognize and understand the relationship in which sentences and groups of sentences combine to present information. Here are the signal words that can be used to show the order in which things are to be said. firstly in the first place secondly also thirdly in addition to what is more above all etc.

It made important contribution to…

It laid the foundation for…

It gave rise to…/ It helped to…

It gave birth to…

It made a revolution in…

It enabled people to do…

It found widespread application in…

Example: I think the invention of a spectroscope was a real breakthrough. It helped

Isaac Newton to discover that the white light could be dispersed into a series of rainbow colors. It also made possible to study what extra-terrestrial objects are made of, for example, the sun's atmosphere. Moreover, it helped to reveal new elements such as helium. Finally, spectroscopy of atoms and molecules gave birth to quantum mechanics that is the basis of modern physics and chemistry. Today, laser spectroscopy is one of the most important experimental tools of condensed matter physics and it made a revolution in developing new materials with improved properties.

Listening

1. Before you listen answer the following questions:

1. How many discoveries or inventions of the ancient world do you know?

2. How did they influence the development of science at that time?

3. Do people still use them?

4. Have any modern inventions or discoveries replaced them?

2. Match the terms on the left with their definitions on the right.

to quantify	to name or list (the units of a group or collection) one by one in order to determine a total; number.
addition	is a printed or written sign used to represent an operation, element, quantity, quality, or relation, as in mathematics or music.
positional notation	an arithmetic operation in which the difference between two numbers is calculated
to count	the arithmetic operation of summing; calculating the sum of two or more numbers.
symbol	to calculate smth. By mathematical or logical methods.
subtraction	to determine an amount or number by mathematics, especially by numerical methods and the use of computer
to calculate	to determine or express the quantity of sth.
to compute	is a numeration system in which a real number is represented by an ordered set of characters where the value of a character depends on its position.

4. Label the parts of the abacus in the picture and complete the definition.

a) --------------- a frame rods beads

c) ----------------

b)---------------

The abacus is a device, usually of wood (plastic, in recent times), having .……… that holds ………. with freely sliding ……… mounted on them.

5. The phrases below are all from the story you are going to hear. Can you guess what they mean? Consult the dictionary if necessary.

• to keep track of something

• to collect small rocks and pebbles in a pile

• an attempt to automate the counting process

• a storage medium

6. Listen to the story about the invention of abacus and answer the questions that follow:

1. According to the speaker what led to the development of a modern computer?

2. What did the early people use to make their calculations?

3. What important concept in counting and calculation was developed?

4. When was the Chinese abacus invented? What was it like?

5. Is abacus still in use these days?

6. Is it capable of computing?

7. What is the process of calculation called nowadays?