As old as writing

Study help: Time lines

The time line provides a study tool that allows you to organize information that is presented chronologically. Time lines would be effective to use in classes in which you present historical, biological and other developments.

To make the order clear and to show the sequence of events, we mention dates and time, and we also use various links and connectives.

3500 BC

Sumerians use cuneiform alphabet, pressed in clay with a triangular stylus. Clay tablets were dried and/or fired for longevity. Some even had clay envelopes,' which were also inscribed.

3000 BC

Egyptians created Papyrus, a material made from thinly cut strips from the stem of Cyprus Papyrus plant.

2400 BC

Date of the earliest surviving papyrus scroll with writing.

200 BC

Both Greeks and Romans used wax tablets, framed and backed with wood, for note taking, orders, correspondence, and other temporary communication.

197-159 BC

In the Middle East, near Pergamum, large herds of cattle are raised for skins to be made into what we now call 'parchment.' It was the most popular material for manuscripts until the 12^th century.

105 AD

Papermaking was invented in China by Ts'ai Louen. Material used: plant bark, discarded cotton and old fishnets.

300-700

Secret of papermaking crept out from China to Vietnam, Nepal, Korea and Japan.

1151

First papermaking mill was established in Spain

1300C.

Papermaking reached Southern Italy, where, until quite recently, some of the oldest handmade paper mills in Italy were operating in the Naples area.

1448

Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press.

1700 C.

Tremendous increase in papermaking led to a serious shortage of raw materials.

1843

Saxon Keller invented a groundwood pulp.

1854

Mellier Watt patented a chemical pulp.

Late 18-th

Nicholas Luis Robert created a machine that could produce a seamless length of paper.

Paper production became industrialized with the advent of steam-driven paper making machines.

1950s

New material and fillers were used, new processed chemicals and dyers were developed.

Get real

Writing

Study help: Narrating and reporting

Past tense is common. Chronological order is also common, but when we are writing about past events, it is necessary to be explicit about the order in which things happened.

In the Realm of Science

Bot

a computer program that performs a particular task again and again many times; shortened from robot

Breed

to make animals or plants produce young ones in a controlled way, in order to develop new and better types.

Cellular

connected with or consisting of the cells (often used in reference to a telephone system that works by radio instead of wires)

Cyber

a prefix for things related to computers, especially the internet (e.g. cybercafe - a place where you can buy drinks and use computers at the same time)

Gene therapy

a type of medical treatment that changes someone’s genes to help them get rid of a disease or cure a medical condition.

Genetic engineering

when scientists change the genes of a person, plant or animal in order to make it stronger, healthier, bigger, more attractive, etc.

Genome -

the complete set of genes in a cell or living thing

Gizmo

a general word for a small piece of equipment, often one that does sth in a new and clever way

Hi-definition

a system which provides very high quality images in more detail than ordinary images

Nanotech

short for nanotechnology - an area of science that deals with creating extremely small tools and machines

Side effect

an extra, usually bad, occurrence caused by taking a drug. It is also used in non-medical English in a more neutral way.

Sci-fi

science-fiction

Teleconferencing

a way of having meeting between people who are in different places, using video cameras and computer systems that are connected to each other.

Wi-Fi

short for wireless fidelity - a system for sending data over computer networks using radio waves instead of wires

Wireless

a system of sending and receiving signals (not using wires)

Unit 1. Progress Monitoring

In this unit you have worked on the following vocabulary related to the topic “Latest Achievements and Future Developments in Science and Technology”.

Tick (V) the points you are confident about and cross (X) the ones you need to revise.

Lead In

Reading

1. Imagine you’re looking for romance at a party full of strangers. You’re nervous. Who are these people? How do you strike a conversation? Fortunately, you’re wired for social success: You’ve got a gizmo* that beams energy at microchips in everyone’s name tag. The chips beam back name, occupation, hobbies, obsessions, phobias, favorite movie, and availability for a date this Friday night – whatever. Dating made simple.

This hasn’t quite happened in real life. But the world is already undergoing a revolution involving REID – radio frequency identification…

2. Imagine an army of tiny robots, each no bigger than a bacterium, swimming through your bloodstream. One platoon* takes continuous readings of blood pressure in different parts of your body; another monitors cholesterol; still others measure blood sugar, hormone levels and immune system activity…

If the nanotech experts are right, a call to a family doctor a few decades from now could be a high-tech variation on an old cliché: «Take two teaspoons of diagnostic sensors, and call me in the morning.”

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gizmo – штуковина, вещица (о механизмах)

3. Soon teams of up to 40 robots could be employed as border security guards and outside airports. The patrolling robots will use Wi-Fi to share what they see, sniff and hear. They may even be able to triangulate* the exact position of an intruder, or the source of plume of smoke from an explosion, something no single robot could do.

The ideal is swarms* of robots that need no central control. And McLurkins’s robots have proved the principle that, equipped with the right algorithms, swarms of hardware can have autonomous control. Last year, for instance…

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platoon – здесь взвод, отряд

4. … Self-heating hats and glow-in the-dark sweatshirts might correctly be labeled as ‘smart’, but how about a shirt that ‘knows’ whether you are free to take a cell phone call or retrieve information from a 1000 page safety manual displayed on your inside pocket? Such items, termed ‘intelligent’ clothing to distinguish them from their lower-tech cousins, have proved…

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triangulate – дать трехмерное изображение

swarm – здесь стая, толпа