Vocabulary

Task 1. Find these words and expressions in the text. Explain their meaning in English. Then look them up in the dictionary to check their translation if necessary. Give an example of the situation in which these words and phrases can be used.

To apply one’s intellect to, Applied Mathematics, to hold the professorial chair, on the turn of the millennium, at the present rate, a manned flight, solar system, an ultimate level of development, quantum theory, Einstein’s theory of relativity, genetic engineering, species, intellectual powers, electronic circuit, to remove a limitation, to come up against a problem, to make contact with aliens, stellar systems, to stew in one’s own juices.

Task 2. Expand your vocabulary. Match each word with its synonym. Make up sentences with the words from the text. Give an example of the situation in which these words and phrases can be used.

1) alien	a) brains; intellect
2) formidable	b) conscious
3) prediction	c) probably
4) ultimate	d) extraterrestrial
5) limitation	e) ability
6) increase	f) huge
7) intelligence	g) final
8) powers	h) forecast
9) presumably	i) augment
10) aware	j) restriction

Task 3. Fill each gap with one word. Then re-read the text if necessary.

1. People will probably manage a __________ flight to Mars in the next century.

2. Will we humans keep on changing, or will we eventually reach an ________level of knowledge?

3. We may discover a complete theory of the basic laws of the _______, but there will be no _______ to the complexity of biological or electronic systems we can build under these laws.

4. It is likely that we will be able to redesign our ______ record, our DNA, completely in the next 1,000 years – by _______ our brain size, for example.

5. At the moment ________ have an advantage of speed but they show no sign of _______.

6. If very complicated chemical molecules can operate in humans to make them intelligent, then equally complicated electronic ______ can also make computers act in an intelligent way.

7. Even if life developed in other ______ systems, the chances of catching it at a recognizably human stage are very _______.

8. It could be that there is an ______ race out there which is aware of our existence.

WRITING

Choose any of the topics suggested.

• Write an essay describing the effects that machines and computers have had on society today. Include your view of technological progress.

• Scientists who experiment with genes have sometimes been accused of “playing God.” Do you agree with this accusation? Write an essay in which you express your opinion.

• Write an essay in which you discuss the advantages and disadvantages of producing genetically engineered foods. How can this experimentation help the world, and how might it harm the world? Draw your own conclusions as to whether this experimentation should be continued or curtailed.