Федеральное агентство по образованию
Федеральное государственное образовательное учреждение
высшего профессионального образования
«ЮЖНЫЙ ФЕДЕРАЛЬНЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ»
С.Ю. Резникова, Ю.Ю. Гафарова
Методические указания
по развитию навыков чтения и устной речи на английском языке
по теме «
Outstanding
Scientists
and
Inventors
» для студентов 1 курса, изучающих информационные и компьютерные технологии
Часть
I
Ростов-на-Дону
2007
Методические указания разработаны старшим преподавателем кафедры английского языка естественных факультетов Резниковой С.Ю., преподавателем Гафаровой Ю.Ю.
Рецензент – ст. преп. Петросян К.С.
Печатается в соответствии с решением кафедры английского языка естественных факультетов, протокол № 8 от 6 апреля 2007 г.
Методическая записка
Данные методические указания предназначены для аудиторной работы студентов 1 курса в 1 семестре по теме «Outstanding Scientists and Inventors».
Методические указания состоят из 5 разделов, посвященных ученым и изобретателям, которые внесли наиболее значительный вклад в развитие информационных и компьютерных технологий. Основной целью методических указаний является развитие и совершенствование навыков чтения и говорения на основе прочитанного материала.
Методические указания построены на аутентичных материалах, основными источниками которых являются Интернет, британские и американские научно-популярные издания.
Каждый раздел методических указаний включает следующие рубрики:
«
Before
you
start
»
способствует повышению интереса и мотивации студентов к изучаемому материалу.
«
Reading
»
включает текст, содержащий биографии ученных и изобретателей с рядом заданий, ориентированных на развитие навыков различных видов чтения.
«
Vocabulary
»
содержит задания, направленные как на закрепление активной лексики раздела, так и на расширение словарного запаса по теме.
«
Grammar
»
акцентирует внимание студентов на характерных для биографических текстов сложных грамматических явлениях и предлагает задания, позволяющие устранить трудности, возникающие при чтении и переводе текстов.
«
Speaking
»
предлагает задания, направленные на обобщение прочитанного материала в форме его краткого изложения и формирование умения прокомментировать прочитанные тексты.
«
Points
for
reflection
»
способствует рефлексии прочитанного и формированию личностного отношения к предложенному материалу.
Раздел 5 методических указаний содержит ряд игровых и творческих заданий, способствующих закреплению полученных знаний и повышению интереса к изучаемому материалу. В раздел также включена ссылка на сайт формата Hotlist (информационно-аналитические сборник) «Outstanding Scientists and Inventors», посвященный ученным и изобретателям в области информационных и компьютерных технологий, физики, радиотехники, системного анализа и математики. Данный сайт имеет своей целью обеспечение широкого спектра дополнительного аутентичного материала по теме, что обеспечивает возможность личного выбора тематики, индивидуальный график подготовки, а также способствуют развитию аналитических и поисково-исследовательских навыков студентов.
Методические указания могут использоваться в работе со студентами с различным уровнем знания английского языка, как для групповой, так и для
индивидуальной работы. Методические указания также содержат ключи к
наиболее сложным лексическим и грамматическим упражнениям, что позволяет
использовать данные материалы для самостоятельной работы студентов.
Unit 1 Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931)
Before you start
|
Рис. 1 Edison’s lamp |
1 You are going to read about life and work of the
American inventor Thomas Alva Edison. Before you read
the text answer the following questions:
a) What do you know about Thomas Edison’s life?
b) What is he famous for?
c) What important inventions in the last decades of the 20th
century do you know? Who made them? How did they affect people’s lives?
Reading
1 Read and pay attention to the correct pronunciation of the following words:
| New Jersey |
[ِ nju:´ʤз:zI
|
dynamo |
[´daI
|
| patent |
[´peI
|
motor |
[´məutə ] |
| incandescent |
[ِ I
|
sewing |
[´səuI
|
| filament |
[´fI
|
thread |
[ θred ] |
| phonograph |
[´fəunəgra:f ] |
foil |
[fɔI
|
| laboratory |
[ lə´bɔrətrI
|
develop |
[dI
|
| carbonized |
[´ka:bənaI
|
current |
[´kʌrənt] |
2 Here are some international words which you will come across in the text. Try to guess their meaning. Consult the dictionary to check their pronunciation.
electricity, project, philosophy, method, complex, operation, exploitation, business, industry, commercial, station, laboratory, chance, signal, company, secret
3 Read the text about Thomas Edison and make a time line of the most essential dates and events in his life.
February, 11, 1847 1931
date of birth date of death
The Hero of the Electricity Age
Thomas Alva Edison was born on February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio; the seventh and last child of Samuel and Nancy Edison. When Edison was seven his family moved to Port Huron, Michigan. Edison lived here until he struck out on his own at the age of sixteen. Edison had very little formal education as a child, attending school only for three months. He was taught reading, writing, and arithmetic by his mother, but was always a very curious child and taught himself much by reading on his own. This belief
|
Рис. 2 Thomas Edison |
in self-improvement remained throughout his life. (1) Edison began working at an early age, as most boys did at the time. At thirteen he took job as a newsboy, selling newspapers and candy on the local railroad that ran through Port Huron to Detroit. He seems to have spent much of his free time reading scientific and technical books, and also had opportunity at this time to learn how to operate a telegraph. By the time he was sixteen, Edison was proficient enough to work as a telegrapher full time. (2) The development of the telegraph was the first step in the |
communication revolution and the telegraph industry expanded rapidly in the second half of the 19th
century. This rapid growth gave Edison and others like him a chance to travel, see the country and gain experience. Edison worked in a number of cities throughout the United States before arriving in Boston in 1868 where he began to change his profession from telegrapher to inventor. He received his first patent on an electric vote recorder, a device intended for use by elected bodies such as Congress to speed the voting process. In general, Edison was probably the world’s greatest inventor. He had patented on 1,093 inventions. (3)
Edison moved to New York City in 1869. He continued to work on inventions related to the telegraph and developed his first successful invention, an improved stock ticker called the “Universal Stock Printer”. For this and some related inventions Edison was paid $40,000. Edison set up his first laboratory and manufacturing facility in New Jersey in 1871. During the next five years, Edison worked in Newark inventing and manufacturing devices that greatly improved the speed and efficiency of the telegraph. He also found time to get married to Mary Stilwell and start a family. (4)
In 1876 Edison sold all his Newark manufacturing concerns and moved his family and staff of assistants to the small village of Menlo Park, 25 miles southwest of New York City. Edison established a new facility containing all the equipment so as to work on any invention. This research and development laboratory was the first of its kind anywhere; the model for later, modern facilities such as Bell Laboratories, this is sometimes considered Edison’s greatest invention. Here Edison began to change the world. (5)
The first great invention developed by Edison in Menlo Park was the tin foil phonograph. The first machine that could record and reproduce sound created a sensation and brought Edison international fame. Edison toured the country with the tin foil phonograph and was invited to the White House to demonstrate it to President Rutherford B. Hayes in April 1878. (6)
In 1877 Edison made a recording on a little machine which he had invented and
played it back to himself. Although he knew that he would hear his own words, he was astonished just the same when they were spoken back to him. The first phonograph was
not at all like a record player of our time. (7)
Edison next undertook his greatest challenge, the development of a practical
incandescent, electric light. The idea of electric lighting was not new, and a number of people had worked on, and even developed forms of electric lighting. But up to that time, nothing had been developed that was remotely practical for home use. After one and a half year of work, success was achieved when an incandescent lamp with a filament of carbonized sewing thread burned for thirteen and a half hours. The first public demonstration of the Edison’s incandescent lighting system was in December 1879, when the Menlo Park laboratory complex was electrically lighted. Edison spent the next several years creating the electric industry. In September 1882, the first commercial power station went into operation providing light and power to customers in a one square mile area; thus marking the beginning of the electric age. (8)
The following decade was devoted to the invention and exploitation of methods for the distribution of electricity, improved dynamos and motors, and an electric railway for carrying freight and passengers. In 1885 he patented a method of transmitting telegraphic signals from moving train. (9)
The success of his electric light brought Edison to new heights of fame and wealth, as electricity spread around the world. Edison’s various electric companies continues to grow until in 1889 they were brought together to form Edison general Electric. Despite the use of Edison in the company title however, Edison never controlled this company. The tremendous amount of capital needed to develop the incandescent lighting industry had necessitated the involvement of investment bankers such as J.P. Morgan. When Edison General electric merged with its leading competitor Thompson-Houston in 1892, Edison was dropped from the name, and the company became simply General Electric. (10)
This period of success was marred by the death of Edison’s wife Mary in 1884. Edison’s involvement in the business and of the electric industry had caused Edison to spend less time in Menlo Park. After Mary’s death, Edison was there even less, living instead in New York City with his three children. A year later, while vacationing at a friend’s house in New England, Edison met Mina Miller and fell in love. The couple married in February 1886 and moved to West Orange, New Jersey where Edison had purchased an estate Glenmont, for his bride. Thomas Edison lived here with Mina until his death. (11)
When Edison moved to West Orange, he was doing experimental work in makeshift facilities in his electric lamp factory in nearby Harrison, New Jersey. However, a few months after his marriage, Edison decided to build a new laboratory in West Orange itself, less than a mile from his home. Edison possessed the both resources and experience by this time to build, “the best equipped and largest laboratory extant and facilities superior to any other for rapid and cheap development of an invention”. The new laboratory complex consisting of five buildings opened in November 1887. The large size of the laboratory not only allowed Edison to work on any sort of project, but also allowed him to work on as many as ten or twenty projects at once. One of the projects he was involved in was the development of a better storage battery for use in electric vehicles which he enjoyed very much. He even owned a number of different types of automobiles, powered by gasoline, electricity, and steam. Edison thought that electric propulsion was clearly the best method of powering cars, but realized that conventional lead-acid storage batteries were inadequate for the job. Edison began to develop an alkaline battery in 1899. It proved to be Edison's most difficult project, taking ten years to develop a practical alkaline battery. By the time Edison introduced his new alkaline battery, the gasoline powered car had so improved that electric vehicles were becoming increasingly less common, being used mainly as delivery vehicles in cities. However, the Edison alkaline battery proved useful for lighting railway cars and signals, maritime buoys, and miners lamps. Further, Edison's work paved the way for the modern alkaline battery. (12)
In 1913 he produced talking motion pictures. On his seventy-fifth birthday Edison was asked what his philosophy of life was. He said that work was bringing out secrets of nature and applying them for the happiness of man. (13)
He worked till the very last moment of his life. At ten o’clock on the evening of his funeral, in homage to the memory of a great man, every American switched off the electric light and for the space of one minute the entire country was in darkness.(14)
Edison was also a ruthless businessman who fought to defeat his competitors. One of the most famous examples of his competitive vigor was the war of the currents (direct current vs alternating current) he conducted to discredit Nicola Tesla's Alternating Current system. (15)
Edison had enough genius to see the genius in others. Already by the time he moved to Menlo Park, he had gathered many of the men who would work with him for the rest of their lives. By the time Edison built his West Orange lab complex, men came from all over the US and Europe to work with the famous inventor. Often these young “muckers”, as Edison called them, were fresh out of college or technical training. What better place to start a career? Unlike most inventors, Edison depended upon dozens of “muckers” to build and test his ideas. In return, they received “only workmen's wages”. But, the inventor said, it was “not the money they want, but the chance for their ambition to work”. The average work week was six days for a total of 55 hours. But if Edison had a bright idea, days at work would extend far into the night. What was it like to work for Edison? One “mucker” said that he “could wither one with his biting sarcasm or ridicule one into extinction”. Just think how it would feel to listen to the world's greatest inventor criticize your work. On the other hand, as electrician Arthur Kennelly stated, “The privilege which I had being with this great man for six years was the greatest inspiration of my life”. (16)
(Adapted from the Internet sites)
4 Look back in the text and make a list of Edison’s inventions.
5 Read the text again and answer the following questions:
a) What kind of education did Edison get?
b) How did phonograph work?
c) How many inventions did Edison patent?
d) How did Edison’s electric light work and how was it improved?
e) What was his philosophy of life?
f) Could you name other men of science equally possessed by the idea to create so that they were “deaf and blind to everything else in the world except science?” like Edison?
g) How can you characterize Edison’s education?
h) Does Edison create for people or is his only goal to find medium for the expression of his ideas, feelings, and get free of his obsession?
i) How did Edison’s inventions change our everyday life?
Vocabulary
1 Fill in the table with the missing words. Consult the dictionary if necessary:
| verb
|
noun
|
adjective
|
adverb
|
| to demonstrate |
demonstratively |
||
| invitation |
Inviting |
||
| inventively |
|||
| to develop |
- |
||
| telegraph |
2 Complete the sentences with the right form of the word in bold:
a) The site is being … by a local property company. DEVELOPMENT
b) The manager gave us a brief … of the computer’s functions. DEMONSTRATION
c) A scientist showed an … design of a new computer laboratory. INVENTION
d) Leaving your car unlocked is just … someone to steal it. INVITATION
e) … - a means of sending messages by the use of electric current along wires. TELEGRAPH
3 Put the following words under the correct heading. Consult the dictionary if necessary:
| staff |
patent |
belief |
merge |
tour |
device |
improve |
receive |
| noun |
both |
verb |
Find in the text other words that can be used both as nouns and verbs.
4 Look back in the text and find words that have a similar meaning to:
A skilled and competent (2)
B planned for (3)
C spread (3)
D play back sound (6)
E surprised (7)
F combined (10)
G huge (10)
H was spoiled (11)
I had (12)
J a cinema film (13)
5 Complete the sentences with prepositions if necessary:
a) Edison attended … schools only for three month.
b) At the age of 13 Edison began to work … a newsboy, selling newspapers and candy.
c) A number of people had worked … the idea related … developing electric lighting.
d) He began work … a large difference engine which he believed he could complete in three years.
e) Edison hired the young engineers who were superior … the any other candidates.
6 Give English equivalents to the following words and word combinations:
получить работу; воспроизвести звук; самосовершенствование; приносить международную славу; записать, сделать запись; любопытный ребенок; ходить в школу; проводить много свободного времени; читать научные и технические книги; дать шанс; обзавестись семьей; капиталовложения банкиров; конкурент, соперник; самостоятельно обучаться; основать первую лабораторию
Grammar
1 Translate the sentences into Russian. Pay attention to the part of the sentence in
bold.
Example
: - He was proficient enough to work
as a telegrapher full time. - Он
был
достаточно опытным, для того чтобы работать
телеграфистом полный рабочий день.
a) An electric vote recorder is a device intended for use by elected bodies such as Congress to speed
the voting process.
b) Babbage was sent to a country school to recover
from a life-threatening fever.
c) Edison was invited to the White House to demonstrate
the tin foil phonograph.
d) The results were so breathtakingly original, that it took some time for the mathematical and engineering community to realize
their significance.
e) In the 1950s, Shannon continued his efforts to develop
mechanisms that
emulated the operations of the human mind to solve problems.
f) Tesla built an experimental station in Colorado Springs to experiment
with high
frequency electricity and other phenomena.
2 Translate paragraph 8 into Russian.
Speaking
1 Sum up the text using the following key-points:
a) Edison’s family background
b) His main interests
c) Spheres of science and research activity
d) Major achievements
e) Personality
2 Comment on Edison’s quotations using the following openings:
In fact…, I wouldn’t say so…, It seems to me…, In my opinion…, It’s a doubtful
statement.., That’s where I agree (disagree) with the author.
a) He said that work was bringing out secrets of nature and applying them for the happiness of man.
b) Self-educated, he knew the value of learning: “Education isn’t play. It is hard,
hard work. But it can be made interesting work..”
c) “If you do not learn to think when you are young, you may never learn”.
d) “Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.”
e) “Hell, there are no rules here—we're trying to accomplish something.”
3 Work in groups of 3-4. Make a list of things you would like to know about
Thomas Edison. Choose one, find information and make a poster presentation. (Read instruction on page 33 task 2)
4 Thomas Edison wrote a test of general knowledge. Anyone who wanted a job for T Edison Inc. had to take this test. Do this test to check if Mr. Edison would have hired you for his team. Edison mental fitness test 1920. http://www.nps.gov/archive/edis/edifun/quiz/quizhome.htm
Points for reflection
1 Have you learnt anything new about Edison from the text?
2 Has anything surprised you?
3 What facts were the most amazing?
4 Did you like the text? Why? /Why not?
Unit 2 Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937)
Before you start
1 You are going to read about life and work of the Italian inventor, Guglielmo Marconi. Before you read the text answer the following questions:
a) Who is considered to be “the father of wireless telegraphy”?
b) Have you ever heard about Guglielmo Marconi?
c) What is he famous for?
d) What field of science did he work in?
2 Complete the table about Guglielmo Marconi:
| things I know |
things I’m not sure about |
things I would like to know |
Reading
1 Pay attention to the correct pronunciation of the following words:
| Guglielmo |
[´gʌglI
|
pursue |
[ pə´sju: ] |
| Marconi |
[ِِ ِ ma: ´kəunI
|
ether |
[ ´I
|
| Bologna |
[´bɔu´lɔunjə] |
determine |
[ dI
|
| Wight |
[´waI
|
curvature |
[´kз:vət∫ə ] |
| Bournemouth |
[´bɔ:nməθ ] |
aerial |
[´eərI
|
| Poldhu |
[´pəuldhju: ] |
successfully |
[´sək´sesfəlI
|
| Nobel |
[ nəu´bel ] |
launch |
[ lɔ:nt∫ ] |
| Hertz |
[ hз:ts ] |
microwave |
[´maI
|
| Lodge |
[ ´lɔʤ] |
industry |
[´I
|
2 Read the text about Guglielmo Marconi and comment on the title.
A Radio Star
There cannot be many people who were “losers” at school, failed to get into university, and then went on to win a Nobel Prize for Physics. But at least one did, and with good reason: he made radio happen. A lack of formal education, high-powered family connections and an unstoppable will to succeed helped Guglielmo Marconi to transmit the first radio signal across the Atlantic and launch the wireless-
communications industry. Guglielmo Marconi was born at Bologna, Italy, on April 25,
1874, the second son of Giuseppe Marconi, an Italian country gentleman, and Annie
|
Рис. 3 Guglielmo Marconi |
Jameson. He was educated privately at Bologna, Florence and Leghorn. Marconi's education was patchy1
, not to say poor. Primary school was a disaster, and he was 12 before he got into a secondary school in Florence where he did badly. The following year, he started to attend more congenial technical school, but Marconi’s progress was still very modest. He never qualified for higher education, even with the help of a private physics tutor. (1)
But even as a boy he took a keen interest in physical and electrical science and
studied the works of Maxwell, Hertz and others. In 1895 he began laboratory experiments at his father's country estate at where he succeeded in sending wireless signals over a distance of one and a half miles. (2)
In 1896 Marconi took his apparatus to England and later that year he was granted the world's first patent for a system of wireless telegraphy. He demonstrated his system successfully in London, and across the Bristol Channel, and in July 1897 formed The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company Limited (in 1900 re-named Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company Limited). In the same year he gave a demonstration to the Italian Government during which wireless signals were sent over a distance of twelve miles. In 1899 he established wireless communication between France and England across the English Channel. He erected permanent wireless stations at The Needles, Isle of Wight, at Bournemouth and later at the Haven Hotel, Poole, Dorset. (3)
Marconi’s first aim in perfecting communication without wires had been to break
the isolation of those at sea. The first life-saving possibilities of wireless communication were realized in 1899 when a wireless message was received from the East Goodwin lightship - which had been equipped with Marconi wireless apparatus. It had been rammed in dense fog by a steamship R.F. Matthews. A request was made for the assistance of a lifeboat. And in 1900 he took out his famous “7777”patent which documented a system for tuned coupled circuits and allowed simultaneous transmissions on different frequencies. Adjacent stations were now able to operate without interfering with one another and ranges were increased. On an historic day in December 1901, determined to prove that wireless waves were not affected by the curvature of the Earth, he used his system for transmitting the first wireless signals across the Atlantic between Cornwall, and Newfoundland, a distance of 2100 miles. (4)
Between 1902 and 1912 he patented several new inventions. In 1902, during a voyage in the American liner "Philadelphia", he first demonstrated "daylight effect" relative to wireless communication and in the same year patented his magnetic detector which then became the standard wireless receiver for many years. In December 1902 he transmitted the first complete messages to Poldhu from stations at Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, and later Cape Cod, Massachusetts. These early tests culminated in 1907 in the opening of the first transatlantic commercial service between Glace Bay and Ireland, after the first short-distance public service of wireless telegraphy had been established between Italy and Montenegro. In 1905 he patented his horizontal directional aerial and
in 1912 a "timed spark" system for generating continuous waves. (5)
During his war service in Italy from 1914 he returned to his investigation of short waves, which he had used in his first experiments. After further tests by his collaborators in England, an intensive number of trials, leading to the establishment of the beam system for long- distance telegraphy was conducted in 1923. Proposals to use this system as a means of Imperial communications were accepted by the British Government and the first beam station, linking England and Canada, was opened in 1926. (6)
In 1931 Marconi began research into the propagation characteristics of still shorter waves, resulting in the setting up in 1932 of the world's first microwave radiotelephone link between the Vatican City and the Pope's summer residence. Two years later he demonstrated his microwave radio beacon for ship navigation and in 1935, again in Italy, gave a practical demonstration of the principles of radar, the coming of which he had first foretold in a lecture to the American Institute of Radio Engineers in New York in 1922. (7)
He has been the recipient of honorary doctorates of several universities and many other international honors and awards, among them the Nobel Prize for Physics, which in 1909 he shared with Professor Karl Braun, the Albert Medal of the Royal Society of Arts, the John Fritz Medal and the Kelvin Medal. He was decorated by the Tsar of Russia with the Order of St. Anne; the King of Italy created him a plenty of different ranks and titles as well. (8)
Marconi's 1909 Nobel Prize was an extraordinary surprise for him - unlike the physicist he shared it with, Ferdinand Braun - Marconi was not, by his own admission, any kind of scientist, or even much of an inventor. He did not really make any fundamental discoveries, and radio was mostly a matter of assembling parts created by other people. But the vision which was needed to see the possibilities of a new communication era, and the unstoppable will to pursue this objective were all his own. According to his own words, he made the whole world see the importance of his inventions, approve and, more importantly, buy them. (9)
Marconi moved to Rome in 1935, never to leave Italy again. He died in the early hours of 20 July 1937 aged 63 and his body was laid to rest in the mausoleum in the grounds of Villa Griffone. In a fitting tribute3
, wireless stations throughout the world fell silent for 2 minutes and the ether4
was as silent as it had been before Marconi. (10)
He left behind him a world that even before his death had come to regard radio as a commodity2
, not a miracle. Britain even had an infant television service, broadcast via Marconi equipment. He also left behind a legion of detractors5
who correctly pointed out that others, such as Lodge and the Russian Alexander Popov, had sent wireless messages before Marconi got his patent. It does not really matter. What Marconi doubtless did invent was an entirely new science-based industry. We are used to being told that some new technology will change the world. Marconi's is one of the few that
did. (11)
(Adapted from the Internet sites)
------------------------------------
-1
обрывочный, незаконченный
- 2
предмет потребления
- 3
дань уважения
-4
эфир
-5
клеветники
3 Read the text again and choose the correct option.
a) Guglielmo Marconi was the first who
1) assembled radio .
2) invented radio.
3) transmitted the first radio signal.
b) As a boy he liked to spend his free time
1) carrying out laboratory experiments.
2) studying with the help of a private tutor.
3) reading the works of famous scientists.
c) He received higher education
1) with the help of a private physics tutor.
2) on his own but it was very hard.
3) He never had any kind of a university degree.
d) He was granted his first patent for
1) magnetic detector.
2) a system of wireless telegraphy.
3) horizontal directional aerial.
e) A lot of people didn’t think he was a great scientist because
1) he was not the only person who sent wireless messages.
2) he was not the first person who sent wireless messages.
3) he never sent any wireless messages.
f) During his life Marconi considered himself to be
1) a successful industrialist and businessman.
2) a famous inventor.
3) an outstanding physicist.
4 Answer the following questions:
a) What was Marconi’s family background?
b) What kind of education did he get?
c) What sciences was he interested in as a boy?
d) What famous physicists influenced him greatly?
e) What was his first patent invention?
f) What important discovery did he make in 1900?
g) What were his main inventions and patents?
h) What was his attitude to his own Nobel Prize?
Vocabulary
1 Use the affixes in the table to form adjectives from the words below:
history, success, commerce, intensity, continue, practice, direction, nation, physics, electricity, ridicule, vary, remark, continent, expense, structure, response, fame, danger, stress, charity, create, event, break, believe, explosion, magnet
| -able/-ible |
-al |
-ic |
-ful |
-ive |
-ous |
| unstoppable |
historical |
public |
successful |
intensive |
continuous |
3 Match the words in column A
with the words in column B
to make compounds which you come across in the text.
| A
1) day 2) science 3) wireless 4) long 5) radio 6) high |
B
a) based b) powered c) light d) telephone e) distance f) communication |
Use the words below to make word combinations with the compounds:
effect family telegraphy industry(x2) link
4 Cross out an odd word in each line:
a) to conduct: an experiment, a baby, an interview, an orchestra
b) to erect: a station, a leg, a tent, an institution.
c) short: waves, building, man, speech.
d) fundamental: mistake, distinction, discovery, hotel.
e) to assemble: a car, an army, forces, flowers.
5 Look at the following words that often come together and add at least 3 words of your own to each group. Consult the dictionary if necessary.
a) to attend: a university, a meeting, ...
b) to launch: a campaign, a satellite, ...
c) to send: a telegram, a volunteer, ...
d) to decorate: a dress, a room, …
e) to establish: a company, contacts, …
5 Complete the sentences with prepositions if necessary
a) He tried to qualify … higher education with the help of a private tutor.
b) Marconi was granted his first patent … a system of wireless communication.
c) From an early childhood he took a keen interest … physical and electrical science
d) First he succeeded … sending wireless signals over a distance of one mile.
e) Marconi was decorated … many international honors and awards.
f) His tests culminated … the opening of the first transatlantic commercial service.
6 Give English equivalents to the following words and word combinations:
непрекращающееся желание преуспеть; передать радио сигнал; обучался частным образом; проявлял острый интерес к; система беспроводного телеграфа; основал постоянную станцию; возможности беспроводной коммуникации; был оснащен ; антенна; сотрудники; радиомаяк; получатель почетных международных наград; был награжден; фундаментальное открытие; преследовать цель; создать новую отрасль промышленности, опирающаяся на научных знаниях
Grammar
1 Divide the following sentences into two parts according to the model. Translate the original sentence.
Model:
Lodge and Alexander Popov had sent
wireless messages before
Marconi got
his patent. - First
Lodge and Alexander Popov sent
wireless messages. Then
Marconi got
his patent. – Лодж и Александр Попов отправляли
беспроводные сообщения до того, как
Маркони получил свой патент.
a) The opening of the first transatlantic commercial service between Glace Bay and Ireland took place after the first shorter-distance public service of wireless telegraphy had been established between Italy and Montenegro.
b) The military understood the usefulness of remote-controlled vehicles after Tesla’s patents had expired.
c) He gave a practical demonstration of the principles of radar, the coming of which he had first foretold in New York in 1922.
d) It was widely discussed that Nikola Tesla refused the Nobel Prize because Marconi had already received his.
e) He left behind him a world that even before his death had come to regard radio as a commodity, not a miracle.
f) In 1877 Edison made a recording on a little machine which he had invented.
2 Translate paragraphs 10-11 into Russian.
Speaking
1 Sum up the text using the following key-points:
a) Family background
b) Education (degrees)
c) Areas of scientific and research activity
d) Major achievements
2 Comment on the statements:
a) Guglielmo Marconi is one of the most prominent inventors of the 20th
century.
b) Guglielmo Marconi made radio happen.
c) Guglielmo Marconi is just a successful industrialist and businessman.
3 Do you agree with the following quotations on Marconi’s work?
a) “… the emission and reception of signals by Marconi by means of electric
oscillations is nothing new. In America, the famous engineer Nikola Tesla carried the same experiments in 1893.” Alexander Popov
b) “In a few days time, Marconi won't just hit the ground running; it'll take off as Europe's brightest technology company.” George Simpson
4 Work in groups of 3-4. Make a list of things you would like to know about Guglielmo Marconi. Choose one, find information and make a poster presentation. (Read instruction on page 33 task 2)
Points for reflection
1 Have you learnt anything new about Marconi from the text?
2 Has anything impressed you?
3 What facts were the most amazing?
4 Did you like the text? Why? /Why not?
Unit 3 Nikola Tesla (1856 – 1943)
|
Рис. 4 Induction motor |
Before you start
1 You are going to read about life and work of the American inventor, Nikola Tesla. Before you read the text answer the following questions.
a) What field of science did he work in?
b) What is he famous for?
Reading
1 Pay attention to the correct pronunciation of the following words.
| Croatia |
[ krɔu´eI
|
coil |
[ kɔI
|
| Serbian |
[´sə:bI
|
magnetic |
[ mæg´netI
|
| Roentgen |
[´rɔntgən ] |
induction |
[ I
|
| Niagara |
[ naI
|
turbine |
[´tз:baI
|
| Austria |
[´ɔstrI
|
remote |
[ rI
|
| direct |
[ də´rəkt ] |
robotics |
[ rəu´bɔtI
|
| alternating |
[´ɔltəneI
|
X-ray |
[´eks reI
|
| polyphase |
[ pəlI
|
terrestrial |
[ tə´restrəI
|
| control |
[ kən´trəul] |
hypothesis |
[ haI
|
2 Read the text and comment on the title.
The Genius Who Lit the World
|
Рис. 5 Nikola Tesla |
Nikola Tesla was born on July 10, 1856 in Smiljan, Croatia, which was then part of the Austo-Hungarian Empire. His father was a Serbian Orthodox Priest and his mother was an inventor in her own right of household appliances. Tesla studied at the Realschule, the Polytechnic Institute in Graz, Austria and the University of Prague. At first, he intended to specialize in physics and mathematics, but soon he became fascinated with electricity. (1)
He began his career as an electrical engineer with a walking with a friend through the city park after seeing a telephone company in Budapest in 1881. Once when Tesla was demonstration of the "Gramme dynamo" (a machine that when operated in one direction is a generator, and when reversed is an electric motor), he visualized a rotating magnetic field. With a stick, he drew a diagram in the sand explaining to his friend the principle of the induction motor. Before going to America, Tesla joined Continental Edison Company in Paris where he designed dynamos. While in Strasbourg in 1883, he privately built a prototype of the induction motor and ran it successfully. Unable to interest anyone in Europe in promoting this radical device, Tesla accepted an offer to work for Thomas Edison in New York. His childhood dream was to come to America to harness the power of Niagara Falls. (2)
Nikola Tesla came to the United States in 1884 with an introduction letter from Charles Batchelor to Thomas Edison: “I know two great men,” wrote Batchelor, “one is you and the other is this young man.” Tesla spent the next 59 years of his productive life living in New York. Tesla set about improving Edison’s line of dynamos while working in Edison’s lab in New Jersey. It was here that his disagreement with Edison over direct current versus alternating current began and soon led to the war of the currents as Edison fought a losing battle to protect his investment in direct current equipment and facilities. Tesla pointed out the inefficiency of Edison’s direct current electrical powerhouses that have been built up and down the Atlantic seaboard. The secret, he felt, lay in the use of alternating current, because to him all energies were cyclic. Why not build generators that would send electrical energy along distribution lines first one way, than another, in multiple waves using the polyphase principle? (3)
Edison’s lamps were weak and inefficient when supplied by direct current. This
system had a severe disadvantage in that it could not be transported more than two miles due to its inability to step up to high voltage levels necessary for long distance transmission. Consequently, a direct current power station was required at two mile intervals. Direct current flows continuously in one direction; alternating current changes direction 50 or 60 times per second and can be stepped up to vary high voltage levels, minimizing power loss across great distances. He was convinced that the future belonged to alternating current. Nikola Tesla developed polyphase alternating current system of generators, motors and transformers and held 40 basic U.S. patents on the system. He introduced his motors and systems in a classic paper, “A New System of Alternating Current Motors and Transformers” which he delivered before the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1888. One of the most impressed was the industrialist and inventor George Westinghouse. One day he visited Tesla’s laboratory and was amazed at what he saw. Tesla had constructed a model polyphase system consisting of an alternating current dynamo, step-up and step-down transformers and A.C. motor at the other end. The perfect partnership between Tesla and Westinghouse for the nationwide use of electricity in America had begun. (4)
Later Tesla discovered the principle that drives almost every practical use of electricity today, the rotating magnetic field. The field is what powers generators and all forms of electrical motors. Although the generator had already been discovered, it was
Tesla who figured out why it worked. (5)
Tesla was a pioneer in many fields. The Tesla coil, which he invented in 1891, is widely used today in radio and television sets and other electronic equipment. That year also marked the date of Tesla's United States citizenship. His alternating current induction motor is considered one of the ten greatest discoveries of all time. Among his discoveries are the fluorescent light, laser beam, wireless communications, wireless transmission of electrical energy, remote control, robotics, Tesla’s turbines and vertical take off aircraft1
. Tesla is the father of the radio and the modern electrical transmissions systems. He registered over 700 patents worldwide. His vision included exploration of solar energy and the power of the sea. He foresaw interplanetary communications and satellites. (6)
The Electrical Review in 1896 published X-rays of a man, made by Tesla, with X-ray tubes of his own design. They appeared at the same time as when Roentgen announced his discovery of X-rays. Tesla never attempted to proclaim priority. Roentgen congratulated Tesla on his sophisticated X-ray pictures, and Tesla even wrote Roentgen's name on one of his films. He published schematic diagrams describing all the basic elements of the radio transmitter which was later used by Marconi. In 1896 Tesla constructed an instrument to receive radio waves. He experimented with this device and transmitted radio waves from his laboratory on South 5th Avenue to the Gerlach Hotel at 27th Street in Manhattan. The device had a magnet which gave off intense magnetic fields up to 20,000 lines per centimeter. The radio device clearly establishes his priority in the discovery of radio. And in 1943 the United States Supreme Court, held Marconi's most important patent invalid, recognizing Tesla's more significant contribution as the inventor of radio technology. (7)
Tesla built an experimental station in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1899, to experiment with high voltage, high frequency electricity and other phenomena. When the Colorado Springs Tesla Coil magnifying transmitter2
was energized, it created sparks 30 feet long. From the outside antenna, these sparks could be seen from a distance of ten miles. From this laboratory, Tesla generated and sent out wireless waves which mediated energy, without wires for miles. In Colorado Springs, where he stayed from May 1899 until 1900, Tesla made what he regarded as his most important discovery - terrestrial stationary waves. By this discovery he proved that the Earth could be used as a conductor and would be as responsive as a tuning fork to electrical vibrations of a certain frequency. He also lighted 200 lamps without wires from a distance of 25 miles and created man-made lightning. At one time he was certain he had received signals from another planet in his Colorado laboratory. (8)
The old Waldorf Astoria was the residence of Nikola Tesla for many years. He lived there when he was at the height of financial and intellectual power. Tesla organized elaborate dinners, inviting famous people who later witnessed spectacular
electrical experiments in his laboratory. (9)
Tesla lectured to the scientific community on his inventions in America and before scientific organizations in both England and France in 1892. Tesla’s lectures and writings of the 1890s aroused wide admiration among contemporaries, popularized his inventions and inspired untold numbers of younger men to enter the new field of radio and electrical science. (10)
Nikola Tesla was one of the most celebrated personalities in the American press,
in this century. Tesla was the genius who ushered in the age of electrical power. Tesla
had a vivid imagination and an intuitive way of developing scientific hypotheses. He used his imagination to prove and apply his hypotheses. Here is how he explained his creative process: “Before I put a sketch on paper, the whole idea is worked out mentally. In my mind I change the construction, make improvements, and even operate the device. Without ever having drawn a sketch I can give the measurements of all parts to workmen, and when completed all these parts will fit, just as certainly as though I had made the actual drawings. It is immaterial to me whether I run my machine in my mind or test it in my shop. The inventions I have conceived in this way have always worked. In thirty years there has not been a single exception. My first electric motor, the vacuum wireless light, my turbine engine and many other devices have all been developed in exactly this way.”
(11)
Tesla possessed a striking physical appearance over six feet tall with deep set eyes and a stately manner. To the contemporaries he was a man endowed with remarkable physical and mental freshness, ready to surprise the world with more and more inventions as he grew older. (12)
In 1915, a New York Times article announced that Tesla and Edison were to share the Nobel Prize for physics. Oddly, neither man received the prize, the reason being unclear. It was rumored that Tesla refused the prize because he would not share with Edison, and because Marconi had already received his. (13)
Tesla was clearly ahead of his time, a problem which would haunt his entire career. His inventions and patents for remote operation of robotic devices, for instance, were stunningly advanced but largely ignored at the time. The military inexplicably failed to understand the usefulness of remote-controlled attack vehicles and torpedoes until after Tesla's patents had expired. Even then, they began researching it over from scratch, rather than working with his established techniques. The end result was military technology nearly identical to Tesla's inventions, but developed literally decades later and at many times the cost. Tesla never made a dime off of the discovery of the radio-controlled automation that today is the basis of a multibillion dollar aerospace specialty. (14)
(Adapted from the Internet sites)
----------------------------
-1
самолет с вертикальным взлетом
-2
передатчик усиления трансформатора Тесла в Колорадо Спрингз
3 What do these figures refer to?
| 700 |
1884 |
200 |
1943 |
6 |
1856 |
1915 |
25 |
59 |
4 Look back in the text and make a list of Tesla’s inventions and developments.
5 Read the text again and answer the following questions:
a) What sciences attracted Tesla?
b) Where did he work?
c) What was his childhood ambition? Did he achieve it?
d) How did he come across the idea of induction motor?
e) What device did Tesla conceive and design first?
f) Did European manufacturers get interested in it?
g) What advantages did alternating current have over/versus direct current?
h) What was the reason for the war of currents?
i) What invention did Tesla consider his most important one?
j) What did he look like?
k) How did Tesla develop his ideas?
l) Which device by Tesla is still widely used in electronic equipment?
m) Were Tesla’s inventions and ideas studied after his death?
n) Do you think Nikola Tesla was a successful inventor?
Vocabulary
1 Look at the following words from the text. What do they have in common?
unclear discover invalid immaterial wireless
Find the other words in the text that have negative affixes.
Using the affixes in- (il-
, ir-
, im-)
, un-
, dis-
, mis-
, -less
make the opposites to
the following words:
| connect |
responsible |
literate |
use |
finite |
| logical |
advantage |
care |
take |
finished |
| possible |
complete |
productive |
accuracy |
understood |
| fortunate |
patient |
like |
publish |
real |
2 Make a list of the electrical terms from the text. Use the dictionary to check their pronunciation. Translate them into Russian. Which of them are international words?
3 Look back in the text and find words that have a similar meaning to:
a) interested in (1)
b) was going to (1)
c) worked (2)
d) imagined (2)
e) making better (3)
f) resulted in (3)
g) working on (4)
h) predicted (6)
i) tried (7)
j) flash (8)
k) devised (11)
l) run out (14)
4 Complete the sentences with prepositions if necessary.
a) While studying at the University of Prague, Tesla was fascinated … electricity.
b) In the USA he joined … T. Edison’s team in New Jersey.
c) Nikola Tesla worked … Edison until Tesla conceived polyphase alternating current system.
d) How many inventions did Tesla hold patens …?
e) Tesla experimented a lot … radio waves, X-rays and terrestrial stationary waves.
f) Tesla had many reasons to refuse … the Nobel Prize.
5 Look back in the text and explain the phrases and sentences in italics in your own words.
a) Tesla’s lectures … inspired untold numbers of younger men to enter the new field
of radio and electrical science.
b)
Tesla was clearly ahead of his time, a problem which would haunt his entire career.
c) … began researching it over from scratch
, …
d) Tesla never made a dime off
of the discovery … .
6 Give English equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
специализироваться в к-л области науки; представить устройство; разрабатывать динамо-машину; неэффективность ламп; серьезный недостаток; сводить потери мощности к минимуму; идеальное сотрудничество; постигать принцип; предвидеть межпланетную связь; объявить об открытии; заявлять о первенстве; наземные стационарные волны; искусственная молния; мысленно разрабатывать; усовершенствовать устройство; делать набросок; задумать изобретение; отказаться от приза
Grammar
1 Look at the chart. Make sentences about Nikola Tesla according to the model. Translate the sentences.
Model:
With a stick, Tesla drew a diagramme of a rotating magnetic field in the
sand. He explained
to his friend the principle of the induction motor. - With a stick, Tesla drew a diagramme of a rotating magnetic field in the sand, explaining
to his friend the principle of the induction motor. –
Тесла
палкой
начертил
на
песке
диаграмму
магнитного
поля
,
объяснив
(
объясняя
)
другу
принцип
электродвигателя
.
a) He published schematic diagrams of the radio transmitter. Tesla described all the basic elements of the radio transmitter which was later used by Marconi.
b) During the World War II, Claude Shannon was interested in the possibility of building a machine that could imitate the human brain. He worked with Alan
Turing for a few months.
c) In 1909 Marconi received the Nobel Prize for physics. He shared it with Ferdinand Braun.
d) Wiener changed the way everyone thought about computer technology. He influenced several later developers of the Internet.
e) Edison had very little formal education as a child. He attended school only for three months.
f) Tesla organized elaborate dinners. Tesla invited to dinners famous people who later witnessed spectacular electrical experiments in his laboratory.
2 Link the pairs of sentences using after/before … ing
.
Model:
First Tesla saw a demonstration of the “Gramme dynamo”. Then he
visualized a rotating magnetic field. – After
seeing
a demonstration of the “Gramme dynamo”, Tesla visualized a rotating magnetic field.
a) First Tesla worked out the whole idea of any device mentally. Then he put the sketch of the device on paper.
b) First Babbage completed a small difference engine. Then he announced his
invention to the Royal Astronomical Society.
c) First Shannon graduated from MIT in 1940. Then he spent a year as a National Research Fellow at Princeton University.
d) In 1931 Marconi began research into the propagation characteristics of still shorter waves. Then he demonstrated his microwave radio beacon for ship navigation.
e) Norbert Wiener was awarded a BA in mathematics in 1909 at the age of 14. Then
he began graduate studies in zoology at Harvard. And in 1910 he transferred to Cornell to study philosophy.
f) First Edison worked in a number of cities throughout the United States. Then he arrived in Boston in 1868 where he began to change his profession from
telegrapher to inventor.
3 Translate paragraph 7 into Russian.
Speaking
1 Sum up the text using the following key-points:
a) Edison’s family background
b) His main interests
c) Areas of science and research activity
d) Major achievements
e) Personality
2 Comment on the statements:
f) Tesla was the genius who ushered in the age of electrical power.
g) Tesla had a vivid imagination.
h) Nikola Tesla left his mark in science, engineering and industry.
3 Read the following quotes by Tesla. Do you think he was right? Provide real life examples.
a) “Our virtues and our failings are inseparable, like force and matter. When they separate, man is no more.”
b) “Today's scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through equation after equation, and eventually build a structure which has no relation to reality.” Nikola Tesla, Modern Mechanics and Inventions, July, 1934
c) “Let the future tell the truth, and evaluate each one according to his work and accomplishments. The present is theirs; the future, for which I have really worked, is mine.” Nikola Tesla
4 Work in groups of 3-4. Make a list of things you would like to know about Nikola
Tesla. Choose one, find information and make a poster presentation. (Read
instruction on page 33 task 2)
Points for reflection
1 Have you learnt anything new about Nikola Tesla from this unit?
2 What made the greatest impression on you?
3 Has anything surprised you?
4 Did you like the text? Why? /Why not?
Unit 4
Charles Babbage
(1792-1871)
|
Рис. 6 Difference engine |
Before you start
1 You are going to read about life and work of the British inventor, Charles Babbage. Before you read the text answer the following questions.
a) What field of science did he work in?
b) What is he famous for?
Reading
1 Pay attention to the correct pronunciation of the following words.
| Babbage |
[´bæbI
|
irascible |
[´lɔgərI
|
| Leibniz |
[´laI
|
logarithm |
[ mə´∫I
|
| Lagrange |
[ lə´gra:n(d)s ] |
machinery |
[´enʤI
|
| Trinity |
[´trI
|
engine |
[´ʤI
|
| association |
[ sə´saI
|
genius |
[ əb´skjuərətI
|
| society |
[´dI
|
obscurity |
[ِ ِænə´lI
|
| difference |
[əِ səusI
|
analytical |
[I
|
2 Read the text and think of the proper title for it. Explain your choice.
* * *
British inventor Charles Babbage is one of the great paradoxes of computing history. Although he is often credited with developing the first "general-purpose computer," he never actually built any examples of his design. His steam-powered Analytical Engine, as it was called, would seem extremely primitive to us today, but in
the 1830s, it was a groundbreaking design. (1)
|
Рис.7 Charles Babbage |
Babbage was born in Teignmouth, Devonshire (UK) into a middle-class banking family. He followed an educational path typical for his age and status. His father’s money allowed Charles to receive instruction from several schools and tutors during the course of elementary education.
Around age eight he was sent to a country school to recover from a life-threatening fever with the strict instruction to the master not to press too much knowledge upon him. Perhaps this great idleness and a well-stocked library in the academy in Middlesex prompted his love of mathematics. Here he began to show a passion for mathematics but a dislike for the classics. On leaving the academy, he continued to study at home, having an Oxford tutor to bring him up to university level. He had read extensively in Leibniz, Lagrange, Simpson and was seriously disappointed in the mathematical instruction available at Trinity College in Cambridge. In response, he, John Hershel, George Peacock and several other friends formed the Analytical Society to try to bring the modern continental mathematics to Cambridge. (2)
Babbage and Herschel produced the first of the publications of the Analytical Society when they published Memoirs of the Analytical Society in 1813, a remarkably deep work when one realises that it was written by two undergraduates. They gave a history of the calculus, and of the Newton, Leibniz controversy. In spite of being the top mathematician he failed to graduate with honours. (3)
As an active participant in the mathematical circles of the day, he founded the
Analytical Society, the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Royal Astronomical Society and served as Lucasian professor of mathematics at Cambridge. He also published a number of books on mathematics, statistics, and a variety of mechanical and industrial topics. His fascination with the mechanics was a lifelong interest. Rather than watch plays and operas with his society counterparts, he chose to go behind the scenes to view the trap doors, stage elevators, and other mechanisms of an 1800s theater. (4)
Babbage is without doubt the originator of the concepts behind the present day computer. The computation of logarithms had made him aware of the inaccuracy of human calculation around 1812. Once he wrote: “... I was sitting in the rooms of the Analytical Society, at Cambridge, my head leaning forward on the table in a kind of dreamy mood, with a table of logarithms lying open before me. Another member, coming into the room, and seeing me half asleep, called out, Well, Babbage, what are you dreaming about?" to which I replied "I am thinking that all these tables" (pointing to the logarithms) "might be calculated by machinery." (5)
Certainly Babbage did not follow up this idea at that time but in 1819, when his interests were turning towards astronomical instruments, his ideas became more precise and he formulated a plan to construct tables using the method of differences by mechanical means. Such a machine would be able to carry out complex operations using only the mechanism for addition. He completed a small difference engine in 1822. It was on 14 June 1822 when Babbage’s computing career began. He announced his invention in a paper Note on the application of machinery to the computation of astronomical and mathematical tables read to the Royal Astronomical Society. It would become his downfall as well. (6)
Although Babbage envisaged a machine capable of printing out the results it obtained, this was not done by the time the paper was written. An assistant had to write down the results obtained. Babbage illustrated what his small engine was capable of
doing by calculating successive terms of the sequence n2 + n + 41. (7)
As he was convinced that a large difference engine could do the work undertaken by teams of people saving cost and being totally accurate, he sought public funds for the construction of a large difference engine. In 1823 Babbage received a gold medal from the Astronomical Society for his development of the difference engine and his initial grant for 1500 pounds. He began work on a large difference engine which he believed he could complete in three years. However the construction proceeded slower than had been expected. Over the next several decades, he designed the Difference Engine again and again, making each incarnation more efficient, more elegant and more compact than the one before, and leaving a trail of unfinished efforts in his creative wake. (8)
In 1834 Babbage published his most influential work On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures, in which he proposed an early form of what today we call operational research. The same year was the one in which the work stopped on the difference engine. By that time the government had invested 17000 pounds into the project and Babbage had put 6000 pounds of his own money. (9)
By the 1840s, Babbage had moved on to an even more ambitious machine that he called the Analytical Engine. It was never built either, but in theory, anyway, it represented a substantial advancement over the Difference Engine. A programmable machine with memory and a central processor, capable of looping and conditional branching, the Analytical Engine possessed many structural elements of the modern digital computer. But in 1842 funding for Babbage and his work stopped, the government decided not to proceed and stuck the incomplete Difference Engine in the Science Museum, where it still sits. (10)
Babbage's biographers have noted that the government failed to recognize the potential of Babbage's insights, the immense possibilities of his work, ignored the advice of the most reputable scientists and engineers, misunderstood his motives and the sacrifices he had made, and failed to protect him from the ridicule he suffered as a result of its failure. However, Babbage never gave up hope of building his Analytical Engine, he wrote;” ... if I survive some few years longer, the Analytical Engine will exist...
”. He applied once more for funding in 1851 but was turned down. He was reviled in the press and by the public for his careless spending of public funds and died in obscurity1
. (11)
A classic curmudgeonly polymath who was known--with good reason—as "The Irascible Genius," Babbage was an inveterate, obsessive thinker, a mathematician with a penchant for engineering that led him, over the course of his long and colorful life, to invent such varied items as the ophthalmoscope, the cowcatcher found on the fronts of locomotives, the black-box recorder (for trains), a submarine automated by compressed air, a seismograph for measuring earthquakes, a "coronagraph" for generating artificial eclipses, a pen that drew dotted lines (for mapmaking), ergonomic paper (green ink on green paper, Babbage found, was easiest on the eyes), and a pair of shoes designed to let the wearer walk on water (Babbage nearly drowned when testing them, thus establishing that his considerable mental powers did not extend to working miracles). (12)
When he wasn't busy inventing, Babbage dabbled in cryptography, wrote books of social criticism, and raised insult to an art form. The irascible genius was known for his ability to alienate people, and honed his talent on everyone from the Royal Society (which he attacked in a scurrilous book on how governmental corruption was contributing to the decline of English science) to street musicians (who met Babbage's persistent efforts to silence them by playing loudly right outside his window). (13)
Dismissed as a crackpot2
during his own lifetime and subsequently forgotten by all but the most enthusiastic computer buffs and obsessive Victorianists, Babbage has been relegated to the footnotes of history, a curious example of a man whose ideas were too far ahead of his time to make sense. Babbage's reputation as a visionary and engineer was vindicated when several of the machines he designed, notably the second Difference Engine and its 2.5-tonne printer, were built by the London Science Museum to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his birth in 1991. They had not been built at the time he had lived, mainly due to lack of funds. It was subsequently proven that the critical tolerances required by his machines exceeded the metallurgy and technology available at the time. Built from his original plans, not only did they work, they worked exceptionally well. Modern scientists have stated that Babbage's Analytical Engine was also a viable model, although the limitations of Newtonian physics (upon which it was based) might have prevented its realization at the time. (14)
(Adapted from the Internet sites)
---------------------------
-1
умереть в безвестности
-2
чокнутый
3 What do these figures refer to?
| 1500 |
1812 |
1792 |
17000 |
1822 |
2.5 |
1834 |
6000 |
1842 |
200 |
4 Make a list of Babbage’s inventions and developments.
5 Read the text again and answer the following questions:
a) Where did Charles Babbage receive his early education?
b) When did he get interested in math?
c) Why did he get disappointed in math studies in Cambridge?
d) What was the Analytical Society aimed at?
e) What fields of science was Babbage interested in?
f) Why did he come across the idea of mechanical computations?
g) What kind of device did those ideas result in?
h) When did he announce of his invention?
i) Was the device able to print out the results it obtained?
j) What kind of device did he conceive in the late 1830s?
k) How much money was invested in Babbage’s work? Was it repaid?
l) What kind of personality was Charles Babbage?
Vocabulary
1 Fill in the table with the missing words. Consult the dictionary if necessary.
| action |
activity/result of action |
person/device |
characteristic |
| thinker |
|||
| original |
|||
| advise |
|||
| advancement |
|||
| analytical |
|||
| undergraduate |
|||
| apply |
|||
| operational |
|||
| government |
|||
| construct |
|||
| visionary |
2 Explain how the following compounds are formed. Put the phrases under the correct heading.
Example:
steam-powered engine – an engine that is powered by steam
| adjective+noun |
noun+participle I |
noun+participle II |
adverb+participle II |
noun+adjective |
| steam-powered
|
general-purpose computer, life-threatening fever, , well-stocked library, wireless
communication industry, lifelong interest, science-based industry, well-disposed stance, error-correcting code, man-made lightning, world-wide fame, high voltage level, radio-controlled automation, remotely-controlled torpedoes, brand-new science, properly-designed computer, binary digit code, life-saving possibilities, household appliances
3 Complete the sentences with the prepositions if necessary.
a) Babbage is credited … numerous inventions.
b) He had several publications … various topics that captured his interest.
c) At that time scientists announced … their inventions and discoveries at the meetings of the Royal Scientific Academy.
d) Babbage’s passion … mathematics and mechanics shaped his life.
e) Being aware … human inaccuracy, Babbage dreamt about mechanical methods to do complex calculations.
f) In the 19th
century there were many scientific and technological limitations that prevented … realization of Babbage’s Analytical Engine.
4 Look back in the text and explain the following phrases and sentences in your own words.
a) … a groundbreaking design. (1)
b) … not to press to much knowledge upon … (2)
c) His fascination with the mechanics was a lifelong interest. (4)
d) It would become his downfall … . (6)
e) …his considerable mental powers did not extend to working miracles. (11)
f) …raised insult to an art form. (12)
g) … has been relegated to the footnotes of history … (13)
h) Babbage’s reputation … was vindicated … (13)
i) … the critical tolerances required by his machines exceeded the metallurgy and technology available at the time. (13)
5 Give English equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
приписывать кому-л изборетение; обучаться где-л; пробудить любовь к чему-л; нелюбовь к учебному предмету; разочароваться в методах преподавания математики; написать поразительно глубокую работу; окончить университет с отличием; неточность вычислений; метод нахождения разности; проводить сложные вычисления; предвидеть совершенно новое устройство; признавать чью-л проницательностьглубину понимания; страдать от насмешек; ругать за легкомысленную растрату общественных средств; заниматься каким-л делом непрофессионально; жизнеспособная модель
Grammar
1 Express contrast using the following the prompts in brackets.
| although
|
He was interested in mathematics although
Although
|
| however
|
He was sure he could complete the difference engine in three years. However,
|
| in spite of
|
In spite of
|
| despite
|
Despite
|
a) Turing produced unconventional answers. But he won almost every possible mathematics prize at school. (in spite of)
b) Modern scientists have stated that Babbage's Analytical Engine was a viable model. But the limitations of Newtonian physics prevented its realization at the time. (although)
c) For the first time Turing was able to find someone with whom he could share his thoughts and ideas. But his friend Morcom died in February 1930. (however)
d) Edison knew he would hear his own words when experimenting with tin foil phonograph. But he was astonished when they were spoken back to him. (although)
e) Edison’s name was used in the title of electric company – Edison General Electric. But he never controlled this company. (despite)
f) With the development of gasoline powered cars electric vehicles were becoming less common. But the Edison alkaline battery still proved to be useful. (however)
g) Babbage is often credited with developing the first general-purpose computer. But he never actually built any of them. (although)
2 Translate paragraphs 1-2 into Russian.
Speaking
1 Look through the text and divide it into parts. Entitle each part. Summarize the text in no more than 10 sentences using your key points.
2 Comment on the following quotations:
a) “... if I survive some few years longer, the Analytical Engine will exist... ” Charles Babbage, autobiography. Do you think he was right in his predictions? Why? /Why not?
b) “The whole of the developments and operations of analysis are now capable of being executed by machinery. ... As soon as an Analytical Engine exists, it will necessarily guide the future course of science.” Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (London 1864). Why was Babbage sure about the future of mechanical computations? Do you agree with his point of view?
c) “The Victorians did have the capacity to build a computer. What they didn’t have was the vision to see why they should want to.” the curator of computing at London’s Science Museum Doron Swade.
3 Work in groups of 3-4. Make a list of things you would like to know about Charles Babbage. Choose one, find information and make a poster presentation. (Read instruction on page 33 task 2)
Points for reflection
1 Have you learnt anything new about Charles Babbage from this unit?
2 What made the greatest impression on you?
3 Has anything surprised you?
4 Did you like the text? Why? /Why not?
Unit 5 Follow Up Activities
1 Do the crossword
| 1
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3
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6
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| 11
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12
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13
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14
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| 15
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16
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| 17
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| 18
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19
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| 9
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Across
2 - small flash of light produced by
6 - a flash, or several flashes, of very bright light caused by electricity
8 - a thin wire in a light bulb that produces light when electricity is passed through it
9 - a means of sending messages over long distances, using wires that carry electrical
signals
10 - the flow of electricity through a wire
11 - device that measures and records information about earthquakes
15 - piece of equipment used for sending radio signals
17 - a substance that allows electricity or heat to pass along it or through it
18 - the process of sending and receiving messages through the air using
electromagnetic waves
20 - a device for turning mechanical energy from movement into electricity
Down
1 - form of energy from charged elementary particles
3 - a piece of radio equipment that changes broadcast signals into sound or pictures
4 - the form that some types of energy such as heat, sound, light, etc. take as they
move
5 - a device for discovering the presence of smth, such as changes in pressure or
temperature
6 - a room or building used for scientific research, experiments
7 - a substance producing bright light by using some forms of radiation
12 - the part of a vehicle that produces power to make the vehicle move
13 - a piece of equipment for playing records (old-fashioned)
14 - an official right to be the only person to make, use or sell a product or an invention
16 - a device for reducing or increasing the voltage of an electric power supply
19 -the quality of giving out light when heated
2 Make a poster presentation (group work)
Step One - Brainstorm and discuss the ideas on what points to highlight in your
poster.
Step Two - Develop the materials you want to include in your poster into
separate paragraphs. Write each paragraph on a separate piece
of paper.
Step Three - Structure your text. Discuss the order and place of each
paragraph on your poster.
Step Four - Proofread the material checking the spelling, punctuation,
grammar and vocabulary.
Step Five - Choose a person to design the poster. Help him/her to make
necessary additions (photos, diagrammes, etc.)
Step Six - Choose a person to present your poster in class. Help him/her
with the pronunciation and intonation.
Step Seven - Pin the poster on the wall of the classroom and make your
presentation.
3 To find information on other scientists and inventors in the fields of information technologies, physics, mathematics, engineering, use Hotlist «Outstanding Scientists and Inventors».
Individual reading is an integral part of the English language course that allows you to widen the limits of any topic you study. The hotlist “Outstanding Scientists and Inventors” brings you face-to-face with the extraordinary scientists, thinkers and pioneers who have shaped our world. It is an index of supplementary reading material. Individual reading class takes place once a month. The requirements are: 1. Choose a scientist or inventor who made a significant contribution into further development of physics, engineering, mathematics, computer science, information technology, systems analysis. 2. Read and translate into Russian the biography of the scientist/inventor (5000 characters). 3. Sum up the information you have read in no more than 10 sentences, highlighting the most important and interesting facts in the scientist/inventor’s life and work. 4. Practice reading aloud one of the paragraphs – check the pronunciation of the proper names, terms, etc. Links:
- Eric Weisstein's World of Scientific Biography - A database of very brief biographies for over 1,000 figures in science http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/
- The MacTutor History of Mathematics archive - Comprehensive collection of biographies and history of mathematics articles http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/
- Academy of US Achievement: Science and Exploration - Collection of Biographies of US explorers, profiles and interviews with them. http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/halls/sci
- Biographies PolySearch Engine - Search for biographical information, sketches, and full biographies of famous and infamous scientists. http://www2.hawaii.edu/~jacso/extra/egyeb/poly-bio.htm
- Scientists, Inventors and Explorers - Guide to science biography indexed by subject and academic level, timelines and science on stamps http://www.juliantrubin.com/sciencebiography.html
- Nobel prize.org - All related information on all Nobel Prize Laureates, biographies, autobiographies, interviews and lectures http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/
- About:Inventors - A collection of biographies of famous inventors indexed in alphabetical order http://inventors.about.com/library/bl/bl1_1.htm
- Cybernetics and Systems Thinkers - a list of the most influential theorists in the field of cybernetics and systems theory and related domains http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/CSTHINK.html
- Inventor of the Week Archive http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/i-archive-ct.html
- John von Neumann - Genius of Man and Machine http://light-science.com/vonneumann.html
- Ludwig von Bertalanffy http://www.isss.org/lumLVB.htm
- John Nash – Autobiography http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1994/nash-autobio.html
- Wernhen von Braun http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/vonbraun/bio.html
- Free Russian English Dictionary and English to Russian online http://www.rustran.com/
- Online Dictionary, Language Guide, Foreign Language and Etymology - allows sound http://www.allwords.com/
- Dictionary - MSN Encarta - Online dictionary with over 100000 entries, definitions, and pronunciation http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/dictionaryhome.aspx
This Worksheet was created by Reznikova Svetlana http://wizard.4teachers.org/builder/worksheet.php3?ID=97886
This site was created by HPR*TEC Web Worksheet Wizard 3.0. 2007 |
4 Participate in a Student Conference
Hold a mini-conference in your group devoted to the outstanding people in your field of science (information technologies, mathematics, physics, engineering, systems analysis). Prepare a five-minute presentation on the scientist’s biography and work.
a) Find information on any scientist or inventor who is the most interesting from the point of view of the biography and contribution. Think of bits that might get listeners interested.
b) Develop the materials into separate paragraphs. Write each paragraph on a separate piece of paper.
c) Structure your text. Decide on the order of each paragraph.
d) Write the text as a whole, adding introduction, conclusion and links between paragraphs.
e) Think of a “catchy” beginning and an interesting ending but be brief.
f) Proofread the material checking the spelling, punctuation, grammar and vocabulary
g) Practise to be very precise with time: rehearse it.
h) Don’t forget you must speak, not read.
i) Use various visual aids (handouts, PowerPoint, photos, sound) to make your presentation interesting and captivating.
j) Be ready to answer any questions that might arise.
KEYS
Unit 1 Thomas Edison
Reading
4 electric vote recorder, “Universal Stock Printer”, tin foil phonograph, Menlo
Park laboratory, a practical incandescent electric light, methods for the distribution of electricity, electric railway, lead-acid storage battery, method of transmitting telegraphic signals from moving train, different types of automobiles, an alkaline battery, motion pictures
Vocabulary
1
| verb
|
noun
|
adjective
|
adverb
|
| to demonstrate |
demonstration
|
demonstrative
|
demonstratively |
| to invite
|
invitation |
inviting |
invitingly
|
| to invent
|
invention
|
inventive
|
inventively |
| to develop |
development
|
developing
developed
|
------------------ |
| to telegraph
|
telegraph |
telegraphic
|
telegraphically
|
2 a) developed b) demonstration c) inventive
d) inviting e) telegraph/telegraphy
3
| nouns |
both |
verbs |
| belief |
staff |
merge |
| device |
patent |
improve |
| tour |
receive |
4
a) proficient
b) intended for
c) expanded
d) reproduce sound
e) astonished
f) merged
g) tremendous
h) was marred
i) possessed
j) a motion pictures
5 a) - b) as c) on d) on, to e) to
6 to take a job, to reproduce sound, self-improvement, to bring international fame, to make a recording, a curious child, to attend school, to spend much of his time reading scientific and technical books, to give a chance, to start a family, bankers investment, competitor, to teach oneself much, to set up one’s laboratory
Unit 2 Guglielmo Marconi
Reading
3 a) 3 b) 3 c) 3 d) 2 e) 2 f) 1
Vocabulary
1.
| -able/ible |
-al |
-ic |
-ful |
-ive |
-ous |
| remarkable |
historical |
historic |
successful |
intensive |
continuous |
| charitable |
commercial |
electric |
stressful |
expensive |
ridiculous |
| responsible |
practical |
magnetic |
eventful |
creative |
various |
| breakable |
directional |
explosive |
famous |
||
| believable |
national |
dangerous |
|||
| physical |
|||||
| electrical |
|||||
| continental |
|||||
| structural |
2 1с 2a 3f 4e 5d 6b
day-light effect
science-based industry
wireless communication industry
long-distance telegraphy
radio telephone link,
high-powered family
3 a) a baby b) a leg c) a building d) hotel e) flowers
5 a) for b) for c) in d) in e) with f) in
6 an unstoppable will to succeed, to transmit radio signal, was educated privately, took a keen interest in, a system of wireless telegraphy, erected permanent station, possibilities of wireless communication, had been equipped with, patented several new inventions, aerial, collaborators, radio beacon, the recipient of many honorary awards, was decorated with, fundamental discovery, to pursue an objective, to establish new science-based industry
Grammar
1
a) First
the shorter-distance public service of wireless telegraphy was established between Italy and Montenegro. Then
the opening of the first transatlantic
commercial service between Glace Bay and Ireland took place.
b) First
Tesla’s patents expired. Then
the military understood the usefulness of remote-controlled vehicles.
c) First
he foretold the coming of radar in New York in 1922. Then
he gave a practical demonstration of its principles.
d) First
Marconi received his Nobel Prize in Physics. Then
Tesla refused to receive his.
e) First
the world came to regard radio as a commodity not a miracle. Then
he died and left that world behind him.
f) First
Edison invented a little machine capable of recording sound. Then
in 1877 he made the first recording.
Unit 3 Nikola Tesla
Reading
4 rotating magnetic field, induction motor, principle of alternating current, polyphase alternating current system of generators, motors, transformers (alternating current dynamo, step-up and step-down transformers, A.C. motor), Tesla coil, fluorescent light, laser beam, wireless communications, wireless transmission of electrical energy, remote control and robotics (remote operation of robotic devices), Tesla’s turbines and vertical take off aircraft,
radio (radio transmitter), modern electrical transmissions systems, X-ray tubes, terrestrial stationary waves, wireless transmission of electricity, remote-controlled attack vehicles and torpedoes (automation)
Vocabulary
1
| disconnect |
irresponsible |
illiterate |
infinite |
| illogical |
disadvantage |
careless |
unfinished |
| impossible |
incomplete |
unproductive |
misunderstood |
| unfortunate |
impatient |
dislike |
unreal |
| useless |
mistake |
unpublished |
inaccuracy |
3
a) fascinated with (1)
b) intended to (1)
c) operated (2)
d) visualized (2)
e) improving (3)
f) led to (3)
g) supplied by (4)
h) foresaw (6)
i) attempted (7)
j) spark (8)
k) conceived (11)
l) expired (14)
4 a) with b) - c) for d) on e) with f) –
5 to specialize in a field of science; to visualize a device; to design dynamo; inefficiency of lamps; severe disadvantage; to minimize power loss; perfect partnership; to figure out the principle; to foresee interplanetary communication; to announce a discovery, to proclaim priority; terrestrial stationary waves, man-made lightning; to mentally work out; to make improvements to/to improve a device; to draw a sketch; to conceive an invention; to refuse a prize
Grammar
1
a) Tesla published schematic diagrams of the radio transmitter describing
all its basic elements later used by Marconi.
b) During the World War II, Claude Shannon was interested in the possibility of building a machine that could imitate the human brain working
with Alan Turing for a few months.
c) In 1909 Marconi received the Nobel Prize for physics sharing
it with Ferdinand Braun.
d) Wiener changed the way everyone thought about computer technology influencing
several later developers of the Internet.
e) Edison had very little formal education as a child attending
school only for three months.
f) Tesla organized elaborate dinners inviting
to dinners famous people who later witnessed spectacular electrical experiments in his laboratory.
2
a) Tesla worked out the whole idea of any device mentally before
putting the sketch of the device on paper. // After
working out the whole idea of any device mentally Tesla put the sketch of the device on paper.
b) After
completing a small difference engine Babbage announced his invention to the Royal Astronomical Society.
c) After
graduating from MIT in 1940 Shannon spent a year as a National Research Fellow at Princeton University.
d) Marconi he demonstrated his microwave radio beacon for ship navigation after
beginning research into the propagation characteristics of still shorter waves in 1931.
e) After being
awarded a BA in mathematics in 1909 at the age of 14 Norbert Wiener began graduate studies in zoology at Harvard. And in 1910 he transferred to Cornell to study philosophy.
f) Edison worked in a number of cities throughout the United States before
arriving
in Boston in 1868 where he began to change his profession from telegrapher to inventor.
Unit 4 Charles Babbage
Reading
1 the Difference Engine, the Analytical Engine, the ophthalmoscope, the cowcatcher found on the fronts of locomotives, the black-box recorder (for trains), a submarine automated by compressed air, a seismograph for measuring earthquakes, a "coronagraph" for generating artificial eclipses, a pen that drew dotted lines (for mapmaking), ergonomic paper (green ink on green paper), and a pair of shoes designed to let the wearer walk on water, field of operational research
Vocabulary
1
| action |
activity/result of action |
person/device |
characteristic |
| think
|
thought
|
thinker |
thoughtful
|
| originate
|
origin
|
originator
|
original |
| advise |
advice
|
advisor
|
-
|
| advance
|
advancement |
advancer
|
advanced
|
| analyze
|
analysis
|
analyst
|
analytical |
| graduate
|
graduation
|
(under)
|
graduated
|
| apply |
application
|
applicator
|
applicable
|
| operate
|
operation
|
operator
|
operational |
| govern
|
government |
governor
|
governing/governmental
|
| construct |
construction
|
constructor
|
constructive
|
| envision/visualize
|
vision
|
visionary |
visible/ visionary
|
2
| adjective+noun |
noun+participle I |
noun+participle II |
adverb+participle II |
noun+adjective |
| a) general-purpose b) wireless communication c) high voltage d) binary digit |
a) life-threatening b) error-correcting c) life-saving |
a) steam-powered b) science-based c) man-made d) radio-controlled e) household |
a) well-stocked b) well-disposed c) remotely-controlled d) properly-designed |
a) lifelong b) worldwide c) brand-new |
3 a) with b) on c) - d) for e) of f) –
4 to credit smb. with an invention; to receive instruction from; to prompt one’s love of smth.; a dislike for a subject; to be disappointed in the mathematical instruction; to write a remarkable deep work; to graduate with honours; inaccuracy of calculations; the method of differences; to carry our complex operations; to envisage a completely new machine/device; to recognize one’s insights; to suffer from ridicule; to revile for careless spending of public funds; to dabble in smth.; a viable model
Grammar
1
a) In spite of producing
unconventional answers, Turing
won almost every possible mathematics prize at school.
b) Modern scientists have stated that Babbage's Analytical Engine was a viable model although
the limitations of Newtonian physics prevented its realization at the time.
c) For the first time Turing was able to find someone with whom he could share his thoughts and ideas. However
, his friend Morcom died in February 1930.
d) Although
Edison knew he would hear his own words when experimenting with tin foil phonograph,
he was astonished when they were spoken back to him.
e) Despite use of
Edison’s name in the title of electric company – Edison General Electric, Edison
never controlled this company.
f) With the development of gasoline powered cars electric vehicles were becoming less common. However,
the Edison alkaline battery still proved to be useful.
g) Although
Babbage is often credited with developing the first general-purpose computer,
he never actually built any of them.
Unit 5 Follow Up Activities
1 Crossword
Across
2 spark
6 lightning
8 filament
9 telegraph
10 current
11 seismograph
15 transmitter
17 conductor
18 radio
20 dynamo
Down
1 electricity
3 receiver
4 wave
5 detector
6 laboratory
7 fluorescent
12 engine
13 phonograph
14 patent
16 transformer
19 incandescent