1. На початку 21 століття новітні інформаційні технології стали широко доступними не тільки серед молоді, а й людей старшого віку. 2. Революційні технологічні розробки безпровідного зв'язку були засекречені на протязі тривалого часу та стали доступними широкому колу лише на початку.....років.3. Застосування 3G та 4G-технологій надає можливість працювати 24години на добу в будь-якому зручному для користувача місці, але необхідною умовою є наявність доступу до мережі Інтернет. 4. Придбання внутрішнього жорсткого диску для ПК – це найпростіше і недороге рішення в ситуації, коли потрібно зберегти великий обсяг інформації. 5. При спробі отримати доступ до комп'ютера під управлінням Windows XP через мережу з'являється повідомлення про помилку. 6. Програмне забезпечення є спеціально організований складний програмний комплекс, який призначений для отримання проектних розв'язків в автоматизованому режимі. 7. На сьогоднішній час найпоширенішими у використанні є оптичні та електронні носії інформації – диски, карти пам'яті, флеш-карти пам'яті.8. Операційні системи забезпечують управління процесу обробки даних певного класу (даних, тексту та ін.) 9. Усім відомо, що ноутбуки легкі, займають небагато місця, портативні і їх можна брати в поїздки і працювати звідки завгодно. 10. Усе більш інформації заноситься в електронні аналоги зберігання нотаток і відправляється електронною поштою. 11. 3G та 4G – це мобільні технології бездротового зв'язку, до яких входять не тільки радіозв'язок, але й високошвидкісний доступ до мережі Інтернет з каналом передачі даних. 3G почали розробляти ще в 1990х, а впроваджені вони були аж тільки в 2000х роках, натомість 4G стали розробляти в 2000х, а їх впровадження почалось тільки з 2010 року. 12. Дискети-конверти, які використовувались в 1980х роках, майже вийшли з обігу в 2007 році, завдяки іншим більш зручним носіям інформації і тільки тому, що інформацію на дискету можна записувати неодноразово, вони досі широко використовуються, не дивлячись на недостатню надійність та порівняно невелику місткість. 13. Першим блогом вважається сторінка Тіма Бернеса-Лі, де він публікував новини починаючи з 1992 року, але більш широке розповсюдження блоги отримали з 1996 року. Характерною рисою блогів є можливість публікації коментарів відвідувачами, що робить блоги сферою мережевого спілкування.
PRE-READING TASK
Eureka!
Work in pairs. Find out the correct answers to the following quiz.
1) A ball moving down a hill has ____.
a) no energy
b) kinetic energy
c) chemical energy
d) work energy
2) The time it takes for a planet to rotate on its axis is one ____.
a) day
b) year
c) season
d) month
3) The phase of the moon when the dark side faces the Earth is ____.
a) a new moon
b) a gibbous moon
c) a crescent moon
d) a full moon
4) A force that pulls 2 objects together is ____.
a) gravity
b) inertia
c) speed
d) friction
5) What planet is best known for its rings ____.
a) Jupiter
b) Uranus
c) Saturn
d) Neptune
6) The Sun, the nine planets, their moons and other objects that orbit the Sun are called ____.
a) the solar system
b) outer space
c) the Milky Way
d) the universe
7) ____ determined the basic laws of genetics.
a) Albert Einstein
b) Isaac Newton
c) Gregor Mendel
d) Eric Mendelson
8) Charles Darwin began developing his theory of natural selection while voyaging on a ship named ____.
a) The Enterprise
b) The Beagle
c) The Santa Maria
d) The Maria Celeste
9) ____ is the passing of traits from one generation to another.
a) genetic engineering
b) genotype
c) hybridization
d) heredity
10) What is special about Sirus, the Dog Star?
a) It is the brightest star in the sky.
b) It always lies directly above the North Pole.
c) It emits staccato barking sounds which radio telescopes can detect.
d) It is the smallest star in the sky.
TEXT B
Applied Science
Applied science will continue for a long time to come. Scientists will keep developing versatile new materials; faster and more sophisticated computers; genetic engineering techniques that make us healthier, stronger, longer-lived; perhaps even fusion reactors that provide cheap energy with few environmental side effects (although given the drastic cutbacks in funding, fusion`s prospects now seem dimmer than ever). The question is, will these advances in applied science bring about any surprises, any revolutionary shifts in our basic knowledge? Will they force scientists to revise the map they have drawn of the universe`s structure or the narrative they have constructed of our cosmic creation and history? Probably not. Applied science in this century has tended to reinforce rather than to challenge the prevailing theoretical paradigms. Lasers and transistors confirm the power of quantum mechanics, just as genetic engineering bolsters belief in the DNA-based model of evolution.
What constitutes a surprise? Einstein`s discovery that time and space, the I beams of reality, are made of rubber was a surprise. So was the observation by astronomers that the universe is expanding, evolving. Quantum mechanics, which unveiled a probabilistic element, a Lucretian swerve, at the bottom of things, was an enormous surprise; God does play dice (Einstein`s disapproval notwithstanding). The later finding that protons and neutrons are made of smaller particles called quarks was a much lesser surprise, because it merely extended quantum theory to a deeper domain; the foundations of physics remained intact.
Learning that we humans were created, not de novo by God, but gradually, by the process of natural selection, was a big surprise. Most other aspects of human evolution those concerning where, when, and how, precisely, homo sapiens evolved are details. These details may be interesting, but they are not likely to be surprising unless they show that scientists` basic assumptions about evolution are wrong. We may learn, say, that our sudden surge in intelligence was catalyzed by the intervention of alien beings, as in the movie 2001. That would be a very big surprise. In fact, any proof that life exists or even once existed beyond our little planet would constitute a huge surprise. Science, and all human thought, would be reborn. Speculation about the origin of life and its inevitability would be placed on a much more empirical basis.
But how likely is it that we will discover life elsewhere? The prospects for space exploration on anything more than a trivial level seem unlikely. We no longer have the will or the money to indulge in technological muscle flexing for its own sake. Humans, made of flesh and blood, may someday travel to other planets here in our solar system. But unless we find some way to transcend Einstein`s prohibition against faster-than-light travel, chances are that we will never even attempt to visit another star, let alone another galaxy. A spaceship that can travel one million miles an hour, a velocity at least one order of magnitude greater than any current technology can attain, would still take almost 3,000 years to reach our nearest stellar neighbor, Alpha Centauri.
The most dramatic advance in applied science we can imagine is immortality. Many scientists are now attempting to identify the precise causes of ageing. It is conceivable that if they succeed, scientists may be able to design versions of homo sapiens that can live indefinitely. But immortality, although it would represent a triumph of applied science, would not necessarily change our fundamental knowledge of the universe. We would not have any better idea of why than universe came to be and of what lies beyond its borders than we do now. Moreover, evolutionary biologists suggest that immortality may be impossible to achieve. Natural selection designed us to live long enough to breed and raise our children. As a result, senescence does not stem from any single cause or even a suite of causes; it is woven inextricably into the fabric of our being.
Exercise 1. Give Ukrainian equivalents:
Solar system; revolutionary shift; stem from; DNA-based model of evolution; quantum mechanics; magnitude; fusion reactor; universe`s structure; speculation; space exploration; stellar neighbor; advance (in).
Exercise 2. Give English equivalents:
Швидкість; пануюча (визнана) теоретична парадигма; припущення, вихідне положення; нові універсальні матеріали; складні комп’ютери; протони і нейтрони; методи, які застосовуються в генній інженерії; частинка; побічні ефекти; спостереження; природний відбір.
Exercise 3. Find words (terms) from the text to the following definition:
a) ________ – to work out in detail, enlarge upon; to advance from a lower to a higher stage
b) ________ – the act of going forward or going before; improvement
c) ________ – a framework containing the basic assumptions, ways of thinking, and methodology that are commonly accepted by members of a scientific community
d) ________ – acceptance of the truth or actuality of anything without certain proof; smth held to be true
e) ________ – a process of gradual, peaceful, progressive change or development, as in social or economic structure or institutions
f) ________ – an apparent probability of advancement, success, profit, etc.; the outlook for the future
g) ________ – a large system of stars held together by mutual gravitation and isolated from similar systems by vast regions of space
h) ________ – new; present; most recent
i) ________ – to make an effort at; try; undertake; seek
j) ________ – the act, fact, or condition of being victorious; victory; conquest; a significant success or noteworthy achievement; instance or occasion of victory
Exercise 4. Work in pairs. Choose any word and explain its meaning to your partner for them to guess:
| Sophisticated | genetic engineering | expand | Theory |
| alien being | trivial | attempt | Velocity |
| Immortality | side effect | solar system | Foundations |
Exercise 5. Find the synonyms of the following words in the text:
1) Cosmos, macrocosm –
2) Interference –
3) Base, groundwork, ground –
4) Past, ancient times –
5) Analyst, expert –
6) Complicated, intricate –
7) Belief, opinion, thought, speculation –
8) Machinery, robotics –
9) Eternity, timelessness –
10) Breakthrough, growth, increase –
11) Strengthen, boost, support –
12) Human species –
13) Spacecraft –
Exercise 6.
A. Look at the following spidergram. Here you can see different branches of science. What do you know about these branches? Discuss given branches of science with your partner and add more branches if you remember any:
anatomy astronomy biology
 | |||||
 | |||||
 | |||||
zoology botany
palaeontology cartography
 |
chemistry
meteorology
geography ecology computing
B. Match the words (1-12) with the definitions (a-l):
| 1) Anatomy | a) the scientific study of animals |
| 2) Astronomy | b) the branch of medicine concerned with the bodily structure of living beings, as revealed by the separation of parts |
| 3) Biology | c) the branch of science concerned with fossils |
| 4) Botany | d) the branch of science which deals with stars, space, etc. |
| 5) Ecology | e) the branch of medicine concerned with the uses and effects of drugs |
| 6) Geometry | f) the branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings |
| 7) Palaeontology | g) the scientific study of plants |
| 8) Pharmacology | h) the branch of mathematics concerned with the properties and relations of point, lines, solids, etc. |
| 9) Physics | i) the study of living organisms |
| 10) Meteorology | j) the branch of science concerned with the atmosphere, especially as a means to forecasting the weather |
| 11) Geology | k) the science which deals with the physical structure and substance of the earth |
| 12) Zoology | l) the branch of science concerned with the nature and properties of matter and energy |
Exercise 7. Read the article about Murphy`s Law. Four paragraphs have been removed from the article. Choose from the paragraphs (A-E) the one which fits each gap (1-4). Pay attention – there is one extra paragraph.
Murphy`s Law
If you were to spread some jam on a piece of bread and then accidentally drop it. Murphy`s Law dictates that it would fall, annoyingly, on the side coated with jam. Or, if you were driving hastily to reach an important date, Murphy`s Law dictates that your car, for the first time in years, would, of course, break down.
1) ________________________________________________________
Edward Murphy was an engineer with the US Air Force. He coined the term during a project to test the tolerance of human beings to ejection from the latest jet aircraft. The project involved shooting a rocket-sled across the base, accelerating volunteer passengers to speeds in excess of 630 miles per hour, which then stopped in 1,4 seconds. For one of the experiments, sixteen sensors had to be glued to the volunteer`s body. There were two ways these could be attached and, of course, each tended to get stuck on the wrong way round.
2) ________________________________________________________
Moreover, the project manager kept a list of “laws” that he deemed vital to the success of future experiments. He added the new Murphy`s Law, thus making it integral to the aviation industry. Other manufacturing industries picked up on the useful new term and soon it was being quoted in newspapers and magazines and, in 1958, was included in Webster`s Dictionary.
3) ________________________________________________________
You do not, for example, make a two-pin plug symmetrical then label it “This way up”. If it matters which way it is plugged in, you make it asymmetrical in shape. This is not to say that the law has no use away from manufacturing industries or that it is irrelevant to everyday life.
4) ________________________________________________________
| A)Today, Murphy`s Law is generally looked upon as being less associated with precise and sensible manufacturing techniques and more to the stresses of our modern life and its new-fangled technology. Take the alarm-clock – is it not the case that whenever you have something important to do the next morning, the alarm will not go off? Or escalators – can it be that that the first one you find is always going the wrong way? B)In short, if anything can go wrong it will, or, as Edward A. Murphy first said in 1949: “If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those can result in catastrophe, then someone will do it.” This sad truth was the basic premise of Murphy`s Law. C)The most popular of these is: “If anything can go wrong, it will.” This “folk” variant is sometimes referred to as Finagle`s Law, as popularized in the science-fiction novels of Larry Niven. He depicted a frontier culture of asteroid miners who worshipped the dread-god Finagle and his mad prophet, Murphy. D)So, we should remember that Murphy`s Law is not just a throwaway comment to explain why bread would fall jam-side down. It is an integral part of a wide spectrum of technical cultures and only by employing Murphy`s Law and acting upon it can engineers be almost certain that nothing will go wrong. In some circles this principle is known as “defensive design”. E)This is what led Edward Murphy to pronounce the “law”. Shortly afterwards, at a press conference, the team`s good safety record was put down to a firm belief in Murphy`s Law and to the necessity of checking everything twice and twice again to circumvent it. |
