Assignment for the 3rd-year students

Assignment for the 3rd-year students

 1. Warming up.

What comes to your mind when you see or hear the word "sci­ence"? 

2. Look through the following text and say what ideas you’just discussed it contains. What have not you mentioned? Translate the text.

Can the average person really understand science? Does the average person want to know about science? Does science matter to us?

For many of us, however, the mere memory of physics, chemistry, and biology classes in high school and college makes our eyes glaze over. We left the classroom with the belief that science was dull and abstract and virtually impossible for the average person to under­stand. Back then, it wasn't cool to understand science, and it seemed to have little immediate relevance to our lives. Yet as we matured and headed into the world, we found ourselves face to face with sophisti­cated computers at work and frequent headlines about matters of sci­ence — mapping the human genetic make-up, cloning, test-tube ba­bies, and the August 1996 discovery of the possibility of past life on Mars, to name a few. Suddenly, scientific knowledge has not only be­come acceptable, it has become a useful, essential, and inescapable part of our lives. For some of us, our fascination with science began in the 1950's and 1960's, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik or when Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon — striking evidence of man's ability to apply scientific knowledge to accomplish extraordinary goals. For others, all it took to become interested in science was getting out of high school or merely witnessing the unending series of new scientific achievements and inventions that occurred during the 1970's, 80's, and 90's: the Venus landing, fiber optics, deciphering DNA code, black holes, space stations, microchips and computers, microsurgery, the Space Shuttle, heart transplants, artificial hearts, superconductivi­ty, the discovery of other solar systems, and much more.

You don't have to be a theoretical physicist to be awed by space ex­ploration or curious about whether life exists on Mars or how Universe began. You don't have to be a biochemist to have an interest in the fundamental processes of life. It's impossible not to be curious about such matters. Scientific knowledge and discoveries are much too inter­esting and profound to be left only to scientists.

Science can be fascinating. Many great discoveries of past have now, in our lifetime, culminated in the most incredible and pervasive scientific and technological revolution that could be imagined. Whether we approve of it or not, we're swept up in that revolution and the re­sulting culture — unless you live in a cave. Not only is science fascinat­ing, it matters to us because it is our life. They say that whatever road we take, our fate is indissolubly bound up with science. It is essential as a matter of simple survival for us to understand science. The more we know science, the better we understand life. It means feeling more comfortable with our everyday lives, and using science and technology to accomplish goals. Science is a part of our culture and heritage. It is of great importance for not merely "ivory tower" intellectuals but for the masses of average people.

Knowledge is our destiny. Homo sapiens will continue to search for the answers to new questions. We will develop new concepts, new the­ories, and we will continue our quest to understand the natural world. We must continue to discover, create, explore, and invent. We must search for the cure and the life-saving solution, for we are the discov­erers, creators, explorers, and inventors. We seek the unknown — the deep, the dark, the never before seen — and we have within us the ca­pacity for ever greater wisdom.

We have come to the future. We have found our place by looking back and     understanding history. We are poised to become twenty-first centurions. As one scientist said: "We don't have to look too far to see the future. We can already see it will be magnificent." We have now reached the 15-billion-year journey.

3. Look through the text again and entitle it.

4. Look through the text once more and say what kind of passage it is:

1.     A scientific paper.

2.     A fragment from a science fiction story.

3.     An introduction to a book for science students.

4.     A fragment from a popular scientific article.

What makes you think so?

5.     Read the text thoroughly with a dictionary and answer the following ques­tions:

1.     What does the author say about general attitude to science in high school or college?

2.     When, according to the author, do we find ourselves face to face with science?

3.     Where is the news about scientific achievements published? What makes you think so?

4.     Why, in the author's opinion, has science become a useful, essential and inescapable part of our lives?

5.     What scientific achievements of the 1970's, 80's, and 90's does the author mention?

6.     Why does the author think it's impossible not to be curious about scientific matters?

7.     Why does science matter to us?

8.     Who does the author call "ivory tower" intellectuals?

9.     Do you agree with the answer to the questions given at the begin­ning of the text? What makes you think so?

6. Give Russian equivalents to the following words, word combinations and sci­entific terms from the text:

		to matter		DNA code
		virtually	1	heart transplants
		to glaze over	1	to be curious
		an average person	2	pervasive
		it wasn't cool	2	to be swept up
		immediate	2	to be awed
		to have relevance	2	to be indissolubly bound up
		to head into the world	2	survival
		matter (n)	2	heritage
		genetic makeup	2	Ivory tower intellectuals
		test-tube babies	2	destiny
		to name a few	2	quest
		to set foot on	2	wisdom
		striking evidence	3	to be poised
		to accomplish a goal	3	headline
		fiber optics		fascination