e.g. Fresh air is healthy. Water is good for you.

– can be used alone or with some/any/much/little/my/the. e.g. Don’t forget to buy (some) coffee.

We use singular verb forms and no articles with words which refer to school subjects or scientific studies: chemistry, economics, mathematics (maths), physics, politics, electronics, biology, programming, engineering, geometry, geophysics, etc.

2. 1) A basic knowledge of science or conscious thought is important for solving problems, but our unconscious minds often help in a surprising way.

Read the stories below and write the name of the person, their problem and what helped them to find the solution.

Name the problem the chance helped with the great discovery

2) Read the text again and put a, an, the or – in each gap. a) Archimedes in his bath

Do you remember the story of 1____Greek scientist Archimedes? He was trying to solve 2____problem in 3_____physics – how to show if the king’s crown was made of 4_____ gold or not.

He thought and thought, but he could not find the answer. So he stopped worrying and had 5___ bath instead. Suddenly, 6___ answer came to his mind. He was so excited that he jumped out of his bath, naked, and ran down the street shouting, ‘I’ve found it!’ Actually, what he said in 7____

Ancient Greek was ‘Eureka!’ We still use this word in 8____English when we suddenly find 9___ answer to a problem.

b) Einstein on the tram

Albert Einstein had 1___ first idea about 2____ Theory of 3____ Relativity when he was traveling home from 4____ work on the tram in Geneva.

c) The scientist who saw the solution on a bus

The chemist ‘Kekule’ is famous for having discovered a lot about how 1____ atoms and 2____ molecules are arranged.

3____ first discovery happened when he was riding on a bus, one evening in about 1855, thinking about other things. Suddenly, he saw 4___

atoms dancing before his eyes. Then one atom joined another one to make 5____ chain. When he got off the bus he understood how 6___ atoms join

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