III. Paragraph Study.

Read paragraph 1.

1. Follow the dominant noun and the words related to it in meaning through the paragraph and state the main idea. 2. Give Russian equivalents of: a cumulative body of knowledge, a peculiar method practised by the scientist, manufacturing commodities to meet human needs.

Read paragraph 2.

1. Follow the dominant noun and its equivalents through the paragraph. Identify the sentence which repeats the idea expressed in the first sentence of the text. 2. Identify the words used by the author as equivalent to: направляя свой пытливый ум на. . . 3. Identify the words used by the author as equivalent to doing so, a technique of inquiry.

Read paragraph 3.

1. Identify the topic sentence and the illustrating sentences. Among the latter identify the dominant noun and follow it through its transformations into its equivalents and pronouns. 2. Give a Russian equivalent of initiates.

Text 6. 1) Read the text to yourself and be ready for a comprehension check up:

Scientific attitude

What is the nature of the scientific attitude, the attitude of the man or woman who studies and applies physics, biology, chemistry or any other science? What are their special methods of thinking and acting? What qualities do we usually expect them to possess?

To begin with, we expect a successful scientist to be full of curiosity — he wants to find out how and why the universe works. He usually directs his attention towards problems which have no satisfactory explanation, and his curiosity makes him look for the underlying relationships even if the data to be analysed are not apparently interrelated. He is a good observer, accurate, patient and objective. Furthermore, he is not only critical of the work of others, but also of his own, since he knows man to be the least reliable of scientific instruments.

And to conclude, he is to be highly imaginative since he often looks for data which are not only complex, but also incomplete.

2) Check up for comprehension:

1. What qualities do we expect to find in a successful scientist? 2. Why do we say that a successful scientist is full of curiosity? 3. Why is it difficult to see the underlying relationships? 4. Why is he critical of his own work? 5. Why is it necessary for him to be highly imaginative? 6. Give a Russian equivalent of the title and of the data analysed and the data to be analysed.

Text 7. 1) Read the text to yourself and suggest a title:

There is some reason in the belief that we are the masters of nature. Yet this very dominance of man over his environment has become the cause of ever-growing concern, on the part of scientists and general public, for what we are doing to the world we live in.

A century ago man had very limited powers to upset the balance of nature. Now this power is multiplied annually by the advance of technology. Thinking people cannot avoid the conclusion that, should present trends continue, we may make our planet physically and psychologically unsuitable for humanity.

In the face of this prospect many people take a defeatist view in the belief that one cannot put back the clock.

They do not realize that it is the compulsive need for quick profits, motivating capitalism, which causes the constant revolutionizing of the modes of production, without regard to the pollution and damage it is doing to the environment. They do not realize that it is the values and attitudes within any society that determine the way it handles nature and natural resources. And only through a radical change in these values and attitudes can we hope to cope with the environmental problem.