Inventors and Their inventions

Grammar: Sequence of tenses. The indefinite pronouns some, any and the negative pronoun no.

Suffixes: -ous, -ance/-ence, -ant/-ent, -ness.

Listening: 1 Thomas Edison.

2 Inventors and their inventions.

3 Napoleon and inventor. Hitler.

Speaking: Topics: 1 One of the greatest inventions in mankind.

2 Scientific progress: the pros and cons.

Pairwork: Speaking about research work.

Discussion: 1 Is TV doing more harm or good?

2 Advantages and disadvantages of modern civilization.

Reading:

Text 5A. Alfred Nobel – a man of contrasts.

Text 5B. Alexander Graham Bell.

Text 5C. The light still burns (by Ch. Edison).

Text 5D. Little known facts about well-known people. Albert Einstein.

Text 5E. Inventors and their inventions.

Text 5F. Scientific and technological progress.

Text 5G. Calling all stars.

Text 5H. Bearing.

Text 5I. Some discoveries of the 19th century. J. J. Thomson (for advanced readers).

Writing to a friend.

Composition: A device I’d like to design.

Audial Practice № 1

One of the most outstanding American inventors is Thomas Edison.

There are a lot of stories about him. Here is one of them.

1 Listen to the story twice and think over the title you would give it.

2 Write which statements are true and which are false:

1. Edison was a theoretician rather than an experimenter.

2. Edison got a brilliant university education.

3. Edison first patented invention was an electromagnetic device.

4. Edison established his first workshop with the money earned for his first invention.

5. Most of Edison’s inventions are the result of instant inspiration.

3 Answer the following questions:

1. How would you characterize Edison as an inventor? What made him so fruitful?

2. What education did Edison get?

3. What role did reading play in his life? What way did he read books when a boy?

4. How much did Edison hope to get for his first invention? How much did he receive?

5. Why did he think the idea about a genius working by inspiration alone to be absurd?

6. What was Edison’s idea of a genius?

7. Do you know any other facts of Edison’s life?

4 Retell the text and comment it.

5 Role Play. You are a group of business-partners intending to buy a young researcher’s invention.

Discuss the purchase and the way you’ll name the price to the inventor.

LANGUAGE MATERIAL

Vocabulary

Read the words aloud. See the way they are used in speech.

SCIENTIST ученый	Kurchatov is one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century
TO CARE (FOR) любить, заботиться о ком-либо	A mother's care for her children is only natural
TO MAKE (MADE, MADE) 1) делать, изготавливать 2) заставлять	1 Did you make (сшила) this dress or did you buy it? 2 What makes you leave the town so early?
TO DIE умирать	Alfred Nobel, a Swedish engineer and chemist, who invented dynamite, died in 1896, at the age of sixty-three
EXPLOSIVE 1) взрывчатое вещество 2) взрывчатый	1 They used explosives to cut the tunnel through the mountain 2 The group of engineers worked at the new explosive materials for industrial usage
TO EXPLODE взрывать(-ся)	The builders had to explode the rock to construct the railway in the region
MINE шахта	The hardest work in mines is now performed by robots
WAR война	Her father fought in two wars
TO KILL убивать	Magellan, a well-known traveller, was killed on the Philippine Islands in 1521
TO INJURE повредить, ранить	During the car accident the driver and the passenger were injured
USELESS бесполезный	He realized that without the experiment his work would be useless
WHILE 1) пока (в то время как) 2) время (некоторое время)	1 I'll finish my work while you are playing chess 2 I'm busy now, but if you wait a while, I'll help you
TO AVOID избегать	To avoid accidents the driver must strictly follow traffic rules
TO EXPECT ожидать, предполагать	I'm expecting a letter from England
TO DESERVE заслуживать	It was difficult to decide who deserved the first prize
PLENTY OF много	They will require plenty of sand for building the road
GOVERNMENT правительство	The Romans were the first people who had free schools organized by the government
TO GOVERN управлять	The law of gravity governs the movement of the planets
THEN затем, тогда	First they studied traffic conditions in the town and then made necessary recommendations
SUDDENLY вдруг, внезапно	The car suddenly stopped in the middle of the road
BACK назад, обратно	He looked back and saw the dog running after him
TOO 1) тоже, также 2) слишком	1 He was at the party too 2 These boots are too small for him
OWN собственный	He refused to give his own explanation of the fact
TO OCCUR 1) случаться, происходить 2) приходить на ум	1 The car accident occurred in the centre of the town 2 It never occurred to him that the accident happened through his weakness
EXCELLENT отличный, превосходный	This student passed all his examinations with excellent marks
TO MASTER овладеть, изучить	A polyglot is a person who has mastered many different languages
ABILITY способность, умение	His extraordinary ability to work day and night was known to his colleagues
REALLY действительно	Are you really interested in this problem?
SELDOM редко	He seldom goes out
MEANING значение, смысл	He could not understand the text as he did not know the meaning of many words
PROBABLY вероятно	She will probably be here today
ABOUT 1) о, относительно 2) вокруг 3) приблизительно, около	1 He told us about the results of his research work. 2 There was nobody about. 3 What's the time? – It's about five.
EVERY каждый	I see my brother every day.
OPPORTUNITY благоприятная возможность	We'll give you an opportunity to speak to them
USED TO имел обыкновение, бывало	When he was a student he used to go to the country every weekend
TIME 1) время 2) раз	1 I don't have much time for sports 2 Pete's memory was not very good, so he had to repeat new words many times to remember them well
TO BELIEVE 1) верить 2) полагать	1 I don't believe what he says 2 I believe you are right
TO RESPECT уважать	I believe you will justify all our hopes
THREAT угроза	He is respected by everyone
TO THREATEN угрожать, грозить	The summer was very dry and there was a threat of fires in the forests. eaten you?
NUCLEAR ядерный	He studied nuclear physics at the university
TO FORM образовать, создавать	International Children's Fund was formed to improve the living conditions of children
AS FOLLOWS как ниже следует, следующим образом	The load was distributed as follows: each lorry carried twenty tons
ABOLITION отмена, упразднение	The development of cars in England led to the abolition of different acts which limited the speed of the motor transport
ENCOURAGEMENT поощрение	The encouragement of technical conferences and symposia was the aim of the international scientific committee
TO CHOOSE (CHOSE, CHOSEN) выбирать	There are some books on the table. You may choose any book you like
TO WIN (WON, WON) 1) победить, одержать победу 2) выиграть, получить (приз)	1 The Soviet people won a great victory in 1945 2 She won first prize in the figure-skating championship