Учебное пособие Английский для бакалавров. Часть 2

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Ð À Á Î Ò À Ñ Ò Å Ê Ñ Ò Î Ì

Text A. WHAT IS A STAR?

A star is a body of luminous gas, like the sun. But as stars are much farther away from the earth than the sun, they appear to be only small points of twinkling light. With the naked eye it is possible to see about 2,000 stars at any one time or place but with the most powerful telescope over 1,000 million stars are visible. Although light travels at 186,000 miles a second, the light from the stars takes many years to reach the earth.

Stars are not fixed in space, but are traveling in different directions at different speeds. Seen from the earth, these movements appear to be so small that groups of stars, or constellations, seem to have a permanent relationship. The star patterns we see in the sky are almost the same as those seen by our ancestors hundreds, or even thousands of years ago.

The sizes of stars vary tremendously, from less than the diameter of the sun to thousands of times its size. Most stars appear white when looked at with the naked eye, but some are bluish-white, yellow,

orange and red. The varied colours are due to differences in surface temperature. The brilliant, white stars are hottest with surface temperatures of several hundred thousand degrees. The less brilliant, orange and red stars have surface temperatures of about 2, 000 degrees.

There are exceptions, however. The red giant, Betelgeux, in the constellation (or group) of Orion, appears to be brilliant because of its size. Its diameter is 250 million miles, which is greater than the diameter of the earth's orbit round the sun.

Shooting stars which are sometimes seen moving across the night sky for a few seconds are really meteors. These small particles flare up as they strike the earth's atmosphere and usually burn out.

========================VOCABULARY=====================

luminous, a	светящийся
point, n	точкà
twinkle, v	мерцàть, сверкàть, мигàть
naked, a	голый, обнàженный
with the naked eye	невооруженным глàзом
visible, a	видимый
reach, v	достигàть, доходить до
space, n	прострàнство, космос
constellation, n	созвездие
permanent, a	постоянный, неизменный

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relationship, n	отношение, связь,	рàсположение
	относительно друг другà
pattern, n	рисунок, узор
ancestor, n	предок
size, n	рàзмер
tremendous, a	огромный, громàдный
due to, a	обусловленный, вызвàнный чем-
	либо
surface, n	поверхность
flare up, v	ярко вспыхивàть
strike, v (struck, struck)	удàрять (-ся)
burn out, v (burnt, burnt)	выгореть, сгореть

=========================================================

I. Practise the pronunciation of the following words:

luminous, earth, surface, orange, giant, diameter, meteor, farther, naked,

ancestor, tremendously.
II. Match the adjectives and nouns:
Adjectives	Nouns
powerful	particles
visible	telescope
different	eye
permanent	relationship
naked	speeds
small	stars

III. Read and translate the words of the same root. Pay attention to suffixes:

A.to differ - difference - different; to relate - relation - relationship; to vary - variety - various;

to move - movement - movable; to direct - direction - directly;

to except - exception - exceptional.

B.real - really; usual - usually;

tremendous - tremendously; visible-visibly;

careful - carefully.

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IV. Read and translate the words with the component tele - Mind! The Greek word "tele" means "far, at a great distance":

telegraph, television, telescope, telephone, telefax, telepathy, telemetry.

V.Memorize the following word combinations:

small	points of	twinkling	мàленькие	точки мерцàющего
light			светà
with the naked eye			невооруженным глàзом
with	the most	powerful	с помощью	сàмого мощного
telescope			телескопà
a permanent relationship			постоянное	рàсположение
			относительно друг другà
a star pattern			звездный узор
a shooting star			пàдàющàя звездà

VI. Read the text ‘What is a star?’. Answer the questions below:

1.What is a star? Find the definition in the text.

2.How many stars can a man see with the naked eye? With the most powerful telescope?

3.How long does it take the light from the stars to reach the earth?

4.Stars are not fixed in space, are they?

5.What do we call groups of stars?

6.How do the sizes of stars vary?

7.What are the varied colours of stars due to?

8.Which stars are the hottest?

9.What surface temperatures do the hottest stars have?

10.What are meteors?

VII. Complete the sentences.

1. A star is ... .

2, It is possible tо see ... .

3.The light from the stars takes ... .

4.Stars are traveling ... .

5.Constellations seem to have ... .

6.The sizes of stars ... .

7.The varied colours of stars ... .

8.Shooting stars are ... .

VIII. Find in the text ‘What is a Star?’ the sentences with the Subjective Infinitive Construction. Translate them.

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IX. Say what you have learned from the text about:

a)the number of visible stars;

b)the speed of light;

c)the sizes of stars;

d)the colours of stars;

e)shooting stars.

X. Imagine you are a teacher of astronomy. Deliver a lecture on the topic ‘What is a Star?’.

Text B. SPACE EXPLORATION

Exploration of outer space in the 20th century has produced discoveries and inventions that will forever change the way people live, learn and interact.

The dream of space travel is as old as history but it was in

the 20th century when the dream became reality. The first aeroplane (airplane) flight occurred in 1903 and in 1926 the first liquid-fuelled rocket was launched that traveled 200 feet.

After World War II, the superpower opposition between the USA and the Soviet Union stimulated rocket research and development. Both nations realized that large rockets can be used to attack an enemy from thousands of miles away and that satellites put into orbit around the Earth by rockets could

transmit messages.

The Soviet launch of sputnik, the first man-made object to overcome gravity, began the space age. The Soviet Union soon achieved many other firsts. In 1961, the Soviet Union put the first man, Yuri Gagarin, into space. The first long space flights, a woman in space and space walk were all Soviet achievements. The Soviet Union made great progress in the peaceful application of space exploration. In its Salyut 6, it investigated such vital matters as the causes of cancer, since cells are studied in gravity-free space. The construction of metals that can resist gravity has resulted in tools of incredible hardness; improved seeds have been developed in Salyut.

In the early 1960s the United States organized the Apollo space program. This research program concentrated on landing a man on the moon. Two Americans, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, walked on the lunar surface in July 1969.

Since the first moon landing many nations have developed programs of space exploration. A network communication satellites made world-wide television and telephone service possible. Space shuttles allowed regular trips between the Earth and space. Scientific satellites were put in the Earth's orbit. Voyages to Venus were made by the Soviet spaceships, voyages to Mars, Jupiter and Saturn - by the American spaceships.

This scientific progress has since resulted in hundreds of benefits for mankind, from the weather satellites whose information we see in our daily newspapers and on

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TV, to determining from outer space where fish is, where natural resources are hidden in the earth and in discovering areas which are becoming deserts.

========================= VOCABULARY ===================

exploration, n	исследовàние
outer space	открытый космос
occur, v	случиться
to launch a rocket	зàпустить рàкету
superpower opposition	противостояние великих держàв
satellite, n	спутник
man-made object	искусственный объект
overcome, v	преодолевàть
investigate, v	исследовàть
to resist gravity	противостоять притяжению
space shuttle	космический корàбль многорàзового
	использовàния

=========================================================

I. Make sure you know the words to text B.

II. Read the text ‘Space Exploration’. Combine elements from column 1,2,3 and 4 so as to get meaningful sentences corresponding to what is said in the text. All elements should be used.

		1		2	3		4
	(a)	Space exploration		is	rocket research	in 1954
	(b)	Soviet scientists		organized	discoveries and	into	space in
					inventions	1961
	(c)	Two Americans		put	as old	in Jully, 1969
		The dream	of space			between		the
	(d)			stimulated	the first man	Earth		and
		travel
						space
	(e)	The	superpower	walked	regular trips	for mankind
		opposition
	(f)	The United States		allowed	the first sputnik	in	the	early
						1960s
	(g)	Space shuttles		has resulted	the Apollo space	and
					program	development
	(h)	The	scientific	has produced	in a lot of benefits	as history
		exploration of space
	(i)	The Soviet Union		launched	on the lunar surface	that	change
						our life

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a) Write out the complete sentences:

e.g. Space exploration has produced discoveries and inventions that change our

life.

b) Arrange these sentences in a logical sequence corresponding to the text.

III. Look through text  and find the English equivalents to the Russian word combinations:

исследовàние открытого космосà; вызвàть открытия и изобретения; мечтà о космических путешествиях; полет нà сàмолете; зàпустить рàкету нà жидком топливе;

противостояние великих держàв; стимулировàть исследовàния и изобретения; нàпàдàть нà противникà с рàсстояния в ... миль; спутник;

зàпустить что-либо нà орбиту при помощи рàкет; передàть сообщение; преодолеть земное притяжение; открыть космическую эру; сделàть что-либо впервые;

зàпустить в космос первого человекà; длительный космический полет; выход в космос;

сохрàнить лидерство в кàкой-либо облàсти; мирное применение чего-либо; причины возникновения рàкà;

прострàнство, где не действуют силы притяжения; высàдкà человекà нà Ëуну; пройти по поверхности Ëуны;

рàзрàботàть прогрàмму исследовàния космосà; сеть спутников связи;

сделàть возможным междунàродное телевидение и телефонную связь; сделàть возможным регулярное сообщение; нàучный спутник; принести человечеству выгоды;

метеорологический спутник; определять из открытого космосà;

IV. Answer the following questions:

1.How has the space exploration changed the life of mankind?

2.In what way has the superpower opposition stimulated the space research?

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3.What "firsts" in space exploration has the Soviet Union achieved?

4.What peaceful applications of space exploration can you name?

5.What did the US Apollo space program concentrate on?

6.What benefits for mankind has space exploration brought?

V. Translate into English. Consult text B, if necessary.

1.Ìечтà человекà об исследовàнии космосà стàлà реàльностью в XX веке.

2.Ïримерно через 20 лет после первого полетà нà àэроплàне былà зàпущенà первàя рàкетà нà жидком топливе.

3.Ïосле Âторой Ìировой войны сверхдержàвы рàзрàботàли прогрàммы исследовàний в облàсти зàпускà рàкет.

4.Ðàкеты можно использовàть в целях нàпàдения с больших рàсстояний, спутники, зàпущенные нà орбиту Çемли, можно использовàть для передàчи сообщений.

5.Ýпохà освоения космосà нàчàлàсь с зàпускà Ñоветским Ñоюзом искусственного спутникà - первого искусственного объектà, преодолевшего земное притяжение.

6.Ñоветский Ñоюз первым зàпустил человекà в космос, первым осуществил длительный космический полет и выход человекà в открытый космос.

7.ÑØÀ в 1960-х годàх рàзрàботàли прогрàмму «Àполлон», глàвной целью которой был выход человекà нà поверхность Ëуны.

8.Ñоветский Ñоюз сделàл многое в облàсти мирного использовàния результàтов исследовàния космосà.

9.Áылà создàнà сеть спутников связи, осуществлены полеты космических корàблей нà Ìàрс, Þпитер, Ñàтурн, Âенеру.

10.Îсвоение космосà принесло человечеству многочисленные выгоды.

11.Ìетеорологические спутники дàют возможность предскàзывàть

погоду.

12.Èз космосà можно увидеть, где нàходятся месторождения полезных ископàемых.

13.Ñ помощью спутников можно проводить исследовàния в рàзличных облàстях нàуки.

VI. Read the following selection. Find the Infinitives, state their forms and functions. Make a written translation of the selection.

WHY DOES AN ASTRONAUT NEED A SPACE SUIT?

A space suit enables an astronaut to survive by providing him artificially with conditions like those he is used to on earth.

These conditions can be reproduced in a large space craft or space station in orbit, but an astronaut still needs a space suit for operations outside the craft or for an emergency.

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In space men lack the air needed for breathing, the pressure required to stop their blood from boiling and the natural protection of the atmosphere against radiation. All these must be supplied by the space suit which also must withstand the cold of space.

When an astronaut ventures into space, he leaves behind the safety of the atmospheric blanket which we, on earth, take for granted. His space suit becomes his own personal little world.

Text Ñ. THE LAST MAN TO DISCOVER A PLANET

Clyde Tombaugh, a young American research student, made the last discovery of a planet while working in 1930 at the Lowell Observatory, Arizona State College. This planet is Pluto, the ninth one in order of distance from the sun, 3,670 million miles away.

Although Tombaugh, who was 26 at the time, was the first astronomer to see Pluto, its existence had been suspected by Percival Lowell, builder of the observatory at Flagstaff, Arizona. Lowell began searching

for the planet in 1905, the year before Tombaugh was born. He observed that there was a difference between the predicted and actual positions of Uranus, and this led him to conclude that there must be another planet. His final calculations about "Planet X" were published in 1914, but he had still not found the planet when he died two years later.

Another American, W.H. Pickering, took up the search, concentrating on the irregular movements of the planet Neptune. He saw a clue in the movement of comets, which seem to be attracted by large planets. There were 16 known comets whose paths took them millions of miles beyond Neptune, which is 2,811 million miles from the sun, and Pickering was convinced that they were being attracted by a still more distant planet.

In 1919 yet another hunt was begun by Milton Humason at Mount Wilson Observatory, Pasadena, California. Instead of mathematical calculations, Humason tried photography. He took two pictures of a series of stretches of the sky, with a gap of one or two days between exposures. In such photographs stars stay still, but planets change position.

When Tombaugh discovered Pluto, it became clear that Humason had photographed the planet twice. Once it had been masked by a star, and the second time its image had coincided with a flaw in the photographic plate. The main difficulty in the search had been that Pluto was extraordinarily faint. Pickering formed the opinion that it was not Lowell's Planet X, but that a huge planet remains to be discovered.

I. Read the text ‘The last man to discover a planet’. Name all the people who tried to prove the existence of the ninth planet.

II. Choose the correct answer.

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1.The last man to discover Pluto was …

a)P. Lowell

b)M. Humanson

c)C. Tombaugh

2.The first astronomer to see the ninth planet was …

a)W.H. Pickering

b)M. Humason

c)C. Tombaugh

3.Clyde Tombaugh was born in …

a)1905

b)1906

c)1914

4.Percival Lowell began searching for a new planet in ...

a)1914

b)1919

c)1905

III. Write out of the text sentences with the infinitive. Define its forms and functions. Translate the sentences.

IV. Make a written translation of the text ‘The last man to discover a planet’ using a dictionary.

V. Learn to speak about great scientists exploring the Universe. Make use of the following articles.

COPERNICUS

Men have always been fascinated by the stars. Centuries ago, as people looked up at the sky, they saw that some stars did not twinkle but wandered across the sky as bright points of light. These "wandering" stars were what we now call the planets. There were five planets that could be seen by ancient men - Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

The ancient Greeks were great watchers of the sky and also great thinkers. As they watched the stars night after night, it was natural for them to think that the earth stood still and the stars, planets, sun and moon were going round and round the earth in space. They thought the sun was between Venus and Mars.

For centuries, men believed this was how the stars moved. To explain the wandering of the planets, however, was very difficult.

Then one day at Cracow University in Poland, about the year A. D. 1500, a young scientist named Nicolaus Copernicus began thinking about the way in which the stars and planets moved.

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Pluto

Neptune

Uranus

Saturn

Jupiter

Mars

Earth

Venus

Mercury

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Suppose, Copernicus said, the earth was not at the centre of the stars and the planets, but that the sun was instead. Suppose that the earth itself was a planet just like Mars and Venus and that the earth and all the other planets were round and round the sun at different distances from it. "After all," he said, "since light comes from the sun, it is only proper that the sun and not the earth should be at the centre of everything."

The ancient Greeks had made the mistake of thinking that because the stars and planets seemed to move as they looked at the sky, the earth must be still. If you have sat in a train and looked out at the trees rushing by, it is easy to understand their mistake. The trees seem to be moving backwards, but really it is the train that is moving forwards.

Not all of Copernicus' ideas were right. Although he thought, correctly, that the moon went round and round the earth, he also thought the stars were fixed on a large ball outside where the planets moved. He thought the stars did not move at all, but only the earth, moon and planets.

Copernicus was so frightened of what everyone would think of his new ideas that he did not write them down in a book until he was almost dying. Yet he was the first person to explain properly our solar system.

Copernicus was born at Torun. He studied mathematics at Cracow, canon law and astronomy at Bologna and medicine at Padua. His treatise has the title in Latin "De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium".

(from "Finding Out")

JOHANNES KEPLER

Johannes Kepler, German astronomer and

mathematician, was the founder of modern astronomy. He was born on December 27, 1571 in the village of Weil-der-Stadt in the Duchy of Wurttemberg, Swabia. He studied mathematics, philosophy, theology and astronomy at the University of Tubingen, earning his

M. A. in 1591.

Kepler became a teacher of mathematics and

astronomy at Gratz, the Austrian province of Styria

from 1594 to 1600. His writings on celestial orbits impressed the famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe who invited Kepler to join him at Prague. Kepler accepted and assisted Tycho in preparing new planetary tables. When Brahe died in 1601, Kepler succeeded him as Imperial Mathematician. He had access to all of Tycho Brahe's papers and 20 years of

precise observations which he used to form the foundation of his three laws of planetary motion (Kepler's laws) published between 1609 and 1618.

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