Albert Einstein. Notes to the Text:

Albert Einstein, a well-known German physicist and mathematician, was born in Germany on March 14, 1879. His unusual ability in mathematics and physics began to show itself at a technical school in Zurich. At the age of 21, after four years of university study, Albert Einstein got a job as a clerk in an office. But already in 1905, he made revolutionary discoveries in science. He published three papers in the field of physics and mathematics. In the first, he explained the photoelectric effect by means of Planck’s quantum theory. The second paper developed a mathematical theory of Brownian motion. He presented his third paper on the “Special Theory of Relativity” to a journal of physics. Einstein expressed his theory in the equation E = mc2, roughly that energy equals mass times the square of the speed of light.

All over the world, scientists read the work with great surprise. Few physicists understood its importance at that time. Everybody wanted to know as much as possible about the author. Which institute did he teach in? What laboratory did he do his research in?

Einstein’s fame among scientists grew slowly but surely. For a few years he lived in Prague where he worked as a professor. When he came to Prague, he often told his students: “I will always try to help you. If you have a problem, come to me with it, we will solve it together.”

He liked questions and answered them at once, for there were no simple or foolish questions for him. He spoke much with his students about scientific problems and his new ideas. His advice to students was, “Don’t take easy problems”.

In 1921 Einstein got the Nobel Prize in Physics not for the theory of relativity but for a logical explanation of the photoelectric effect.

In 1922 he became a foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences for his outstanding contributions to physics and mathematics.

On March 14, 1979, by a UNESCO decision many people throughout the world celebrated the birth centenary of the great 20^th century scientist.

 

II вариант

I. Перепишите следующие предложения; определите по грамматическим признакам, какой частью речи являются слова, оформленные окончанием –s и какую функцию это окончание выполняет, т.е. служит ли оно:

а) показателем 3-го лица ед. числа глагола в Present Indefinite;

б) признаком мн. числа имени существительного;

в) показателем притяжательного падежа имени существительного.

Переведите предложения на русский язык.

 

1. She makes mistakes because she does not know grammar well.

2. Our city’s park is very beautiful especially in summer.

3. Wool, air and asbestos are all poor conductors of heat.

 

II. Перепишите следующие предложения и переведите их, обращая внимание на особенности перевода на русский язык определений, выраженных именем существительным.

 

1. Heat can also travel without the use of any material conductor.

2. In October 1980 the local government decided to construct a flood defence

system to protect St.Petersburg from floods.

3. They furnished our chemical laboratory with a large variety of glass

apparati.

 

III. Перепишите следующие предложения, содержащие разные формы сравнения и переведите предложения на русский язык.

 

1. The results of our experiments are better than theirs.

2. Max Born, who later became an outstanding German physicist, took an exam

in astronomy.

3. Venus is the nearest planet to us in space.

 

IV. Перепишите и письменно переведите предложения на русский язык, обращая внимание на перевод неопределенных и отрицательных местоимений.

 

1. You can find these data in any reference book.

2. No magazine writes about this discovery.

3. There are some ways of producing heat.

 

V. Перепишите следующие предложения, определите в них видо-временные формы глаголов и укажите их инфинитив; переведите предложения на русский язык. Поставьте предложения в вопросительную и отрицательную форму.

 

1. St. Petersburg has more than 300 research institutes, design and technological

organizations and 30 institutes of the Academy of Science.

2. It took her a long time to make this experiment but at last she got the

necessary results.

3. I don’t think we shall do all this work today – there is too much of it.

4. The installation of the new computers will be over in two hours.

 

VI. Перепишите следующие предложения, переведите на русский язык, обращая внимание на различные способы перевода оборота there + be.

1. There was no other explanation for the powerful rays which the new and

unknown element emitted.

2. There is a solar-powered boiler in Simferopol which heats a five-storey hotel.

3. There are some gases in the atmosphere that allow visible light to pass

through.

 

VII. а) Перепишите текст. Переведите его на русский язык.

б) Ответьте на вопросы по тексту.

 

1) How did scientists discover new materials?

2) What is making it possible to simulate the properties of materials?

3) Why will the 21^st century get new materials in much grater quantities?

Notes to the Text:

1. by trial and error – методом проб и ошибок

2. simulate - моделировать

3. that used to take years – на которую обычно требовались годы

 

Simulating – a new way of creating materials

Mankind waited a long time for bronze. But when it arrived, it brought a revolution that changed civilization forever. Then came iron with its hard edge for swords and, later still, steel brought the Industrial Revolution. During the 20^th century the pace quickened; in less than a hundred years several entirely new classes of material appeared and quite new ones will certainly make an impression on the 21^st century.

Until recently, scientists discovered most new materials by complete accident, or by trial and error. The latter strategy involves taking a few metals, mixing them together in certain ratios and watching what comes out. The process of studying a material’s behaviour under pressure, at high and low temperature, in and out of magnetic and electric fields and in countless other conditions can take years or decades.

But all this can soon change. Recent advances in mathematics and computing make it possible to simulate the properties of materials. This approach entirely changes the whole idea of materials testing. The simulations begin with the rules of quantum mechanics that govern matter on the atomic and subatomic level.

Huge increases in computing power made the simulations possible and recent developments of mathematical methods make complex calculations much easier. Thanks to new research techniques the number of calculations needed to solve large numbers of functions decreased.

Where the simulations work, they bring a great change to materials development. Thanks to this new simulation technology the 21^st century will get new materials in great quantities.

III вариант

I. Перепишите следующие предложения; определите по грамматическим признакам, какой частью речи являются слова, оформленные окончанием –s и какую функцию это окончание выполняет, т.е. служит ли оно:

а) показателем 3-го лица ед. числа глагола в Present Indefinite;

б) признаком мн. числа имени существительного;

в) показателем притяжательного падежа имени существительного.

Переведите предложения на русский язык.

 

1. Students do research at the institutes.

2. Cold means the absence of heat.

3. One of the Fermat’s outstanding contributions to mathematics is the founding

of the modern theory of numbers.

 

II. Перепишите следующие предложения и переведите их, обращая внимание на особенности перевода на русский язык определений, выраженных именем существительным.

 

1. Scientists exhibited their research findings in the local museum.

2. Complex systems of radio transmission networks were set up throughout the

world.

3. Video-phones are quite possible in the not-so-distant future.

 

III. Перепишите следующие предложения, содержащие разные формы сравнения и переведите предложения на русский язык.

 

1. The bigger the mass, the bigger the weight of the body.

2. It is the most accurate instrument in our laboratory.

3. The pressure in the boiler is less than is necessary.

IV. Перепишите и письменно переведите предложения на русский язык, обращая внимание на перевод неопределенных и отрицательных местоимений.

1. Some years ago, scientists found a way of splitting atoms artificially.

2. I knew nothing about your research work in chemistry.

3. Atoms are so small that it is almost unbelievable that anything could be

smaller.

 

V. Перепишите следующие предложения, определите в них видо-временные формы глаголов и укажите их инфинитив; переведите предложения на русский язык. Поставьте предложения в вопросительную и отрицательную форму.

 

1. Practically all the equipment on display serves to improve productivity.

2. Our dean delivered the lecture on new methods of technology last Friday.

3. We shall discuss the results of our experiments with our professor.

4. They will obtain these data in their next experiments.

 

VI. Перепишите следующие предложения, переведите на русский язык, обращая внимание на различные способы перевода оборота there + be.

1. There will be a new power station in our region.

2. There were many interesting articles on our speciality in that journal.

3. There are two kinds of work that scientists do: pure science and applied

science.

 

VII. а) Перепишите текст. Переведите его на русский язык.

б) Ответьте на вопросы по тексту.

1) What force holds all the atoms of a star together?

2) Who first studied gravitation?

3) Is there any difference between Newton’s law of gravitation and Einstein’s?