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Now hundreds of materials are known to become superconduc­ tors at low temperature. Approximately 26 of the chemical ele­ ments are superconductors. Among these are commonly known metals such as aluminium, tin, lead and mercury and several less common ones.

Most of the known superconductors are alloys or compounds. It is possible for a compound to be superconducting even if the

chemical elements constituting it are not.

Text l i e

прочитайте текст и найдите информацию о применении сверхпроводни­ ков в будущем. Изложите кратко содержание текста по-английски.

New Норе for Energy

Recently some ceramic materials have been found to be super­ conductors. Superconducting ceramics are substances which can transmit electric currents with no loss of energy at temperatures much higher than conventional superconductors (that is, at the temperature of liquid nitrogen).

One use for the new superconductors would be to replace those that need the extreme cold of liquid helium — huge superconduct­ ing electromagnets used in nuclear magnetic resonance research, atomic particle acceleration and research reactors.

Other types of electromagnets made with superconductors could be used to lower the cost of electric generation and storage. Such uses may take 10 years of research, a quicker use will probably be in electronics.

Researchers now estimate that tiny but immensely powerful highspeed computers using superconductors may be three to five years away. Further off are 300 m.p.h. trains that float on magnetic cushions which now exist as prototypes but may take at least a de­ cade to perfect. Power lines that can meet a city's electric needs with superconductor cables may be even further in the future.

Meanwhile, scientists around the world are trying to turn the new materials into useful products. Among the most notable is a micron-thin film to transmit useful amounts of electric current without losing superconductivity. The film could be used in the mi­ croscopic circuitry of advanced computers as high-speed pathway (маршрут, соединение) between computer chips.

Several nations are known to be very active in superconductor research. For example, the United States is spending millions of

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dollars on such research, much of it for military uses: projectile ac­ celerators, lasers, ship and submarine propulsion.

Text IID

Прочитайте текст и расскажите по-английски о Массачусетском Техно­ логическом Институте.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT is an independent university located in Boston area. It was founded in 1861 by William Barton Rogers, a distinguished natural scientist, who believed professional competence to be best fostered (воспитывать) by the combining of teaching, research, and the ap­ plication of knowledge to real-world problems. MIT held its first classes in 1865 after having delayed opening because of the Civil War. There were approximately 15 students enroled at that time.

Today MIT has about 9,700 students, a faculty (профессор­ ско-преподавательский состав) of approximately 1,000 and sev­ eral thousand research staff. The total teaching staff numbers more that 1,800. The institute is broadly organized into five academic Schools — Architecture and Planning, Engineering, Humanities and Social Science, Management and Science — and a large num­ ber of interdisciplinary programs, laboratories, and centers, includ­ ing the Whitaker College of Health Science, Technology and Management. A unique feature of MIT is that undergraduates join with graduate students, faculty, and staff to work on research pro­ jects throughout the institute.

Most academic activities take place in a group of intercon­ nected buildings designed to permit easy communication among the Schools and their 22 departments. Across the street from this set of buildings there are athletic fields, the student center, and many of the dormitories.

The main puфose of the academic program at MIT is to give students a sound command (прочное усвоение) of basic principles, the habit of continued learning and the confidence that comes from a thorough and systematic approach to learning. This results in continued professional and personal growth, especially in today's rapidly changing world.

The two essential parts of all MIT educational programs are teaching and research. Both of these activities carried on together have greater potential than either performed alone. They provide experience in theory and experiment for both students and teaching staff.

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Each student pursues a degree (стремиться получить степень) in one of the departments.. Undergraduate courses at MIT lead to the degree of Bachelor of Science (S.B.). The academic programs require four years of full-time study for the Bachelor of Science. De­ grees are awarded on the basis of satisfactory completion of general institute and departmental requirements (общеинститутские и ка­ федральные требования) in each program.

There is enough flexibility (гибкость), however, to allow each student, in collaboration with the adviser, to develop an individual program in accordance with his or her own interests and preparation.

ДОПОЛНИТЕЛЬНЫЕ ЗАДАНИЯ

Упражнение 1. A. Прочитайте словосочетания из текста НА и постарай­ тесь понять значения выделенных слов.

1. the threshold of а new technological age

2. who was awarded the Noble Prize

3. which won for them the Noble Prize

4. their quality is often uneven

B. Подберите к каждому выделенному в А слову соответствующее ему по значению.

a. give or grant (by official decision) b. irregular, changing

с start, beginning

d. get by means of hard work or struggle as a result of competition

Упражнение 2. A. Прочитайте текст и постарайтесь понять значения тер­ минов memory cells, windings, coils.

The practical applications of superconductivity are limited be­ cause of the very low temperatures required. Some materials, for example lead, become almost perfect conductors at very low tem­ peratures at the absolute zero (-273 °C). However, a number of uses have been proposed.

If a current is induced by a magnetic field in a ring of supercon­ ducting material, it will continue to circulate when the magnetic field is removed. In theory this could be made use of in the memory cells of computers. Memory cells made of superconducting mate­ rial could store information indefinitely. Because of the zero resis­ tivity of the cells, the information could be retrieved quickly, as fast as 10"^ seconds.

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90 per cent of the total losses in modern transformers is due to the resistance of the windings. Transformers could be made with windings cooled to the low temperature at which superconductivity occurs. The resistance would be zero and the transformer would be almost ideal. Similarly, a 100 % efficient electric motor has been proposed using the magnetic field of superconducting coils.

B. Подберите к каждому слову в колонке А соответствующее из колонки В.

СНайдите в тексте, приведенном в А, три пары синонимов. D. Заполните таблицу на словообразование.

гetrieval

removable

define

resistant

apply

conductive

present

explanatory

t>elief introduction

Упражнение 3. Заполните пропуски словами conduct, superconductivity, superconductor, superconductive.

1.... at high temperatures was almost discovered in 1979. 2. The Russian scientists found an oxide of metal they were experimenting

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with to ... electric current. Moreover, the lower the temperature, the less resistance the material had. 3. The resistance continued to fall in liquefied nitrogen. To continue the experiments, they needed liquid helium. To obtain it was quite a problem at that time. So the experiments were stopped. 4. But it was this compound of copper, lanthanum and oxygen that proved to be a ... for which the Swiss physicists were honoured with a Noble Prize in 1987. 5. Later neither efforts nor money were spared (жалеть, экономить) for the study of the ... materials. Moreover, there were no longer any problems with helium.

Упражнение 4. A. Назовите 15-20 ключевых слов и словосочетаний на тему:

«Superconductivity research».

в. Speak about:

Latest achievements in conductivity research.

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LESSON 12

Сослагательное наклонение Многофункциональность глаголов should, would Особенности пассивного залога

Глаголы to involve, result in, resultfrom

Text 12A. The International Space Station Text 12B. Benefits of Building the ISS

Text 12C. Living Aboard the Space Shuttle and the ISS Text 12D. Time Travel and New Universes

ПРЕДТЕКСТОВЫЕ УПРАЖНЕНИЯ

Упражнение 1. Переведите предложения с глаголом-сказуемым в сосла­ гательном наклонении.

A.1. Would you like to come with us? 2. Would you be so kind as to tell me how to get to the Red Square? 3. Could you tell me the way to the main building of the University? 4. Would you mind giving me your dictionary for a minute? 5. Would you be kind enough to pass me the text-book? 6. I'd like to thank you for your help. 7. He'd like to meet you.

B.1. You are the only person she would listen to. 2. The mate­ rial in that book is very much out of date. The book must have been written a long time ago. 3. He speaks English well. He must have lived in the United States for a long time. 4. You could have done it in a different way. 5. It's strange he is not here. However, he might have forgotten all about it. Or he might have come while I was out.

6.For long journeys in private cars one could use automatic guid­ ance systems. 7. One laser beam could carry all the radio, TV and telephone messages simultaneously.

C.1. Mary wishes she could drive a car. 2.1 wish that, for just a day, I were President of the United States. 3.1 wish I had not spent so much money yesterday. 4. I wish when a boy I had studied

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French instead of English. 5. John wishes he had been a mechani­ cal engineer. 6.1 wish I had a car. 7.1 wish you had mentioned this fact to me before.

D. 1. If he were better educated, he would get the job. 2. Were I you, I should speak to him about it. 3. I would have called you if I had had your telephone number. 4. Had she felt better, she would have gone with them. 5. If you watched a laser operate, you might be surprised at the simplicity of a device capable of such power. 6. «If I had had a chance to live my life again, I should have tried to combine the study of the history of art, philosophy and science.» «But then you wouldn't be good at either.» «No, you are probably right, I'd be a dilettante.»

E. 1. K. Onnes found that it was necessary that a mercury wire be cooled to -265 °C for electrical resistivity to disappear. 2. Tsiolkovsky proposed that liquid propellants should be used for space travel. 3. Recently it has been improbable that superconductivity should appear at an unbelievable temperature of 98 К in a special ceramic material. 4. The great speeds and high resistance of air de­ mand that new hyperliners be built without windows. 5. It is essen­ tial that a superconductor should be a solid material and it is necessary that it should be cooled to -273 ''C. 6. It was natural for the ancient Greeks to suppose that the stars, planets, the sun and the moon move round the Earth in space. 7. It is possible that a compound should become a superconductor even if the chemical elements constituting it are not. 8. Copernicus suggested that the Sun and not the Earth should be at the centre of everything.

Упражнение 2. Переведите предложения, обращая внимание на союзы in order that, so that, lest.

1. A special system is being developed so that drivers could see after dark. 2. Aircraft designers tend to replace conventional metal alloys by new composite materials in order that an aircraft structure should be lighter. 3. Some materials are cooled almost to -273 °C so that they should become superconductors. 4. Great attention is paid to ecological problems all over the world so that air in supercities should be clean. 5. You must put down this formula lest you should forget it. 6. Metal parts are tested for defects lest they should fail in operation. 7. Students must work hard lest they should fail at examinations. 8. All kinds of safety devices for motor cars are being developed lest accidents should occur. 9. A hyper­ sonic craft will require complicated cooling measures lest it should burn.

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Упражнение 3. Переведите предложения, обращая внимание на особен­ ности страдательного залога.

1. International cooperation, especially in the field of space and science, may be spoken of as a long-standing tradition. 2. The «night vision» system is being worked at in many design bureaus. 3. The invention of an internal combustion engine was followed by the appearance of a motor car as we know it today. 4. Any flying ve­ hicle is acted upon by aerodynamic forces. 5. The improvement of our working conditions and life is influenced by the achievements of scientific and technological progress. 6. New developments in the field of superconductivity are much written about at present. 7. The invention of a steam engine was followed by the first indus­ trial revolution. 8. The neutron is not influenced by a magnetic field. 9. The appearance of a jet engine was followed by a tremen­ dous increase of aircraft speeds. 10. The problems of interplanetary flight are dealt with in the latest magazine.

Упражнение 4. Переведите предложения с глаголом to involve и его про­ изводными (занимать, быть занятым, вовлекать, связанный с этим).

1. While on their last space flight French cosmonauts were mostly involved in carrying out scientific experiments. 2. A pro­ gram to establish an International Lunar Base may involve many nations. 3.The struggle for the protection of Lake Baikal has shown the true position of the organizations involved. 4. To understand the operation of computers one must understand the principles in­ volved.

СЛОВООБРАЗОВАНИЕ

Упражнение 5. Переведите производные слова согласно образцу:

префикс тиШ- (много-)

multi-room — многоместный, multi-national — многонациональный

multi-stage rocket, multi-purpose, multi-functional, multi-lat­ eral, multiplex, multimedia, multi-ton vehicle.

Упражнение 6. Прочитайте и переведите интернациональные слова.

international station [,inta'naejenl 'steijen], civilization [,sivilai'zeij9n], orbit ['o:bit], assembly [e'sembli], shuttle ['jAtI], routine [ru:4i:n], partner ['pa:tn9], multi-national ['mAlti-'naeJenI], majority [me'dsoriti], astronaut ['aestrenoit], mission ['mijen], of­ ficial [e'fijel], object ['obdsikt], visible ['vizibl], module

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['modju:l], process ['preuses], ambitious [aem'bijes], project ['prodjekt], control [kan'traul], commercial [кэ'тэ:/э1], biotech­ nology [,bai9utek'nol9cl5i].

Упражнение 7. Прочитайте и запомните произношение слов.

launch [lo.nf], extension [iks'tenjen], research [ri'se:^], facil­ ity [fe'siliti], crew [kru:], alternately [o:rt8:netli], expectancy [iks'pektensi], Venus [Viines], awesome ['o:s8m], Canada ['kaenede], Japan [dse'paen], Brazil [bre'zil], European [juare'piien], behave [bi'heiv], trouble [ЧглЫ], citizen ['sitizn], dozen ['dAzn], opportunity [,ope4ju:niti], basic ['beisik], риф08е ['рэ:р9$], investigation [in,vesti'geij9n], adventure [9dVenf9], promote [pr9'm9ut], require [ri'kwai9], billion ['bilj9n], enter­ prise ['ent9praiz], advertise ['aedv9taiz].

СЛОВА И СЛОВОСОЧЕТАНИЯ ДЛЯ ЗАПОМИНАНИЯ

alternately — поочередно at least ~ по крайней мере

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