Advertise the MA course you study at. Use the vocabulary list given above. Present it to your group mates.

IV. READING

Read the text and speak about advantages and disadvantages of doing science.

MAKING a DECISION on a CAREER

Making a decision on a career is not easy. Every university graduate is faced with it. There are many opportunities that are worth trying, and one of them is doing science.

The idea of taking up a post-graduate course is certainly very appealing and inviting, and no graduate can help being tempted by it. But not everyone is capable of withstanding all the difficulties involved in doing research. If you intend to become a post-graduate, you are advised to weigh all pros and cons, to look close into the advantages and disadvantages of the scientific career lest you should regret taking the step later.

It is no use asking other people’s advice in this matter. Tastes differ, and one man’s meat is sometimes another man’s poison. People may have various hobbies: some are fond of dancing and light music, whereas others may be seriously interested in collecting stamps or match-box labels, still others may enjoy breeding or painting. By asking your friends for advice you may find yourself in a predicament, not knowing whose advice to follow. Remember the English saying: So many men, so many minds. Also your friend may not be interested in doing science at all, and you will be ill-advised.

Do not depend on your parents advising you either: they would naturally be tempered and flattered by such a prospect; they would insist on your doing science. Who would not like to see his son or daughter become a famous scientist? Most parents prefer their children choosing the career of a scientist rather than any other. Hence avoid consulting other people and try to make up your mind. And think hard.

You should realize there are many aspects of the problem. First of all, you should be absolutely sure that you will make a dedicated researcher, that you will give all your time and efforts to studying.

Then you must ask yourself if you are capable of doing scientific work, if you are interested enough in doing research to be ready to sacrifice all pleasures of life for science. It is the disadvantage of the work that you should consider first. They are numerous. And it is no good to deceiving yourself that they do not matter. They do. And very much so.

Try to analyze where your interests lie, make sure you will enjoy dedicating your life to science. Having embarked on the field of science, you will know no peace of mind, no leisure, no rest , day after day; your work will prevent you from visiting friends, from doing out, from playing with your children, from seeing relatives.

Moreover, your wife might (unless she is also a scientist) misunderstand your infatuation for work and take it for something else. She may start being jealous and unhappy, she might wish you would stop staying up at night, coming home late or not at all, wasting (as she would put it) your time, making all these numerous and pointless experiments of yours. In fact she might wish you gave up dong science altogether and took up some other trade or profession.

If you are a true scientist and enjoy working and living like that, if you do not mind sacrificing your life for science, if your work means everything to you, you will not give way, you will not give it up, you will carry on doggedly doing your job, you will aim at solving the problem concerned, until one day you will succeed in finding the solution you have been searching for all this time.

When the day comes, you will be the happiest man on Earth till you recognize another urgent problem awaiting its solution.

Whatever happens, you will never regret having chosen the career of a scientist. You will keep saying to your folks at home and to your friends: “It was worthwhile making all the efforts.” But… There is always a but. The day of success may never come and you might be disappointed.

Now is the time for making a decision, for making your mind, for thinking it over. Once you have started, you must keep going, never resting, never satisfied with yourself, always busy, worried and very often tired.

And still I am saying this: “It is worthwhile trying.”

What do you think?

But when you’ve made up your mind, if you’re sure that you’re capable of doing science, if you’re interested in research, stick to the strategy: 1) collect information, 2) put forward a hypothesis, 3) make experiments, 4) confirm your theory with experimental data, and 5) submit your thesis to the Academic Board.

V. GRAMMAR REVISION

VI. WRITING

People take graduate courses for many different reasons (for example, new experiences, career preparation, increased knowledge). Why have you made up your choice to take a graduate course? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. Write your essay using no more than 300 words.

VII. LEARN TO LISTEN and SPEAK

6. Listen to the text “What is physics?”

Do you agree that “Physics is a key part of science and technology”?

Yes. Why? / No. Why?

Listen to the text “Iron” and answer the following questions.

Where can we find iron?

What can you say about the red colour in fruit, flowers, and blood?

Does iron make the world beautiful?

VIII. DO IT YOURSELF

8. Imagine that your friend has asked you to help him choose an MA course for his studies. Surf the net looking for information about several MA courses and compare them with your course. Find common and distinctive features of the courses. Make a recommendation to your friend. The phrases below may be of some help to you:

The course offers a wide range of learning, career enhancement, and employment opportunities within the engineering sciences, research, and other technology areas.

The course provides…../is committed to providing…..

To address the need, the course conducts…

The goal of the programme is to ensure/to foster/to enhance….

Make a presentation about your MA course for foreign students.

UNIT TWO

PROMINENT SCIENTISTS AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN YOUR SPECIALIZED FIELD OF RESERCH

I. WARM-UP

Discuss the following questions.

a. What great scientists in your specialized field of research can you name?

b. What are their achievements?

II. READING

Read the text and answer the following questions.

1. When and where was Bohr born?

2. When did he graduate from the University?

3. Where did he go in 1912?

4. What idea did he put forward just before World War II ?

5. Did he advance this idea alone or working together with Wheeler?

6. Did he participate in atomic research?

7. When did he come back to Copenhagen?

8. When did Bohr’s contribution win him international recognition?

9. Was he the first to receive the Atoms for peace award?

10. When did he give his lecture on the Philosophical Lessons of Atomic Progress?

NIELS BOHR

(1885 – 1962)

Bohr is a Danish physicist, one of the most ingenious interpreters of his generation of the problems of modern theoretical physics. Born in Copenhagen on October 7, 1885, he did physics at the University of Copenhagen, obtaining his doctor’s degree in 1911 and proceeded immediately to Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge for further study under Sir J.J. Thomson. In 1912 he moved to Manchester University, where he was associated with Ernest Rutherford in the latter’s atomic research. In 1914, following a year as lecturer at the University of Copenhagen Bohr returned to Manchester, remaining there until 1916, when he was made professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Copenhagen.

In 1920, largely due to Bohr’s efforts, the Institute of Theoretical Physics was established at Copenhagen. He became its first head and under him the Institute has become an important centre for the development of theoretical and experimental physics. Prior to World War II Bohr’s Institute had become the world centre for atomic physics.

Just before World War II, Bohr advanced the idea that the compound nucleus was fundamental to the phenomena of nuclear disintegration, a concept that proved fruitful in later work. In collaboration with John Archibald Wheeler he proposed a theory of nuclear fission that led to atomic research which produced the atomic bomb.

In 1943, after the Nazis had occupied Denmark, Bohr escaped to England in a small boat. Making the way to the United States, he took a leading part in the atomic bomb project, working mainly at the laboratory established in early 1943 at Los Alamos in New Mexico. In 1944-1945 Bohr served as adviser to the Scientific Staff of the Manhattan project. In 1945 Bohr returned to Copenhagen to resume his duties as director of the Institute of Theoretical Physics.

Bohr’s great achievement was recognized internationally by the Nobel prize award to him in 1922 for his study of atomic structure and radiation. In 1957 he was the first recipient of the Atoms for Peace award. That same year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he delivered his lecture on the Philosophical Lessons of Atomic Progress.

III. GRAMMAR REVISION

IV. VOCABULARY

Scientist X is a very clever man/a broad-minded person/a prominent scientist/good organizer/great expert in many fields/a resourceful and able executive and a charming personality/a very creative scientist/scientist with wide interests

X is interested in …/very enthusiastic about his work/actively engaged in research/known for introducing…/known internationally for one’s contributions/awarded the Nobel Prize

famous for…/distinguished for….

X is engaged in administrative duties/science management/given the post of …

X completes various research programmes/receives numerous honorary degrees from…/ has the highest academic degree/receives rewards/advances the most fundamental ideas of …/advances a new theory/works out a new method/gives quite a new approach to the problem/finds a suitable technique for …/advances the most fundamental ideas of …

His fixed idea is to create …/to make a great contribution to the development of world science and technology/to make great advances in bridging the gap between theory and practice/to make great advances in accelerating the process of applying scientific innovation in industry.

V. SPEAKING

Surf the Net looking for information on the contribution of some scientists in your special field / on the development of Russian/world science and technology. Stick to the plan. Use the phrases mentioned above.

Birthdate and birthplace

Family background

Early life

Education, training

Qualities that make up a person’s character

Inventions, discoveries

Published writings

Contribution to science and technology

Recognition

Personal life

Professional and nonprofessional interests

VI. WRITING

Imagine that your university newspaper has asked you to write an article about the latest achievements in your special field. Use the information from the net, books, and any other information you can find, to write your article. Use 300-350 words.

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