Chernobyl birds are small brained

By Matt Walker

Birds living around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear accident have 5 % smaller brains, an effect directly linked to lingering background radiation.

The finding comes from a study of 550 birds belonging to 48 different species living in the region, published in the journal PLoS One.

Brain size was significantly smaller in yearlings compared to older birds.

Smaller brain sizes are thought to be linked to reduced cognitive ability.

The discovery was made by a team of researchers from Norway, France and the US led by Professor Timothy Mousseau from the University of South Carolina, US, and Dr Anders Moller from the University of Paris-Sud, France.

In April 1986, reactor number four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded. After the accident, traces of radioactive deposits were found in nearly every country in the northern hemisphere. An exclusion has since been set up around the site of the accident.

However, scientists have been allowed inside to gauge the impact the radiation has had on the ecology of the region.

Last year Prof Moller and Prof published the results of the largest wildlife census of its kind conducted in Chernobyl – which revealed that mammals are declining in the exclusion zone surrounding the nuclear power plant.

Insect diversity has also fallen, and previously, the same researchers found a way to predict which species there are likely to be most severely damaged by radioactive contamination, by evaluating how often they renew parts of their DNA.

In their latest study, the scientists used mist nets to collect birds from eight woodland sites around Chernobyl, which have seen a decline in the numbers of larger animals and small invertebrates living within.

After controlling for the differences between species, they found that the birds had brains 5 % smaller on average compared to birds not exposed to background radiation. The effect was most pronounced in younger birds, particularly those less than a year old. That suggests that many bird embryos did not survive at all, due the negative effects of their developing brain.

(«Earth News», BBC-News)

III. Перепишите предложение, заполнив пропуски подходящим по смыслу словом:

1. A large … of vehicles had to be abandoned because of heavy snow.

a) total; b) amount; c) number; d) quantity.

2. A … planned operations are made in the hospital.

a) gently; b) delicately; c) carefully; d) cautiously.

3. The force of the wind is measured on a standard … of 0 – 12.

a) scale; b) variety; c) number; d) extent.

4. On a … of one to ten, how do you rate his performance?

a) scale; b) length; c) amount; d) range.

5. Usually local labor is used in the … of the roads.

a) construction; b) maintaining; c) building; d) creation.

6. An operation … by surgeons at Guy’s Hospital was successful.

a) presented; b) operated; c) acted; d) performed.

7. The … developments in medicine impress very much.

a) recent; b) current; c) present; d) fresh.

8. The satellite has been in … for a year.

a) place; b) distance; c) space; d) division.

9. Many of the chemical … are toxic.

a) materials; b) substances; c) combinations; d) components.

10. It … me to see her ruin her life.

a) hung; b) heats; c) hurts; d) heart.

11. The author trusts for a continuance of … communications.

a) similar; b) like; c) the same; d) such.

12. Britons and Saxons shall be … one people.

a) twice; b) one; c) not once; d) once.

13. There was no other explanation for the … rays which it emitted.

a) energetic; b) stranger; c) powerful; d) streaming.

14. An element is a chemical substance which … is known cannot be split up into other substances.

a) so far; b) how much; c) in so far as; d) so far as.

15. Can you … up this piece of wood?

a) split; b) break; c) shatter; d) burst.

16. The developer usually … four components.

a) admits; b) accommodates; c) concludes; d) contains.

17. He has … out a method of cure.

a) pointed; b) indicated; c) shown; d) directed.

18. I'm quite satisfied with your …, so there's no need to expand on it.

a) interaction; b) explanation; c) clarification; d) exposition.

19. Scientists call the … of giving out such rays "radioactivity".

a) trait; b) property; c) substance; d) quality.

20. The test will help the doctors … what treatment to use.

a) determine; b) invent; c) give; d) open.

21. It is good because it is written in friendly, … language.

a) difficult; b) open; c) ordinary; d) different.

22. It was getting dark and she could … see in front of her.

a) scarcely; b) hard; c) often; d) easy.

23. It would be a good idea … professional advice.

a) to be; b) to do; c) to determine; d) to get.

24. Having bought the house, they couldn’t afford … it.

a) to furnish; b) to do; c) to get; d) to move.

25. You will need to … permission from the principal.

a) obtain; b) offer; c) propose; d) maintain.

26. Entrance to the university is the best way to … knowledge.

a) buy; b) lose; c) obtain; d) produce.

27. Recent discoveries … to our knowledge of the Universe.

a) reduced; b) paid; c) added; d) developed.

28. We … a wide range of services.

a) offer; b) produce; c) make; d) carry.

29. He saw the sun’s … grazing over the mountain.

a) arrows; b) tent; c) bar; d) rays.

30. A lot of traffic accidents are … by carelessness.

a) caused; b) developed; c) kept; d) obtained.

31. The students … a survey on attitudes to drugs.

a) produced; b) put out; c) built; d) carried out.

32. The data … on a disk.

a) are shown; b) is used; c) is introduced; d) are stored.

33. I can’t climb a mountain without the … equipment.

a) proper; b) empty; c) hard; d) former.

34. … he was only twelve he could run faster than any kid in the school.

a) Even; b) Although; c) Nevertheless; d) Though.

35. He … to face Kim with tears in his eyes.

a) twisted; b) bent; c) turned; d) curdled.

36. Doctors have made important new … about the disease.

a) inventions; b) findings; c) innovations; d) discoveries.

37. Carl absolutely … to eat vegetables.

a) refuses; b) rejects; c) declines; d) denies.

38. The fireman … the hose on the burning building.

a) bent; b) brought; c) turned; d) gave.

39. The chairman … him permission to speak.

a) refused; b) denied; c) negated; d) declined.

40. They worked in a … contact.

a) familiar; b) near; c) devoted; d) close.

IV. Вопросы для самопроверки:

1. Каков примерный объем аннотации по отношению к первичному тексту?

2. Какими приемами вы пользовались при компрессии текста в задании 3?

3. Какой у вас получилась аннотация по содержанию и целевому назначению (общая или специализированная, справочная или рекомендательная)?

4. Для чего составляется аннотированная библиография на иностранном языке?

Вариант 4

I. Составьте аннотацию к статье на английском языке:

Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie, a Tale of Love and Fallout

By HarperCollins

The story of Marie and Pierre Curie and their Nobel Prize – winning research on radiation has been oft told. But it finds new life in the hands of writer and artist Lauren Redniss, who weaves together deft narrative and vivid illustrations to create a thoroughly modern account of the scientific and romantic passions of the Curies, as well as the repercussions of their discoveries. Here Redniss describes how, following Marie’s observation of radioactivity in a mineral called pitchblende, the Curies isolated for the first time a compound containing radium, a radioactive element.

The Curies had demonstrated the existence of polonium and radium through their radioactivity, but fellow scientists remained skeptical. Chemists in particular wanted to see them, to touch them. Only concrete evidence would be persuasive.

And so, the Curies plunged into a Sisyphean task. Procuring seven tons of pitchblende – a mountain of black rubble strewn with pine needles – from the Bohemian mines, they began trying to extract measurable amounts of their new elements. They asked the Sorbonne for laboratory space to complete the work. The University gave the Curies a dilapidated wooden shed previously used for human dissection.

After four years of steady labor, four hundred tons of water, and forty tons of corrosive chemicals, on March 28, 1902, they managed to extract one tenth of a gram of radium chloride. It was exhausting work.

With the constant companionship that accompanied their research, the Curies’ love deepened. They cosigned their published findings. Their handwritings intermingle in their notebooks. On the cover of one black canvas laboratory log, the initials ‘M’ and ‘P’ before the surname – Curie are scripted directly one atop the other, as if to pull apart even just the letters of their names would be too brutal. Though the long, poisonous task of separating the elements would ultimately cleave the couple, for now the arduous work bound them together.

(«Scientific American», May, 2010)

II. Составьте реферат статьи на русском языке:

Squeezing More Oil Out of the Ground

By Leonardo Maugeri

On 20 dry, flat square miles of California’s Central Valley, more than 8,000 horseheads – as old-fashioned oilmen call them – slowly rise and fall as they suck oil from underground. Glittering pipelines crossing the whole area reveal that the place is not merely a relic of the past. But even to an expert’s eyes, Kern River Oil Field betrays no hint of the miracle that has enabled it to survive decades of dire predictions.

Kern River Oil Field was discovered in 1899, and initially it was thought that only 10 percent of its heavy, viscous crude could be recovered. In 1942, after more than four decades of modest production, the field was estimated to still hold 54 million barrels of recoverable oil. As pointed out in 1995 by Morris Adelman, professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and one of the few remaining energy gurus, in the next forty-four years, it produced not 54 million barrels but 736 million barrels, and it had another 970 million barrels remaining. But even this estimate was wrong. In November 2007 U.S. oil giant Chevron announced that cumulative production had reached two billion barrels. Today, Kern River still puts out more than 80,000 barrels per day, and Chevron reckons that the remaining reserves are about 480 million barrels.

Chevron began to achieve its miracle in the 1960s by injecting steam into the ground, a novel technology at the time. Later, a new breed of exploration and drilling tools – along with steady steam injection – turned the field into a sort of oil cornucopia. Yet, Kern River is not an isolated case. Most of the world’s oilfields have revived over time. New exploration methods have revealed more of the Earth’s secrets. And leaps in extraction technology have led to tapping oil in once-inaccessible areas and in places where drilling was once uneconomic. In a way, technology is the real cornucopia.

(«Scientific American», April, 2009)

III. Перепишите предложения, заполнив пропуски подходящим по смыслу словом:

1. …is the process or method of building or making something using many parts.

a) Preparation; b) Separation; c) Construction; d) Production.

2. The … of the pollution problem was much worse than scientists had predicted.

a) scale; b) strength; c) amount; d) level.

3. He is … among the best modern writers.

a) numeral; b) considered; c) chosen; d) numbered.

4. Natalie seems to have a … grin on her face.

a) permanent; b) never-ending; c) everlasting; d) eternal.

5. The house has many interesting … including a large Victorian fireplace.

a) characteristic; b) property; c) feature; d) peculiarity.

6. It would … matters if you were more cooperative.

a) ease; b) facilitate; c) help; d) lighten.

7. I regret that a … meeting prevents me from accepting your invitation.

a) antecedent; b) future; c) early; d) previous.

8. Their main task was the … of the engine.

a) improvement; b) question; c) rule; d) solution.

9. The air inside … when it was heated.

a) got cold; b) did; c) expanded; d) started.

10. The … number of people took part in the event.

a) considerable; important; c) strong; d) a lot of.

11. Metals … when heated.

a) decrease; b) move; c) expand; d) stay.

12. Dr Ewing gave a detailed … of how to use the program.

a) explanation; b) definition; c) annotation; d) description.

13. Organic molecule … into simpler substances.

a) unites; b) divides; c) splits; d) separates.

14. His wife called for an … when he collapsed.

a) emergency; b) assistant; c) healthful; d) ambulance.

15. He was afraid of … my feelings.

a) hurting; b) victim; c) capping; d) aggrieved.

16. The small state decided to confederate with the island kingdom in order to form a more …. nation together.

a) strong; b) vigorous; c) powerful; d) high-powered.

17. Jim and Mary have been quarrelling so much recently that their friends are afraid they might ….. up.

a) break; b) split; c) shatter; d) bust.

18. It also …. out that no banker has so far been nabbed for signing a collusive agreement with a debtor.

a) indicated; b) pointed; c) shown; d) directed.

19. I doubt whether he will … .

a) recover; b) healing; c) convalescent; d) aftercare.

20. This wet weather sets up the … in my old wound.

a) aid; b) ail; c) ache; d) aim.

21. She experienced constant … .

a) pail; b) paint; c) pain; d) paid.

22. Mr. Ball took snuff with all his friends, … musically after each pinch.

a) sneezing; b) scorn; c) sneer; d) snicker.

23. I don't much like the sound of your … .

a) bechesthesis; b) cough; c) bark; d) tussis.

24. She was in a state of complete … .

a) fatigue; b) tire; c) weary; d) phonograph.

25. Frank laughed to cover his … .

a) bad; b) concerned; c) anxiety; d) consideration.

26. We feel the … of urban living

a) fair; b) considerable; c) stresses; d) glad.

27. He was … because he didn’t break the law.

a) justified; b) imprisoned; c) arrested; d) taken to the prison.

28. The court’s decision must be … .

a) neglected; b) improved; c) exchanged; d) respected.

29. The terrorists are … to kill the hostages.

a) advising; b) saving; c) helping; d) threatening.

30. … waste contaminates our environment and threatens people’s lives.

a) Nuclear; b) Organic; c) Good; d) Useful.

31. Builders use … to pull down old buildings.

a) crane; b) explosives; c) tools; d) machines.

32. Can you … up this piece of wood?

a) unite; b) divide; c) split; d) separate.

33. Michael Faraday is an English … who was born in a poor labouring family.

a) computer programmer; b) artist; c) scientist; d) plumber.

34. She gave us a short … of the rules before we started.

a) explanation; b) definition; c) annotation; d) description.

35. The situation along the border is potentially … .

a) awful; b) explosive; c) powerful; d) numerous.

36. Oil has the … of floating on water.

a) characteristics; b) properties; c) qualities; d) features.

37. His … to work day and night was known to his colleagues.

a) knowledge; b) behavior; c) ability; d) fact.

38. The … of the service at the hotel was rather good.

a) space; b) room; c) number; d) quality.

39. He could not understand the text because he didn’t know … of many of the words.

a) the meaning; b) the ability; c) the research; d) science.

40. The experiment gave us … data on this problem.

a) long; b) strong; c) huge; d) considerable.

IV. Вопросы для самопроверки:

1. Какие первичные и вторичные научные документы вы знаете?

2. Какие сведения сообщаются во вторичных научных документах?

3. Что такое реферат?

4. Что такое аннотация?

5. Для каких целей составляются реферат и аннотация?

6. Каково целевое назначение реферата?

7. Что входит в содержание реферата?