Final test on letter-writing situations
1. You received an invitation to the Conference on … but cannot accept it. Thank the organizing Committee for the invitation and state your reason for declining it.
2. You are a member of the Organizing Committee. Write a letter of invitation to perspective participants of the Congress to be held …
3. When looking through the “Physical Review” (or some other journal) you came across a paper that was of great interest to you. You need additional information on the problem discussed. Write to the author and ask for more details.
4. In accordance with your request you have received a letter informing about the deadline for the publication of the papers. Acknowledge the receipt of the information and assure that the paper will be sent on time.
PART II. SPEAKING
Field of Science and Research
Active Vocabulary
to do/ to carry on/ to carry out/ to conduct research
to contribute to/ to make a contribution to
to influence/ to affect/ to have an effect on/ upon
to study/ to make studies/ to investigate/ to explore
to put forward an idea
to suggest an idea/ a theory/ a hypothesis
to advance/ to develop/ to modify a theory
to predict/ to forecast/ to foresee
to accumulate knowledge
field of science/ research
a new area of research
current branch/ field of research
latest/ recent achievements/ developments/ advances
a (an) outstanding/ prominent/ world-known scientist/ researcher
Tasks
A. Answer the questions:
1. What is your field of science/ research?
2. What are the current issues in your field of science/ research?
3. Have new areas of research appeared in recent years?
4. What is your particular area of research?
5. What are the latest achievements in your field of science/ research?
6. Have many fundamental discoveries been made in your field of science/ research?
7. Can you name some outstanding researches in your field of science? What contributions have they made?
8. Do achievements in your branch of research influence everyday life? In what way?
9. What further developments can you predict in your field of science?
B. Complete the sentences which contain the words from the Active Vocabulary. Speak about your field of research.
1. I do research in the field of …
2. It is the science/ a comparatively new branch of science that studies …
3. The field of science/ research that I’m concerned with gathers knowledge about …
4. Major developments include advances in …
5. Remarkable advances have been made in …
6. The branches of science contributing a lot to the progress in my field of research are …
7. My current field of research is …
8. It’s difficult/ not difficult to foresee/ forecast/ predict …
C. Work in pairs. Ask for and give information on your field of research.
Research Problem
Active Vocabulary
to be due to
to arise from
to increase considerably
to be the subject of special/ particular interest
to be studied comprehensively/ thoroughly/ extensively
to be only outlined
to be concerned with/ to be engaged in the problem of
to deal with/ to consider the problem of
to be interested in
to be of great/ little/ no interest/ importance/ significance/ value/ use
to take up the problem
to work on the problem
to follow/ to stick to the theory/ hypothesis/ concept
to postulate
to differ/ to be different from
a lot of/ little/ no literature is available on the problem
the reason for the interest in the problem is …
Tasks
A. Answer the questions:
1. What is your research problem?
2. What is of special interest in the problem of your research?
3. What is the subject of your research?
4. Why has the interest in this problem increased considerably in recent years?
5. Do you follow/ stick to any theory/ hypothesis/ concept? What is it?
6. What concept is your research based on?
7. How does your research differ from other studies of the same problem?
8. Is there much literature available on your research problem?
9. Is your research problem described comprehensively/ thoroughly/ extensively in literature?
10. What are the main aspects of the problem that have been considered?
B. Complete the sentences which contain the words from the Active Vocabulary. Speak about your research problem.
1. At present/ now/ currently I am studying the problem of …
2. The problem I am studying is concerned with …
3. There is a lot of/ little/ no literature on the problem of …
4. The literature available on the problem only outlines/ thoroughly/ extensively describes such aspects as …
5. In solving our problem we follow the hypothesis that …
C. Act out the situation. Two students are taking part in an international conference. There they get acquainted and talk about their research fields and research problems.