Г. А. Краснощекова, Т. А. Нечаева
Г. А. Краснощекова, Т. А. Нечаева
ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND SCIENTIFIC PURPOSES
Учебное пособие
Издательство Южного федерального университета
Таганрог
ББК 81. 2 -Англ. - 92
УДК 621.37/39 (075.8)
Авторы: Г.А.Краснощекова, Т. А. Нечаева ”ENGLISHFORACADEMICANDSCIENTIFICPURPOSES”: Учебноепособие. – Таганрог ИТА ЮФУ, 2017. - с.
Под общей редакцией Г. А. Краснощековой
Учебное пособие предназначено в качестве базового учебного материала для совершенствования коммуникативной компетенции магистрантов, использующих английский язык в своей практической деятельности.
Пособие предназначено для аудиторной и самостоятельной работы.
Рецензенты:
© Южный федеральный университет, 2017
© Краснощекова Г.А., 2017
© Нечаева Т.А., 2017
ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ
Учебное пособие “ENGLISHFORACADEMICANDSCIENTIFICPURPOSES” предназначено для магистрантов всех специальностей в качестве базового учебного материала. Пособие может быть также использовано широким кругом лиц с различным уровнем владения языком для совершенствования иноязычной профессионально-ориентированной коммуникативной компетенции.
Ключевые моменты
v в пособии представлены тексты по актуальным темам и проблемам;
v тексты аутентичны, взяты из оригинальных изданий, релевантны;
v работа с пособием дает возможность развивать и совершенствовать коммуникативную компетенцию, которая необходима специалистам, использующих английский язык в профессиональных целях;
v использование данного пособия способствует развитию межличностных отношений, т.к. упражнения направлены на общение и взаимодействие (Questionsonthetext.DiscussionPoints);
v использование пособия обеспечивает самовыражение обучающихся в устной и письменной речи на английском языке.
Содержание и подход
Пособие состоит из самостоятельных разделов (Units), в которых представлены тексты, а также упражнения различной сложности и направленности.
Структура разделов (Units)
Для обеспечения успешного использования данного учебного пособия, а также для улучшения ориентации магистрантов в учебном материале, все разделы (Units ) имеют единую структуру.
Тексты (Texts)
В каждом разделе (Unit) представлен аутентичный текст, который предваряется пред - текстовыми и после - текстовыми упражнениями. Базовые тексты (A, B) представлены описательным текстом, тематически связаны друг с другом, но касаются различных сторон темы или расширяют ее.
Упражнения (Exercises)
Упражнения направлены на контроль понимания текстов, совершенствование лингвистической компетенции
Лексика (Words)
Лексика закрепляются в различных языковых и коммуникативных упражнениях (matching , definitions, synonyms, word-building, translation).
Итог (DiscussionPoints)
В конце каждого раздела (Unit) предлагается перечень коммуникативных заданий для обсуждения проблем в группе и подготовки презентации.
Словарь (Vocabulary)
В вокабуляр включены все активные слова в алфавитном порядке. В этом разделе представлены слова и сочетания, которые носят тематический характер.
Материалы для дополнительного чтения (SupplementaryReading)
В данном разделе представлены аутентичные тексты, дающие дополнительную информацию. Тексты этого раздела рекомендуется использовать при выполнении упражнений (AnswertheQuestions), а также при итоговом обсуждении текстов каждого раздела (DiscussionPoints).
Важной составной частью учебного пособия является раздел, связанный с элементами Academicwriting. Умение писать и анализировать научные тексты является центральным по отношению к остальным исследовательским компетенциям. Практика написания емкого и убедительного научного текста начинается с первых студенческих работ и не заканчивается никогда, поэтому учебное пособие может быть полезным как магистрантам, пишущим свое первое эссе, так и специалистам, пишущим научную статью. Построение учебного пособия позволяет использовать его как последовательно, так и выборочно для решения конкретных проблем.
Принципы академического письма лежат в основе международной научной
коммуникации. А поскольку международная научная коммуникация неразрывно связана с публикацией текстов, то эти принципы определяют требования, предъявляемые как к университетским эссе, так и к статьям в зарубежных рецензируемых научных журналах.
Умение писать научные тексты развивается и совершенствуется на протяжении всей жизни. Академическое письмо представляет собой сложный и многоплановый комплекс умений. Этот комплекс умений включает в себя не только лингвистические (языковые, синтаксические и стилистические), но прежде всего металингвистические компетенции, такие как логика, анализ, критическое мышление, объективность и уважение к иным идеям и чужим текстам. Именно этих умений зачастую не хватает нашим студентам и молодым специалистам.
Академическое письмо и его более высокая ступень, называемая в США «риторикой и композицией», представляет собой научную дисциплину, которая помогает преподавателям всех остальных дисциплин развивать у студентов способность генерировать собственные мысли и выстраивать собственную аргументацию, организуя все это в предельно точной и ясной текстовой форме.
При работе с пособием преподаватель сам может определить конкретные методические приемы в зависимости от уровня подготовки магистрантов и целей обучения. Разделы могут изучаться в представленной последовательности или выборочно. Тематика и характер текстов и заданий пособия обеспечивают формирование у магистрантов умений и навыков профессионального общения.
СОДЕРЖАНИЕ
Unit 1Mind and Brain ………………………………………………….....7
Unit 2Evolution of Ecology……………………………………………..27
Unit 3Education………………………………………………………….46
Unit 4Science and technology…………………………………………..64
Unit 5Academic and professional events……………………………….80
Unit 6Academic writing……………………………………………….....86
Unit 7 Scientific research………………………………………………...93
Unit 8International cooperation programs……………………………...95
Unit 9 Preparation of a presentation……………………………………101
Unit 10Academic writing……………………………………………….122
Unit 11Academic correspondence……………………………………..130
Supplementary material…………………………………………………139
Vocabulary………………………………………………………………163
Unit 1.MIND and BRAIN
| Lead-in: |
A computer required hardware to perform its function. In addition, the hardware need software to make it run. Without software, hardware would be useless and without hardware, software cannot be used. Brain is like the hardware and mind is like the software. However, in reality, the difference between brain and mind are more complicated than software and hardware.
In our culture, we sometimes use the words brain and mind interchangeably even though they really do refer to separate, although often overlapping, concepts. The brain is an organ but the mind is not. The brain is the physical place where the mind resides. The electronic impulses that create thought are contained in a vessel. With the brain, you coordinate your moves, your organism, and your activities and transmit impulses. However, you use the mind to think. You can muse at what happened, what is scheduled and what maybe will happen.
The mind is the manifestations of thought, perception, emotion, determination, memory and imagination that takes place within the brain. Mind is often used to refer especially to the thought processes of reason.
| Pronunciation: |
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Reading A
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Match the definitions.
| 1. retrieve information 2. impartial 3. gravitational pull 4. come to fruition 5. rigid 6. prominent 7. alter 8. expansion 9. relationship 10. restrict | a) the result that you wanted to achieve from a plan or idea b) stiff, hard, and difficult to bend or move c) to make small changes to a piece of clothing so that it fits better d) not prejudiced towards or against any particular side or party; fair; unbiased e) the process of increasing in size and filling more space f) to search for, find, to gain access to (stored information). g) important and well known h) the way in which two or more people or things are connected with or involve each other i) to keep something within strict limits j) the natural phenomenon of attraction between physical objects with mass; the weakest of the four fundamental forces of nature |
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Match an adjective (A) and a noun (B).
| A | B | A | B |
| 1. emotional 2. energetic 3. brain 4. glass 5. interesting 6. single 7. stationary 8. physical 9. mental 10. gravitational 11. intimate 12. hard | a) pull b) exercise c) grain d) light e) pile of sand f) partners g) sight h) insurrections i) illnesses j) tube k) position l) memory | 13. massive 14. abnormal 15. bright | m) world n) movement o) drive |
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Reading B
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Processing
Male brains utilize nearly seven times more gray matter for activity while female brains utilize nearly ten times more white matter. What does this mean?
Gray matter areas of the brain are localized. They are information- and action-processing centers in specific splotches in a specific area of the brain. This can translate to a kind of tunnel vision when they are doing something. Once they are deeply engaged in a task or game, they may not demonstrate much sensitivity to other people or their surroundings.
White matter is the networking grid that connects the brain’s gray matter and other processing centers with one another. This profound brain-processing difference is probably one reason you may have noticed that girls tend to more quickly transition between tasks than boys do. The gray-white matter difference may explain why, in adulthood, females are great multi-takers, while men excel in highly task-focused projects.
Chemistry
Male and female brains process the same neurochemicals but to different degrees and through gender-specific body-brain connections. Some dominant neurochemicals are serotonin, which, among other things, helps us sit still; testosterone, our sex and aggression chemical; estrogen, a female growth and reproductive chemical; and oxytocin, a bonding-relationship chemical.
In part, because of differences in processing these chemicals, males on average tend to be less inclined to sit still for as long as females and tend to be more physically impulsive and aggressive. Additionally, males process less of the bonding chemical oxytocin than females. Overall, a major takeaway of chemistry differences is to realize that our boys at times need different strategies for stress release than our girls.
Structural Differences
A number of structural elements in the human brain differ between males and females. “Structural” refers to actual parts of the brain and the way they are built, including their size and/or mass.
Females often have a larger hippocampus, our human memory center. Females also often have a higher density of neural connections into the hippocampus. As a result, girls and women tend to input or absorb more sensorial and emotive information than males do. By “sensorial”, we mean information to and from all five senses. If you note your observations over the next months of boys and girls and women and men, you will find that females tend to sense a lot more of what is going on around them throughout the day, and they retain that sensorial information more than men do.
Additionally, before boys or girls are born, their brains developed with different hemispheric divisions of labor. The right and left hemispheres of the male and female brains are not set up exactly the same way. For instance, females tend to have verbal centers on both sides of the brain, while males tend to have verbal centers on only the left hemisphere. This is a significant difference. Girls tend to use more words when discussing or describing incidence, story, person, object, feeling, or place. Males not only have fewer verbal centers in general but also, often, have less connectivity between their word centers and their memories or feelings. When it comes to discussing feelings and emotions and senses together, girls tend to have an advantage, and they tend to have more interest in talking about these things.
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Project work.
1. Write an essay: “The possibilities of mind and brain”
2. Imagine you are giving a lecture on mind and brain. What information would you present?
3. Organize your presentation on some interesting information and facts about mind and brain.
4. Organize the discussion on the topic “The brain is an important organ in the human body whereas the mind is not like that”.
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Make sure you can read these international words correctly and translate them into Russian.
ecology, historical, discipline, system, coral reefs, characteristic, geology, German, physician, natural, synergy, molecular biology, pollution, climate, industry, theory, dynamics, evolutionary,
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Reading A
WHAT IS ECOLOGY?
The scientific discipline of ecology is dynamic, steeped in historical tradition but adapting to its changing environment and building its own ecological network of interactions with other disciplines. Society has become increasingly aware that we are losing crucial parts of our ecosystem, and that the activities of human beings are threatening the sustainability of the biosphere as a life-support system for humanity.
The word "ecology" did not exist when Charles Darwin published his journal, The Voyage of the Beagle, but one can argue that Darwin's account launched ecology as a discipline. Darwin began by reminding his readers that he had previously published volumes on coral reefs,volcanic islands, and the geology of South America. His integration of the physical and biological dimensions of the places where the Beagle stopped, complemented by influential contemporary work by the English naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, defined a new and synthetic way of looking at nature—in which the patterns characteristic of particular regions found explanation in a unifying, dynamic framework. The term "oekologie" came later, the inspiration of the German scientist and physician Ernst Haeckel, but it was the theories of Darwin and Wallace that created the rich understanding of this science.
Ecology sprang from a marriage between geology and natural history, rooted in observation, but answering a need for a conceptual framework. From its early roots, it became increasingly rigorous and quantitative, and a century later provided the natural discipline for responding to the environmental challenges highlighted by Rachel Carson, Paul Ehrlich, and others.
Fields like ecotoxicology, which studies the fate, transport, and effects of chemicals in the environment, and conservation biology, which seeks to preserve biodiversity, were spawned, closely linked to ecology, but much more applied in focus. The synergy among the disciplines was constructive, but it also tended to blur the distinctions in the public eye between the science of ecology and the application of ecological principles to the management of natural resources. Ecology is a scientific discipline, like physics or molecular biology, whose practitioners are driven by the search for patterns and process in nature. Their findings can inform political decisions about resource use, pollution, climate change, and other environmental issues; but advocacy regarding decisions about our environmental priorities is outside the discipline of ecology. Still, for many people, "ecologist" became a term applied to anyone who wanted to save the planet, or selected parts of it, which made no more sense than calling someone who marvels at the night sky an astronomer.
The application of ecological principles to environmental problems did not suddenly occur with the publication of Silent Spring in 1962; that, like ecology as a whole, had much older roots. The fishing industry provided an early case study nearly a century ago, when the distinguished Italian biologist Umberto D'Anconapuzzled over the causes of fluctuations in the fisheries of the Adriatic. Fortunately, D'Ancona was to marry the daughter of the great Italian mathematician, Vito Volterra, who had become interested in applying his skills in formal mathematics to the study of biological and social systems. Volterra is famous among mathematicians for his contributions to the theory of functionals and integral equations, but is even better and more widely known for the equations he and Alfred Lotka derived independently to describe the dynamics of interacting species. Nevertheless, the greatest contribution Volterra made was not in his specific equations, but rather in the heterodox idea that sophisticated mathematical methods could be used to understand the dynamics of natural systems. The equations of Volterra and Lotkaare taught today in virtually every first course in ecology, and the application of mathematical and computational methods has expanded into every branch of ecology, giving us, for example, integrated models that deal with the interaction between a changing climate and the growth of forests and other vegetation. The influence of mathematics and computation in biology as a whole has also expanded in the last decade, and fields like systems biology (the study of the interplay among the parts of biological systems, like molecular or metabolic systems) and computational biology (with its use of mathematics and computation) have become essential parts of any modern biology department. It should not be lost, however, that through the contributions of Volterra and those who followed his example, ecology was the first sub discipline of biology to become quantitative.
The writings of Darwin and Wallace clearly influenced the development of ecology; but perhaps even more fundamentally, they also launched the field of evolution. The scientific discipline of ecology has thus been, in some sense, a key node in an ecology of scientific disciplines. From its roots in natural history, it has built partnerships with botany and zoology; with geology and paleontology; with mathematics; and with evolutionary studies, from molecular biology to population genetics and development. It has not ignored physics and engineering along the way, in its need to understand the mechanics of how animals and plants grow and move, or how they capture energy and resist stress—why, for example, trees are shaped the way they are. Ecologists make their living by recognizing the interconnectedness of different parts, and different disciplines.
What we must do now, however, is to unify science and the social sciences and humanities further in the service of preserving the earth. That challenge is stretching ecology in new directions. To sustain the planet, we must be able to protect the goods and services ecosystems provide, and that requires knowing what they mean to us. In large part, that is the domain of economics. Bringing ecology and economics together is not new, and most land-grant universities have strong departments of agricultural and resource economics that deal with the economics of agriculture, fisheries, and forests. However, new dimensions in environmental and ecological economics have been developing rapidly, focusing on questions about the value of whole ecosystems, about the optimal design of nature reserves, and about how to manage public goods. Broadly understood, environmental public goods include the air we breathe and the water we drink, the fish we catch and the lakes and oceans that sustain them, as well as the antibiotics that have contributed so much to the advancement of medical care.
Ecology views biological systems as wholes, not as independent parts, while seeking to elucidate how the wholes emerge from and affect the parts. Increasingly, such a holistic perspective, rechristened at places like the Santa Fe Institute as "the theory of complex adaptive systems," has informed understanding and improved management of economic and financial systems, social systems, complex materials, and even physiology and medicine. Essentially, that means little more than taking an ecological approach to such systems.
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Guess the words.
i a c o n e r o n s v t __________________
r y e s n g __________________
a u e n t r __________________
b u l tt s i s a a y n ii __________________
a c o l u s f t u i t n __________________
n c d a a e e t v n m __________________
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Tell the story of the picture. These words will help you:
once; spend; day-off; in the open; go to the river; have a rest; dog; some food; bag; under the tree; began playing with…; throw; stick; teach; bring back; smile; soon; feel hungry; have a snack; eat; sandwiches; bread and butter; boiled eggs; fish; meat; drink; coffee; after the meal; throw; bones; empty tins; dog; run into…; return with…; be angry and upset; selfish; make … dirty; teach … a lesson
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READING B
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Disappearing Honeybee
“If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe,
then man would only have four years
of life left.” - Albert Einstein
"The only reason for being a bee
that I know of is to make honey....
And the only reason for making
honey is so as I can eat it." - Winnie the Pooh
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“The bee is more honored than other animals,
not because she labors,
but because she labors for others”
Saint John Chrysostom
(archbishop of Constantinople, 347-407)
Do you run away when you hear a bee buzzing? Many people do. A bee sting hurts and some people are allergic to bee venom. However, did you know that bees are very important to humans? Honeybees do more than just make honey. They fly around and pollinate flowers, plants, and trees. Our fruits, nuts, and vegetables rely on these pollinators. The honeybee pollinates One third of America’s food supply.
Have you seen or heard a honeybee lately? Bees are mysteriously disappearing in many parts of the world. Most people do not know about this problem. It is called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Some North American beekeepers lost 80% of their hives from 2006-2008. Bees in Italy and Australia are disappearing too.
The disappearance of the honeybee is a serious problem. Can you imagine never eating another blueberry? What about almonds and cherries? Without honeybees, food prices will skyrocket. The poorest people always suffer the worst when there is a lack of food.
This problem affects other foods besides fresh produce. Imagine losing your favorite ice cream! HaagenDaaz is a famous ice cream company. Many of their flavors rely on the hard working honeybee. In 2008, HaagenDaaz began raising money for CCD. They also funded a garden at the University of California called The Haven. This garden helps raise awareness about the disappearing honeybee and teaches visitors how to plant for pollinators.
Donating money to research is the most important thing humans can do to save the honeybees. Scientists need money to investigate the causes of Colony Collapse Disorder. Some scientists blame CCD on climate change. Others think pesticides are killing the bees. Commercial bee migration may also cause CCD. Beekeepers transport their hives from place to place in order to pollinate plants year round.
Not everyone has money to donate regularly. There are other ways to help the honeybee. Spread the word by telling your friends and family about the problem.
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Reading Comprehension Quiz.
1. According to the text, the disappearance of honeybees is called ______.
2. Humans rely on honeybees to ______.
3. According to the article, which famous company is very worried about CCD? ______
4. What is the most important thing people can do to help honeybees? ______.
5. Moving honeybees from place to place is called ______.
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Fill in the gaps.
1. When something collapses it _______.
2. The place where honeybees live is called ______.
3. Another word for “rely on” is ______.
4. We need bees to ______ the plants that we eat.
5. There is ______ of honeybees in North America.
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Answer the questions.
1. Why is the honeybee so important to humans?
2. Do you think humans can survive without honeybees?
3. Do you think scientists will invent mechanical pollinators that work as hard as honeybees?
4. Which companies need to worry about CCD the most?
5. Scientists fear that the disappearing honeybee will have a "ripple effect". What does this mean?
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Polar Bear Makes the List
Majestic creature of the far north,
the polar bear is the world's largestterrestrial carnivore.Its Latin name, Ursusmaritimus, means 'sea bear',an apt name for this amazing specieswhich spends much of its life in, around, or on the water
- predominantly on the sea ice.
In spring 2008, the polar bear was placed on the endangered species list. According to the Endangered Species Act, an endangered species is an animal that is likely to face extinction in its natural habitat. Polar bears have been categorized as a "threatened" species. The ESA defines a threatened species as one that is likely to become "endangered" in the foreseeable future.
The polar bear is the first animal that has been classified as endangered due primarily to global warming. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that become trapped in the atmosphere cause global warming. Heating homes, driving cars, and burning garbage all require fossil fuels that lead to global warming.
The polar bear's habitat is more vulnerable to global warming than many other species. Polar bears live mainly on the sea ice in the Arctic. This is where they hunt for fish and build up fat reserves. When the ice melts, many polar bears move to land and live off their stored fat. In the Arctic, global warming is causing the ice to melt slightly earlier and form slightly later. This results in a shorter feeding season for the polar bear. Some risk their lives to find ice. If they have to swim too far they will drown from exhaustion and hunger. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that 25% of the Arctic sea ice has disappeared in the past 30 years.
It is not only the polar bear that is at risk in the Arctic. Every species of plant, animal, and insect there is threatened by global warming. Nevertheless, environmentalist groups such as the World Wildlife Fund often study large carnivores in order to assess the health of an ecosystem. The Arctic food chain relies on the polar bear. In addition, donations are more commonly offered for the protection of large animals such as bears or elephants. People in general are less interested in conservation efforts that protect small wildlife, such as plants or insects. However, by using donor money to protect the habitat of the larger animals (ex. reforestation programs), entire ecosystems can be protected.
It is important that animals such as the polar bear make it onto the endangered species list. Once they are on the list, there are laws that protect these animals from being hunted for food or sport. Agencies also receive money and tools to protect the habitat and recover the species. The goal of removing the animal from the list is often achievable. Since the Endangered Species Act was introduced in the US in 1973, many species have been taken off the list due to increased populations. In fact, it is rare for a species to go extinct after they make the list. Sadly, many species do go extinct while waiting for consideration.
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Fill in the gaps.
1. The place where a species lives and reproduces is its ______.
2. When a species is no longer found on earth it is said to be _____.
3. Reforestation in an area where a threatened species lives is an example of a ______.
4. The gradual warming of the earth is called ______.
5. Once a species is placed on an endangered list, a group will attempt to ______ the population.
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Чтоизучаетэкология?
Что изучает экология? Экология - это особый раздел общей биологии. Она изучает взаимодействие живых организмов, их приспособление к жизни друг с другом. Также в экологии изучается характер связи и зависимости живых существ от условий их существования.
Известно, что в ходе эволюции самые приспособленные виды выживают с помощью того, что умеют адаптировать себя к условиям окружающей среды. Этот закон выживания касается абсолютно всех живых организмов без исключения. Теорию естественного отбора создал и разработал Чарльз Дарвин.
Виды науки экологии
Экология охватывает большой круг вопросов. Прежде всего, изучению подвергаются факторы среды и комплексы этих факторов. Дается ответ на вопрос о том, каким образом какие-то элементы среды могут влиять на жизнь вида и к каким приемам адаптации они приводят. В качестве основных факторов выделяют такие, как физико-химический (температура, свет, влажность, осадки, ветер, почва и т. д.), биотический фактор (влияние организмов и видов друг на друга), антропогенный (влияние человеческой деятельности на жизнь природы).
Второй блок науки экологии занимается изучением популяций растений и животных. Популяции определяют как некую группировку особей одного вида, которые живут на одной территории и используют ее ресурсы. Также особи обладают одним органическим строением и биологическими свойствами.
И третий раздел экологии называют биоценология. Этот раздел занимает очень важное место в экологии. Он занимается изучением целых растительных и животных сообществ. Эти большие образования состоят из популяций разных видов.
Жизнь и внешний облик любого животного определяют условия пребывания, в которых животное оказывается. Все разнообразие форм жизни на Земле сформировалось благодаря разным местам обитания. Скажем, крот не нуждается в хорошем зрении, так как он живет под землей. Ему, скорее, лучше подойдут хорошие обонятельные способности. А вот обитателям неба, например, орлам, просто необходим острый глаз, способный видеть жертву с расстояния в несколько километров. Таким образом, в небе нужны крылья, ну а под землей - гладкая шерсть, которая может легко скользить в почве. Вот что изучает экология.
Деятельность экологов
Ну а чем занимаются сами ученые-экологи? Основная площадка их деятельности - это сама природа. Экологи выбираются в экспедиции, где исследуют все интересующие их факторы. Они изучают жизнь растений и животных в различных условиях, плотность и характер заселения видами разных территорий, пытаются выделить закономерности влияния факторов среды на животных и растения, проводят количественные расчеты, детально изучают популяции и большие сообщества. Несомненно, им есть чем заняться. Обычно экспедиции могут достигать нескольких месяцев по времени проведения. Но зачастую, и этого очень мало, чтобы успеть изучить все, что нужно.
Техническое оснащение экологов поразит фантазию даже самых ярых поклонников шпионских и детективных фильмов. На их вооружении находятся самолеты, вертолеты, автомобили повышенной проходимости, различные высокоточные приборы замера синтеза растений, термометры, действующие на расстоянии, эхолокаторы, радиотрекеры, приборы ночного видения и многое-многое другое. Вот что изучает экология.
Наука экология занимает важнейшее место в системе всех естественно научных направлений знания. Данные, которые получены экологами, могут использоваться в целях повышения качества жизни нашей планеты в целом. Таким образом, экология позволяет понять нашу планету, законы ее природы и роль влияния человека на Землю. Насколько мы портим или, наоборот, улучшаем жизнь нашей родной планеты? Вотнакакойвопросможетответитьэкология.
Task 36
Topicsforfinaldiscussion.
1. Environmental disasters are not all natural. What fabricated environmental disasters can you name? Choose one and discuss it causes and its effect on the environment. What can and should be done to prevent it happening?
2. Which kind of pollution do you feel most strongly about? Why?
3. What happens when we remove forests?
4. Comment on the following:” Progress without responsibility”.
5. Comment on the following: «Today every invention is received with a cry of triumph which soon turns into a cry of fear”. (Berthold Brecht)
6. Recycling as an important community service
Unit 3.EDUCATION
| Lead-in: |
The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.
Aristotle
Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.
John Dewey
Education is highly important in today society. Education is a formal process of learning in which some people consciously teach while others adopt the social role of learner. Education plays a major role in everyone life and without education a person will not get far in life. Education prepares a person to adapt to new skills and value that will be very essential in today society. Having an education is very essential and everyone should take advantage of his or her education. Education will help a person be prepared for the “real world”. Education allows people to have lots of skill and knowledge and it is always good to learn new things each day because the skill you learn in school you use outside of school. Having a preschool education and having a high school diploma is good, because it can help a person be successful especially if a person goes beyond high school. Having a college degree is more beneficial in today society, because it is good to have a high school diploma so you can go to college, but more jobs nowadays prefer a person to have some type of certification or at least an associate’s degree.
| Pronunciation: |
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| Verb | Noun |
| educate | --- |
| instruct | --- |
| --- | employment |
| develop | --- |
| --- | improvement |
| support | --- |
| --- | significance |
| differ | --- |
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Reading A
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Education and Society
Carl Rogers
On the Job Efficiency
This is why college education is very important after high school and must not be taken for granted. When faced with the option of choosing between a highly qualified candidate and a not so educated candidate, the employers will most probably go in for the qualified person. The reason being that, a qualified candidate will not require much investment of the employer's time and money. The organization need not teach him or her the tricks of the trade, or the various ways of functioning and performing the tasks of the workplace. On the contrary, a novice / amateur applicant would need to be taught everything from scratch, which many employer's are usually not willing to do. The same applies for people who seek higher education and get advanced diplomas while working. These people are continuously improving their profile and their knowledge base so as to go higher up on the competitive ladder.
Helps Plan Ahead
Those who have amassed enough education, steer the path of development and progress for their country. It is these individuals who go ahead and become teachers, scientists, inventors, welfare activists, soldiers, and politicians who work together to form the very backbone of the society. Without this pool of intellect, the economic and social framework would crumple and fall, paving its way for anarchy, degradation, and violence. While this intricate balance of growth is maintained, there will be a continuous rise in progress in all quarters of life, whether that be personal growth, or development of the nation as an entity. This progress has a very important role to play for the coming generations, which will reap the benefits of our hard work, as they develop it further. At the same time, the negative impact of our actions shall have its collateral damage on the coming generation as well. Which is why we must be exceptionally prudent about the decisions we make and the actions we take in the present.
Job Seeker vs. Job Provider
There will come a time, when you will no longer feel the need to be working as someone's mere employee. You would want to take charge and control over your own life and income. This is when you will decide to become a self-employed individual, who would like to watch his / her own ideas take realistic form. You would prefer being the one offering job opportunities to others and aid in providing income to them. At this stage of entrepreneurship, you may use your own expertise as well as that of other trained and skilled associates. As a team, you will find your business or venture expanding and yielding good results. You may even gain the confidence and insight, which will help you diversify and spread your expertise into other business arenas, which were previously unknown to you, or you were unsure about. This ability comes with experience and knowledge amassed over the years.
Education and studying regularly, gives people of all age groups something substantial and challenging to do. It helps them think and use their idle hours, doing something productive and worthwhile. Education need not be purely academic and may include reading for leisure or as a passion for literature, philosophy, art, politics, economics, or even scientific research. There is no limit, to all that you can teach yourself, only if you take the interest to learn and grow as an individual.
Task 6
Give the Russian equivalents to the following:
visionary ambitions, to research information, classroom environment, the opening paragraph, natural skills, a lifetime experience, knowledge-processing skills, to reinforce the status quo, adult life, behavior-control drugs, to land a job, in the long haul, above-average wage, customized education, prefer, citizen, personal, financial.
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Task 12
Guess the words.
ncehrldi __________________________
icnqouaaiiflt ___________________________
etadandic ___________________________
cifienecyif __________________________
rpdivoro ____________________________
uternev ____________________________
iligyedn ____________________________
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Match an adjective (A) and a noun (B).
| A | B |
| 1. financial 2. practical 3. rainy 4. new 5. negative 6. economic 7. decent 8. personal 9. qualified 10. pre-school | a) aspiration b) education c) candidate d) constraints e) support f) day g) impact h) decent i) employment j) skills k) experience |
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1. Is education important in all spheres of life?
2. How does education effect our financial stability?
3. Why do people need to save for a rainy day?
4. Why is a qualified candidate preferable for any employer?
5. How does education help plan ahead?
6. A self-employed individual should / should not be educated. Agree or disagree.
7. An educated person is never bored. Yes. No.
8. What does “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop” mean?
9. What does education give you as a citizen?
10. Does education have any limits and restrictions?
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READING B
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What is Education?
What is education? Is it knowledge in basic skills, academics, technical disciplines, citizenship…or is it something else? Our formal education system says only the academic basics are important, emphasizing the collection of knowledge without understanding its value. What about the processing of knowledge—using inspiration, visionary ambitions, creativity, risk, motivation and the ability to bounce back from failure? These skills are associated with understanding the value of knowledge, but many education institutions do not consider these skills. There is a huge, disconnected gap, which is a problem for high school students in particular.
Thomas Edison and many other super achievers never finished school. They succeeded because they knew how to research information for a selected project and process that knowledge. The classroom environment does not work that way. It focuses on the collection of knowledge with no clear purpose other than high grades. If pleasing the teacher does not motivate, then there is nothing to process, outside of memorizing answers for a test. The typical student is academically challenged while being starved for motivation. Lack of motivation is lack of knowledge-processing skills. The typical college graduate will emerge with a professional skill that can provide for life’s basic needs, but that is all.
What is education? All the elements in the opening paragraph relate to education, and all should be considered. This would be ideal, but “all” is not possible where performance must be measured. Only what can be measured will be selected, and the measuring tool is the written test. Anyone who does not have the ability to put clear thoughts on paper is labeled a failure. Natural skills, including knowledge processing, do not count. What is exercised grows stronger, and what is ignored stays dormant. The classroom exercises the collection of academics, leaving all other natural skills in the closet.
Tests do not measure intelligence or ability; they do not measure how the mind processes information, how motivating experiences develop persistence, or how the mind sorts out instincts, opinions, evaluations, possibilities and alternatives. Knowledge by itself has no value; it is like a dictionary filled with words. Words alone have no value; they are given meaning by the process of stringing them together. Teaching to the test does not inspire or motivate anyone. Memorizing does not inspire a love of learning; in fact, it does just the opposite. Education’s goal should be to develop a love of learning that stays with students throughout their lives. Education should be a lifetime experience, not limited to youth.
All young children have a natural talent for creatively processing information. It is during the teen years that natural creative processing is replaced with the status quo: memorizing knowledge, without regard to how to process it. In the classroom, memorizing is what counts. Standardized testing reinforces the status quo. It kills creative processing ability. Status quo attitudes will follow children into adult life, where they will have to ask their children for help. Today, the educational system has a new tool on the market: behavior-control drugs. Any student who refuses to accept the status quo is labeled a troublemaker and will be drugged. The glassy-eyed student will then behave in the classroom, and school officials will receive high performance ratings. The student may get passing grades and land a job with a comfortable wage, but that will be the extent of it. His teenage dreams and great ambitions will be gone.
The typical employer wants employees with dictionary knowledge, not visionaries. Businesses want employees who follow orders, are willing to do repetitive tasks, are happy with a limited role, and accept the status quo. Repetitive tasks means efficiency, which is where profits are made. In addition, accepting the status quo prevents the exposure of blunders by leaders. Too many blunders and profits disappear. In a status-quo environment, visionaries become bored quickly and soon receive the “troublemaker” label when they offer alternatives or expose blunders. This sometimes leads to dismissal, even though their ideas can increase efficiency and create new sources of profits for the company. In the long haul, visionaries are the ones who make above-average wages, no matter their formal education level. However, with behavior-controlling drugs, the education system now has the tools to eliminate this type of person.
E-learning is becoming an education model that the present system cannot compete with. It focuses on what motivates, rather than what the system thinks is good for students. It is also sidestepping politicians, textbook industries, testing companies and unions. These forces are now fighting back, trying to maintain a system that is in their own interest, instead of the students’. At this time, they are focusing on standardized testing, which seems to be a final effort to maintain the status quo.
What can be considered a quality education? A quality education is custom designed, addressing the unique abilities of each student, and provides a positive emotional experience. Customized education evaluates natural talent and how a student learns.
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Project work
1) Organize your knowledge on the topic and present a report using the following diagram.
2) Write about education system in your country. Use the questions as a guide.
| At what age do children start primary school? |
| DO MOST PEOPLE GET A JOB WHEN THEY LEAVE SCHOOL OR DO THEY GO TO UNIVERSITY OR COLLEGE? |
| How long does it take to get a university degree? |
| What are the most important school exams? |
| When do they start secondary school? |
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Text A
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
The world of the 21st century has become so interconnected that the phrase "the global village" has become acceptable as a term to describe modern society. Today information technology links people and places from all civilizations, and national economies have become increasingly interconnected.
Whether it is commerce or media, manufacturing or agriculture, the advancing globalization of human activity would be unthinkable without the development of science and technology. Their contributions have not always been beneficial; indeed, many would argue that science is to be blamed for the deterioration of the global environment that we are witnessing today. However, is it science that, through its applications, leads to global warming, the ozone hole, weapons of mass destruction and widespread poverty? Or do these developments occur through actions of those who control science and use its findings for their own aims?
The most basic definition of science is "systematic knowledge of nature through repeatable observation and experimentation." Its aim is the discovery of the laws that govern natural phenomena. Regularity suggests that nature is not all chaos but follows rules. Defined in the way science has been a human activity well before the development of the first civilizations. The oldest civilizations are believed to have emerged some time before 6200 BC.
Such early evidence of scientific activity does of course not mean that the ancient society employed scientists. The term "scientist" as a description of a profession was first used in the 19th century. In early societies scientific study was undertaken by priests and monks, and scientific knowledge was taught in temples and monasteries. As civilizations developed, the link between science and religion weakened and science became the domain of philosophy. A clear distinction between science and religion did not develop until well into the 18th century. Religion, like science, attempts to establish a system of knowledge about nature. All religions are based on the belief that gods act in an orderly fashion and make sure that nature follows rules. The human mind is opposed to chaos; it can only make sense of an ordered world and finds order to meet its needs, even where order may not exist. While science is a system of knowledge based on repeatable observation and experiment, religion is a system of knowledge based on unverifiable belief. Early societies had only limited means of experimentation, and their endeavor to discover the laws of nature had to rely on a range of unverifiable assumptions. As human knowledge progressed, the need for unverifiable assumptions decreased progressively, and eventually science and religion separated.
People in early human societies had to spend much of their time procuring food and shelter and could not afford to put much effort into non-essential activities. If science was practiced in the earliest societies, it must have been for a purpose; in other words, science was undertaken for practical applications. Sometimes the practical applications resulted in new technological developments.
The word technology has changed its meaning several times since it came into use in Europe during the 17th century. In the most general terms, it can be defined as the application of knowledge about nature to practical aims of human endeavor. If this definition is accepted it follows that technological development occurred at least as early as first scientific study. Stone-age humans realized that flint stone produces better cutting tools than sandstone. They made that discovery and used their ne