Science and the Technical Progress. Матеріали до уроків

Science and  the Technical Progress

 

1. Read the newspaper article and answer the questions below.

An Inventive 150 years

It isn’t easy to be an inventor. Even if you do come up with a brilliant and original invention, you still have to make sure that no one else steals your idea. That is why the Patent Office exists. There are some of the inventions registrated at the British Patent Office.

1901. Hubert Cecil Booth, from London, invented a machine powered by electricity which would suck up dirt. His invention granted a patent in 1901 at the world’s first vacuum cleaner.

1923. In 1923, a watch repairer from the Isle of Man, John Harwood, realized that winding watches often caused dirt to get into the mechanism. He developed the self-winding wrist-watch, which had an interval mechanism and was much more accurate.

1930. One invention which helped  to make the world a smaller place was the jet engine. This was invented by Sir Frank Whittle, from Coventry. His invention made travel for business and pleasure much faster and easier.

1995. In 1995, Keith Campbell and Ian Wilmut, from Edinburgh , developed an invention which people have been arguing about ever since. They invented a way to clone animals, and in 1997, Ian Wilmut cloned Dolly the sheep.

It seems that Charles H. Duell, the US Commissioner of Patents was very wrong when he said, in 1899, “Everything that can be invented has been invented”.Is there anything left to be invented? We will have to wait and see.

1. What is the Patent Office?
2. What did Booth’s invention do?
3. How did John Harwood improve winding watches?
4. How has the jet engine helped people?
5. Which invention has caused debate?
6. Why was C.H. Duell wrong?

 

2. A. Fill in the gaps with who, which or whose.

The Teddy bear takes its name From the American President Theodore Roosevelt, __________ shortened name was Teddy.

 John Spilsbury, _________created the first jigsaw puzzle, was also a map-maker.

 Cai Lun was the Chinese  man _________ invented paper in 105 AD.

 A doll, ________ archeologists found in an ancient Egyptian tomb, is the world’s oldest known toy.

The Banner’s-Lee is the Englishman ________ invented The World Wide Web. He posted the first web site on August, 6^th, 1991.

Alfred Nobel, the man ________ invented dynamite, was born in Sweden.

The modern yo-yo is a toy __________ first appeared in the Philippines  in the 16yh century.

Johannes Vermeer, __________ was a Dutch painter, lived in the 17^th century.

Yesterday I met a woman, __________ son is a famous physicist.

 

3. Match the prompts in the column,  them make up sentences in the Past Simple Passive.

1) The James Bond stories 2) The Channel Tunnel 3) The Pyramids 4) The  Empire State Building 5) The song “My Heart Will Go On” 6)The telephone

locate build write complete sing invent

Ian Fleming New York 1994 Celine Dion the Egyptians Alexander Graham Bell (1876)

 

4. Use the verbs in the list to complete the sentences.

Keep / require / plug / press / change / view / adjust

1. If you want to play video tape, ________ the play button.
2. With this Sing Along microphone you can ________ the lyrics of the song on

your TV screen.

3. James has moved to Dublin but we ________ in touch.
4. I think these remote control ears ________ batteries in order to operate.
5.  Make sure you ________ this cable into the DVD player.
6.  Why don’t we ________ the cannel and see if there ‘s anything else more interesting on?
7.  The TV is on too loud! Can’t you ________ the volume?

 

 

 

5. Match the descriptions to the items.

flying car, solar batteries, robot, wristwatch phone, videophone

1. A gadget that will be able to talk, walk and work but will not be able to feel or think.
2. Something that will help people travel.
3. A gadget that you will be able to carry about, talk to people on and also tell the time with.
4. A gadget that will help you look at and talk to people even when they are on another planet.
5. Small sources of electricity that need the sun and you never have to throw them away.

 

6. Read the article about smartphones and answer the questions that follow it.

Why I hate smartphones

First of all, very few teenagers really need a smartphone. If you need to call your

friend or use the internet, a normal mobile phone or computer is good enough. A smartphone is a status symbol. Teenagers like being seen with one- they think it makes them look important and successful. It is also very fashionable nowadays. People buy them, in the same way as they buy the latest trainers or jeans, and very often don’t use most of the functions.

In addition, teenagers can waste a lot of time and money on smartphones instead of

doing more interesting and healthy things like sport. As well as this, it can actually be dangerous in some situations to use a smartphone, even when just walking about with one. According to the police, a lot of accidents happen when people concentrate on their smartphones and don’t notice what is happening around them. Also, teenagers often get their expensive smartphones stolen.

1. If the article did not have the title, would it be clear from the text that the author really hates smartphones? Why?

2. Do these paragraphs sound more like somebody’ opinion or like an argument against smartphones?

3. Imagine that this is not a magazine article, but an opinion essay with the question “Smartphones are becoming very popular with young people. Is a smartphone the gadget every teenager should have? What is your opinion?”

Do you think these paragraphs would get a good mark? What is missed in them?

4. How can you make this text sound like an opinion essay? Rewrite part A or B so that it sounds like your opinion. Use the functional phrases.

Functional phrases

In my opinion/view I think/believe that

I don’t think It seems to me that

I’m sure that

Example: First of all, I don’t think that teenagers really need a smartphone…

Write an answer agreeing with the question “Smartphones are becoming very popular with young people. Is a smartphone the gadget every teenager should have? What is your opinion?”

Notes

-they are very convenient

-they can be used for study

-prices of models and providers are decreasing

Don’t forget to:

Start with the topic sentence

Use “opinion” expressions (functional phrases)

Get help from:

the model text, for its structure and use of linking phrases

the notes, if you don’t have your own ideas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Read the story and put the linking words where it is necessary.

 

 

 

 

Steve Belonged to the Net

 

1 __________ I was walking around. It was cold and it started to rain. I was looking for a restaurant or a café where I could sit and have something to drink, when I saw one. I crossed the street and I was there. I sat at a round table and asked for a coffee.

 

2     While I was waiting for my drink, I realized that there were other people in the place sitting in front of computers.  ______________ I stood up and walked between the tables.

 

 3    When I came up to the biggest computer, I saw a thin, small man. “I’m Steve,” he answered after I had asked him a couple of times what his name was. “I can’t talk with you/ I’m busy”, he said. I thought he was working, and I apologized. But he was not working. He was chatting online with somebody – probably someone he didn’t know – and, at the same time, he was playing a computer game – a war game. I was surprised. Why didn’t Steve want to talk with me?

 

4     __________ I tried to communicate with another computer geek, but not a word came out of his mouth. I touched his shoulder, but there was no reaction. I was getting upset. I put my hand in front of the monitor, and he started to shout, “Leave me alone!”

 

5 ____________I realized the people in that place were having a cup of coffee and a nice conversation with their machines. All of them were more interested in having a relationship with the computer. I felt lonely. I saw their bodies, but I couldn’t feel their souls. That was because their souls didn’t belong to them. They belonged to the “Net”.

 

6 _________ I wouldn’t want to imagine the future of human beings if they preferred sharing their lives with machines instead of with people. I had never thought that people could be so absorbed with computers. I was worried. I didn’t even realize  that the coffee was bad, just as Steve didn’t even realize that there was a person next to him.

 

1. Why are the linking words so important?
2. Which sentences in the first paragraph describe facts and which a process? Name the grammar forms of the verbs. Find some other cases in the text.
3. Read the sentences with while and  when. Which grammar forms help to describe the actions in the past?
4. Read the underlined sentences in the 6^th paragraph. Which was earlier in time? How do you know? Find other cases in the text.

 

8. Listen to the interview with Mike Phillips, a journalist and match phrases from the interview (first column) to the ones similar in meaning from the second column. Add more uses of computers to the mind-map.

 

searching for	a)  keeping a diary
plug into	b)  looking for
an integral part	c)  save the time
user-friendly	d)  easy to use
reduce the time	e)  a necessary part
keeping track of life	f)  connect to

 

Listen to the interview again and fill in the gaps with the phrases from the table

 

7. I use it mainly for word processing (but not for writing, which I still do with a pen), ________, _______________ from the Internet, for writing purposes or for traveling.
8. I used to think the PC’s main purpose in our lives was to ______________ it took to get things done so that people could enjoy other hobbies – skiing, for example.
9. The PC is becoming ______________ of our private and professional lives I should say.
10. It was a small thing produced here in England, _____________ the TV.
11. And that was what got me really interested because the Macintosh is very _____________ .

 

What do you use the computer for?

Mainly for word processing (but not for writing, which I still do with a pen), keeping track of my life, searching for information from the Internet for writing purposes or for traveling. When I travel to a place I don’t know – for example Russia or Canada – I look at Encarta on CD-ROM, and when I’m going to travel to a place like Krasnoyarsk, I print off the map of the area where I’m going.

 

Does the computer save time?

I used to think the PC’s main purpose in our lives was to reduce the time it took to get things done so that people could enjoy other hobbies – skiing, for example. I don’t think that’s so anymore.

We’ve become more intimate with our PC’s. Starting with e-mail, we began having on-line relationships with people we had never heard of or hardly knew. Then, a lot of us bought a PC for home and began using it just for fun. And people started to spend hours on-lin chatting with strangers. The PC is becoming an integral part of our private and professional lives I should say.

 

How did you start using a PC?

I hadn’t used computers until 1983. It was a small thing produced here in England, plugged into the TV. And it never worked. I packed it in its original box and never used it again. Then I went to work in Hong Kong and bought a pirated IBM copy. That was a huge thing that didn’t work either, but it was OK as a word-processor. Then I went to Japan and was given a Macintosh by the company I worked for. And that was what got me really interested because the Macintosh is very user-friendly.

 

Has your life changed since you started using the PC?

Yes, my eyes have got worse!

 

On a desert island, would you prefer a human or a computer for company?

Depends on the human! Forced to choose, I would take the computer, as long as it had a modem and a line to the outside world.

 

9.  Read the following opinions and describe how certain technologies have actually made people’s lives more difficult.

Michael:

“I find e-mail very useful but I probably spend too much time every day checking it when I could be doing something else...”

 

Jake:

“I need to use my car to get to work but the air in our city is so bad already thanks to the traffic. More and more people are suffering from chest complaints like asthma.”

 

Will: “Technology has really advanced over the years. For example, when I was little we didn’t use to have computers and I spent most of my time playing outdoors with my friends while these days children spend most of their time indoors playing computer games — in my opinion, too much time.”

 

Dialogue vocabulary

I find... very useful because...

I spend too much time...

I could be doing...

I spend most of my time...

It’s good / bad for my health because...

If I didn’t have... I would...

 

 

 

 

10. Work in pairs. Think about people’s lives 50 years ago. What did people use to have instead of today’s modern devices?

 

Dialogue vocabulary

People’s lives have changed a lot because of...

People didn’t use to have... 50 years ago.

People used to have... instead.

Now they use...

It’s much more convenient / fast / economical / pleasant...

But it’s less natural / beautiful / healthy.