Unit 4

 

WHAT IS SCIENCE?

Task 1. Read and learn the words and word combinations.

curiosity – цікавість, допитливість

circumstances - обставини

grow out - виникати

purpose - мета

distinguish – визначати, виділяти, відрізняти

enable – давати можливість

speck - цятка

substance - речовина

unreliable - ненадійний

widen - розширювати

extent – розмір, простір, протяжність

owe - завдячувати

longevity - довголіття

mould – створювати, контролювати

room – простір, (вільне) місце

 

Task 2. Make up sentences with the words given in task 1.

 

Task 3. Try to guess the meaning of the following phrases

1. set of circumstances — a number of conditions or facts, connected with an event or person, that belong together because they are similar or complementary to each other.

2. to give rise to something — to be the cause of something, to suggest

3. in orderly fashion — in well-arranged order.

4. to keep pace with the times — to progress.

5. to increase the extent of our contact with unexplored areas — to widen and deepen the research.

6. to science we owe — we feel grateful to science for...

7. to mould the environment — to guide, control or influence the surrounding world.

 

Task 4. Read the text and discuss it. Write a synopsis of the text in five sentences.

WHAT IS SCIENCE?

What is science? Science is first of all human activity. Sciences arouse out of man's efforts to survive, his natural curiosity, his search for order in the surrounding world. It arouses from man's efforts to understand nature and himself.

In science you study nature and human nature, living nature and non-living nature The fundamental aim of science is to describe the facts of nature and natural events. The basis of science is the belief that natural events have natural causes. When science looks for the cause of any given natural phenomenon, it is simply looking for a set of circumstances which gave rise to the event, circumstances which themselves grew out of a still earlier set of conditions. Science makes this search by observing facts, by organizing these facts in orderly fashion.

A secondary purpose of science is the formulation, on the basis of experimental facts, of principles and theories which are the generalizations and which will lead to new studies and increased knowledge.

What distinguishes science from other activities is that it enables person to see the world "as it really is". This may mean different things to different persons at different times. Over the ages, science has found the world to be flat at one time, round at another and more recently "egg-shaped", to be the centre of the Universe and, later only a speck in the cosmos, to be made up of four fundamental substances and, later, of more than one hundred fundamental substances.

This does not mean that science is unreliable. That means that science keeps pace with the times. Every new discovery widens the horizon and increases the extent of our contact with unexplored areas.

We all know that science plays an important role in the societies іn which we live. Through technology, science improves the structure of society and helps person to gain increasing control over his environment. To science we owe most of our comforts, our leisure, our health an longevity, our ability to mould environment, to communicate instantly and to move swiftly over the Earth.

Science is an occupation for people who are open-minded, who are capable of putting their beliefs to many tests. There is always room for freshness newness, and brightness in it. The openness and freedom of science make it the most advanced kind of thought humanity has so far developed.

 

Task 5. Translate the following words and word combinations:

Людська діяльність, зусилля людини, природна цікавість, оточуючий світ, основна мета, шукати причину, природне явище, спричинити подію, у добре встановленому порядку, вести до нових досліджень, основні речовини, цятка в космосі, недосліджені області, здоров’я і довголіття, контролювати навколишнє середовище, відкритість та свобода.

 

Task 6. Read the following statements from the text and comment them:

1)                          Science is first of all human activity. Why is science considered to be the first of activities?

2)                          The fundamental aim of science is to describe the facts of nature and natural events. Has science got any other aims? Give the examples.

3)                          Science enables person to see the world "as it really is". Can you prove this statement?

4)                          In different times science treated the same facts in different ways. Does it mean that science is unreliable? Why?

5)                          Science plays an important role in the societies іn which we live. What role does science play in your life? What science do you deal with? How is your future occupation connected with science?

 

Task 7. Answer the questions.

1.     What does sciences arouse of ?

2.     What do you study in science?

3.     What belief is the basis of science?

4.     How does science make its searches?

5.     What distinguishes science from other activities?

6.     How does science improve the structure of society and help person to control environment?

7.     What kind of people deal with science?

8.     What makes science the most advanced kind of thought humanity has so far developed?

 

Task 8. Translate the following sentences.

1. Наука – це вид людської діяльності. 2. Наука шукає причини певних природних явищ та намагається пояснити їх. 3. Наука досліджує багато факті в, а потім впорядковує результати своїх досліджень. 4. У різні часи наука по-різному трактувала одні й ті ж самі явища. 5. Наука завжди йде в ногу з часом. 6. Наука відіграє важливу роль у технічному прогресі будь-якого суспільства. 7. Наукою займаються люди, здатні багато разів експериментально перевіряти свої твердження.

 

Task 9. Speak on the following problems and discuss them with your colleagues:

a). Science is unreliable and there is no need to believe the facts it has proved.

b). Only brave people with great imagination can deal with science.

 

Lexical revision. Commonly misused words.

Translate the sentences. Choose the correct usage with the help of a dictionary if necessary.

1. Call me when you are all ready /already to go. By the time Sue arrived we had all ready/already finished dinner.

2. (Alright is not an acceptable word.) Is it all right /alright to leave this window open?

3. The four of us were all together /altogether at the coffee shop. This book is together /altogether too long.

4. At some point, the speaker alluded/referred the new opportunities in business. The speaker alluded/referred to statistics that demonstrated the increased number of small businesses.

5. I resent your allusion/illusion to my cooking as comparable with McDonald's. You have the allusion /illusion that I enjoy classical music – I don't.