Материал: Гвоздева Тхе Цосмос 2011

CLASS EXERCISES

Exercise 1 (do it yourself)

Complete the sentences choosing one of the alternatives:

1.This debate … … … .. throughout recorded history.

2.The universe … … in the fairly recent past.

3.Bishop Ussher … a date of 4004 BC for the creation of the universe.

4.The human race … …. in culture and technology.

5.According to this argument we … … … … all that long.

6.Otherwise, we … … … more than we have.

7.Aristotle … … the idea that the universe had a beginning.

8.Aristotle believed that the universe … … and … … for ever.

9.Both schools of thought held that the universe … essentially … with time.

10.In the nineteenth century, however, evidence … .. … that the earth and the rest of the universe were in fact changing with time.

11.Geologists realized that the formation of the rocks and the fossils in them … … … hundreds or thousands of millions of years.

12.Further evidence … … by the so-called second law of thermodynamics.

13.The total amount of disorder … … by a quantity called entropy.

14.This suggests that the universe … … … … … only for a finite

time.

21

to protect (the infinitive) − protected (the past simple) − protected

or N + Ving N + Ved clause − определительное придаточное предложение (Russian − который).

Study the sentences.

1.You can think of ordinary, real time as a horizontal line, going from left to right.

2.There might also be quite a number of very much smaller black holes scattered around the universe, formed not by the collapse of stars but by the collapse of highly compressed regions in the hot, dense medium that has existed shortly after the big bang, in which the universe originated.

3.One of the problems facing physicists is to make general relativity compatible with quantum mechanics.

4.The earth is trying to move on a straight line through space-time, but the curvature of space-time produced by the mass of the sun causes it to go in a circle around the sun.

II. We use modal verbs + have V3 to say that it was possible or highly probable in the past.

May, might, can, could = possible (Russian − возможно было). Must = highly probable (Russian − вероятно было, наверняка

было)

Study the sentences.

1.The observations indicate that the early universe must have been non-turbulent.

2.Heavy elements could have been formed by nuclear synthesis of the early generation of nearby stars.

22

3. The early universe must have been very smooth and non-turbulent.

Give Russian correspondence:

to realize (to understand), fairly (rather), like something (similar to something), eventually (finally), about (approximately), another (one more), N + that − который

EARTH IS A UNIQUE PLANET

Study the passage.

Earth is a unique planet which has everything for the development of life and human evolution: the unique composition of air, the unique properties of water, the unique mineral composition of soils which feed all the living things, the unique position relative to the sun, and even the position of the solar system in the galaxy (Milky Way) is unique. The solar system is about 60000 light years from the centre of the galaxy, the distance which protects life on the earth from rigid radiation of the galactic centre.

What do we know about our position in the Universe? In ancient times people believed that the earth was at the centre of the universe. Now we realize that we are among the many inhabiting a minor planet going around a very average star in the outer suburbs of a fairly typical spiral galaxy that is only one of a hundred billion galaxies we can see. We know now that we cannot claim any special position in the universe.

The sun is certainly a prerequisite of our existence, as is the earlier generation of nearby stars in which heavy elements could have been formed by nuclear synthesis. The Sun is the size it is because it is so hot. It is burning hydrogen into helium, like a controlled H-bomb.

The heat released in this process generates a pressure that enables the sun to resist the attraction of its own gravity, which is trying to make it smaller. Eventually, however, the sun will run out of nuclear fuel.

The earth is trying to move in a straight line through space-time, but the curvature of space-time produced by the mass of the sun causes it to go in a circle around the sun. Similarly, light tries to travel in a straight line, but the curvature of space-time near the sun bends the light from distant stars when they pass near the sun. Normally, one is not able to see the stars in the sky that are in almost the same direction as the sun.

23

During an eclipse, however, when most of the sun’s light is blocked off by the moon, one can observe the light from those stars.

FYI

1.a spiral galaxy – an enormous pancake-shaped collection of stars and gas

2.an eclipse of the sun is an occasion when the moon comes between the earth and the sun so that for a short time you cannot see part or all of the sun.

Vocabulary Notes

1.to inhabit – if a place is inhabited, people live there

2.average – ordinary

3.a prerequisite – a precondition – something that must exist before another thing is possible.

4.a generation of stars – a group of stars of the same period of time

5.outer – (ant.) inner

6.suburbs – periphery

7.to claim – to pretend to something

8.to enable – to allow

9.to cause – to make somebody do something – to force somebody to do something

POST-READING TASK (to be done in writing)

I. Summarize the passage using the below outline.

1.Earth

2.The Sun

3.Space-time

4.A solar eclipse

II. Put in the prepositions.

1.People believed that the earth was …. the centre of the universe.

2.Earth is a minor planet going … a very average star.

3.The sun is certainly a prerequisite …… our existence.

4.Heavy elements could have been formed in nearby stars ….. nuclear synthesis.

5.The sun is burning hydrogen ….. helium.

6.Eventually the sun will run out … nuclear fuel.

24

7.The earth is trying to move … a straight line ….. space-time.

8.…. the eclipse most of the sun’s light is blocked off … the moon.

9.….the eclipse one can observe the light …. those stars.

III. Give words close in meaning.

CLASS EXERCISES

Exercise 1 (first in pairs, then in groups)

Answer the questions. Follow the passage.

1.What makes Earth a unique planet for the development of life and human evolution?

2.What kind of planet is Earth??

3.What does the sun provide us with?

4.Why is the earlier generation of nearby stars considered to be a prerequisite of our existence?

5.What makes the sun comparable with a controlled H-bomb?

6.Why is the sun the size it is?

7.What man-made device can you compare the sun with?

8.What happens during a solar eclipse?

Exercise 2 (do it yourself)

Study grammar point II and translate the phrases, in which ‘one’ is the subject. Follow the passage.

Exercise 3 (do it yourself)

Formulate questions.

1.The sun will eventually run out of its fuel. (Why?)

2.The earth goes in a circle around the sun. (Why?)

3.The light from distant stars is bent if it passes near the sun. (Why?)

25