Практическое занятие № 5

Задание 1. Read the text: The birth of the radio

Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937) Italian electrical engineer and Nobel prize winner, the inventor of the first radio-signaling system. Today we don't think twice when we turn on the radio, but when a 21-yeur-old Italian invented it over 100 years ago no one could believe their ears.

One day in 1895 in Bologna, Italy, Guglielmo Marconi sent the world's first radio signal. Using a simple radio transmitter and a receiver, he sent a signal from his attic room to his brother who was hidden in a field a kilometer away. When his brother received the signal he fired a gun. The Italian government showed no interest in young Marconi's invention, but his mother, Annie, who was Irish, believed he had a good idea. So in February of the following year, she sent him to England to meet her cousin who was an important engineer. It was a journey that would change the world.

In England, Marconi and his cousin were joined by two other inventors. In 1897 Marconi formed Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company in London and started to transmit simple radio signals over long distances. In 1899 he sent the first wireless telegraph across the English Channel to France. This meant that ships were now able to send messages from ship to shore if they were in distress.

Marconi had always believed that radio waves could travel round the curve of the earth. By 1901 he had improved his radio system so much that on 12th December he astonished the world by sending the first radio signals across the Atlantic Ocean. They were transmitted from Poldhu in Cornwall, and were received 3,520 kilometers away in St John's, Newfoundland, using an aerial flown in the air by a kite. Marconi's system was soon adopted by the British and Italian navies. From now on, the Marconi company had the monopoly of wireless communication and Marconi became a multi-millionaire.

Marconi is one of the key figures of the twentieth century. He even recognized the military importance of radar and thought of the idea of sending radio signals out into space. When Marconi died in 1937, wireless stations all over the world closed down for two minutes as a mark of respect. Marconi made only one big mistake. He thought that television would never become popular.

Задание 1. Read the text and find words and phrases which mean the same as the following.

1 give something a second thought

2 in danger or difficulty

3 made better

4 amazed

5 total control

6 a person with a lot of money

Задание 2. Complete the notes about Marconi and the history of radio communication.

1874 Marconi was born

1895 …

1896 …

1897 …

1899 …

1901 …

1937 …

Задание 3. Use word endings to identify parts of speech

You can often guess the part of speech of a word from its ending. For example, words ending in -ment, -ion, -once, -ence, -ness are often nouns.

Задание 4. Noun formation with endings: -ment, -ion, -er, -ance

Make words by matching the first part of each word with the correct ending(s).

-ment -tion -er -ance

Relation

1. relat- 6. achieve- 11. demonstrat-

2. transmit 7. invent- 12. import-

3. receiv- 8. equip- 13. perform-

4. educat- 9. winn- 14. entertain

5. communicat- 10. govern- 15.

Задание 5. Find as much information as you can about an inventor of your choice. Write about him/her using the text about Marconi as a model. Include:

1. when and where he/she lived.

2. what he/she invented.

3. why the achievement was important.

4. if it has made people's lives better or worse

Методические рекомендации: Be sure to discuss the question from the task 5 with your tutor and groupmate. Make a Discussion.

Рекомендуемая литература:

Контрольные вопросы:

1.Do you think radio and telecommunications inventions have improved the quality of our life today or not?

2. Who was Guglielmo Marconi? (Italian electrical engineer and Nobel prize winner,

the inventor of the first radio-signaling system)

3.hen and where he/she lived. (1874-1937)

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