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Ex.1. Work in pairs. Listen to the sentence and translate.
1.
Section 4. Listening/Composition
Text 1. Science on the Cutting Edge
"You're not going to like this," warned Robert Krulwich, delivering a story about visionary robotics developers James Auger and Jimmy Loizeau. They created a carnivorous clock, supposedly able to power itself for 12 days merely on the carcasses of 12 dead houseflies (which the clock traps with fly paper and then mechanically razors in two). The pair also showed a prototype of a coffee table that catches mice by luring them up the table legs with cheese into a hole in the center, where they are guillotined. Auger and Loizeau said their creations are just extensions of TV nature programs showing animals hunting in the wild, but Krulwich fretted about the dangers inherent in "giving robots a taste for meat."
Text 2. Cannabis may reduce depression.
The debate over the health benefits and dangers of cannabis, or marijuana, continues with the publication of a study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation that showed rats given a synthetic cannabis substance were less depressed and anxious. A research team from Canada’s University of Saskatchewan observed that a chemical found in cannabis had an antidepressant effect on rats. In the study, the animals were injected with high levels of an artificial substance similar to that found in cannabis, for a month and displayed less anxiety when placed in new environments, a usual trigger of fear for rodents. The research data and findings are being treated with a degree of skepticism from mental health experts, who warn that the laboratory results on rats are unlikely to be replicated in humans. A mountain of previous research has linked cannabis to long-term damage to mental health and an increased susceptibility to anxiety and depression.
Section 5. Response Rate/Sight Translation
А. Inner solar system – наиболее вероятный источник – study suggests – опровергать распространенную теорию – coalesce (into) – теория гласит, что – results provide new constraints – летучие вещества - make its return – быстрозарядное устройство – modern makeover – усиление скорости зарядки – electrical conductivity - получить совершенно иной вид – innovative concept – оцениваться по качеству конструкции – technical viability – оригинальная конструкция - trace smth to smth (relate smth to smth) – избежать / не допустить отравления - а new study may explain – углекислый газ – induce acidification – беспорядочные изменения – become alluring – возбужденные нервные клетки – maintain chemical balance – перед лицом, вопреки – essentially – изменять (на прямо противоположное) - initial response to – сенсорное восприятие – cortex – качественные признаки – be incorporated into - моделирование ранней вселенной – струнная теория - spatial dimension - постулировать что-л. в качестве основополагающего принципа – theory requires that – помимо наблюдаемых (измерений) - Take aim at – в ближайшей перспективе – be poured into the sky – уменьшить на полградуса – glacial melting – воздействовать на данные вещества – potentially ozone-depleting substance - предупредить наступление преждевременной смерти - alter the course – выступать против цезуры – develop enmity for oppression – фирменная фраза/слоган - guiding principle - пропагандировать идею открытого интернета – object to smth;
B. Внутренняя солнечная система – the most likely source – согласно исследованию – contradict the prevailing theory – образовывать единое целое – the theory holds that – данные исследования выявили новые ограничения – volatiles - вновь появиться - fast-charging power source – реконструкция – boost in charging speed – электропроводность - get a radical new look – инновационная конфигурация – be rated on design quality – эксплуатационная жизнестойкость – ingenious structure - устанавливать связь между - avoid poisoning - в новом исследовании приводится возможное объяснение - carbon dioxide – вызывать подкисление – topsy-turvy changes – стать соблазнительным – excited nerve cells – восстановить химическое равновесие – in the face of – по существу/существенным образом – reverse - первоначальная реакция на что-л
- touch sensation – кора головного мозга – basic attributes – быть включенным, являться частью - simulation of the early universe – string theory – пространственное измерение – posit smth as fundamental basis – теория предусматривает, что - in addition to the (dimensions) observed - прицелиться/сосредоточить внимание на – in the short run – выбрасываются в атмосферу – diminish by half a degree – таяние ледников – target these agents – потенциальное озоно-разрушающее вещество – prevent premature death - изменить направление (развития) – oppose censorship law – проявить неприязнь к подавлению – catchphrase – руководящий принцип – advocate for openness on the internet – возражать/протестовать против чего-л;
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1.Asteroids from the inner solar system are the most likely source of the majority of Earth's water, a new study suggests. The results contradict prevailing theories, which hold that most of our planet's water originated in the outer solar system and was delivered by comets or asteroids that coalesced beyond Jupiter's orbit, then migrated inward. "Our results provide important new constraints for the origin of volatiles in the inner solar system, including the Earth," lead author Conel Alexander said in a statement. Alexander and his colleagues analyzed samples from 86 carbonaceous chondrites. These primitive meteorites are thought to be key sources of the early Earth's volatile elements, such as hydrogen and nitrogen.
2. Thomas Edison didn't just have telegraphs and light bulbs on his mind — the U.S. innovator marketed an electric car battery in the early 20th century. The same nickel-iron battery technology could soon make its return as a fast-charging power source for the 21st century. The modern makeover of Edison's battery can fully charge in about 2 minutes and dump its energy load in less than 30 seconds — about 1,000 times faster compared with the original. Edison's battery got its needed boost in charging speed with the help of nanotechnology. Researchers bonded the battery's metal particles with carbon nanomaterials — graphene (sheets of carbon just 1-atom thick) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes — that can increase electrical conductivity.
3.Britain’s electrical grid could get a radical new look, after a T-shaped pylon was named as the future of electricity transportation. The innovative, lightweight concept – created by Danish engineering Bystrup – was chosen from a field of 250 designs; The entries were rated on design quality, functionality and technical viability. Talking about the winning design, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne said: “This is an innovative design which is simple, classical and practical. Its ingenious structure also means that it will be much shorter and smaller than existing pylons and therefore less intrusive.”
4. The next time you find yourself craving for a sweet, irresistible piece of candy in someone else’s hands, remember this: You can’t help it. Your brain is built to covet. An object seems more appealing when it belongs to someone else. The French researchers traced the thought of wanting someone else’s stuff to the mirror neuron system in the brain. Mirror neurons become active when a person does something, or when a person sees someone else perform an action. An infant sticks out her tongue after she sees her parents do it, thanks to her mirror neurons. Mimicking other people — and wanting what they want — can help us learn. In the case of coveting candy - eating what other people have safely eaten helps us avoid food poisoning, for example.
5. A new study may explain how rising carbon dioxide concentrations — and the ocean acidification they induce — can cause topsy-turvy changes in the behavior of fish. The scary scent of predators, for example, can suddenly become alluring. Once excited, nerve cells need a chemical to calm them down. A compound known as GABA does this by unlocking a gate on the cells’ outer membrane, allowing ions of chloride and bicarbonate to enter and quiet the cell. When a fish’s body attempts to maintain chemical balance in the face of rising ocean acidification, chloride and bicarbonate concentrations could become higher inside nerve cells than outside them. Later, when GABA gates opened, chloride and bicarbonate would then rush out of the cell instead of into it. That would excite the cell instead of calming it, essentially reversing the nerve’s response to a stimulus.
6.A leg car e ss can delight or feel totally skeevy, depending on who’s doing the caressing. A touch’s emotional baggage can be seen in the brain’s initial response to that touch, scientists report in the June 19 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Heterosexual men’s somatosensory cortices, brain regions that detect a touch’s basic attributes, responded differently when a touch was thought to come from a gorgeous woman in a black evening dress or a masculine man in a black tank top. Emotions are incorporated into touch sensation surprisingly early in the sensory process, the study shows.
7. A simulation of the early universe using string theory may explain why space has three observable spatial dimensions instead of nine. The leading mathematical explanation of physics goes beyond modern particle theory by positing tiny bits of vibrating string as the fundamental basis of matter and forces. String theory also requires that the universe have six or more spatial dimensions in addition to the ones observed in everyday life. Explaining how those extra dimensions are hidden is a central challenge for string theorists.
8. Carbon dioxide may be public enemy number one in the fight against global warming. But taking aim at methane and soot has a better chance of keeping the planet cooler in the short run, a new study finds. Cutting the amounts of these two pollutants that are poured into the sky would diminish warming by half a degree Celsius by 2050. That could buy a little time for the world — slowing sea level rise, glacial melting and other problems caused by rising temperatures. Targeting these agents of climate change would also improve air quality, potentially preventing up to 4.7 million premature deaths every year, the researchers calculate.
9.Steve Jobs with a passion for minimalist design has altered the course of personal computing and the entertainment industry. The company's gadgets, such as the iPod, iPhone and iPad, have inspired an almost cult-like following and its chain of sleek, modern shops are popular around the world. Mr Jobs is a college dropout and a Buddhist who started Apple with his friend Steve Wozniak in 1976 and pioneered the personal computer industry with the Macintosh eight years later. LinkedIn chief executive Jeff Weiner said: "He is the Michelangelo of the digital age. He is also the most insightful business speaker I've ever heard. He speaks the way he designs product: not a single wasted word."
10. Google has taken political stances in the past, most notably when it opposed China’s censorship laws. Its power-to-the-people philosophy is influenced by co-founder Sergey Brin, who developed an enmity for oppression because of his Jewish family’s suffering under Communism in the Soviet Union, including efforts to block his father’s career. Google’s famous “don’t be evil” catchphrase has long been a guiding principle for the company, as it has advocated for openness on the Internet, even as the motto has become a punch line in recent years for privacy activists who object to the company’s data-collection methods.
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