Science and progress. Test

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The study of how living things relate to their environment.

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A person who creates something useful for the first time.

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Software, techie, silver surfer, unimaginable, accomplish,

cell, emoticon, humankind, carry out, prodigy,

advance, technophobe, face-to-face, lack of, state-of-the-art

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... may explain why Jane and her sister have the same illness.

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... is the study of how living things relate to their environment.

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Someone who dislikes new technology, especially computers is a ... .

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decay, explanation, conveyed, accelerated, emphasized, recognized

George Gamow George Gamow, 1904 (Odessa, Ukraine) — 1968 (Boulder, CO, United States) Gamow was a theoretical physicist and cosmologist — most notably, an early advocate and developer of Lemaître’s Big Bang theory. He discovered a theoretical             of alpha decay via quantum tunneling and worked on radioactive       of the atomic nucleus, star formation, stellar nucleosynthesis, Big Bang nucleosynthesis, and molecular genetics. Some of his books are still in print more than half a century after their original publication and have become classic, yet ever-relevant introductions to the fundamental principles of mathematics and science. In his middle and late career, Gamow focused more on teaching, and became well known as an author of popular books on science, including One Two Three … Infinity, and the Mr. Tompkins … series of books. As an educator, Gamow            and            fundamental principles that were unlikely to become obsolete, even as the pace of science and technology accelerated. He also          a sense of excitement with the revolution in physics and other scientific topics of interest for the common reader.

Read the text below and write the proper words.

The love affair with mobile phones is worldwide. The Germans call them “handy”; the Singaporeans refer to them (1)      [like, as, with, the] “prawns” because a popular model looks (2)      [how, like, of, as] … a prawn when opened; the Finns have (3)        [named, name, naming, names] … them “kannykka” or “kanny”, meaning an extension of the hand; everywhere they are establishing (4)            [it, they, themselves, itself] … as one of the world’s most successful consumer products. Mobiles have two qualities (5)      [-, who, that, what]… make them much more powerful (6)       [than, that, then, there] … their fi xed-line brothers: they travel around with you and they know (7)       [what, how, when, where] … you are. This means you can keep in (8)         [connect, call, touch, news] … with people – and increasingly with information - wherever you (9)        [try, happen, must, going] … to be. The most obvious reason (10)       [which, what, why, whose] … mobile phones are so popular is that the quality is going up (11)      [at, in, of, with] … the same time as prices are coming down.

Read the text below and write if the following statements are true or false according to the text above.

It's difficult to overestimate the role of science and technology in our life. They accelerate the development of civilization and help us in our co-operation with nature. Scientists investigate the laws of the universe, discover the secrets of nature, and apply their knowledge in practice improving the life of people. Let's compare our life nowadays with the life of people at the beginning of the 20th century. It has changed beyond recognition. Our ancestors hadn't the slightest idea of the trivial things created by the scientific progress that we use in our everyday life. I mean refrigerators, TV sets, computers, microwave ovens, radio telephones, what not. They would seem miracles to them that made our life easy, comfortable and pleasant. On the other hand, the great inventions of the beginning of the 20th century, I mean radio, airplanes, combustion and jet engines have become usual things and we can't imagine our life without them. A century is a long period for scientific and technological progress, as it's rather rapid. Millions of investigations the endless number of outstanding discoveries have been made. Our century has had several names that were connected with a certain era in science and technology. At first it was called the atomic age due to the discovery of the splitting of the atom. Then it became the age of the conquest of space when for the first time in the history of mankind a man overcame the gravity and entered the Universe. And now we live in the information era when the computer network embraces the globe and connects not only the countries and space stations but a lot of people all over the world. All these things prove the power and the greatest progressive role of science in our life. But every medal has its reverse. And the rapid scientific progress has aroused a number of problems that are a matter of our great concern. These are ecological problems, the safety of nuclear power stations, the nuclear war threat, and the responsibility of a scientist. But still we are grateful to the outstanding men of the past and the present who have courage and patience to disclose the secrets of the Universe.

1. Scientists investigate the laws of the universe.       [True, False]

2. Scientists discover the secrets of nature and apply their knowledge in practice.       [True, False]

3. The life of people at the beginning of the 20th century has changed beyond recognition.       [True, False]

4. Our ancestors had some ideas of TV sets or computers.       [True, False]

5. A century is a short period for scientific and technological progress.       [True, False]

6. Our century has had several names that were connected with a certain era in science and technology.       [True, False]

7. The 20^th century was called the atomic age due to the discovery of the splitting of the atom.       [True, False]

8. The 20^th century was called the age of the conquest of universe.       [True, False]

9. We live in the era when the computer network embraces the globe and connects not only the countries and space stations but a lot of people all over the world.       [True, False]

10. The rapid scientific progress has aroused a number of problems.       [True, False]