NEW Учебник_ Английский 2022 (3)-1. University Life Learning Process and Challenges Students Face while Studying
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PART 1. REMARKABLE Inventions from the Earliest Times to the 20th Century Read the text and speak on the 3-4 inventions you appreciate best. There could not be any development without inventions. Nowadays there are numerous laboratories discovering something new on a daily basis, but there are some inventions that date back centuries, but are still the core of the modern science. Almost all of contemporary discoveries have been based on previous inventions, so we should credit to those talented inventors, who laid the foundation for our comfort. Let us remember the most crucial achievements and their creators, who paved the way to our easy-going life. 1.Wheel is one of the most ancient people’s inventions. It was discovered by Mesopotamians around 3500 B.C., to be used in the creation of pottery. The wheel also helped carry different goods. It was a real boost when the wheel was enhanced to the extent that it became a part of the vehicle. This invention is a concept that lay grounds for many other inventions we can not live without. 2.Steam engine invention can be called a key to our modern transportation and industries. Scottish inventor James Watt is considered to be a leading creator of steam engine between 1763 and 1775, but there are numerous successors, who were improving it decade after decade. This invention had a dramatic impact on the world industry allowing factories to be free from water power, developing coal industry, increasing the speed of trains and becoming a core of modern transportation system. 3.The electrical telegraph grew out of advances in electrical science between about 1800 and 1840, particularly the discovery of galvanic electricity by Luigi Galvani and the invention of the electrical battery by Alessandro Volta around 1800, and research into electromagnetism by Andre-Marie Ampère, Joseph Henry, and Michael Faraday during the 1820s and 1830s. The first two telegraph lines opened in Great Britain in 1837 and the United States in 1844. The telegraph was the only form of electrical communication until the invention of the telephone in 1876, and it remained the mainstay of rapid long-distance communication until the development of practical long-distance telephony after 1900. 4.The airplane ranks as one of the earliest inventions of the 20th century. The credit is given to the Wright brothers who made the first flying airplane in 1903. Even though the brothers initially invented the airplane, a lot of other scientists from different parts of the world contributed to the improvement of the aviation industry. One such example is Alberto Santos-Dumont who was a Brazilian expert. He was the first to build a heavier-than-air aircraft in the European countries, although this was an unsuccessful invention. Before the actual airplane was designed, Wright brothers tried various methods like gliders, hot air balloons, etc. for flying. 5.Automobiles A world without automobiles may have been less polluted, but would be as advanced as it is today? The first automobile invented was the motor car designed by Carl Benz in 1879. This vehicle ran on a gasoline-powered engine. However, the automobile that made this invention more accessible and user-friendly only came into existence in the 20th century. Henry Ford is the man who made Model T in 1908. This car was affordable for an average American middle-class. Although the brains behind this invention were someone else’s, it was only due to Henry Ford that this industry flourished. Hence, Henry Ford is the man associated with the boom of automobiles. His company was able to sell millions of automobiles and to this day, Ford is a world-famous and successful business. 6. Television No single inventor deserves credit for the television. The competition was truly international, with inventors and companies working in 11 different countries. Many of these pioneers had no success; a few however were able to produce silhouette pictures and were hailed as the “inventors” of television within their own countries. Thus, the French say both Belin and Barthelemy were the inventors of television; the Russians say Boris Rosing and his assistant Vladimir Zworykin; the Germans either Nipkow or Karolus; in the USA most people believe it was either Jenkins or Farnsworth; and in the UK we have the choice of Campbell-Swinton for the concept, or John Logie Baird for television’s practical demonstration. Philo Farnsworth is credited for making the first complete, functional all-electronic television system in 1927. This invention was the first electronic television that could also capture moving images. Scottish engineer John Baird gave the world’s first demonstration of true television before 50 scientists in central London in 1927. With his new invention, Baird formed the Baird Television Development Company, and in 1928 it achieved the first transatlantic television transmission between London and New York and the first transmission to a ship in mid-Atlantic. Baird is also credited with giving the first demonstration of both colour and stereoscopic television.Decade after decade, TV technology has steadily advanced: colour arrived in the 1960s, followed by cable in the 70s, VCRs in the 80s and high-definition in the late 90s. The latest technology in television includes integration of the television and the Internet. 7. Computer and Internet It goes without saying that modern people can’t imagine their life without computers and the Internet. Invented in the 1970s, personal computers greatly expanded human capabilities. One of the earliest PCs was introduced in 1974 by Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS) via a mail-order computer kit called the Altair. From there, companies like Apple, Microsoft, and IBM have redefined personal computing. Based on two important innovations such as the integrated circuit and the microprocessor the computer began performing logical calculations and surprised people with its intelligence. The first desktop computer for everyday use was manufactured in 1974 and its popularity was enormous. Apple computers by Stephen Wozniak and Steven Jobs got the first world’s computer system. The next step in computer development was IBM PC with a more powerful and faster processor. Gradually, the competition between companies resulted in a constant development of the machine for this revolutionary invention not to lose its popularity. There are many questions around the creation of the Internet and the world wide web (WWW). Many people believe the WWW and the Internet are the same things, but in reality, that is not true. The term World Wide Web describes the most common means of accessing data online in the form of websites and hyperlinks. Whereas, the “internet” is a term used to describe the vast network of computers and servers through which the world wide web operates. In 1966, the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPA), a division of the US Department of Defense, established the ARPANET the network that ultimately evolved into what we now know as the Internet. ARPANET was a great success, but membership was limited to certain academic and research organizations who had contracts with the Defense Department. In response to this, other networks were created to provide information sharing. In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee, a computer science fellow at the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN) first developed an outline for a system that could easily carry out the information sharing process between different research institutions such as MIT, CERN, Stanford, etc. by connecting their individual systems together. The Web was originally conceived to meet the demand for automated information-sharing between scientists in universities and institutes around the world. 8. Robots A lot of people are afraid that someday robots will be smarter than humans and take over the world. Then there is also the hassle of filling out security checks on websites to confirm that you are not a robot. These and all other robot-related issues cannot be blamed on one person since robots have been in the making for centuries. It all started with simple automated devices that eventually turned into human look-alikes that can talk, feel, and understand. A modern robot with complex behavior was made by William Grey Walter in 1949. His robot had more similarities with a human, mainly because that is what his aim was. He wired up this robot to portray how brain cells work. Later, George Devol created the first programmable digital robot in 1954. This was called the Unimate and is credited for laying roots of the modern robotics industry. 9. Telephone and Mobile Cell Phone Michael Faraday was the first person to contribute to the idea of a telephone when he proved that metal vibrations could be converted into electric impulses. Faraday’s concept was not put into practice until Philip Reis invented a device that could convert sound waves into electric impulses and then back to sound waves in 1861. The invention of a practical telephone is credited to Alexander Graham Bell. He achieved tremendous success in March of 1876; he successfully spoke to his assistant in the next room over the telephone. This device changed the world and made communicating over long distances much easier. The first time mobile phones were showcased by Motorola in 1973, a portable handphone can connect calls with cell towers over a radio frequency connection. To handle calls or network traffic, multiple towers can be used while the caller or receiver is in motion in the telephone service area. These cellular phones provide several services, including text messaging (SMS), MMS, Email, Internet, wireless communications (Bluetooth), chatting apps, businessapps, games, and photography. 10. Electricity Most of the inventions mentioned above are useless without electricity. Originally, electricity was invented in the 1700s by Benjamin Franklin. However, the use of electricity was neither feasible not accessible. In 1879 Thomas Edison managed to invent a light bulb lasting for 1,500 hours, while William David Coolidge is credited as the inventor of incandescent bulb familiar to us. The invention of the light bulb is certainly a major extension of the ability to harness electricity. In the early 20th century, the concept of electrical power generation and distribution was expanded, which is what led to thousands of other creations. Slowly but gradually, coal and oil generated power sources were replaced with electricity. Eventually, the feasible distance of transmission increased, the technology improved, and today, the entire world is lit by this invention. It has profoundly changed the way we live, work as well as the look and functioning of our cities. The list of these achievements can be added with inventions of rockets, artificial intelligence, antibiotics, xerography, refrigerator and many others. These are only some of the greatest world’s inventions worth mentioning. They have determined the way of humanity development and set the grounds for further innovations. Part 2. Significant Inventions of 21st Century Read the text and speak on the 3-4 inventions you appreciate best. The explosion of technology and science makes it difficult to identify the best inventions of the 21st century since there are so many worthy candidates. Inventions that have had a significant impact on society and culture as well as those that hold promise for future revolutionary applications are presented in the following list. 1.Gene modifying Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley and a separate team from Harvard and the Broad Institute independently discovered in 2012 that a bacterial immune system could be used as a powerful gene-editing tool to make detailed changes to any organism’s DNA. This discovery heralded a new era in biotechnology. The discovery has the potential to eradicate diseases by altering the genes in mice and mosquitoes to combat the spread of Lyme disease and malaria but is also raising ethical questions, especially with regards to human gene editing such as for reproductive purposes. 2.Digital assistants One of the biggest technology trends in recent years has been smart home technology, which can now be found in everyday consumer devices like door locks, light bulbs, and kitchen appliances. The key piece of technology that has helped make all this possible is the digital assistant. Apple was the first major tech company to introduce a virtual assistant called Siri, in 2011, for iOS. Other digital assistants, such as Microsoft’s Cortana and Amazon’s Alexa, have since entered the market. The assistants gained another level of popularity when tech companies introduced smart speakers. Notably, Google Home and Amazon's Echo can now be found in millions of homes, with an ever-growing range of applications. 3. Large Hadron Collider (LHC) It is possibly one of the greatest scientific inventions of modern times. It is considered to be the extremely high tech engineering feat which was achieved in the year 2008 when protons beam was successfully circulated for the first time. By building such a large collider, scientists are aiming to unlock many mysteries of science and our universe which will open new doors for many more discoveries and inventions. The LHC is 27 km in circumference and located 175 km beneath the Franco-Swiss border. 4. Mobile operating systems Mobile operating systems for smartphones and other portable gadgets have enabled the proliferation of smartphones and other mobile gadgets thanks to their intuitive user interfaces and seemingly endless app options. Mobile operating systems have become the most consumer-facing of computer operating systems. When Google first purchased Android Inc. in 2005, the operating system was just two years old, and the first iPhone (with its iOS) was still two years from its commercial debut. 5. Multi-use rockets Elon Musk’s private space exploration company, SpaceX, has developed rockets that can be recovered and reused in other launches – a more efficient and cheaper alternative to the method of using the rockets only once and letting them fall into the ocean. On March 30, 2017, SpaceX became the first to deploy one of these used rockets, the Falcon 9. Blue Origin, a space-transport company founded by Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos, has launched its own reusable rocket. 6. 3D printing Most inventions come as a result of previous ideas and concepts, and 3D printing is no different. The earliest application of the layering method used by today’s 3D printers took place in the manufacture of topographical maps in the late 19th century, and 3D printing as we know it began in 1980. The convergence of cheaper manufacturing methods and open-source software, however, has led to a revolution of 3D printing in recent years. Today, the technology is being used in the production of everything from lower-cost car parts to bridges to less painful ballet slippers and it is even considered for artificial organs. 7.Blockchain, bitcoin, cryptocurrency In fact, Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta first envisioned the idea of a blockchain in 1991. The technology was first deployed in 2008 to create Bitcoin, the first decentralized cryptocurrency. From car-sharing to cloud sharing, blockchain offers greater transparency increased efficiency and speed, improved traceability, and enhanced security just to name a few benefits. Cryptocurrency is digitally secured by cryptography, making it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend. Cryptocurrency also simplifies the process of digitally transferring funds, since it secures the transaction through public and private keys instead of through a bank or credit card company. However, cryptocurrencies have also received a lot of criticism for their use in illegal activities. Some cryptocurrencies are valued for their privacy and anonymity, making their transactions harder to track. 8.Existence of Dark Matter In 2006, a team of researchers has found an evidence that proves the existence of dark matter. They inferred the presence of dark matter by measuring the bullet clusters or the location of mass in the collision of galaxies. According to Maxim Markevitch of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, the dark matter can be proven by the bulk of visible matter in the clusters that have been disconnected to the rest of the mass. According to NASA, it is still a complete mystery. What they can prove for now is that 68% of the universe is composed of dark energy. 9. Creation of Artificial Human Organs The stem cell research has paved the way to greater access to organs, instead of waiting for donors or taking harsh medications. Scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School have discovered how to regenerate the function of human heart tissue through adult skin cells. Through stem cells, humans can grow another organ. This is associated with the regenerative nature of living organisms. Recently, various research all around the world enables growing heart, brain, lung, and kidney, among others through stem cells. 10. Robotic exoskeletons Ever since researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, created in 2003 a robotic device that attaches to the lower back to augment strength in humans, the demand for robotic exoskeletons for physical rehabilitation has increased, and manufacturing has taken off. Wearable exoskeletons are increasingly helping people with mobility issues (particularly lower body paralysis), and are being used in factories. Ford Motor Company, for example, has used an exoskeleton vest that helps auto assemblers with repetitive tasks in order to lessen the wear and tear on shoulders and arms. 11.Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) Both virtual reality and augmented reality have reached a point that we are seeing them practically implemented throughout our lives. Virtual reality is a computer generated simulation world that completely immerses the user inside of a fictional world with no reference to the actual world. It is used to create a new world and enhance the user’s experience of a game or entertainment through 3D virtual spaces. VR is also used to enhance training for real life situations through simulation. Augmented reality is similar to VR in that it enhances the experience of a user, but it differs in just how far it goes. The user never loses touch with the real, physical, world during use of AR technology. For example, Pokemon Go allowed users to catch Pokemon that appeared to be in the real world, but only through the lens of a smartphone. More complex AR technologies use glasses or the like to fully immerse the user in an augmented reality, but the physical world is still what is being altered. Augmented reality smartphone apps will allow us to find out way down the street, see where friends are, and interact with the digital world all through the lens of the physical one. 12.Water as Fuel German Cleantech Company has developed a futuristic machine that converts water into fuel. Through Power-to-Liquid Technology, they can convert water and carbon dioxide into liquid hydrocarbons which take the form of synthetic diesel, petrol, and kerosene. This technology was based on Fischer-Tropsch process and solid oxide electrolyzer cells (SOECs) which converts electricity to steam. In 2017, Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) and Berkeley Lab’s Materials Project also deviseda technology that turns sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into fuel which can be a viable source of power, replacing coal, oil and other fossil fuels. The 21st century is rather young. The future is promising, and it will be interesting to see how the list of the best inventions of the 21st century changes as the years unfold. Comprehension check |