Номер A, страница 44 - гдз по английскому языку 11 класс учебник Комарова, Ларионова

4. The world of science and technology. Reading - номер A, страница 44.

Условие.

Dive in!

A How much do you know about science and technology? Do this quiz and find out.

1 If you drop two balls of different weight from a high place, which will fall first?

a the heavier item

b They will both fall at the same time.

2 Which scientist lived in the 20th century?

a Einstein b Newton

3 When was the telephone invented?

a in 1918 b in 1876

4 When was the first email sent?

a in 1971 b in 1991

Check your answers on page 193.

The shock of the new

Years later, scientists who make great discoveries are admired for their cleverness and originality. But some of the great discoveries were not praised at the time they were made.

1

In 1822, the geologist William Buckland had been doing research when he came across some really big teeth. Big-sized bones and teeth had been found earlier by other people, but they were not considered important. Why not? Because they thought they had belonged to giants, which, at the time, were not interesting to scientists. In fact, these teeth belonged to an extinct species of animal that had lived more than 160 million years ago! Buckland knew they were important. He did not come up with the name dinosaur to describe these creatures, Sir Richard Owen did that years later in 1842. But he did publish the first ever scientific paper describing fossil dinosaurs. The name Buckland gave to the dinosaur he discovered was Megalosaurus, which, in Greek, means 'great lizard'.

2

Charles Darwin published his book On the Origin of Species in 1859. He had developed a theory, which he called natural selection. It was a theory of evolution, stating that the 'stronger' characteristics of a species become more common in later generations. These are the ones that help an animal or plant survive in their own environment.

At the time, Darwin's theory shocked the world because it didn't agree with what the church had been teaching. Even today, in some parts of the world, Darwin's theory is not taught in schools. Darwin came up with his theory while he was on a five-year scientific expedition to the Pacific coast of South America. He got many of his ideas from the data he collected on the Galapagos Islands.

3

In 1604, astronomer and physicist, Galileo Galilei, proposed his theory of falling bodies. For nearly 2,000 years, people had accepted Aristotle's theory that heavier bodies fall faster than lighter ones. Galileo proved that this was false. He showed that all bodies fall at the same rate no matter how much they weigh.

In a book written by one of Galileo's pupils, an experiment which proved this theory was described. Galileo is said to have dropped two balls of the same material, but different weights, from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. He wanted everyone to see that the balls would reach the ground at the same time. And they did!

People have questioned whether this experiment really ever happened, however Galileo's theory is now regarded as a scientific fact.

4

In 1796, Edward Jenner, an English country doctor, gave someone the world's first vaccination. In the 18th century, people were terrified of getting a common disease called smallpox. One in three people who caught the disease died. If you did survive, you were left with terrible scars all over your body.

Jenner noticed that after people had come into contact with cowpox, they didn't catch smallpox. Cowpox was similar to smallpox, but it only affected cows. He decided to inject the cowpox disease into healthy people. It was a risk, and other doctors were sceptical. But Jenner had made a major scientific breakthrough. He had come up with a smallpox vaccine. Thanks to his discovery, the threat of smallpox no longer exists and people today are protected from many other dangerous diseases.

Решение.