UNIT 3

PRETEXT EXERCISES

1. Practice in pronunciation:

Austrian / /, Lise Meitner / li:z ma tn /, nuclear / : /, expert / : /, atomic / /, despite / /, racial / /, jewish / : /, sexual / s kS l/, neutral / nju:tr l/, Sweden / swi:dn/, actually / ktS l /, physicist / f z s st/, theory / T r /, produce /pr dju:s/.

2. Pay attention to the pronunciation of the verb endings:

/ / remembered, studied, named, used, discovered, despised, bombed.

/t/ produced, distanced, worked. /I / discriminated.

3. Read and translate the following international words:

physics / /, radioactivity / /, expert / /, theory

/ /, production / /, racial / /, sexual / /, discrimination

/ /, neutral / /, chance / /, data / /, atom

/ /, bomb / /, distance / /.

Listening and reading for information:

Text A

LISE MEITNER (1878 – 1968) / /

The Austrian nuclear physicist Lise Meitner is remembered for her discovery of the radioactive element protactinium. She studied radioactivity with experts in atomic theory and produced important work, despite having to overcome both racial (she was Jewish) and sexual discrimination. In 1938 she fled Nazi Germany

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and went to neutral Sweden. This gave her the chance to work on her theory of nuclear fission (as she named it), using data from German scientists that described how they had actually split an atom. Meitner distanced herself from the first use of the theory - the production of an atomic bomb.

EXERCISES AND ASSIGNMENTS

1. Comprehension check.

What element did Lise Meitner discover? Whom did she study radioactivity with?

She had to overcome both racial and sexual discrimination, didn’t she? Did Lise Meitner go to the United States of America or Sweden in 1938? What theory did she work on?

Did Lise Meitner use data from German or American scientists? Who actually split an atom?

Lise Meitner distanced herself from the production of an atomic bomb, didn’t she?

2. State whether these sentences are right or wrong using the following

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Lise Meitner is remembered for her discovery of the element hydrogen. She had to overcome both racial and sexual discrimination.

In 1938 she fled Germany and went to the Soviet Union.

She used data from American scientists who had actually split an atom. Lise Meitner studied electromagnetic waves in the field of electricity.

3. Remember the derivatives of the following words:

nucleus – nuclei – nuclear

physics – physicist – physical

radioac tivity – radio;active - radi ation di scriminate – di scrimi nation –di scriminative pro duce – pro duction – produc tivity –pro ductive

theory –theo retical – theorize

atom –a tomic – atomize

neutralize – neutral – neu trality

4.Find the corresponding English equivalents to the Russian expressions:

преодолевать дискриминацию, покидать страну, предоставлять возможность, использовать данные, расщеплять атом, ядерный синтез, процесс расщепления ядра.

5.Grammar Review

A.Find in the text irregular verbs and give their three forms.

B.Find in the text sentences containing Passive Voice, Infinitive and Participle I.

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C. Give the initial forms of the following words:

discovery, radioactive, atomic, discrimination, production, described, having, using, actually.

6.Fill in the blanks with the propositions where necessary:

….1938 she fled Nazi Germany and went …. neutral Sweden. She used data …. German scientists.

Lise Meitner distanced herself …. the production …. an atomic bomb. This gave her the chance to work …. her theory …. nuclear fission. She studied radioactivity …. experts …. atomic theory.

7.Put the words in the correct word order:

in, theory, she, radioactivity, experts, with, studied, atomic. scientists, used, data, from, she, German.

Sexual, both, to, had, overcome, Meitner, and, racial, discrimination, Lise.

8. Complete the sentences:

The Austrian nuclear ….. This gave her …..

Meitner distanced herself …… She studied radioactivity …..

9.Look for some additional information about Lize Meitner in Internet, encyclopedia, reference books and other sources.

Text B

MARIA GOEPPERT MAYER (1906 – 1972)

/ /

The German-born American physicist Maria Goeppert Mayer is renowned for her work in nuclear physics. She studied the existing ideas about the structure

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