English for chemists

Lesson 14
ГРАММАТИКА: Оборот «именительный падеж с инфинитивом».
Section I
Ex. 1. Practise your pronunciation.

1. 
   thought [0s:t], continuous [kan'tinjoos], surfacc [*s3:fis], argue ['a:gju:], infinitely ['infinith], inquire [in'kwais], perceive [pa'si:v], vegetable [*ved5itsbl], variety [vo'raioti], brought [bro:t], couple [lovpl], relatively ['relotivh], indivisibility [mdi.vizd'biliti], guess fees], knowledge ['nDlidj], systematize ['sistsmstaiz]
   

2. 
   ofwthe\atom, 'outwof\which, inuthc\world, at^thcXsurface, 'thcywbc\lieved, \argucdjhat, 'gavejheSname, and^ thcu\particles, ii\_,a 'striking \way
   

3. 
   ТоЛ1ау 'all 'atoms arc 'rccognizcd | to con'sist of 'smallerNparticles.
   

Ex. 2. Pay attention to the structure of the following words; translate them into Russian:

a) unusual, unable, unstable, unjust, unnecessary, unsuccessful, unemployed, unlimited, uncuttablc

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2. 
   inorganic, indirccl, insoluble, independent, incorrect, incapable, indefinite, indifferent, inseparable, indivisibility
   

2. 
   impossible, imperfect, improbable, improper, immaterial, imper­
   

sonal, immeasurable, impractical
Ex. 3. Define the meanings оГthe word because in the following sentences:
1. Mendeleyev’s mother could not placc Dmitry in the University of Moscow because he had been bom in Siberia. 2. The government retired Mendeleyev from the University of St. Petersburg because of his social activity. 3. Mendeleyev could not present his paper on the periodic table at the meeting of the Russian chcmical socicty himself because he was ill. 4. Elements in the same group of the periodic table are sometimes callcd congeners because they possess similar properties. 5. Electrolysis of water is not widely used to obtain ozone because of its low cfiicicncy. 6. Because of the difference in the vapour pressure of ozone and oxygen it is possible to separate them. 7. Lavoisier named the gas “hydrogen” (water-former) because of its ability to form water in combination with oxygen. 8. Selenium received almost no attention in textbooks because it was not commercially used.
Ex. 4. Find the predicate and the subject in the following sentences:
1. The solid matter was believed to be really continuous matter. 2. It was more logical to believe that all the varieties of matter arc brought about by coupling together a relatively few kinds of particles. 3. This purely philosophical guess turned to be confirmed later. 4. Atoms arc made of fundamental particles, they arc callcd building blocks of all matter.

5. Ancient Greeks were right in the ultimate sense of the argument.

Text 14 A
The Idea of the Atom
Many times during the course of history men believed that the solid matter, of which the different things in the world are made, was really continuous matter. They thought that if you could look at the surface of a stone with magnificaton unlimited, you would always sec a continuous surface, no matter how much you turned up the magnification. They believed that you would not find individual particles like atoms and electrons. They argued that if you had a magic knife by which you could cut the stone into smaller and smaller pieces, you could continue cutting it up indefinitely and could make the pieces as small as you like — a trillion, quadrillion, quintillion times smaller or even infinitely small. But some twenty-five hundred years ago, there lived in Greece a group of men with inquiring minds, who perceived that this argument for continuous matter was not sound. Facing the fact that the world contains so many different kinds of matter— stones, metals, vegetables matter, animal matter, solids and liquids of so many forms— they argued that it was more logical to believe that all

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these varieties of matter arc brought about by coupling together a relatively few kinds of particles, which could not be cut up any further. Because the indivisibility was taken to be the fundamental property of these particles, they gave them the name atom, or a-tom which in Greek means uncuttable. It is astonishing that this purely philosophical guess turned to be confirmed so completely two thousand five hundred years later. Of coursc, today all atoms arc cuttablc into smaller particles, such as the electrons in the outer shells and the fundamental particles in the inside of the nucleus; but the truly fundamental particles of which atoms arc made, arc sure to be uncuttable and they arc true building blocks of all matter.
During the period of fourteen years beginning with 1897, it was discovered that atoms arc composed of smaller particles. The discovery of the components of atoms and the investigation of the structure of atoms is likely to be one of the most interesting stories in the history of science. Moreover, knowledge about the electronic structure of atoms has made it possible to systematize the facts of chemistry in a striking way, making the subject easier to understand and to remember: it has been discovered that the bonds that hold atoms together in molecules, consist of pairs of electrons held jointly by two atoms. So those ancient Greeks were right in the ultimate sense of the argument.
Words and Word-Combinations to Be Memorized
argue, believe, bring about, confirm, continuous, coursc, of coursc, fundamental, hold, individual, infinite, inside, jointly, kind, likely, mind, moreover, out of, really, relatively, science, sense, shell, sound, sure, systematize, turn, ultimate, vegetable
Ex. 5. Give the Russian equivalents for the following:
during the coursc of history, unlimited magnification, perceive, a sound argument, bring about, a fundamental property, a purely philosophical guess, confirm, in the outer shells, be composed of particles, be likely, moreover, knowledge about the structure, in a striking way, make something easier understand, hold together, jointly, in the sense
Ex. 6. Give the English equivalents for the following:
много раз, твердое вещество, из которых, посмотреть на поверх­ ность, отдельные частицы, разрезать на более мелкие куски, столк­ нуться с фактом, много различных видов, относительно немного, полностью подтвердить, фундаментальные частицы, внутри ядра, состоять из, компоненты атомов, электронное строение атомов, сис­ тематизировать факты, связь, удерживать вместе
Ex. 7. Fill in the blanks with prepositions where necessary.

1. 
   Long ago there lived... Greece a group... men... inquiring minds.
   

2. 
   They named ... the particle “atom” because ... its indivisibility.
   

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3. Atom means “indivisible” ... Greek. 4. Of course, today atoms arc known to consist... still smaller particles. 5. The discovery ... the components
... atoms is one... the most interesting stories ... the history... science. 6. Knowledge ... the structure ... atoms made it possible to systematize the facts ... chcmistry ... a striking way. 7. Atoms are held together...

molecules ... bonds.

Ex. 8. Translate the sentences into Russian paying attention to different functions of if.
1. It was believed that all the varieties of matter were brought about by a relatively few kinds of particles. 2. It is astonishing that a purely philosophical guess about the structure of an atom was so completely confirmed. 3. An atom is no longer thought to be a fundamental particle, it consists of still smaller particles. 4. Knowledge about the electronic structure of atoms made it possible to systematize the facts of chemistry. 5. It was discovered that bonds hold atoms together. 6. It was in Greece that first ideas about the structure of matter appeared. 7. There arc some unknown words in the text, translate it using a dictionary. 8. It was not until the 19th ccntuiy that the periodicity of elements was discovered. 9. Bring the book, please, it is on the table. 10. It is a new law; you must clearly understand it.
Ex. 9. Translate the sentences into Russian.

1. 
   The subject of chemistry appears to be one of the principal subjects.
   

2. 
   The hypothesis is likely to be confirmed soon. 3. An atom was considered by the ancients to be an indivisible particle. 4. The approach is sure to attract the attention of the scientists. 5. These new results arc likely to be widely discussed. 6. At first the discovery did not seem to be very important. 7. The experiment is not likely to be finished at 5. 8. Calculations are said to have confirmed this idea. 9. Fundamental particles are regarded to be indivisible.
   

10. 
    The atom has long been believed to be a simple particle. 11. Nobody was supposed to be informed about the observed phenomenon. 12. The reaction is supposed to give a good yield. 13. The library is reported to have got many foreign journals this month. 14. The symposium was heard to be a great success. 15. The composition of membranes was expected to be described in the next chapter. 16. Their laboratory was known to have been investigating the properties of electrodes for some ten years. 17. In old times air was thought not to be matter of any kind. 18. A reaction may
    

be shown to occur under ordinary conditions. 19. There are known to exist several modifications of phosphorus. 20. Sulphur might be expected to occur in a number of different forms. 21. Bromine happened to be prepared in 1826.22. Chemical industry may be said to have begun in the 19th century.

Ex. 10. Translate the sentences into English.
1. Древние считали, что основное свойство атомов — недели­ мость. 2. Оказалось, что их предположение подтвердилось. 3. Сс-

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годня признают, что атомы состоят из меньших частиц. 4. Считает* ся, что все вещества состоят из фундаментальных частиц. 5. От­ крытие структуры атома, вероятно, явилось одним из важнейших открытий в науке. 6. Конечно, знание строения атома сыграло важ­ ную роль в развитии химии.
Ex. 11. Answer the following questions:
1. What did the ancients think about the composition of matter? 2. What particles were considered to be the building blocks of matter? 3. What docs the word “atom” mean? 4. What was known about the structure of the atom at the beginning of the 20th century? 5. What do we call fundamental particles now? 6. In what way arc atoms held together in a molecule?