М. М. Кутепова The World of Chemistry Мир

Look through the text again and find the sentences describing a) gold;

2. 
   production of medicines; c) contributions of scholars. Translate these sentences into Russian.
   

4. 
   Read the text thoroughly with a dictionary and answer the following questions:
   

1. 
   Why did every medicine fighting ageing contain gold?
   
2. 
   What made alchemy a formal discipline?
   
3. 
   When and where did alchemy appear?
   
4. 
   What did some physicians use to produce medicines in the Middle Ages?
   
5. 
   Who was the first to unite alchemy with chemistry?
   
6. 
   What laid the foundation for modern chemistry?
   
7. 
   What was the idea of ancient scholars about the four essential elements?
   

5. 
   Match the English words, word combinations and chemical terms in A with their Russian equivalents in В:
   

A. 1. to value; 2. rare; 3. unique; 4. ability; 5. to resist; 6. decay; 7. acid;

8. 
   to damage; 9. quality; 10. permanence; 11. ageing; 12. to urge;
   

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		В
1. to value	a)	admission
2. ability	b)	testimony
3. decay	c)	hast
4. to damage	d)	advantage
5. to urge	e)	medication
6. desire	0	hence
7. purpose	g)	to ruin
8. to be related to	h)	to develop
9. benefit	i)	to appreciate
10. remedy	j)	to force
11. to evolve	k)	decomposition
12. reliance	1)	trust
13. evidence	m)	to be connected with
14. recognition	n)	power
15. therefore	o)	aim
16. rare	P)	to oppose
17. to resist	q)	constancy
18. permanence	r)	to scatter
19. to spread	s)	subordinate
20. dependent	t)	unique

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2. 
   Study the list of chemical elements in Appendix 3 and give full names to the symbols below. Be sure you can pronounce them correctly:
   

Fe, Cu, S, Hg, Pb, Au

7. 
   Write out of the text all irregular verbs and give their infinitives.
   
8. 
   Study carefully grammar tables 2 and 3 in Appendix 1 and ask all kinds of questions to the following sentences:
   

1. 
   Alchemy began to decline in the 16th century.
   
2. 
   People have long had a lust for gold.
   
3. 
   Ancient civilizations were practicing the art of chemistry as early as 3000 B.C.
   

9. 
   Listen to a short talk on safety in the laboratory. Make notes. Ask each other questions to clarify the points you don’t understand. The following notes and words will help you to understand the talk better:
   

NOTES

1. 
   are designed — предназначены
   
2. 
   become familiar — познакомиться
   
3. 
   setting up the experiments — организовать эксперименты
   
4. 
   common sense — здравый смысл
   
5. 
   might catch fire — могли бы загореться
   
6. 
   suffered through periods — периодически страдал
   
7. 
   mental instability — психическая неустойчивость
   
8. 
   preserved specimens — сохраненные образцы
   

WORDS


abnormally — ненормально to complement — дополнить consequence — следствие consequently — следовательно fume — пар, испарение goggles — очки to grade — оценивать insomnia -- бессонница to insist - настаивать


lead — свинец
protective — защитный
purposely — намеренно
to reinforce — подкрепить
responsibility —ответственность
routinely — обычно
safety — безопасность
to sniff — нюхать
to taste — пробовать на вкус


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Good afternoon. My name's Mary Raffety. For the next eleven weeks, Г11 be your lab instructor. The lab experiences you’ll be having are designed to complement your work in Dr. Kaplan’s inorganic chemistry course. Today’s experiment is purposely a short one; it’ll help you become familiar with the lab setup and equipment.

As your lab instructor, it’s my.duty to assist you in setting up your experiments and understanding the results. I’ll also grade your lab notebooks. But I have an even more basic responsibility: your physical safety. I’ll insist on proper precautions, such as wearing protective goggles at all times. I also expect you to use common sense: don’t wear long scarfs that might catch fire; don’t smoke; don’t taste unknown substances.
Let me reinforce this point with a story. Isaac Newton, perhaps the greatest scientist of all ages, lived in a period when the toxic effects of chemicals were less understood than today. He routinely sniffed fumes, tasted chemicals, and used open containers for heating substances. In the early 1690’s, he suffered through a period of insomnia, depression, and mental instability. Though his biographers linked this situation to problems in his personal life, researchers now think that it was a consequence of his lab procedures: they found abnormally high concentration of lead, mercury, and other heavy metals in preserved specimens of his hair.
Consequently, we must learn from the past and put safety first.

10. 
    Listen to the talk again and answer the following questions choosing the correct answer out of the given ones:
    

1. 
   Who is the speaker?
   

1. 
   Dr. Kaplan c) a lab instructor
   
2. 
   a university technician d) a specialist in chemistry history
   

2. 
   At what point of the semester does the talk take place?
   

1. 
   at the beginning c) near the end
   
2. 
   in the middle d) during the final exam
   

3. 
   Why is the speaker addressing the students?
   

4. 
   to explain the purpose of the lab notebooks
   
5. 
   to stress the importance of safety in the laboratory
   

6. 
   to tell them where to buy safety equipment
   
7. 
   to help them to understand their lab results
   

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3. 
   Which of the following are the students told not to wear?
   

1. 
   protective goggles c) running shoes
   
2. 
   eyeglasses d) long scarfs
   

4. 
   Why does the speaker tell the story about Newton?
   

1. 
   to illustrate what a great c) to emphasize the need for proper
   

scientist he was precautions

2. 
   to explain why lab equip- d) to demonstrate how theoretical
   

ment must be cleaned care- chemistry has advanced since
fully Newton’s days

5. 
   How did researchers discover that Newton might have suffered
   

from metal poisoning?

1. 
   by testing samples of his hair c) by examining the scientific prac
   

tices of his time

2. 
   by reading his biographies d) by performing the experiments
   

listed in his notebook

6. 
   According to the talk, what important lesson can be learned from
   

Newton’s life?

1. 
   an innovative scientist can- c) precautionary measures must be
   

not take normal precautions followed in the laboratory work
while performing experi- to ensure one’s safety and health
ment

2. 
   an inventor must be willing d) chemists with personal, problems to make some painful sacrifi- should never use toxic sub- ces to achieve his or her goals stances
   

7. 
   What will the students probably do after the talk?
   

1. 
   leave the room c) go to Dr. Kaplan’s office
   
2. 
   hand in their notebooks d) work on an experiment
   

3. 
   Listen to the talk once again if necessary and give reasoning to the choice of the answers you’ve just given by expressing your opinion. The list of expressions conies handy:
   

1 think I believe 1 suppose I guess I feel


1 have a feeling
to my mind
in my opinion
in my view
according to my point of view, etc.


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You may use the given example:

ExampleI think that the talk takes place at the beginning of the semester because...

11. 
    Read the text of another author on alchemy, compare it with the first one and say what information they have in common and what is different. Share your ideas with your fellow students.
    

* One of the most interesting periods in the history of chemistry was that of the alchemists (500—1600 A. D.). People have long had a lust for gold, and in those days gold was considered the ultimate, most perfect metal formed in nature. The principle goals of alchemists were to find a method of prolonging human life indefinitely and to change the base metals, such as iron, zinc, and copper, into gold. They searched for a universal solvent to transmute base metals into gold and for the “philosopher’s stone” to rid the body of all diseases and to renew life. In the course of their labours they learned a great deal of chemistry. Unfortunately, much of their work was done secretly because of the mysticism that shrouded their activity, and very few records remained.
Although the alchemists were not guided by sound theoretical reasoning and were clearly not in the intellectual class of the Greek philosophers, they did something that philosophers had not considered worthwhile. They subjected various materials to prescribed treatment under what might be loosely described as laboratory methods. These manipulations, carried out in alchemical laboratories, not only uncovered many facts of nature but paved the way for the systematic experimentation that is characteristic of modern science.
Alchemy began to decline in the 16th century when Paracelsus (1493—1541), a Swiss physician and outspoken revolutionary leader in chemistry, strongly advocated that the objectives of chemistry be directed toward the needs of medicine and the curing of human ailments. He openly condemned the mercenary efforts of alchemists to convert cheaper metals to gold.

12.