A innovations in our life

Unit I. MODERN TECHNOLOGY

Technology is a gift of God. After the gift of life it is perhaps the greatest of God's gifts. It is the mother of civilizations, of arts and of sciences.

Freeman Dyson

A INNOVATIONS IN OUR LIFE

1 Read and translate the statement. Do you agree with it?

The technological innovations we are to experience during the next

twenty years may well surpass our wildest fantasies and today’s tomorrow

may well become tomorrow’s day before yesterday.

What innovations do you think the future is going to bring? Say what you believe we will be able to do in ten/twenty/fifty years’ time.

I think (that) in twenty years.............. will be invented.

I believe (that) we will be able to.............. in ten years.

I’m sure (that).............. will be discovered.

2 Read and translate the words and say which parts of speech they are.

to invent – an invention – an inventor; to change – a change; to imagine – an image – imagination; possible – impossible – possibility; to perform – performance; to experience – experience; to create – creation – creative

Now complete the sentences with some of the words above.

1. The invention of the radio __________ the world. Without it space research would be __________.

2. She can imagine things easily. She has a very vivid __________.

3. You do not need any teaching __________ for this job.

4. The Bible says that God __________ the world.

5. The dancers __________ excellently. I really enjoyed the _________.

6. V.K.Zvorykin is the __________ of television.

7. He always has a lot of new ideas. He is very __________.

8. The _________ on a computer screen is made up of thousands of pixels.

9. The country __________ a period of economic growth in the 1970s.

3 Scientific progress has brought about many changes in everyday life. Read the sentences and say if you think the changes are positive or negative and why.

a) We have lost the skill of writing letters – we send e-mails.

b) How many of us remember not to carry our mobile phones in our pockets because the electromagnetic waves they constantly emit are very dangerous?

c) Space research has made it possible to create completely new materials.

d) Some of us now need a calculator to multiply two by two.

e) The creation of artificial intelligence does not seem very far away.

f) Gone are the days when students only kept traditional notebooks.

g) Our homes are full of various electronic devices like TV sets or microwave ovens, which most people could not even imagine a hundred years ago.

4 Read the text and put the sentences from ex.3 into the gaps.

The 21^st century is spoken about as the ‘Information Age’, and it’s not surprising because communication and information technologies are eve­rywhere – in our homes, workplaces, universities. Computer-operated robots have replaced people in many boring routine jobs. ____1____ Telephones, music and video players have become so small, that we carry them about with us. We travel by plane and cover thousands of kilometres in just a few hours. We decide what to wear tomorrow checking the weather forecast based on satellite observations. ____2____ Scientists are learning how to manipulate matter on a molecular scale, and nanotechnology is one of the most promising branches of physics.

The computer has turned from a simple calculating device into such a powerful multifunctional machine that we cannot say now what new tasks it will soon be able to perform. ____3____ Computer networks connect millions of people around the world. ____4____ Internet access allows us to work online at our offices every day and to travel anywhere around the world at the same time. Gone are the days when we had all documents on paper. ____5____ Many of them use laptops and tablet PCs. Today’s education is about PowerPoint presentations and e-homework assignments.

But every medal has its reverse. Modern technology is great, but are we ‘grown up’ enough to use it safely? Scientific progress has brought about ecological problems, the problems of nuclear power and various health problems. ____6____ Internet users can develop an addiction to it. What is more, we are becoming more and more technology dependent. ____7____ If one day we lose electricity and find ourselves in the dark without all the modern gadgets, will we be able to survive?

5 Find the English equivalents for the Russian phrases in the text above:

о 21 веке говорят, не удивительно, заменили, носим их с собой, прогноз погоды, спутники, наблюдения, управлять материей на молекулярном уровне, многообещающий, отрасль, превратился в, сети, доступ, позволяет, ноутбуки, планшеты, задания, обратная сторона, безопасно, принес с собой, ядерная энергетика, приобрести нездоровое пристрастие, более того, зависимый, окажемся, выжить

6 Translate the text and answer the questions.

1. What name is given to our time? Why?

2. How have modern technologies changed our lives?

3. What are scientists already doing?

4. How has the computer changed since the mid-twentieth century?

5. What does the Internet allow us to do?

6. How is education different nowadays?

7. What is dangerous about mobile phones?

8. Do you think we will survive without modern devices?

7 Translate the words in brackets to complete the sentences.

1. Researchers can (оперировать) the data in many ways. 2. (Материя) is the material of which everything in the universe is made. 3. Now we can study various substances (на молекулярном уровне). 4. She (оказалась) in an unknown place. 5. You should (заменить) the battery. 6. Calculus is a (раздел) of mathematics. 7. Some (ноутбуки) weigh just over a kilo. 8. The area is covered with a (сеть) of canals. 9. Only their personnel have (доступ) to these papers. 10. (Спутники) provide us with telephone connection. 11. The speed of the boat is (зависима) on the type of the engine. 12. The future looks (многообещающим) for our company. 13. He is a good engineer. (Более того), he has had a lot of experience.

8 Read the text again and make a list of the advantages which new technologies have brought, and a list of problems. Can you add to the lists?

9 Use your lists and talk about the changes in our life due to modern technologies.