The discovery of radium

1. Marie Curie was born in Warsaw on 7 November, 1867. Her father was a teacher of science and mathematics in a school in the town, and from him little Maria Sklodowska − which was her Polish name − learned her first lessons in science. Maria's wish was to study at the Sorbonne in Paris, and after many years of waiting she finally left her native land in 1891.

2. In Paris Maria began a course of hard study and simple living. She determined to work for two Master's degrees − one in Physics, the other in Mathematics. Thus she had to work twice as hard as the ordinary student. Yet she had scarcely enough money to live on. She lived in the poorest quarter of Paris.

3. Among the many scientists Maria met and worked with in Paris was Pierre Curie. Pierre Curie, born in 1859 in Paris, was the son of a doctor, and from early childhood he had been fascinated by science.

4. At sixteen he was a Bachelor of Science, and he took his Master's degree in Physics when he was eighteen. When he met Maria Sklodowska he was thirty-five years old and was famous throughout Europe for his discoveries in magnetism. But in spite of the honour he had brought to France by his discoveries, the French Government could only give him a very little salary as a reward, and the University of Paris refused him a laboratory of his own for his research.

5. Pierre Curie and Maria Sklodowska, both of whom loved science more than anything else, very soon became the closest friends. They worked together constantly and discussed many problems of their research. After little more than a year they fell in love with each other, and in 1895 Maria Sklodowska became Mme. Curie. Theirs was not only to be a very happy marriage but also one of the greatest scientific partnerships.

6. By this time Mme. Curie had obtained her Master's degree in Physics and Mathematics, and was busy with research on steel. She now wished to obtain a Doctor's degree. For this it was necessary to offer to the examiners a special study, called a thesis. For some time Pierre Curie had been interested in the work of a French scientist named Becquerel. There is a rare metal called uranium which, as Becquerel discovered, emits rays very much like X-rays. These rays made marks on a photographic plate when it was wrapped in black paper. The Curies got interested in these rays of uranium.

7. The research was carried out under great difficulty. Mme. Curie had to use an old store-room at the University as her laboratory − she was refused a better room. It was cold, there was no proper apparatus and very little space for research work. Soon she discovered that the rays of uranium were like no other known rays. Marie Curie wanted to find out if other chemical substances might emit similar rays. So she began to examine every known chemical substance. Once after repeating her experiments time after time she found that a mineral called pitchblende emitted much more powerful rays than any she had already found. As Mme. Curie had examined every known chemical element and none of them had emitted such powerful rays as pitchblende she could only decide that this mineral must contain some new element.

8. There was no other explanation for the powerful rays which it emitted. At that moment Pierre Curie stopped his own investigations on the physics of crystals and joined his wife in her effort to find those more active unknown chemical elements. Scientists call the property of giving out such rays "radioactivity", and Mme. Curie decided to call the new element "radium", because it was more strongly radioactive than any known metal.

V. Прочтите текст и ответьте на вопросы

1. When and where was Marie Curie born?

2. What did she get Master's degrees for?

3. Why did the Curies get interested in the rays of uranium?

4. How did the Curies discover radium?

5. How was the name of the new element chosen?

VI. Наоснове текста составьте тему"The discovery of a chemical element"

ВАРИАНТ IV

I. Перепишите следующие предложения, подчеркните в каждом из них глагол-сказуемое и определите его видовременную форму и залог. Переведите предложения, обращая внимание на пассивные конструкции

1. The difference between one substance and another lies in the electric charges carried in the centres of their atoms, for this describes how many protons they have.

2. Some new elements will be discovered within the next few years.

3. Atoms which all substances made of are very complicated arrangements of still tinier particles called protons, neutrons or electrons.

4. The heat doesn’t affect them, but they are bombarded with myriads of protons, neutrons, electrons, gamma rays and other forms of radiation, and their atoms may either lose a few neutrons or collect a few.

II. Перепишите следующие предложения, подчеркните Participle I и Participle II и укажите, являются ли они определением, обстоятельством или частью глагола-сказуемого. Переведите предложения

1. Adding or removing one or more neutrons does not change one element into another.

2. Once after repeating her experiments time after time she found that mineral called pitchblende emitted much more powerful rays than any she had already found.

3. When burnt coal produces heat.

4. Being obtained in the laboratory the new substance had some valuable properties.

III. Перепишите следующие предложения, подчеркните в каждом из них модальный глагол или его эквиваленты. Переведите предложения

1. A few days later they can say if the iron has found its way to the bone, where it is most needed, by means of a Geiger counter, which can detect the radiations it gives off.

2. Marie Curie had to use an old store-room at the University as her laboratory because she was refused a better room.

3. Many physical phenomena could never be explained without the Theory of Relativity.

4. Doctors may give them a tonic containing iron, but may not be sure if it is digested or absorbed.

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