Many times during the coursc of history men believed that the solid matter, of which the different things in the world arc made, was really continuous matter. They thought that if you could look at the surfacc of a stone with magnificaton unlimited, you would always sec a continuous surfacc, 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 these varieties of matter are 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 unciittable. It is astonishing that this purely philosophical guess turned to be confirmed so completely two thousand five hundred years later. Of course, 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 are 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 are 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, course, of course, 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 course 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 поверхность, отдельные частицы, разрезать на более мелкие куски, столкнуться с фактом, много различных видов, относительно немного, полностью подтвердить, фундаментальные частицы, внутри ядра, состоять из, компоненты атомов, электронное строение атомов, систематизировать 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.
3. Atom means "indivisible"... Greek. 4. Of course, today atoms are 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 ... chemistry ... a striking way. 7. Atoms arc held together... molecules ... bonds.
Ex. 8. Translate the sentences into Russian paying attention to different functions of it.
1. It was believed that all the varieties of matter were brought about by a relatively few kinds of particlcs. 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 /7 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 ccntury 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 discovciy did not seem to be vciy important. 7. The experiment is not likely to be finished at 5. 8. Calculations are said to have confirmed this idea. 9. Fundamental particles arc 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 phosphoms. 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 — неделимость. 2. Оказалось, что их предположение подтвердилось. 3. Сс- годня признают, что атомы состоят из меньших частиц. 4. Считается, что все вещества состоят из фундаментальных частиц. 5. Открытие структуры атома, вероятно, явилось одним из важнейших открытий в науке, б. Конечно, знание строения атома сыграло важную роль в развитии химии.
Ex. 11. Answer (he following questions:
1. What did the ancicnts think about the composition of matter? 2. What particles were considered to be the building blocks of matter? 3. What does 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 molcculc?
Section II
Упр. 1. Назовите значения следующих интернациональных слов:
philosopher, vacuum, absolutely, identical, combination, conservation, mass, constant, proportion
Упр. 2. Определите значения выделенных слов по контексту.
1. The number of students in this group diminished from 15 to 13 after the first session. 2. Speculation about the periodicity of properties led to the discovery of the periodic law. 3. The method is very useful for accurate measurements, usually it gives good results. 4. The coat is too small for you, it's not your size. 5. The idea has not been adopted until recently.
Слова к тексту:
superficial—зд. незначительный; smooth—гладкий; roll—вращаться; rough — грубый; jagged — зазубренный; cling — цепляться, прилипать; reasonable — разумный; приемлемый