1. Match the names of scientists with the information about them. (Sometimes information refers to more than one scientist).
| Otto Hahn | coined a new phrase “fission” to describe the phenomenon. |
| found traces of barium and other elements. | |
| worked with his aunt. | |
| Lise Meitner | studied in Germany. |
| discovered radiothorium and radioactinium. | |
| replicated Hahn and Strassman’s results. | |
| Fritz Strsssman | reported their results in an article. |
| made a great breakthrough in 1938. | |
| collaborated with Lise Meitner. | |
| Robert Frisch | was a partner of Ernest Lawrence |
| was a student and assistant of Otto hahn. | |
| worked together with Otto Hahn at the university of Berlin. | |
| The Joliot-Curies | realized that an atomic bomb could be built. |
| left Germany and made her way to neutral Sweden. | |
| carried out experiments bombarding uranium with neutrons. | |
| Robert Oppenheimer | worked with Rutherford. |
2. Check whether you remember the dates and places mentioned in the text.
1. Hahn and Meitner’s great breakthrough came in 1938/1940.
2. Hahn worked in Britain and Canada/Austria.
3. Robert Oppenheimer worked at the University of Berlin/California.
4. Lise Meitner was born in Germany/Austria.
5. Otto Hahn began his collaboration with Lise Meitner in 1906/1907.
6. In 1939/1937 Hahn and Strassman wrote another article.
7. Otto Hahn returned to Germany in 1904/1906.
3. Choose the best ending a, b, or c to complete sentences.
1. Otto Hahn
a) and Ernest Rutherford made some great breakthroughs including the discovery of radiothorium and radioactinium.
b) discovered two radioactive elements: radiothorium and radioactinium.
c) and Lise Meitner found out that thorium was radioactive.
2. Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner
a) researched radioactive transformation and the properties of beta rays.
b) investigated properties of alpha and gamma rays.
c) carried out research into the mysteries of the atom.
3. Hahn, Meitner and Strassman
a) performed a number of experiments researching the properties of uranium.
b) closely collaborated with Fermi.
c) started their own investigation bombarding uranium with neutrons.
4. Hitler’s rise to power
a) resulted in Jewish scientists leaving germany.
b) did not make Lise Meitner flee abroad.
c) prevented scientists from continuing their research.
5. Hahn and Strassman
a) did not inform scientific community about the results obtained.
b) reported their results in a number of articles.
c) published a joint article with Lise Meitner.
6. Hahn and Strassman’s results
a) were disproved by Meitner’s experiments.
b) astonished the international community.
c) were similar to those obtained in the experiments of Joliot Curie and his team.
7. The possibility of generating a nuclear chain reaction
a) was realized.
b) was still science fiction.
c) was missed.
8. Hahn and strassman’s breakthrough
a) meant that the world was at risk.
b) could lead to the construction of an atomic bomb.
c) was used by the Nazis.
4. Find answers to the following questions in the text.
1. Who was the first to reveal the secrets of fission?
2. What did Meitner and Hahn research?
3. Did Hahn know about Fermi’s work?
4. Why did Lise Meitner leave Austria? Who helped her?
5. What did Hahn and Strassman find out while experimenting?
6. Why did they call their experiment “radium-barium-mesothorium-fractionation”?
7. What did the results of their experiments show?
8. How did scientific community learn about Hahn and Strasman’s experiments?
9. Why wasn’t a nuclear chain reaction science fiction any longer?
10. Why did Einstein write a letter to the President of the USA?
5. Prove or disprove the statements below. Give arguments in support of your point of view.
1. Hahn was born and studied in Germany but for some time worked in the USA and Canada.
2. Fritz Strassman was Meitner’s student.
3. Unlike Fermi, Hahn and Strassman bombarded uranium with protons.
4. 1938 was a difficult year.
5. Meitner worked together with Hahn and Strassman.
6. Meitner analyzed the results of Hahn and strassman’s experiments.
7. The Joliot-Curies managed to get the same results as Hahn and Strassman by repeating their experiment.
8. Everybody understood that if a chain reaction occurred it would mean that an atomic bomb could be built.
6. Organize the jumbled sentences in the right order.
1. Meitner could no longer work with Hahn and Strassman as she had to leave Germany.
2. Soon the international community learnt that a nuclear chain reaction was no longer science fiction.
3. Otto Hahn was to fulfill the task – to generate a nuclear reaction.
4. Some scientists realized the danger of using Hahn and Strassman’s breakthrough for military purposes.
5. They reported their results in a number of articles.
6. Otto Hahn discovered several radioactive elements.
7. Nevertheless, the team collaborated via correspondence.
8. Meitner and Hahn worked at Berlin University researching radioactive transformation and the properties of beta rays.
9. They conducted a set of experiments bombarding uranium with neutrons.
10. Hahn and Strassman made a number of experiments and found out that the uranium nucleus had split into atomic nuclei of other elements.