2.to make a proposal
3.the law holds
4.to be determined
5.to treat something as
6.to double in size
7.to violate the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics
8.to account for
II. Put in the prepositions.
1.… 1974, I have been working … combining general relativity and quantum mechanics … a consistent theory.
2.Jim Hurtle is … the University of California … Santa Barbara.
3.The earth’s surface is finite … area.
4.We treated the universe … a uniform background, … which there were small perturbations of density.
5.There must have been departures … uniform density.
6.The no-boundary proposal can account … all the complicated structure that we see around.
III. Write out topical sentences to cover each point of the outline, contract them and make the necessary changes.
1.A proposal made by Hawking and Hurtle.
2.The similarities and differences between space-time and the surface of the earth.
3.The implications of the proposal.
4.The calculation of the noboundary condition.
5.An inflationary expansion.
6.The complicated structure of the universe.
CLASS EXERCISES
Exercise 1 (in groups)
Stephen Hawking and Jim Hurtle are giving a lecture at your University. Ask them the below questions.
One of you is Stephen Hawking; another one is Jim Hurtle; the others are students, who ask them the below questions.
1.How long have you been working on combining general relativity and quantum mechanics into a consistent theory?
2.What were the results?
−21 −
3.What do you mean when you say that time and space have no boundary or edge?
4.What implications would your proposal have, if it is correct?
5.How many dimensions would space-time have?
6.What would the no-boundary condition imply?
7.What do you mean by inflationary expansion?
8.Why are you so sure that the early universe couldn’t have been completely uniform?
9.Does the no-boundary proposal imply that the differences in density would start off in the ground state?
10.How do galaxies and stars form according to the no-boundary proposal?
Exercise 2
In groups discuss the hypothesis of the no-boundary universe using the outline (post-reading task III.) Each student suggests a topical sentence; one student of each group reports the outline of the passage.
Exercise 3 (do it yourself)
Translate the sentences. Check up your translation against the original sentences in the passage.
1.Площадь поверхности земли ограничена, но не имеет границы.
2.Время и пространство ограничено, но не имеет границы.
3.В этом случае не будет сингулярностей.
4.Физические законы будут справедливы везде, включая и момент начала вселенной.
5.Начало вселенной будет определяться научными законами.
6.Сложную структуру вселенной можно объяснить тем, что она безгранична.
− 22 −
UNIT 3
THE DARK MATTER
“As much as 90 percent of the matter in the universe is invisible. Detecting dark matter will help astronomers better comprehend the universe’s destiny.”
Vera Rubin
PRE-READING TASK Study some grammar points.
I. Modal verbs show the attitude of the speaker to the idea he expresses.
We use must + V to say we are sure that something is true for the present or the future = most probably.
Study the sentences.
1.The universe must contain the dark matter, which we cannot observe directly.
2.There must be some unseen form of matter.
3.There must be extra dark matter present in clusters of galaxies.
4.The universe must contain enough dark matter to bring the density up to the critical density.
II. We use special tenses with if when we are talking about imagi-
nary situations.
To talk about imaginary present or future situations we use: If (Unless) S + V2, S + would + Vo
Study the sentences.
1.Collections of stars and gas would fly apart if they contained only the stars and gas that we can observe directly.
2.The speeds at which individual galaxies are moving in the clusters are so high that the clusters would fly apart, unless they were held by gravitational attraction.
III. The participle
The English verb changes in four forms:
I |
II |
III |
to show (the infinitive) – showed (the past simple) – showed = нный (the passive participle) –
IV − showing = ющий (the active participle)
− 23 −
Ving or Ved with some words put together with it = Russian – оп-
ределительное придаточное предложение (который)
Study the sentences.
1.Not all the scientists working in this field share this idea.
2.The speed of a pulse of light is the distance it travels between two events, divided by the time interval between the events.
3.A shock wave, called Cerenkov radiation, can be detected from the ground as a flash of visible light.
4.One can draw a graph showing the amount of light elements vertically and the amount of normal matter in the universe along the horizontal axis.
5.The Dirac equation was the basis of most of physics and all chemistry. However, we have been able to solve the equation only for the very simplest system, the hydrogen atom, consisting of one proton and one electron.
Note:
N + V3 (the past participle)
We do not always put participles as adjectives before nouns. It is not always easy to explain why one participle can be used before a noun but another one cannot.
Study the sentences.
1.The mass required is considerably greater than the masses of all the galaxies.
2.The rate needed was very low.
3.The heat released generates a pressure that enables the sun to resist the attraction of its own gravity.
IV. S + is supposed (is considered, is believed, is supposed, is expected, is assumed) + toV. These verbs express generally accepted opinion and correspond to Russian – Считают, что; Полагают, что;
Ожидают, что; Допускают, что
Study the sentences.
1.General relativity can’t be considered to be a complete theory.
2.The so-called missing matter is believed (is considered, is supposed, is assumed) to reside within clusters of galaxies.
3.The neutrino was believed to have no mass of its own, but some recent observations have suggested that the neutrino may have a small mass.
−24 −
We use two variants.
Study the sentences.
1.It was found that the nucleus was composed of the so-called elementary particles.
2.The nucleus was found to be composed of the so-called elementary particles.
1.It was considered that Democritus had a universal mind.
2.Democritus was considered to have a universal mind.
1.It was believed that everything was composed of indivisible and indestructible atoms.
2.Everything was believed to be composed of indivisible and indestructible atoms.
V. Would is used to talk about the natural course and behavior of things and events as a result of some action. It is the less definite form of will.
Study the sentences.
1.A lighter planet would have a smaller escape velocity than a more
massive one.
2. The white hole could be in another part of the universe. This would offer the possibility of rapid intergalactic travel.
Give Russian correspondence:
unless (if not), from (on the basis of), even if, directly (here – with a telescope), as (here – while), considerably greater (much greater), another (a second), a few (some, several), it follows, therefore (so, thus), specific (particular, specified), close to something (near something), the only (single), a way (a method, a technique), actually (really), an effect (an influence)
THE UNSEEN FORM OF MATTER
Study the passage. Translate the parts marked with asterisks in writing.
We can try to estimate the average density of the universe from observations. If you count the stars that we can see and add up their masses, we get less than one per cent of the critical density. Even if we add in the masses of the clouds of gas that we observe in the universe, the total still makes up only about one per cent of the critical value.
− 25 −