книги / Business English for Students of Technical Universities

Thank you for (8) looking at my article. Please (9) write about this article to me at the University of the North or by email (jsmith@UOTN.ac.uk)

Yours sincerely,

J. Smith

John Smith

Attachments:

Manuscript – “Protection for Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and

Deinococcus radiodurans exposed to simulated Mars environmental conditions by surface material”

Completed Copyright Transfer Form

Task 4. Replace the underlined words and phrases (1–9) in the letter with the more suitable phrases from the list below:

•address all correspondence concerning this manuscript

•enclosed

•extends the research

•I would prefer that … not be approached to referee this research.

•knowledgeable referees for this paper might include

•manuscript entitled

•submitting for the exclusive consideration of

•therefore be of interest to those in the field of

•your consideration of my work

Task 5. Using the corrected letter from Tasks 4 and 5 as a model, write a cover letter to a journal to accompany the manuscript submission of a research paper you have written or are planning to write.

Text C. Writing the Abstract

Task 1. Answer the following questions:

1)What is the purpose of an abstract?

2)How can an abstract help a researcher choose which papers to read?

3)What information does the abstract usually include?

4)Why do some people think a good abstract is even more important in the internet age than it was before?

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Task 2. An abstract usually contains one or two key sentences from each section of a paper. Read the following extracts from a student’s draft abstract. Match a section (1–4) to an extract (A–D).

1)Introduction:

2)Method:

3)Results:

4)Discussion:

A:With the aim of evaluating this possibility, two microorganisms,

Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, an acidophile, and Deinococcus radiodurans, a radiation-resistant microorganism, were exposed to simulated Mars conditions. Exposure was for different times under the protection of 2 and 5 mm layers of oxidized iron minerals. Survival was evaluated by growing the organisms on fresh media.

B:The resistance of organisms to extreme conditions like the conditions that exist on the surface of Mars under the protection of a thin material layer increases the possibility that life could exist on Mars.

C:Here we report that both the 2 and 5 mm thick layers provided enough protection against radiation and Mars environmental conditions for the bacteria to survive.

D:Current surface conditions on Mars are extremely challenging for life. The question is whether there are any features on Mars that could provide protection against the surface conditions. One possibility is that the surface material plays a protective role.

Task 3. A student uses particular phrases to signal the purpose of each part of the abstract (A–D) in Task 2. Underline the phrases in the extracts that the student uses to:

1)state the research question;

2)present the hypothesis;

3)introduce the method;

4)introduce key results.

Task 4. The following phrases can also be used to signal the purpose of each part of an abstract. Divide the phrases (a–l) into four groups according to the functions in Task 3 (1–4).

a)An investigation was undertaken to explore …

b)It seems likely that …

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c)Results show that …

d)The aim of the study was to …

e)The data suggest that …

f)The present study investigates …

g)The study provides strong evidence that …

h)We demonstrate that …

i)We expected that …

j)We investigated a new method of verb-ing

k)The method involved verb-ing

l)… was found to …

Task 5. The text of an abstract must be concise. Replace the underlined words in extracts 1–5 below with “that” or “those”.

1)The hormone increased the power output of healthy volunteers by 16 per cent after four weeks of taking the drug. Healthy volunteers who took the drug could also exercise 50 per cent longer than control subjects.

2)We compare photographic exposure from scattered light with light from direct light.

3)The target yield is the yield that can be produced in “perfect” conditions.

4)Structures like the structures described in this paper are not known in glyptodonts recorded before the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI)

5)The lithology of failed carbonate strata differs from the lithology of their basal shear surfaces.

PART 3. EMERGING FIELDS OF ENGINEERING

Text A. Quantum computing

No profession unleashes the spirit of innovation like engineering.

NAE. 2008. Changing the Conversation

Task 1. Answer the following questions:

1)What is innovation? Give your own definition.

2)What fields of engineering are innovative?

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Task 2. Match the words (1–10) with their pronunciation (a–j)

Task 3. Read the text and explain the main principles of quantum computing, and its advantages over traditional one.

Quantum computing

Quantum computing often grabs the headlines. The word “quantum” itself is intriguing enough, and combined with the promise of computational power that surpasses anything we have seen so far it becomes irresistible. But what exactly is quantum computing?

To get to grips with quantum computing, first remember that an ordinary computer works on 0s and 1s. Whatever Task you want it to perform, whether it’s calculating a sum or booking a holiday, the underlying process is always the same: an instance of the Task is translated into a string of 0s and 1s (the input), which is then processed by an algorithm. A new string of 0s and 1s pops out at the end (the output), which encodes the result. However clever an algorithm might appear, all it ever does is manipulate strings of bits – where each bit is either a 0 or a 1. On the machine level, this either/or dichotomy is represented using electrical circuits which can either be closed, in which case a current flows, or open, in which case there isn’t a current.

Quantum computing is based on the fact that, in the microscopic world, things don’t have to be as clear-cut as we’d expect from our macroscopic experience. Tiny particles, such as electrons or photons, can simultaneously take on states that we would normally deem mutually exclusive. They can be in several places at once, for example, and in the case of photons simultaneously exhibit two kinds of polarisation. We never see this superposition of different states in

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ordinary life because it somehow disappears once a system is observed: when you measure the location of an electron or the polarisation of a photon, all but one of the possible alternatives are eliminated and you will see just one. Nobody knows how that happens, but it does.

Superposition frees us from binary constraints. A quantum computer works with particles that can be in superposition. Rather than representing bits – such particles would represent qubits, which can take on the value 0, or 1, or both simultaneously. “If you do something to [such a quantum system], it’s as though you are doing it simultaneously to 0 and to 1,” explains Richard Jozsa, a pioneer of quantum computing at the University of Cambridge. The art of quantum computing is to find ways of gaining as much information as possible from the unobservable.

Task 4. Match the collocations, phrasal and prepositional verbs, adjectives and verbs (1–10) with their definitions (a–j).

1)to grab the headlines a) to come suddenly or unexpectedly out of something

2)to get to grips with b) to gradually get more and more of something

8)to free somebody h) to understand or deal with something difficult from something

Task 5. Translate the sentences with the verbs in Passive Voice:

1)This dichotomy is represented using electrical circuits.

2)An instance of the Task is translated into a string of 0s and 1s (the input), which is then processed by an algorithm.

3)Quantum computing is based on the following fact.

4)It somehow disappears once a system is observed.

5)All but one of the possible alternatives are eliminated.

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Task 6. Translate the sentences with the Modal verbs:

1)Qubits can take on the value 0, or 1, or both simultaneously.

2)Tiny particles can simultaneously take on states that we would normally deem mutually exclusive.

3)Tiny particles can be in several places at once.

4)Tiny particles can be in superposition.

5)Things don’t have to be as clear-cut as we’d expect.

6)Electrical circuits can either be closed or open.

7)However clever an algorithm might appear, all it ever does is manipulate strings of bits.

Task 7. Translate the sentences with the Infinitives and Participles paying attention to their functions.

1)To get to grips with quantum computing, first remember that an ordinary computer works on 0s and 1s.

2)The art of quantum computing is to find ways of gaining information.

3)All it (an algorithm) ever does is manipulate strings of bits.

4)Whatever Task you want it to perform, the underlying process is always the same.

5)Combined with the promise of computational power it becomes irresistible.

6)Rather than representing bits – such particles would represent qubits.

7)This dichotomy is represented using electrical circuits.

Task 8. Read the second paragraph of the text “Quantum Computing” (Task 3) and translate it giving proper equivalents for the following phrases:

To get to grips with …; Whatever Task you want it to perform …; a string of 0s and 1s; However clever an algorithm might appear …; all it ever does is …; either/or dichotomy; electrical circuits which can either be closed, … or open.

Task 9. Read the third paragraph of the text “Quantum Computing” (Task 3) again and explain what “superposition” is. You can do it in English or in Russian.

Task 10. Imagine that you have written a research paper on quantum computing. Using the corrected letter from Task 4 (Part 2, Text B) as a model, write a cover letter to a journal to accompany the manuscript submission of the research paper.

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Text B. Quantum cryptography

We are counting on engineers and their imaginations to help us meet the needs of the 21st century.

NAE. 2008. Changing the Conversation

Task 1. Answer the following questions:

•It is difficult to imagine the modern world without some technical inventions. Could you tell what these inventions are?

•What are the needs of the nearest future that engineers could satisfy?

Task 2. Match the words (1–12) with their pronunciation (a–l).

Task 3. Read the text and make up a thorough plan so that your partner could describe the main idea of the text.

Quantum cryptography

Exchanging messages with almost complete security by exploiting the strange laws of quantum mechanics should in future be possible on a global scale. That is the conclusion of physicists in Italy, who have found that the delicate states needed for quantum cryptography can be transmitted via laser beam from an orbiting satellite to a receiver on the surface of the Earth. The researchers say that the relatively simple technology needed for such encryption could be incorporated into conventional communications satellites.

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Quantum cryptography involves two parties sharing a secret key that is created using the states of quantum particles such as photons. The communicating parties can then exchange messages by conventional means, in principle with complete security, by encrypting them using the secret key. Any eavesdropper trying to intercept the key automatically reveals their presence by destroying the quantum states.

Such cryptographic systems are produced commercially, but they use fibreoptic cables. Losses in the cables limit the distance over which quantum keys can be sent to about 100 km, and that distance cannot be increased using repeaters, as is the case with classical data, because it is impossible to carry out the necessary amplification. Alternatively, quantum bits, or qubits, can be transmitted through the atmosphere, but this approach has a similar distance limit imposed by the curvature of the Earth.

This is where satellites could help. A single satellite, for example, could be used to send quantum data to two people on the Earth’s surface to enable those people to share a secret key. To date, however, no device capable of generating or detecting quantum states – such as single photons – has been placed in orbit.

Paolo Villoresi of the University of Padua and colleagues have taken a creative approach to this problem by using the Matera Laser Ranging Observatory in southern Italy. This facility usually directs laser pulses at passing satellites and then measures the reflected pulses in order to measure tiny variations in the Earth’s gravitational field. In 2008, Villoresi’s team worked with a group of physicists at the University of Vienna to bounce very weak laser pulses from a satellite and then show that less than one photon per pulse could be detected on the ground.

Scientists in China have already developed a satellite that will generate quantum keys, and plan to launch it next year. This mission will create entangled pairs of photons in space and then send the two halves of each pair simultaneously to two communicating parties on the ground. The retroreflector-based scheme, on the other hand, involves transmitting the key to each user separately. According to Villoresi, the latter approach will be much cheaper and easier to implement and, he says, could “piggyback” on satellites due to be launched anyway.

The research will be described in Physical Review Letters and a preprint of the paper is available on arXiv.

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Task 4. Match the words (1–12) with their definitions (a–l).

6)to intercept f) to send a weapon or spacecraft into the sky or into space

7)to piggyback g) to hit a surface and then move quickly away from it

8)to carry out h) a machine that has been sent into space and used for

electronic communication

10)to date (n) j) to include or affect someone or something

11)curvature (n) k) to deliberately listen secretly to other people’s

Task 6. Translate the nouns in the attribute function.

•the machine level;

•quantum mechanics;

•a quantum computer;

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•quantum cryptography;

•quantum particles;

•the secret key;

•very weak laser pulses;

•conventional communications satellites;

•a similar distance level;

•the retroreflector-based scheme.

Task 7. Translate the sentences with the Infinitives Passive.

1)The delicate states needed for quantum cryptography can be transmitted via laser beam from an orbiting satellite to a receiver on the Earth.

2)The relatively simple technology needed for such encryption could be incorporated into conventional communications satellites.

3)Losses in the cables limit the distance over which quantum keys can be sent to about 100 km.

4)That distance cannot be increased using repeaters.

5)Alternatively, quantum bits can be transmitted through the atmosphere.

6)A single satellite could be used to send quantum data.

7)Less than one photon per pulse could be detected on the ground.

8)The latter approach could “piggyback” on satellites due to be launched anyway.

9)The research will be described in Physical Review Letters.

10)The satellite could have been placed in orbit.

Task 8. Translate the sentences with the Participles and Gerunds paying attention to their functions.

1)Exchanging messages with almost complete security by exploiting the strange laws of quantum mechanics should in future be possible on a global scale.

2)Quantum cryptography involves two parties sharing a secret key.

3)The secret key is created using the states of quantum particles.

4)The communicating parties can then exchange messages by encrypting them using the secret key.

5)Any eavesdropper trying to intercept the key automatically reveals their presence by destroying the quantum states.

6)This approach has a limit imposed by the curvature of the Earth.

7)To date, however, there is no device capable of generating or detecting quantum states.

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