THE UNITED KINGDOM (GREAT BRITAIN)

If we are looking at the map of Europe we can see two large islands – Great Britain and Ireland. The land located on the British Isles we call simply –England. England is really the name of one of three main districts of Britain: England, Scotland and Wales. Besides there is a northern part of Ireland, which belongs to the British monarchy too and why is the official name of the state reads – The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Great Britain is an old European country with its very famous history and culture. The British Isles is one of the most densely populated regions of the world. The population counts about 70 millions. Some parts of the country are really beautiful. There are many hills, rivers, lakes, beauty beaches on the see-side. The coast-line is very jagged; therefore the communication by boat was very common since the old times. Because of short distances air travel might seem unsuited to the situation in Britain, but connections between London and Scotland and particularly with Northern Ireland are very handy. A network of trains and buses links the capital with remote towns and villages. In the West lies Wales with its mountains and coalfields. Here was a big mining district in Great Britain. But now the most mines are closed and thousands of people had to find other job. Great Britain remains however a big industrial country. Sheffield is a centre of the steel industry and in Manchester there are many textile factories. Woolen goods of Shetland Isles- Isles in the North Sea are well-known all over the world. The fame of university education represents Oxford and Cambridge.

The political system of Great Britain is the constitutional monarchy, a king ( now it is the queen Elizabeth II ) has traditionally little power and can reign only with the support of Parliament. Parliament consists of two chambers known as the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Members of the House of Common (Lower Chamber) are elected by the people. The membership in the House of Lords is hereditary. A big role in the society plays political parties, which choose candidates in elections. The two major political parties are the Conservative Party and the Labor Party. The party which wins the majority of seats in Parliament forms the government and its leader usually becomes Prime Minister.

One of the country’s peculiarities is that it has the world’s largest town – London with its more than 12 million inhabitants. London, the capital of Great Britain is situated on the banks of the river Thames and is very famous with its buildings, parks and squares. Every visitor of London will see the building of the Tower, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and many other sightseeing.

 

Задание 70. Прочтите и переведите вышеприведенный текст, обращая внимание на необходимые слова и выражения:

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – Соединенное Королевство Великобритании и Северной Ирландии

dense – плотный, густонаселенный density - плотность

jagged coast-line - изрезанная прибрежная полоса job - работа

unsuited, unsuitable - не подходящий, непригодный mine - шахта

handy - удобный hereditary - наследственный

to link - соединять remote - отдаленный

coalfields - залежи угля fame - известность, слава

mining district - район горных разработок

woollen goods - шерстяные изделия Shetland Isles - Шетландские острова

House of Common - Палата Общин, House of Lords - Палата Лордов

peculiarity - особенность sightseeing - достопримечательность

 

Задание 71. Переведите, обращая внимание на модальные глаголы и модальные конструкции:

1. In London we must see the East End too. 2. We can look eastwards from Waterloo Bridge. 3. I have to do this work. 4. The East End is the place where you may meet thousands of foreigners. 5. I can’t find the correct way. 6. Something should be done. 7. We must walk home as it is too late. 8. I shall have to regulate my watch. 9. You may not swim in the Thames.

 

Задание 72. Перескажите текст The United Kingdom по - английски.

 

THREE GREAT MICROBIOLOGISTS

Louis Pasteur

The scientific contribution of Louis Pasteur, French microbiologist is among the most valuable in the history of science. He was born 1822 at a small village in eastern France. His father and grandfather were tanners and yet as a boy he got knowledge in chemical treating of hides. One day he saw a rabid dog to run through the village and to bite a neighboring peasant. In spite of burning the wound in the near smithy the peasant died in some days. Young Louis was very impressed by this event and he swore to make everything to battle the disease.

After finishing the primary school Pasteur was admitted to the famous Ecole Superieure in Paris. Having graduated this higher school he taught chemistry and physics at different schools and began his scientific research on fermentation and development of bacteria. He determined that fermentation was the result of the activity of minute organisms. Pasteur showed that milk or beer could be soured by invading a number of such organisms. Besides he was dealing with medical problems, his interest turned to the structure of blood and blood transfusion. He suggested as a first the group classification of human blood and tried to precede it for transfusion to wounded soldiers on the front during the French-Prussian war 1870. Due to scoundrel deeds of his enemies it failed. Pasteur had to escape to Britain where he continued the works on beer. Following an investigation conducted both in France and by brewers in London he devised a procedure for manufacturing beer that would prevent its deterioration with time. British exporters were able to send beer even as far as India without fear of its deteriorating.

Having returned to France Pasteur perfected a technique for reducing the virulence of various disease-producing microorganisms. He had observed that if animals stricken with certain diseases had recovered, they became later immune to a new attack. Thus by isolating the germ of the disease and by cultivating its weakened form to be later inoculated, he could immunize animals against maladies. He succeeded in vaccination a herd of sheep against anthrax. Likewise he was able to protect fowl from chicken cholera. By further work he could obtain a weakened form of the virus that could be used for inoculation. Having detected the rabies virus by the effect on the nervous system, he applied this procedure to man. 1885 he saved the life of a boy who had been bitten by a rabid dog.

That was Pasteur¢ s victory over rabies, an outstanding success. Pasteur was awarded many decorations, and he became a head of the special Research Institute named after him. And now he is regarded as one of the greatest personalities in France.

Задание 73. Расскажите о достижениях Луи Пастера, ответьте на вопросы: 1. Why are bacteria dangerous for people? 2. What dangerous disease could overcome Louis Pasteur? 3. What is the principal content of vaccination? 4. What is the meaning of the term “pasteurization”?

Robert Koch

Robert Koch was a prominent German bacteriologist, the founder of modern microbiology. He was born in 1843. As a boy he was interested in small insects and animals and collected them in his room. He observed details through the magnifying glass, because he wanted to know everything about the inner structure of animal¢ s body. Once as he tried to cut a rat on the dining table a big quarrel arose between him, his brother and parents. Only his uncle supported Robert¢ s occupations. He helped him to become a medical student of the famous Gottingen University. When Koch became a doctor he carried on many experiments on mice in his laboratory. In 1882 Koch discovered tuberculosis bacilli. In his report made in the Berlin Physiological Society Koch described in detail the morphology of tuberculosis bacilli and the ways to reveal them. Due to his discovery Koch became known all over the world. In 1883 he went to Egypt to study cholera. At that time there was a wide-spread epidemic of this terrible plague. Nobody knew the origin of this disease; there were not any protective measures against it. The disease spread very rapidly from one place to anoth­er and thousands of people died. But sometimes some people who were in a constant contact with the dis­eased person did not catch cholera. As soon as Koch began his investigations he found in blood, kidneys, spleen, liver and lungs of the people who died of cholera many microorganisms but all of them were not the agents of cholera. However in the walls of the intestines and in stools Koch always found an organism which looked like a comma. Many times Koch tried to grow this bacterium on gelatin but he failed to do it. Many times he inoculated this bacterium to the experimental animals, but none became ill. As the epidemic of cholera became less in Egypt, Koch went to India to continue his investigations there. In Calcutta Koch often walked along its muddy streets, where the poor people lived. Once Koch saw some muddy water on the ground near a small house. He looked into that water and thought there may be different bacteria to be analyzed. He did it under the microscope and found there the same “commas” which he had observed many times before. In 1884 Koch published his book on cholera. From the intestines of the affected men Koch isolated a small comma-shaped bacterium. He proved that these bacteria spread through drinking water. Later Koch experimented with other infectious agents and could isolate germs of such dangerous epidemic like anthrax. In 1905 Koch got the Nobel Prize for his important scientific discoveries.

Задание 74. Расскажите о работах Роберта Коха. Ответьте на вопросы: 1. Which bacteria were investigated by Koch and named after him? 2. What does occur when bacteria invade the human organism? 3. Which dangerous epidemic followed Koch in Egypt and India? 4. Is cholera possible in animals?

 

Alexander Fleming

Alexander Fleming was born in 1881 on a farm in Scotland. Since his childhood he liked animals and watched their life. He decided to become a doctor and passed on top all the exams to be a medical student in London. Then he continued the research work at one of the London hospitals and became inter­ested in bacterial action and antibacterial drugs. During the World War 1 he served as a military doctor in France and saw numerous terrible infected wounds of soldiers that could not be treated. In1918 Fleming was demobilized and returned to his work in St. Mary Hospital. One day Fleming's assistant brought him a plate on which a colony of dangerous bacteria were being grown." This plate cannot be used for the experiment, " - said the assistant.- ''Some mould has formed on it and I'll have to take another plate." Fleming was ready to allow his assistant to do so. Then he looked at the plate and saw that the bacteria around a mould had disap­peared. Fleming understood the importance of what had happened andimmediately began to study thephenomenon. He placed some mould on other plates and grew more colonies. By means of numerous experiments on animals he determined that this new substance was not toxic to the tissues and stopped the growth of the most common pathogenic bacteria.

Fleming called this substance penicillin. It is of the same family of moulds that often appear on dry bread. Many investigations had been carried out before a method of extracting pure penicillin was found.

In 1942 Flemings tried his own first experiment using penicillin for an injured friend. After several injections the man was cured. It marked the beginning of penicillin treatment. But it was very difficult for Fleming to awake interest biologists and experts to his new remedy and to decide the problem of its production. Fortunately one American company understood the great importance of this invention and USA Government offered some million dollars for penicillin production. This saved thousand of lives even in the last period of war.

For his great discovery Fleming received 1955 the Nobel Prize. In his Nobel speech he said: " Everywhere I go people thank me for saving their lives. I do not know why they do it. I didn't do anything. Nature makes penicillin. I only found it."

Задание75. Расскажите об А.Флеминге. Скажите, какими качествами должен обладать ученый.

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