Speaking or discussion exercises
Exercise 1. Discuss the following topics:
1. What will happen if the environment is full of great number of nanomaterial from computer chips to plane paint? What if nanomaterial cause allergy?
2. What is different about the nanomaterial from the substance in its bigger form?
3. When Michal Faraday created suspensoid of gold consisting of tiny metal particles, he saw that its color turned into violed. The significance of this opening is very important for nanotechnology. What if the materials considered to be safe in their conventional form are dangerous when they are used in form of nano particles? Theoretically they can appear more active from chemical point of view.
4. What are the implications if it comes into contact with the human body - does it go through the skin or can it be inhaled? How does it behave in the gut and what happens to the particle in the body.
5. What happens to it in the environment - could it cause damage through its use or its release during manufacture, disposal or recycling?
6. Are there safety issues for workers involved in making or researching nanomaterial and how do they need to be protected?
7. Have we got the right tests and tools to test the materials properly?
Exercise 2. Science fiction is a very popular trend in modern literature and cinematography. The theme of robotics is widely used.
1. Tell about the Technologies/Robots/Materials used in the movie you have just seen recently.
2. Speak on the principles of functioning and technical features of robots, technologies or material.
3. You can describe any favorite movie or one of the following: “I, Robot”, “Terminator”, “Artificial Intelligence: AI”, “Matrix”, “War of the Worlds”, “Avatar”, “Minority Report”, “Star Wars”, “Transformers”.
Exercise 3. Discuss with your group-mates the dangers of nanomaterials.
LESSON V
Pre-text exercise 1.These words you should know.
populous густонаселённый; многочисленный
to fulfill - выполнять, осуществлять expanding - расширяющийся
cost-effective – доходный, прибыльный
to punch – нажимать outlet – розетка affordable доступный по цене
Pre-text exercise 2.These notions you should learn by heart.
solar cell - солнечный элемент hydrogen – водород
Pre-text exercise 4.Check your memory; try to guess the meanings of the following words and expressions: unlimited energy, limitless supply, essential problem, technology-based society, storage possibilities, rare scenario, nano-style.
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READ AND TRANSLATE THE TEXT
Cheaper Energy!
The world is a populous place, and mankind has a tendency to use up energy on everything from heating our homes to driving to work. Just imagine if we had unlimited energy to fulfill the needs of people all over the world.
A limitless supply of energy is the most essential problem. The future of the expanding, technology-based society depends on its solving. The energy problem needs to be fixed, and soon — and nanotechnology may be the tool we can use to fix it. We can use nanotechnology to produce energy with more cost-effective solar cells, more efficient hydrogen production, better storage possibilities for hydrogen fuel cells, and more efficient batteries.
Let’s speak about the most familiar technology – solar cells. When light hits a solar cell, an electric current is generated. When you punch numbers into a calculator without inserting a battery or plugging it into the wall, you’re taking advantage of solar cells.
Today, people typically use solar cells in places where they can’t use standard electrical outlets — say, in sailboats or satellites.Some families in your city or town use solar cells to power their home’s heat or lights, but this is still a pretty rare scenario. That’s because it’s not yet affordable to “go solar” in any big way. It is so because a solar cell is made with semiconductor material, which presently requires expensive equipment and high temperatures. This expensive manufacturing process drives up the cost of the solar cell.
These nano-style solar cells use semiconducting nanotubes, nanowires, or nanoparticles embedded in a conductive plastic. These cells work just like the solar cells currently available — but they cost much less to manufacture.
How nanotechnology may improve our air and water supplies and help our struggling environment you will find out from the text of the next lesson.
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ANSWER THE QUESTIONS: 1. How do people use up energy? 2. What is the most essential problem? 3. What is solar cell? 4. How do we use it? 5. How does it function? 6. What are the advantages/disadvantages of nanotechnology used for
generating more power? 7. How could we change the world around us with the help of nanotechnology?
Grammar exercises
Exercise 1. Translate this abstract paying attention to the words in italics.
Among other things, Nanosys develops nanotechnology-enabled fuel cells used in portable electronics. These fuel cells could power laptop computers, cellphones, or cameras, for example. Nanosys is exploring ways for higher-energy density fuel cells to overcome the limitations of traditional batteries, making for longer energy life for portable electronics. It is also working with the United States government on nanotechnology enabled solar-cell development.
Exercise 2. Find two complex sentences and translate them.
1. The solar cells can be used in devices like laptops and cellphones. 2. Using nanotechnology we can explore a variety of alternate sources of energy, from solar cells to hydrogen fuel cells to nano-efficient batteries. 3. The solar cells that you can fit into a jacket in the near future will probably provide a small trickle of electricity, about enough to keep the battery for your cellphone charged. 4. Another application suggested by one of the nanotechnology companies involves installing solar cells between the glass panes of windows. 5. Solar cells for this application would probably have to be transparent. 6. Get this approach to work, and all the windows in a giant skyscraper could power every office in the building.7. This company that holds about 300 patents in nanotechnology doesn’t stop with energy products.
Exercise 3. Analyze the sentences and then translate them.
Konarka Technologies produces solar panels with a difference. Their light-activated “power plastic,” which contains titanium oxide nanoparticles coated with a dye, is cheaper to produce and more lightweight than solar panels. This material also uses more of the light spectrum than traditional solar cells, so it can store energy from any light source, not just the sun. But Konarka doesn’t stop at solar panels. They expect to use their “power plastic” in applications such as cases for cellphones and laptops and you will not have to plug them into the wall to recharge their batteries.
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Exercise 4. Translate the sentences paying attention to infinitive construction. Define function of infinitive.
1. One way to improve the performance of nonmetal-based energy storage devices would be to use composite electrode materials of conductive polymers, deposited as thin layers on a suitable large surface area substrate. 2. Fuel cells have gained a lot of attention because they provide a potential solution to our addiction to fossil fuels. 3. Modern fuel cells have the potential to revolutionize transportation. 4. Nanotechnologies provide the potential to enhance energy efficiency across all branches of industry and to economically leverage renewable energy production through new technological solutions and optimized production technologies. 5. Many research groups around the world are working hard on developing cheap, clean and efficient technologies to produce hydrogen from water, particularly using sunlight. 6. To become commercially viable, fuel cells have to overcome the barrier of high catalyst cost caused by the exclusive use of expensive platinum and platinum-based catalysts in the fuel-cell electrodes – the reason is that platinum is the most efficient electrocatalyst for accelerating chemical reactions in fuel cells. 7. A fuel cell works by catalysis, separating the component electrons and protons of the reactant fuel, and forcing the electrons to travel through a circuit, hence converting them to electrical power. 8. To deliver the desired amount of energy, the fuel cells can be combined in series and parallel circuits, where series yields higher voltage, and parallel allows a higher current to be supplied. 9. Methods to manage water in cells are being developed like electroosmotic pumps focusing on flow control. 10. The same temperature must be maintained throughout the cell in order to prevent destruction of the cell through thermal loading. 11. United Technologies Corporation's UTC Power subsidiary was the first company to manufacture and commercialize a large, stationary fuel cell system for use as a co-generation power plant in hospitals, universities and large office buildings. 12. Research is ongoing to use nanowires and other nanostructured materials with the hope to create cheaper and more efficient solar cells than are possible with conventional planar silicon solar cells.
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Exercise 5. Find complex/compound sentences in the previous exercise.
Vocabulary exercises
Exercise 1. Look through the text and speak about the following issues:
· the type of battery that is available and more common one nowadays
· the most powerful type of the today’s battery
· the best type of battery that can be designed with the help of nanotechnology
· the part of the battery that should be improved/advanced by nano (and why)
Using Nanotechnology to Energize Batteries
Of all batteries currently in use, the lithium-iontype stores the most electrical power for its weight. The bad news is that (for now, at least) you can only use this type of battery in things like watches and laptop computers. These are devices that do not have sudden demands for a lot of power, as do power tools. No surprise that researchers are using nanotechnology to improve lithium-ion batteries so they can be used in more devices.
When a battery runs your radio or other gadget, the reaction of chemicals in the battery transfers electrons to the anode— a piece of metal that makes up the negative terminal of the battery. Those electrons become the electric current that powers your gadget. One way to improve batteries is to make the anode out of material that lets you maximize its surface area.
If the anode has greater surface area, electrons come out of the battery faster; this means that a higher electric current — therefore more power — is available to run your gadget. If electrons can leave a battery faster, they can also go back in faster, trimming the time it takes to recharge the battery. Assume it takes an hour to recharge your battery-powered drill, and that you have to get a new battery after only 500 charges. Altair Nanotechnologies projects that you can recharge their nano-batteries in a few minutes, and the batteries will last for several thousand recharges.
Such developments should allow us to replace current batteries (not only lightweight lithium-ion batteries, but also more powerful batteries such as nickel-metal-hydride ones) with lighter-weight models that recharge faster.
For those of you who travel with laptops, you’ll be happy to hear that this should significantly reduce the amount of time your battery needs to recharge before you head off to that next (inevitable) meeting.
Exercise 2. Read the text and explain what the following figures mean: 90, ¼, 20, 5,100, ⅓, 10. Then decide which statements are True/False. Prove your answer.
Reduction Energy Consumption
It’s sad but true: Much of the energy produced in the world is wasted. Some researchers told about one third of the produced energy, and some recent investigations report about one forth. For example, a light bulb may produce light, but it also produces heat — which may be fine in winter but a total waste on a hot August day. Other processes take more energy than may be necessary to make them happen. Making gasoline, for example, requires applying heat to petroleum to cause a reaction.
Finding ways to save energy in these processes is important to reducing our energy consumption. The following sections highlight some of the more promising nano-paths researchers are taking in trying to keep energy consumption down.
Actually only about five or ten percent of the power from an electric current running through an incandescent light bulb generates light; about ninety percent is spent generating heat. Researchers are projecting that light bulbs made with quantum dots will turn almost one hundred percentof the power from electricity into light. With quantum dot bulbs, very little energy will be wasted as unneeded heat.
Given that about twenty percent of the electric power consumed in the world is used to generate light, adopting light bulbs based on quantum dots could cause significant reduction in overall energy consumption worldwide.
Decide which statements are True/False:
1. Current energy system has low-level efficiency.
2. Nanotecnology increases energy consumption.
3. Common lamps produce extra heat.
4. We need energy only for lighting.
5. Energy consumption can be reduced with the help of nanotechnology.
Exercise 3. Write an annotation to the text.
A hydrogen fuel celltakes oxygen and hydrogen and generates electricity and water. Hydrogen fuel cells could be a great power source because they don’t pollute the air. But current methods of producing hydrogen pollute the air. Another challenge with hydrogen fuel cells is the problem of hydrogen storage. If we could only store sufficient volumes of hydrogen in a tank in a car, for example, we could power cars more cleanly. Before we get to efficient production and use of hydrogen fuel cells, we have to solve these problems.
It’s a matter of density. If you have a supply of liquefied dinosaur remains handy (petroleum, to you), you’ll be glad to know that this material has a major advantage over many electric and mechanical storage systems. Petroleum, from which we also produce gasoline, has serious energy density— it generates a lot of power from a compact volume of material.
For example, the amount of energy stored in a gallon of gasoline is more than six times the amount of energy stored in most batteries. When designing a car, it’s a good idea to minimize the weight and volume of fuel required. That’s why car designers are hesitant to switch to electric cars: f tank of gas weighs only a fraction of the weight of the batteries you need to take a car the same distance. On top of that, you can fill up your car with gas in minutes; most batteries take hours to charge.
Hydrogen fuel cells pose one other major problem to nanotechnology researchers: After we’ve generated hydrogen, exactly how do we storeit? If hydrogen fuel cells are to be effective in automobiles, hydrogen storage systems should store 6 percent (by weight) of hydrogen compared to the weight of the storage tank. Researchers are attempting to develop lightweight, compact solid materials that do the same job as a storage tank. These materials would absorb hydrogen the way a sponge absorbs water, and hold it (without leaking) until you need it. Theoretically, these materials could be refilled with hydrogen in a reasonable amount of time (perhaps about ten minutes) and be reused many times.
Exercise 4. Translate the sentences using the words of this lesson.
1. Нанотехнология сделает возможным использование солнечной энергии. 2.Сегодня основным источником энергии является сжигание углеродосодержащего топлива, которое является довольно неэффективным, не возобновляемым и «грязным» источником энергии. 3. Солнечная энергия может стать альтернативой в большинстве районов планеты, если производство и земля будут достаточно дешевы, а системы хранения энергии более эффективны. 4. Сегодня солнечные электрические генераторы используют для работы либо преобразователи на основе фотоэлементов, которые способны функционировать при облачности, или прямое концентрирование солнечных лучей, что не требует использования полупроводников. 5. Меньшие по размеру системы, созданные с применением нанотехнологии, могут быть изготовлены из алмазных пружин. 6. По энергоемкости такие системы сравнимы с химическими топливными элементами и намного опережают существующие сегодня батареи. 7. Транспортабельная, хранимая энергия может быть получена путем электролиза воды, но людям придется увеличить затраты на обеспечение безопасности хранения и транспортировки больших объемов водорода. 8. Масштаб реализации систем производства солнечной энергии может быть различен: от индивидуального до общенационального. 9. Энергия прямого солнечного света составляет приблизительно 1 киловатт (кВт) на квадратный метр, поделив это на 10 ,чтобы учесть ночное время, облачность и потери в системе, мы получим, что необходимо 100 квадратных метров поверхности солнечных батарей для удовлетворения потребностей в энергии одного человека (10 кВт на человека для США).11. Благодаря нанотехнологиям уже сделаны солнечные батареи, толщина которых не превышает толщины оберточной бумаги. 12. Эксперименты по переходу на экологически чистое водородное топливо в развитых странах проводятся уже сейчас.
Exercise 5. Get ready to discuss the topic “Nanotechnology for getting more energy”.
LESSON VI
Pre-text exercise 1.These words you should know.
challenge – проблема to get filthy - загрязняться
to burn – сжигать hydrocarbon – углеводород coal – уголь
to reduce – сокращать storage – хранилище
incremental - постепенно увеличивающийся
Pre-text exercise 2.These notions you should learn by heart.
solar cell – солнечный элемент air pollution – загрязнение воздуха
environment – окружающая среда
Pre-text exercise 3.Check your memory; try to guess the meanings of the following words and expressions: widespread use,hydrogen fuel cells, power plants, effective and cheap.
READ AND TRANSLATE THE TEXT
Enviroment with Nanotech!
One of the big challenges in producing energy is to do it in a way that keeps our planet from getting filthy. If nano-based solar cells succeed in producing electricity, it will be at a lower cost than power plants that burn hydrocarbons such as oil, natural gas, or coal. If our world reduces the use of such power plants as a result, we will greatly reduce associated air pollution. If we can make the production and storage of hydrogen effective and cheap, we may see widespread use of hydrogen fuel cells in cars, trucks, and ships, which will also help our planet stay cleaner.
We hope that, in the long term, nanotechnologists will succeed in these areas, but there are other, perhaps more incremental, ways that nanotechnology can help our environment today.
ANSWER THE QUESTIONS: 1. What is one of the big challenges in producing energy? 2. What if nano-based solar cells succeed in producing electricity? 3. What if we can make the production and storage of hydrogen effective and cheap? 4. How could we change our lives and the world aruond us with the help of nanotechnology? 5. Do you know about today’s nanoprojects in this sphere?
Grammar exercises
Exercise 1. Choose the right modal verb and translate.
1. With unlimited energy, we … (are allowed to, could, have to) effectively desalinate water from the oceans to irrigate crops, greatly expanding our food supply. 2. Nanotechnology … (will have to be, can, may be) the key that allows us to not only efficiently utilize our current resources, but also create additional sources of energy. 3. We … (had to, may, could) get beyond our dependence on a shrinking supply of fossil fuels, whose use can harm our environment.
Exercise 2. It’s interesting to know.
Don’t think that “clean” manufacturing industries are worry-free. These industries aren’t typically thought of as polluting the enviroment with waste materials or toxic emissions, for example, computer chip manufacturing. It turns out that many of these industries use organic chemicals in their manufacturing processes. Organic chemical vapors can themselves be harmful.
Exercise 3. Translate the sentences using the words of this lesson.
1. Вода, поступающая в жилые дома, может обрабатываться и очищаться. 2. Физические фильтры с нанометровыми порами способны удалить 100% бактерий, вирусов и даже преонов. 3. Перевод сельского хозяйства в теплицы даст возможность восстанавливать большую часть воды из воздуха.
4. Новые виды промышленности не будут производить отходов, отравляющих планету. 5. Нанороботы уничтожат последствия старых загрязнений.
Vocabulary exercises
Exercise 1.Look through the small texts and choose the title to each of them.
1. Keeping water crystal-clear with nanotechnology (верные).
2. Manufacturing the proper amount of carbon dioxide.
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