Unit 1 the language of science

1. Study the list of topical vocabulary to avoid the difficulties in understanding the text of this unit. Consult a dictionary to pronounce the words correctly.

Achievement _n – достижение

application _n – применение, употребление

borrow _v – заимствовать

carry out – выполнять

cause – 1) причина

2) вызывать, обусловливать, причинять

examine _v – рассматривать, изучать

feature _n – особенность, черта

field _n – раздел, сфера, область

foreign language – иностранный язык

investigation _n – исследование

precise _adj – точный

purpose _n – цель, назначение

research _n – исследование, исследовательская работа

science _n – наука

seek to do smth _v – стремиться

sentence _n – предложение

term _n – термин

trend _n – направление, тенденция

vocabulary _n – словарь, запас слов

word formation – словообразование

II. Translate the following words and word combinations into Russian. Try to memorize them. Make up sentences using these words.

Nowadays, besides, thus, instead, therefore, for this reason, generally, ordinary, as a rule, semi-scientific, firstly, the same, extremely, at present, also, common, altogether.

III. Read and translate the text, say what its main points are.

SCIENTIFIC ENGLISH

The great technical and scientific achievements of our age have made very many people learn foreign languages. Nowadays many modern scientists present the results of their investigations in the English language: in that way their discoveries are examined by the scientific public¹. Students who study economic sciences often have necessity to read various materials written in a foreign language. Thus, scientific English is becoming more popular and widespread than ever before.

When examining the relation between everyday and scientific English it is necessary to take into consideration² vocabulary, grammar and style. If you want to understand scientific English you should have the detailed knowledge of ordinary everyday sentences with their grammatical constructions, vocabulary and rules of word formation.

Everyday English is mostly about people, their activities and feelings. When speaking we normally use short sentences. In an ordinary conversation we usually use the active form. To make ourselves clearer we often repeat some phrases, use gestures or change the tone of our voice. So, it is possible to say that ordinary everyday English is quite personal.

Generally, scientific language depends to a large extent on³ writing. That is why scientific English has many specific features. Scientific writing is usually about things, matter, phenomena, natural processes etc. Scientists use precise words in their statements.

At the same time any scientist should have an impersonal attitude towards the subject of his research – keep himself, his feelings and personality out of his work. He regards himself as an observer only. He records what exists or what happens, as if he was absent. For this reason passive form is commonly used in scientific writing and speech: “This was done” or “That was taken”, but not “I did it” or “I took it”. Indeed, you will hardly find a sentence beginning with “I”. Instead, you have the impersonal pronoun “it”: “it is suggested”, “it can be stated”, “it is expected”, “it is evident” etc. So, in scientific English the process the writer describes sounds mechanical, unchanging and inhuman.

The scientist seldom deals with isolated facts or events. As a rule, there are a lot of connected facts to be described, and the scientist shows what the connection is. The scientist is interested in the causes of different phenomena, so he usually uses in sentences: by, by means of, due to, thanks to, because of, by virtue of, owing to etc. So, simple sentences are not so often used in scientific English.

The problem of scientific vocabulary in English also causes many difficulties. One can not discuss a research or read an article about new investigations without knowing specific scientific vocabulary. Trying to define phenomena accurately, scientists have been making up special words and terms for hundreds of years. Scientific terms often mean complicated phenomena and processes. At present a very great number of terms are created as new fields of science and new discoveries are made all over the world.

Each branch of science has its special vocabulary. Many terms in economics are more or less similar in several languages. This is usually because the words have been taken from the English language. Some of them have been built up from Greek and Latin roots. So, more than half of the vocabulary in scientific English are international words. If you know economics well, you will recognize many of the terms when you read them in English. The difficulty is to pronounce them correctly. Examples are: management, devaluation, inflation etc.

Another group of scientific words are the semi-scientific ones. Sometimes they cause great difficulty to a Russian student. Such words as factor, moment, movement, power, stress, term, work etc. are semi-scientific words for two reasons. Firstly, because a large number of them are not made specially for a definite scientific purpose, but have simply been borrowed from everyday English. They are very familiar in everyday life, but when they are used in a scientific context, they may have a different meaning. The word power, for example, is very common in ordinary speech, but it has a very specific meaning in mathematics, and another special meaning in economics. The second reason why they are called semi-scientific is that they are often more general in their application. Many of them are extremely useful and universal in the description of any research.

The main tendencies in science and scientific language are caused by the close interrelation of different scientific fields: economics and mathematics, economics and ecology, economics and psychology etc. But at present great work is being carried out to reduce the number of terms and to make them more precise.