Английский язык для магистрантов. Введение в научно-исследовательскую деятельность. English for Master Students. Introduction to Research

Министерство науки и высшего образования Российской Федерации 

НОВОСИБИРСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ТЕХНИЧЕСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
 
 
 
С.В. НИКРОШКИНА, Ю.В. РИДНАЯ 
 
 
АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК 
ДЛЯ МАГИСТРАНТОВ 

ВВЕДЕНИЕ  
В НАУЧНО-ИССЛЕДОВАТЕЛЬСКУЮ  
ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТЬ 
 
ENGLISH 
FOR MASTER STUDENTS 

INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH 
 
Утверждено Редакционно-издательским советом университета 
в качестве учебного пособия 
 
 
 
 
НОВОСИБИРСК 
2020 

ББК 81.432.1-923 
Н 647 
Рецензенты: 
канд. филол. наук, доцент А.А Гетман 
канд. филол. наук, доцент А.А. Хвостенко 
 
Работа выполнена на кафедре иностранных языков ТФ НГТУ 
 
Никрошкина С.В. 
Н 647  
Английский язык для магистрантов. Введение в научно-исследовательскую деятельность. English for Master Students. Introduction to Research: учебное пособие / С.В. Никрошкина, Ю.В. Ридная. – Новосибирск: Изд-во НГТУ, 2020. – 72 с. 
ISBN 978-5-7782-4315-6 
Данное учебное пособие предназначено для магистрантов технических 
направлений. Пособие направлено на развитие умений в чтении, письме, говорении и восприятии иноязычной речи на слух, а также навыков аннотирования и реферирования на материале научных текстов. В рамках учебного пособия рассматриваются темы «История науки», «Область исследования», 
«Программы магистратуры в НГТУ и за рубежом», «Научная литература»  
и др. В зависимости от поставленной задачи данное пособие может быть использовано для контактной работы с обучающимися и во время самостоятельной работы магистрантов. 
ББК 81.432.1-923 

Никрошкина Софья Васильевна 
Ридная Юлия Викторовна 
 
АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК ДЛЯ МАГИСТРАНТОВ 

ВВЕДЕНИЕ В НАУЧНО-ИССЛЕДОВАТЕЛЬСКУЮ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТЬ 
 
ENGLISH FOR MASTER STUDENTS  

INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH 
 
Учебное пособие 
 
Выпускающий редактор И.П. Брованова 
Дизайн обложки А.В. Ладыжская 
Компьютерная верстка С.И. Ткачева 
Налоговая льгота – Общероссийский классификатор продукции 
Издание соответствует коду 95 3000 ОК 005-93 (ОКП) 

Подписано в печать 21.12.2020. Формат 60  84 1/16. Бумага офсетная. Тираж 50 экз.  
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Отпечатано в типографии 
Новосибирского государственного технического университета 
630073, г. Новосибирск, пр. К. Маркса, 20 
 
ISBN 978-5-7782-4315-6 
© Никрошкина С.В.,  
 
Ридная Ю.В., 2020 
 
© Новосибирский государственный 
 
технический университет, 2020 

Contents 
 
INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH 

Unit 1. HISTORY OF SCIENCE ............................................................................. 4 
Text 1. A Brief History of Science ...................................................................... 4 
Text 2. The Birth of Modern Physics .................................................................. 9 
Unit 2. MASTER OF SCIENCE PROGRAM ........................................................ 17 
Text 1. Master of Science Program at NSTU .................................................... 18 
Text 2. Master of Science in Information and Technology (MSIT)  
at California Lutheran University  ........................................................ 25 
Text 3. My Research Work ............................................................................... 32 
Unit 3. SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE ..................................................................... 39 
Text 2. Learning about Electronics ................................................................... 44 
Text 3. Generation of Electricity ....................................................................... 46 
Appendix I. Guidelines for Writing a Glossary ...................................................... 48 
Appendix II. Useful Language for Writing a Project Summary ............................. 49 
Appendix III. Scheme-Model of the English Scientific Article .............................. 50 
Appendix IV. Abstracting and Summarising. Theoretical Review ......................... 52 
Appendix V. Useful Language for Summarising .................................................... 62 
Appendix VI. Means of Connection ....................................................................... 65 
References ............................................................................................................... 67 
Audioscript ............................................................................................................. 68 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Unit 1 
HISTORY OF SCIENCE 
 
Text 1 

A Brief History of Science 

60-Second Listening 
Task 1.1 a) Answer the question: What is the role of science in modern 
society? 
b) Listen to the text about science. What is the role of science according 
to the text? 

Before you Read 
Task 1.2 Answer the questions: 
1. What is science? What is the purpose of science? 
2. Is science a good or a bad thing? 
3. How has science changed society? What new inventions could you 
not live without?  

Vocabulary 
1. prediction 
предсказание 
2. inquisitive 
любознательный 
3.observation 
наблюдение 
4. Universe 
вселенная 
5. extraction 
добыча, извлечение 
6. to treat a disease 
лечить болезнь 
7. to concentrate on 
концентрироваться на чем-либо 
8. to suggest 
предлагать 
9. matter 
вещество 
10. gunpowder 
порох 

Task 1.3 Read the words and word combinations and guess their meaning 

prehistoric times 
chemical process 
seasonal changes 
metallurgists 
position of the sun 
herbal medicines 
centre of the Universe 
pharmaceutical companies 
astronomy 
synthetic 
 
Task 1.4 Read the text and make notes on the main stages of science development. 
Humankind has always been inquisitive, needing to understand why 
things behave in a certain way, and trying to link observation with prediction. For example, since prehistoric times we have observed the heavens and 
tried to make sense of the seasonal changes in the position of the sun, moon 
and stars. 
In about 4000 BC, the Mesopotamians tried to explain their observations by suggesting that the Earth was at the centre of the Universe, and that 
the other heavenly bodies moved around it. Humans have always been interested in the nature and origins of this Universe. 

Metallurgy 
But they weren’t only interested in astronomy. The extraction of iron, 
which led to the Iron Age, is a chemical process which early metallurgists 
developed without understanding any of the science involved. Nevertheless, 
they were still eager to optimise the extraction by trial and error. 
Before this, copper and tin were extracted (which led to the Bronze 
Age) and later, zinc. Exactly how each of these processes was discovered is 
lost in the mists of time, but it is likely that they were developed using observation and experiment in a similar way to that used by today’s scientists. 

Medicine  
Early humankind also observed that certain plants could be used to treat 
sickness and disease, and herbal medicines were developed, some of which 
are still used by modern pharmaceutical companies to provide leads for new 
synthetic drugs. 

The Greeks  
The first people to try and develop the theory behind their observations 
were the Greeks: people such as Pythagoras, who concentrated on a mathe

matical view of the world. Similarly, Aristotle and Plato developed logical 
methods for examining the world around them. 
It was the Greeks who first suggested that matter was made up of atoms - fundamental particles that could not be broken down further. But it 
wasn’t only the Greeks who moved science on. Science was also being developed in India, China, the Middle East and South America. Despite having their own cultural view of the world, they each independently developed 
materials such as gunpowder, soap and paper. 
However, it wasn’t until the 13th century that much of this scientific 
work was brought together in European universities, and that it started to 
look more like science as we know it today. 
Progress was relatively slow at first. For example, it took until the 16th 
century for Copernicus to revolutionise (literally) the way that we look at 
the Universe, and for Harvey to put forward his ideas on how blood circulated round the human body.  This slow progress was sometimes the result 
of religious dogma, but it was also a product of troubled times! 

The birth of modern science 
It was in the 17th century that modern science was really born, and the 
world began to be examined more closely, using instruments such as the 
telescope, microscope, clock and barometer. It was also at this time that scientific laws started to be put forward for such phenomena as gravity and the 
way that the volume, pressure and temperature of a gas are related. 
In the 18th century much of basic biology and chemistry was developed 
as part of the Age of Enlightenment. 
The 19th century saw some of the great names of science: people like 
the chemist John Dalton, who developed the atomic theory of matter, Michael Faraday and James Maxwell who both put forward theories concerning electricity and magnetism, and Charles Darwin, who proposed the controversial theory of evolution. Each of these developments forced scientists radically to re-examine their views of the way in which the world 
worked. 

Developing Academic Vocabulary 
Task 1.5 For each word below, read the sentence it occurs in the text 
above and answer the questions: 

observation     universe     extraction     suggest     inquisitive 

а) Is the word positive, negative or neutral?; 

b) Is it a noun, adjective, adverb or verb?; 
c) Can you think of a word with a similar meaning (synonym) and one 
with an opposite meaning (antonym)? 

Reading Comprehension 
Task 1.6 Read the text again and answer the questions. 
1. Which ways of studying the world in prehistoric times does the  text 
describe?  
2. Who suggested that the Earth was the centre of the Universe? 
3. Which factor led to the Iron Age?  
4. How did the people cope with the task of extracting iron?  
5. Extracting of which metals led to the Bronze Age? 
6. What early knowledge of humankind does contemporary medicine 
imply?  
7. What did the Greeks concentrate on?  
8. When did science start to shape as it is today?  
9. What kinds of inventions did China, the Middle East and America 
give to the world?  
10. When was modern science born? 
11. What was developed as part of the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th 
century? 
12. What great scientists of the 19th century are mentioned in the text? 
What contribution to science did each of them make? 
 
Task 1.7 Complete the sentences 
1. Humankind has always been ... . 
2. Since prehistoric times people observed …. 
3. The Mesopotamians tried to … . 
4. We do not know much about the process of discovery of …, but … . 
5. Some of herbal medicines developed by early humans are … . 
6. The Greeks tried to develop … . 
7. They also suggested that … . 
8. However, it was not until the 13th century … . 
9. In the 16th century Copernicus revolutionised … . 
10. The slow process was the result of … . 
11. In the 17th century the world began to be examined more closely, 
using … . 
12. In the 18th century much of …. 

13. The 19th century saw some of the great … . 
14. Each of these developments forced scientists to … . 
 
Task 1.8 Give the English equivalents of the following words and word 
combinations 
1. вести себя определенным образом 
2. проявлять любознательность 
3. наблюдать за небесными светилами 
4. делать попытку объяснить наблюдения 
5. природа и происхождение вселенной 
6. оптимизировать процесс добычи полезных ископаемых 
7. путем проб и ошибок 
8. новые синтетические лекарственные средства 
9. методы изучения мира 
10. иметь собственный культурный взгляд на мир 
11. выдвигать идею  
12. Эпоха Просвещения 
13. предложить теорию 
14. заставить пересмотреть свою точку зрения 
 
Task 1.9 Translate into English 
1. С древнейших времен человечество проявляло любознательность 
в отношении явлений окружающего мира и осуществляли наблюдение 
за небом. 
2. Люди осознавали, что небесные светила ведут себя определенным образом и полагали, что наша планета является центром вселенной. 
3. Несмотря на то, что процесс добычи полезных ископаемых происходил без использования каких-либо научных данных, людям удалось усовершенствовать и оптимизировать его. 
4. Древние знания о свойствах растений используются в современной фармакологической промышленности для производства лекарственных средств. 
5. Греки были сконцентрированы на математическом взгляде на 
мир и развивали различные методы исследования  
6. Они также предположили, что вещество состоит из атомов. 
7. Прогресс в науке достигался долго в результате главенствования 
религиозных догм. 
 

Grammar Focus 

Relative pronouns who/that and which/that 
Relative pronouns are often used to link two pieces of information in 
one sentence. 
We use who and that to link information about people: 
The 19th century saw some of the great names of science: people like 
the chemist John Dalton, who developed the atomic theory of matter. 
We use which and that to link information about things: 
It took until the 16th century for Copernicus to revolutionise (literally) 
the way that we look at the Universe 

Task 1.10 Find sentences with relative pronouns in the text above. Explain the choice of who/that or which/that. 

Task 1.11 Complete the sentences with who/that or which/that. 
1. Mesopotamia is an ancient historical region in West Asia _______ 
was located in the heart of the Tigris-Euphrates river system. 
2. The Iron Age was a period in human history _______ started between 
1200 B.C. and 600 B.C. 
3. Aristotle and Plato were the Greeks _______ developed logical methods for examining the world. 
4. The 17th century saw many instruments ______were used to examine 
the world more closely. 
5. Basic biology and chemistry were the sciences ______ were developed as part of the Age of Enlightenment. 
6. It was John Dalton _______ developed the atomic theory of matter. 

Speaking 
Task 1.12 Speak about the history of science. Use questions in Task 1.6 
as a plan. 
 
Text 2  

The Birth of Modern Physics 

60-Second Listening 
Task 2.1 a) Answer the question: What is Physics for you? 
b) Listen to the text about physics. What contribution did physicists 
make to science according to the text? 

Before you Read 
Task 2.2 Answer the questions: 
1. What is physics as a science? What does it deal with? 
2. Can you enumerate any physical theories? 
3. What physical phenomena do you know? 

Vocabulary 
1. boundary 
2. to revive 
граница 
возрождать 
3. to validate 
подтвердить, обосновать 
4. comprehensive 
всеобъемлющий
5. equation 
уравнение 
6. to recede 
отступать, удаляться 
7. nuclear fission 
атомное деление, ядерный распад
8. to recruite  
нанимать, привлекать 
9. beta decay 
бе́та-распа́д (β-распад) 
10. to disprove 
опровергнуть
11. parity 
паритет, равенство,  
12. iconoclastic 
иконоборческий, направленный против 
предрассудков
 
Task 2.3 Read the words and word combinations and guess their meaning 

scientific revolution 
fundamental force of gravity 
solar system 
unification 
model of planetary motion
phenomenon 
elliptical orbits 
anomalous 
universal gravitation
atomic bomb
 
Task 2.4 Read the text and complete the table below 

Period of time
(century, year)
Scientist 
Contribution to science 

 
 
 
 

 
The scientific revolution is a convenient boundary between ancient 
thought and classical physics. Nicolaus Copernicus revived the heliocentric 

model of the solar system described by Aristarchus of Samos. This was followed by the first known model of planetary motion given by Johannes 
Kepler in the early 17th century, which proposed that the planets follow  
elliptical orbits, with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse. Galileo (“Father of 
Modern Physics”) also made use of experiments to validate physical theories, a key element of the scientific method. William Gilbert did some of the 
earliest experiments with electricity and magnetism, establishing that the 
Earth itself is magnetic.  
In 1687, Isaac Newton published the Principia Mathematica, detailing 
two comprehensive and successful physical theories: Newton’s laws of motion, which led to classical mechanics; and Newton’s law of universal gravitation, which describes the fundamental force of gravity.  
During the late 18th and early 19th century, the behavior of electricity 
and magnetism was studied by Luigi Galvani, Giovanni Aldini, Alessandro 
Volta, Michael Faraday, Georg Ohm, and others. These studies led to the 
unification of the two phenomena into a single theory of electromagnetism, 
by James Clerk Maxwell (known as Maxwell’s equations).  
The beginning of the 20th century brought the start of a revolution in 
physics. The long-held theories of Newton were shown not to be correct in 
all circumstances. Beginning in 1900, Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Niels 
Bohr and others developed quantum theories to explain various anomalous 
experimental results, by introducing discrete energy levels. Not only did 
quantum mechanics show that the laws of motion did not hold on small 
scales, but the theory of general relativity, proposed by Einstein in 1915, 
showed that the fixed background of spacetime, on which both Newtonian 
mechanics and special relativity depended, could not exist. In 1925, Werner 
Heisenberg and Erwin Schrödinger formulated quantum mechanics, which 
explained the preceding quantum theories. The observation by Edwin Hubble in 1929 that the speed at which galaxies recede positively correlates with 
their distance, led to the understanding that the universe is expanding, and 
the formulation of the Big Bang theory by Georges Lemaître.  
In 1938 Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann discovered nuclear fission with 
radiochemical methods, and in 1939 Lise Meitner and Otto Robert Frisch 
wrote the first theoretical interpretation of the fission process, which was 
later improved by Niels Bohr and John A. Wheeler. Further developments 
took place during World War II, which led to the practical application of 
radar and the development and use of the atomic bomb. Around this time, 
Chien-Shiung Wu was recruited by the Manhattan Project to help develop a 
process for separating uranium metal into U-235 and U-238 isotopes by