Little-known facts about well-known people

1. Was Einstein a capable or a backward ( умственно отсталый) child?

Albert Einstein is one of the greatest scientists of our age, yet in his childhood he was slow, shy and backward. He found it extremely difficult to learn even to talk.

2. What kind of life did Einstein lead?

Later he became one of the most famous men in the world. The Theory of Relativity brought him fame on five continents. Yet, he led a very simple sort of life, went around in old clothes, and seldom wore a hat. He said that he did not care for fame or riches. The captain of a transatlantic ship once offered Einstein the most expensive rooms on the ship, Einstein refused and said he would rather travel on deck than accept any special favours (привилегия).

3. What brought Einstein more joy than anything else?

Einstein impressed everybody as being a very happy man. He said he was happy because he didn’t want anything from anybody. He didn’t want money ot titles ot praise. He made his own happiness out of such simple things as his work, his violin and his boat. Einstein’s violin brought him more joy than anithing else in life. He said he often thought in music.

4. By what illustration did Einstein explain his Theory of Relativity?

Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, which seemed a flight of imagination (полёт воображения) to many at first, is now the cornerstone of modern physics. Many physical phenomena could never be explained without the Theory of Relativity.

Einstein said that three were only twelve people living who understood his Theory of Relativity, although more than nine hundred books had been written trying to explain it.

He himself explained relativity by this very simple illustration: “ When you sit with a nice girl for an hour, you think it is only a minute; but when you sit on a hot stove for a minute, you think it is an hour. Well, well – so that’s relativity. It sounds all right to me; but if you don’t believe me and would like to try it out (хотели бы проверить), I’ll be glad to sit with the girl if you’ll sit on the stove.”

5. What two rules of conduct did Einstein have?

Mrs. Einstein said that even she didn’t understand the Theory of Relativity; but she understood something that is more important for a wife; she understood her husband.

Mrs. Einstein said that her husband liked order in his thinking, but he didn’t like it in his living. He did whatever he wanted to, whenever he wanted to, he had only two rules of conduct (поведение). The first was: don’t have any rules whatever. And the second was: be independent of the opinions (мнение) of others.

Disscussion. Groupwork. “TV is doing more good than harm or more harm than good”

Task 1. In the 1930s television appeared in various countries of the world. In this country people have had the opportunity to watch regular TV shows since 1939. Nowadays there are a lot of debates about advantages and disadvantages of TV. Is TV doing more harm or good? Discuss the problem and give your reasons.

Vocabulary:

can – мочь lazy [leizi]– ленивый

enjoy [in′ d oi] – наслаждаться free time – свободное время

without [wi′ ðaut] – без prefer [pri′ fə:] – предпочитать

leave [′li:v] – оставлять, уходить responsible [ris′ ponsəbl] – ответственный

lonely [′lounli] – одинокий upbringing [′ pbriŋiŋ] – воспитание

watch [wot∫] – смотреть

a) *Read pros (for) and cons (against) given below. Think of some more which are important in your opinion.

TV is doing more good than harm	TV is doing more harm than good
1. We can be very well informed.   2. We can enjoy ourselves without leaving our homes.   3. We can study with the help of TV courses.   4. A TV set is a friend for lonely people.	1. Watching TV takes a lot of time.   2. We get very lazy and passive in our free time.   3. Sometimes we prefer TV to reading books.   4. Sometimes it is only TV that is responsible for children’s upbringing.

b) Discuss the problem in group of 3-5 students to order to make a decision(решение). You may use the following expressions:

to express your opinion

I think... я думаю … I’m sure... я уверен …

I believe... я верю … In my opinion... по моему мнению…

I suppose... я полагаю …

to agree with somebody

Yes,I agree (with you) … да, я согласен … I think so too … я тоже так думаю …

That’s true … это верно … You are quite right … вы вполне правы …

to disagree with somebody

On the other hand... с другой стороны … It’s not true... это не верно …

I don’t agree with you.... я не согласен … I don’t think so... я так не думаю …

We think that TV is doing more harm than good (more good than harm) because …

1... 2 … 3 …

Дата добавления: 2014-12-27