清华科技英语阅读.ppt

1、Task 1,Course Introduction,Selected English Readings for Science and Technology,Presented by Dr. James Zhang,Autumn 2012- Spring 2013,1.1 GOAL of this course,Aims at building up updated general knowledge of modern science and technology and; achieving the proficiency of understanding difficult artic

2、les in limited time Developing basic academic writing skills,1.2 Topics,1.2.1 Topic selection Source Scientific American (2011-2012) Criteria Basic disciplines State of Art: most recent development,1.2.2 Topics to Cover,Topic 1: Modern Physics The inflation debate Living in a quantum world Topic 2:

3、Biology and Medicine The inner life of the genome Blocking HIVs attack Topic 3: Neuroscience Hidden Switches in the mind What make each brain unique Topic 4: Evolution Triumph of titans First of our kind,Topic 5: Animal and Plant behavior The compass within What a plant smells Topic 6: Philosophy in

4、 Science Thought experiment Why math works? Topic 7: Space exploration Bound for the moon This way to Mars Topic 8: Chemistry 10 unsolved mysteries The scent of your thoughts,Topic 9: Computing and information technology The shadow web Hacking the lights out Topic 10: Energy The false promise of bio

5、fuels Planning for the black swan Topic 11: Climate change The last great global warming A shifting band of rain Topic 12: Sustainability The blue food revolution Can we feed the world and sustain the plant?,1.3 class activities,Professors presentation A general view of text 1 of the specific topic;

6、 Detailed explanation of one or several parts of the text 1 Group discussion (3-4 students as a group) Theoretical discussion: basic knowledge of the theory involved in each topic; Further comprehension questions about text 1; General understanding questions of text 2,1.4 Home Assignment,Summary wri

7、ting Based on the Professors class presentation and class discussion 4 articles assigned separately, about 300 words for each Due: 1 week after the assignment In-depth writing On one topic among the 12 you are interested in Due: the 17th week,1.5 quizzes and examination,Quizzes: once for two weeks,

8、about 5-6 in all Word quiz: based on the word list prepared by Prof. Short essay question: knowledge of the topic based on the class discussion and the text Final Examination Open test Based on the articles not covered in the class Question types: word matching, reading comprehension questions, tran

9、slation, essay questions Length: 90 minutes Time: 16th week or later,1.6 Grading System,Class attendance and performance: 25 points Class attendance: 15 points 2 late=1 absent 1 absent = 2 points 3 absent = failure Group discussion report and other performance: 10 points Homework: 30 points Summary

10、writing: 4 X 5 = 20 points In-depth writing: 10 points Quizzes: 25 points Final exam: 20 points,1.7 Office hour,8:30-9:30 Tuesday 9:00-11:00 Wednesday Other times as pre-arranged,Task 2,Get to know each other,Travel to meet each other,FIND SOMEONE WHO Can play a musical instrument, such as piano/vio

11、lin/erhu. Ever traveled abroad Got a sister or brother Play online games for over 20 hours a week Use QQ/YAHOO MESSENGER for daily communication Has at least one foreign friend to communicate in English Writes English Diary/blog on a regular basis Is planning to pursue post-graduate study abroad Has

12、 taken new TOEFL or IELTSIs from Tibet/Xinjiang Has got drivers license Has not had breakfast/lunch yet Could play Gongfu,Task 3,Topic 1: Modern Physics Text 1: The Inflation Debate -Is the theory at the heart of modern cosmology deeply flawed?,Terms clarification first,Classical Physics vs. Modern

13、Physics Classical physics is generally concerned with matter and energy on the normal scale of observation, like the traditional branches and topics recognized and well-developed before the beginning of the 20th centuryclassical mechanics, acoustics, optics, thermodynamics, and electromagnetism. Muc

14、h of modern physics is concerned with the behavior of matter and energy under extreme conditions or on the very large or very small scale, such as quantum theory, theory of relativity, etc.,Terms clarification first,The Big Bang In the early 20th century, Hubble discovered that the universe was expa

15、nding, which prompted rival explanations known as the steady state universe and the Big Bang. The Big Bang was confirmed by the success of Big Bang nucleosynthesis and the discovery of the cosmic microwave background in 1964.,3.1 a general view,Alan H. Guth: born 1947, MIT PhD (1972) “generation of

16、lost scholars”: worked successively at Princeton (1971-1974), Columbia (1974-1977), Cornell (1977-1979), Stanford Linear accelerator (1979-1980), and work in MIT since 1980.,3.1.1 Cosmic Inflation,Basic Idea,Universe started with a big bang and has been expanding for long, but; What happened at the

17、first instants of the big bang? The universe must start with a certain properties; Guths answer: an exponential growth, a brief burst of hyper-accelerated expansion,Edwin Hubble,He observed that the universe goes beyond the Milky Way galaxy and redshift increases with distance, which become the firs

18、t observational support for the Big Bang theory which had been proposed by Georges Lematre, a Belgian catholic priest and physicist, in 1927.,Two problems to explain,1. flatness problem Why is the universe density so nearly at the critical density, or why is the universe so flat? 2. horizon problem

19、Why does the universe, particularly the microwave background, look the same in all directions? The only for two regions to have the same conditions is that they are close enough to each other for information to be exchanged between them so that they can equilibrate to a common state. The photons fro

20、m the microwave background have been travelling nearly the age of the universe to reach us right now. So it is impossible for the photons to have sufficient time to travel across the universe.,What did inflation do?,Ballooned abruptly in size by a factor of 10 25 in every direction, within 10 30 sec

21、ond; flatness and uniformity problems explained: curves and warps in space ironed out; Horizon problem explained: regions that appear to be isolated from each other were in contact with each other before the inflation period; Galaxies today: out of slight non-uniformities left behind because of quan

22、tum fluctuations when space expanding at a mellow pace.,What caused inflation?,In scalar field, potential energy is produced in proportion with force A repulsive gravitational force driving space to swell rapidly; Energy density is proportional to strength in inflation field; On plateau, strong repu

23、lsive force to expand; when it comes to valley, inflation end; and then the potential energy converts into dark matter, hot ordinary matter and radiation that fill the universe today,Three dictums for inflation theory,1. inflation is inevitable; 2. inflation explains why the universe is flat and uni

24、form today; 3. inflationary theory is powerfully predictive.,3.1.2 case against inflation,Logical foundation challenged Does the theory really work as advertised? Are the predictions made in the early 1980s still the predictions of the inflationary model understood today? Answers: “no”,Problem 1: “b

25、ad inflation”,Good inflation: only for narrow range of parameter to yield galaxy observed today Bad inflation: for less fine-tuned parameter, leading to larger temperature variation, which give rise to more stars Both configures rare, so a flat universe is unlikely overall. The latter is more likely

26、 to happen than the former.,Problem 2: eternal inflation,Andrei Linde (1994): inflation never ends Random quantum fluctuation: delay the time when inflation ends, forming procrastinating regions; When well-behaved inflation ends, it forms an island, which is surrounded by delayed inflation space; Th

27、e process is eternal; No way to judge which kind of island is more likely in an eternally inflating universe.,Problem 2: eternal inflation,Andrei Linde (1994): inflation never ends Random quantum fluctuation: delay the time when inflation ends, forming procrastinating regions; When well-behaved infl

28、ation ends, it forms an island, which is surrounded by delayed inflation space; The process is eternal; Eternal inflation, combined with quantum fluctuations may result in non-uniformity; And No way to judge which kind of island is more likely in an eternally inflating universe.,3.1.3 some possible

29、solutions to the problems,1. Assuming a special initial state with special form of inflationary energy, so inflation ended everywhere in space before quantum fluctuations had a chance to reignite. But defeats the entire purpose of inflation: to explain the outcome no matter what conditions existed b

30、eforehand. 2. Ad hoc measure: set up a specific rule to weigh which kinds of islands are most likely, supposing that our observable universe are most likely outcome of inflation; 3. Volume measure: island weighed by size; 4. Anthropic principle measure: atypical island with just minimal conditions n

31、eeded to support life. (Awaiting further explanation from you: p42-43),5. Cyclic theory: authors point of view Quantum physics rather than classical physics rules inflation; Big bang is not the beginning of time and space, but rather; A bounce from preceding contraction phase to new expansion phase

32、cyclically accompanied by the creation of matter and radiation; Smoothing of universe occurs before big bang, actually during contraction. Smoothings consequence can be observed that quantum fluctuations generate gravitational waves, which leave imprint on the microwave background radiation. And amp

33、litude of the waves are proportional to the energy dense. When the universe is extremely dense with energy, inflation would occur; and contraction would occur when the universe is empty. So the predicted imprints would be very different.,Detailed study of text 1,Quantum effects (p40) Random fluctuat

34、ions Spatial variation: cause inflation to end at different times in different regions Gives birth to stars and galaxies,Coins analogy (p 42) There is no way to judge which coin is more likely when the number of coins is infinite. There is no way to judge which kind of island is more likely in an et

35、ernally inflating universe.,Alternative explanations: p 42-43 1. special initial state hypothesis 2. weighing measure 3. volume measure 4. anthropic principle measure,Gabriele Veneziano,Italian theoretical physicist Pioneer of String theory String theory is an active research framework in particle p

36、hysics that attempts to reconcile quantum mechanics and general relativity. It is a contender for a theory of everything (TOE), a self-contained mathematical model that describes all fundamental forces and forms of matter. String theory posits that the elementary particles (ie. electrons and quarks)

37、 within an atom are not 0-dimensional objects, but rather 1-dimensional oscillating lines (strings).,CERN,Conseil Europen pour la Recherche Nuclaire,an international organization whose purpose is to operate the worlds largest particle physics laboratory. Established in 1954, the organization is base

38、d in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the FrancoSwiss border, and has 20 European member states. CERNs main function is to provide the particle accelerators and other infrastructure needed for high-energy physics research - as a result, numerous experiments have been constructed at CERN following

39、international collaborations. It is also the birthplace of the World Wide Web.,Task 4,Appendix 1: some reading strategies over academic articles,(1) Skimming: looking quickly at the title, section headings, abstract or summary, first and last paragraphs, first and last sentences of intervening parag

40、raphs, topic sentences in each paragraph, in order to Identify what the text is about (topic) Identify the main idea of the text Decide how useful the text is for your purposes Decide how you will use the text,(2) predicting: use your prior knowledge to guess what kind of information the text will c

41、ontain and how useful it will be,(3) scanning Involves finding words or other symbols, such as figures which have particular importance to you. When you scan, you already know the form of the words or symbols you are looking for, and you focus on small parts of the text only.,(4) search reading Mean

42、s quickly find ideas which are particularly important to you. When you do search reading, you dont know before hand the exact words you are looking for and can not make a direct match.,(5) identify the main ideas Involves understanding the writers main points.,(6) inferring Means obtain the meaning

43、from the text that the writer has not explicitly stated. Sometimes, the writer needs you to fill the gap in the text; Sometimes, you may wish to infer what the author wrote from the text, i.e., the writers purpose and also the writers attitude to what s/he is writing about.,(7) dealing with unfamili

44、ar words When you find a word you dont understand in a text, you need to decide Whether you need to know the word now to help you understand the text and use it later under different circumstances. Guess the meaning from the context; or Check it in a dictionary Whether you only need to know the word now to