TOPICS SUGGESTED FOR DISCUSSIO1 (Топики к экзамену)

TOPICS SUGGESTED FOR DISCUSSION

1. Chemistry as a profession (arguments pro and con).

2. The most promising field of chemistry.

3. What should be given priority - fundamental or applied science?

4. Will the world benefit by the development of chemistry or perish due to it?

5. How to develop environment friendly chemistry?

6. The most important discovery in chemistry.

7. Contribution of the Chemistry department of MSU science (well-known scientists).

8. How do you see a successful scientist? (characteristics, skills, abilities.)

9. How do you see an ideal laboratory? (facilities, staff).
10. How to provide for successful scientific research?

11. The laboratory you have chosen for your future research. (reasons).

12. Education in MSU and abroad.

13. What do you think about lectures and seminars? How to make them more interesting

and attractive?

14. Qualities of a good speaker. How should one present his report to make the audience

listen to him?

TOPICS SUGGESTED FOR DISCUSSION

1. Chemistry as a profession (arguments pro and con).

2. The most promising field of chemistry.

3. What should be given priority - fundamental or applied science?

4. Will the world benefit by the development of chemistry or perish due to it?

5. How to develop environment friendly chemistry?

6. The most important discovery in chemistry.

7. Contribution of the Chemistry department of MSU science (well-known scientists).

8. How do you see a successful scientist? (characteristics, skills, abilities.)

9. How do you see an ideal laboratory? (facilities, staff).

10. How to provide for successful scientific research?

11. The laboratory you have chosen for your future research. (reasons).

12. Education in MSU and abroad.

13. What do you think about lectures and seminars? How to make them more interesting and attractive?

14. Qualities of a good speaker. How should one present his report to make the audience listen to him?

TOPICS SUGGESTED FOR DISCUSSION

1. Chemistry as a profession (arguments pro and con).

1. The most promising field of chemistry.

2. What should be given priority - fundamental or applied science?

3. Will the world benefit by the development of chemistry or perish due to it?

4. How to develop environment friendly chemistry?

5. The most important discovery in chemistry.

6. Contribution of the Chemistry department of MSU science (well-known scientists).

7. How do you see a successful scientist? (characteristics, skills, abilities.)

8. How do you see an ideal laboratory? (facilities, staff).

9. How to provide for successful scientific research?

10. The laboratory you have chosen for your future research. (reasons).

11. Education in MSU and abroad.

12. What do you think about lectures and seminars? How to make them more interesting and attractive?

13. Qualities of a good speaker. How should one present his report to make the audience

listen to him?

About myself

I am Takafumi Saito. I am junior student at a university and major in applied chemistry.

The reason why I decided to learn chemistry is that I was interested in environmental issues, especially energy sources. Energy sources that are used all over the world, such as petroleum, coal and natural gas, are not inexhaustible. In regard to petroleum, it is believed that we will run out of it in 40 years. To tackle this problem, I felt the need to develop a new energy source. For example, the solar energy can be used almost infinitely, though there can be some fluctuation in energy supply. I want to develop a new energy system that utilizes solar energy in the future. Because of this, I decided to go to the Tokyo University of Science (TUS), where there is a leading researcher in this field.

I am not good at English and always felt that I must overcome it, but it was difficult to study English when I seldom used it in daily life.

Last year I heard of this program, Chemistry with English, at my university. At first I hesitated. But I thought that it is the best way to learn English to throw myself into an English-speaking environment, so I decided to take this program. This was ideal for me because it also provided chemistry lectures.

After I joining this program, I felt much confident communicating in English. Up until then, because I was not good at English, I was rather reluctant to talk to people from other countries because of my limited proficiency in English. But now I know that even if I cannot speak with perfect accuracy, people can understand what I want to say.

The Life in the UK was very comfortable. The UK is a safe country, with rich greenery, and the climate is relatively stable. The university offers an excellent service and facilities. Especially the building of chemistry is new, beautiful and tidy, so it is the best place to study.

I strongly recommend this program to those of you who are not good at speaking English but want to be able to, like me. After all, the best way to learn is English to throw yourself into an English-speaking environment.

The Lab I Work At

Studying chemistry supposes carrying out research and combining theoretical knowledge with practical skills. For this reason approximated twice or three times a week I go to the laboratory, which is located on the second floor of the Chemistry department and belongs to the department of analytical chemistry. Now I feel like telling you about it. To begin with, as soon as I enter it I can feel specific odour of different chemical substances, elements, compounds, for example aluminium, magnesium, potassium, silicon, sodium, silicate, zink, iodine, uranium, tin. organic and inorganic salts, different nitrides, thorium, beryl, malachite and what not. Well, it's next to impossible to name them all. Some of them colorless and tasteless. Others are transparent. Some are fluorescent, some are not. All of them are placed on shelves for chemicals. There are many benches with a number of drawers to keep tubes, funnels, test-samples and other special things necessary for our experimental work. Well, I can say that it's well-equipped with all modern equipment. As for me I attend the lab to increase the level of my knowledge and enrich my mind and broaden my outlook. Very often I run experiments, obtain different substances such as potassium nitrate, calcium chlorate, ammonium phosphate and man}' others. Some substances I work with are homogeneous and some are heterogeneous. I electrolyse different solutions: bases, acids and salts. I observe the relationship between the properties of substances and their structure. I gather data and put them down, then analyze them and make conclusions. I have been engaged in research since the first course and I've already obtained some new results, which I'm going to promote and turn into my course paper. Last year I worked at my course -project which aim was to study the properties and structure of several complex compounds including iron. I was completely satisfied with the obtained results. The laboratory is headed by Mr. Ivanov. He's got a P.H.D. degree and is a well-known scientist both in Russia and abroad.

My scientific adviser is very creative and full of ideas he usually puts forward some of them which I further develop in my work. I really enjoy collaboration with such people who strongly support and encourage me, and I do my best to justify their hopes.

An important part of my work is working with scientific literature, which is mostly written in English that's why it's so important to me to master it. To cut long story short I'd like to say that I think/that my present day experience will help me in my scientific work.

Word List

to suppose - предполагать

to carry out research - заниматься научной работой

to combine theoretical knowledge with practical skills - соединять теоретические

знания с практическими навыками

approximately- приблизительно

to be located - располагаться

to be related - относиться

to fell like doing smth = to want

odour - запах, аромат

transparent - прозрачный

fluorescent - флуоресцирующий

to advance the level of my knowledge - увеличить уровень знаний

to electrolyse - проводить электролиз

homogeneous - однородная

heterogeneous - неоднородный

to support and encourage - поддерживать и вдохновлять

to be engage in - заниматься

to collaborate - сотрудничать

to enjoy - to like smth very much

experience - опыт

Topic 2. THE MOST PROMISING FIELD OF CHEMISTRY

I think that the most promising field of modern chemistry is metalorganic chemistry. Metalorganic compounds can have great application in different fields of human life. It is well known that most of the processes that are used to produce different substances are catalytic reactions. Nowadays most of catalysts are inorganic compounds, but they have number of disadvantages, such as low efficiency, short period of usage, incompleteness of reaction. Very often these catalysts require special conditions, such as high temperature and pressure. Incompleteness of reaction often causes emission of unreacted substances to the environment. The only way to get rid of these disadvantages is to use metalorganic catalysts instead of inorganic ones. While synthesizing any metalorganic compound, as well as pure organic one, it is possible to insert different side functional groups to the carbon chain to obtain substance with necessary properties. Actually for every industrial process it is possible to create unique very effective metalorganic catalyst. In fact modern metalorganic chemistry is the chemistry of metalorganic catalysts.

However, metalorganic compounds can also have other applications. For example they are used in microelectronics, production of liquid crystals, polymers, lubricants and other necessary materials. So we can say that development of metalorganic chemistry is the field of science that will help people in the nearest future.

Topic 2. THE MOST PROMISING FIELD OF CHEMISTRY

I think that the most promising field of chemistry is a field of polymers. Polymers are large molecules of many similar "units" linked together. These individual units are called monomers. Macromolecules are polymers. The properties of materials on the basis of synthetic polymers are so good that they have entered into all spheres of human life and became absolutely necessary. For example, the materials such as plastic windows save warm very well or plastic dishes are cheap and useful. Polymers are used in many devices and equipment. They are so called a needle which we don’t notice in our daily life. Polymers don’t decay. They have a lot of advantages: polymers are light in weight, easily transported, easily repaired, highly resistant to corrosion and solvent, and satisfactory resistant to moisture. They have long-lived durability and resistance to high temperatures. But these materials have disadvantages: for example, products of its decomposition are poisonous substances.

In addition, people are interested in biopolymers, because these substances don’t cause harm to an environment. And they also can save human life. Biopolymers are widely used in medicine: prosthetic appliance; artificial limb (конечностей).

With biopolymers it is possible to clean water systems, rivers and ponds without doing any harm to living organisms.

Biopolymers are those which are met in nature: cellulose and chitin are two of the most abundant biopolymers on earth, they are two different polysaccharides that provide structure to plants and animals like crabs and insects. Plants produce cellulose in their cell walls and insects [and crustaceans (ракообразные)] produce chitin in their shells. Like other polysaccharides, chitin and cellulose constitute polysaccharide chains built up from monosugars. Cellulose molecules are large chains of glucose units while chitin molecules are large chains of N-acetyl glucosamine units. Since these materials are structural components of many organisms they are widely spread throughout the biosphere. DNA is a biopolymer and in fact the secret of our life in it.

Finally the importance of polymers, biopolymers and plastics is quite clear.

Topic 5. How to develop environment friendly chemistry?

Industrial vomit fills our skies and seas. Our food contains a great number of pesticides and herbicides. Twisted automobile carcasses, aluminum cans, glass bottles and synthetic plastics forms, radioactive wastes make us, human beings, vulnerable and cause diseases. How to develop environment friendly chemistry, or green chemistry as it is sometimes called? This question has to be answered today. Otherwise human beings will have no place to live, if they are alive themselves.

It is neither a joke, nor it is a grim prediction. It is the third millennium, our reality, the twenty first century – the epoch of high technologies and high pollution, to be more precise – nuclear, industrial and chemical pollution. We, as chemists (or rather future chemists), should search for the ways or techniques to remove the risk of chemical pollution.