Н.Н. Николаева, Е.Б. Лежнева academic english for engineering and technology studies, страница 7

Our ancestors had little use for actual numbers; instead, their considerations would have been more of the kind Is this enough? rather than How many? when they wereengaged in food gathering, for example. However, when early humans first began to reflect on thenature of things around them, they discovered that they needed an idea of number simply to keep theirthoughts in order.

As they began to settle, grow plants and herd animals, the need for a sophisticatednumber system became paramount. It will never be known how and when this numeration abilitydeveloped, but it is certain that numeration was well developed by the time humans had formed evensemi-permanent settlements.Evidence of early stages of arithmetic and numeration can be readily found. The indigenous peoples of Tasmania were only able to count one, two, many; those of South Africa counted one, two,two and one, two twos, two twos and one, and so on.

But in real situations the number and words areoften accompanied by gestures to help resolve any confusion. For example, when using the one, two,or many types of system, the word many would mean, ‘Look at my hands and see how many fingersI am showing you.’ This basic approach is limited in the range of numbers that it can express, but thisrange will generally suffice when dealing with the simpler aspects of human existence.The lack of ability of some cultures to deal with large numbers is not really surprising. Europeanlanguages, when traced back to their earlier version, are very poor in number words and expressions.The ancient Gothic word for ten, tachund, is used to express the number 100 as tachund tachund. Bythe seventh century, the word teon had become interchangeable with the tachund or hund of the Anglo-Saxon language, and so 100 was denoted as hund teontig, or ten times ten.

The average person inthe seventh century in Europe was not as familiar with numbers as we are today. In fact, to qualify asa witness in a court law a man had to be able to count to nine!Perhaps the most fundamental step in developing a sense of number is not the ability to count,but rather to see that a number is really an abstract idea instead of a simple attachment to a group ofparticular objects. It must have been within the grasp of the earliest humans to conceive that fourbirds are distinct from two birds; however, it is not an elementary step to associate the number 4, asconnected with four birds, to the number 4, as connected with four rocks. Associating a number asone of the qualities of a specific object is a great hindrance to the development of a true number sense.When the number 4 can be registered in the mind as a specific word, independent of the object beingreferenced, the individual is ready to take the first step toward the development of a notational systemfor numbers and, from there, to arithmetic.Traces of the very first stages in the development of numeration can be seen in several livinglanguages today.

The numeration system of the Tsimshian language in British Columbia containsseven distinct sets of words for numbers according to the class of the item being counted: for countingflat objects and animals, for round objects and time, for people, for long objects and trees, for canoes,for measures, and for counting when no particular object is being numerated. It seems that the last isa later development while the first six groups show the relics of an older system. This diversity ofnumber names can also be found in some widely-used languages such as Japanese.Intermixed with the development of a number sense is the development of an ability to count.Counting is not directly related to the formation of a number concept because it is possible to countby matching the items being counted against a group of pebbles, grains of corn, or the counter's fingers.

These aids would have been indispensable to very early people who would have found the process impossible without some form of mechanical aid. Such aids, while different, are still used evenby the most educated in today’s society due to their convenience. Each counting ultimately involvesreference to something other than the things being counted. At first, it may have been grains or pebbles but now it is a memorized sequence of words that happen to be the names of the numbers.17. Complete each sentence with the ending which you consider correct according to the text fromexercise 16.1. A developed system of numbering ________2. An additional hand signal ________3.

In seventh-century Europe, the ability to count to a certain number ________4. Thinking about numbers as concepts separate from physical objects ________5. Expressing number differently according to class of item ________18. Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text from exercise 16?There are three possible options. Choose one option. Discuss your opinions with your groupmates.TRUE — if the statement agrees with the information;FALSE — if the statement contradicts the information;NOT GIVEN — if there is no information on this.1. For the earliest tribes, the concept of sufficiency was more important than the concept of quantity.2.

Indigenous Tasmanians used only four terms to indicate numbers of objects.3. Some peoples with simple number systems use body language to prevent misunderstanding ofexpressions of the number.4. All cultures have been able to express large numbers clearly.5. The word 'thousand' has Anglo-Saxon origins.6.

In general, people in seventh-century Europe had poor counting ability.7. In the Tsimshian language, the number for long objects and canoes is expressed with the sameword.8. The Tsimshian language contains both older and newer systems of counting.9. Early peoples found it easier to count by using their fingers rather than a group of pebbles.4. SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS.SCIENCE IN THE XXI CENTURY19. Read the text and answer the questions below it.Real World is Finding New Uses for Virtual RealityGary Steinberg, Stanford University’s head of neurosurgery, has been operating on brains for morethan three decades.

Only in the past year has he been able to do something that he says gives him asignificant advantage: preview the surgery and practice it. Donning a virtual-reality headset, the 64year-old works through thickets of digital blood vessels in a precise computer simulation of a patient'sgray matter before he cuts into the real thing. “I can figure out how best to approach a tumor andpractice it so that when I get into the operation, it’s as if I’ve been there before,” Dr. Steinberg says.“It makes surgeries safer. Outcomes are better.” Virtual Reality has been slow to catch on with consumers, despite the high-profile launches last year of headsets from Facebook Inc.’s Oculus unit andTaiwan’s HTC Corp.’But businesses are taking to it for training in industries from construction to medicine to sports.Executives say customized software that works like 360-degree videogames can help teach employees more effectively, less expensively, and often more safely than traditional methods.

Wal-MartStores Inc., for example, last week said it would expand VR training to all of its 200 employee trainingcenters this year, after testing it in 31 centers. It plans to make the technology an integral part oftraining for 140,000 employees annually, says Tom Ward, a Wal-Mart vice president.

And while theyare pricey for many consumers, VR headsets have become affordable for most businesses: the upmarket HTC Vive VR system sells for about $800. Research firm International Data Corp. estimatestotal shipments of headsets for VR and augmented reality a related technology that superimposesdigital content onto a user’s view of the real world will grow at a compounded annual rate of 58%over the next five years. Business demand will be the main driver, with shipments of headsets forcommercial uses growing 80% a year, versus 50% for headsets for consumers, says IDC.VR training is so new that there has been limited ability to measure its effectiveness as a businesstool, and it has shortcomings. Some people feel awkward putting on the headsets, and some experience motion sickness.

VR doesn't lend itself to training for jobs that require manual dexterity, forexample - in the virtual world, you're rarely able to see your hands.Still, United Rentals Inc. is a believer. The company, which rents generators, backhoes and thousands of other types of equipment, has been testing VR training since December for new sales staff.Instead of giving lectures and showing pictures of construction sites, “we bring the job site into theclassroom,” says Patrick Barrett, director of training and development.In its VR training, employees stand on the edge of a virtual construction site, with two minutesto observe and determine what equipment is missing before an avatar of a construction boss approaches and they have to begin their pitch.

“Do they see that excavation — a hole in the ground,filled with water; do they see that opportunity to rent that customer a pump?” asks Mr. Barrett. Hepredicts it will shorten his weeklong training program by half, and is planning to expand the VRtraining beyond the new hires. At Wal-Mart, trainees scan VR produce and deli sections to spot problems. They also get a virtual preview of a Wal-Mart on one of its busiest holiday shopping days whencrowds flood the stores looking for deals.Questions1. What does Dr. Gary Steinberg use to practice a patient’s brain surgery before actually performingit?a.