English for Specific Purposes

102 Electronic Engineering

8. Highlight the stressed syllable in the words in italics:

 

1. Photography is on the service of science.

 

2. The world today is made of plastic and concrete.

 

3. Chinese electronics is known to be unreliable.

 

4. Conductor is opposite to insulator.

 

5. Semi-conductors differ in the way they act electrically.

 

6. Energy -efficient lamps are used in industry.

 

7. Atomic energy can either destroy the world or serve it.

 

8. Transistor cut the cost and improved the quality of phone service.

 

9. The 'magic' a transistor performs is in its ability to control its own semiconductance.

 

10. Chip can be made to amplify weak antenna signals into rich quadraphonic hi-fidelity sound.

 

9. Mark the stress in the following words. If you hesitate, consult a dictionary:

 

1. Amplify – amplifier – amplification

 

2. Atom – atomic – atomize – atomization

 

3. Collect – collection – collector

 

4. Conduct – conductor – semiconductor

 

5. Electricity – electrician – electric – electron

 

6. Oscillate – oscillation – oscillator – oscillograph

 

7. Rely – reliable – reliability

 

8. Transistor – transistorize – transistorized

 

9. Energy – energise – energetic – energetically

 

10. Insulate –insulated – insulator – insulation

 

GRAMMAR FOCUS: Contextual use of prepositions (2)

 

10. Fill in the gaps with the proper preposition in the contextual meaning. If you need help, use APPENDIX 1 (p.118):

 

1. The silicon transistor seemed to be one of the first major breakthroughs _______ transistor development.

 

2. Current flowing _______ emitter _______ collector in Shockley's device could be modulated by an input signal on the base.

 

3. For germanium, to put it simply, was just not _______ to the task.

 

4. Some forms of radiation have enough energy to knock electrons _______ _______ atoms and molecules, thus creating electrically charged particles called ions.

 

5. The armed services needed stable, reliable equipment that would perform _______ extreme conditions.

 

6. A diode is simply a p-n junction with a lead attached ________ both ends.

 

7. Semi-conductors differ _______ the way they act electrically.

 

8. Put enough transistors together in appropriate patterns and transistors end _______ knock off big jobs by working fast-switching on and off 100 million times per second or more.

 

9. If spared _______ electrical shocks and blows from blunt instruments, a working microchip will probably keep on working for a hundred years.

 

10. And that's just what Bell Labs is up _______.