Topic 19. Some outstanding people of Ukraine

In the history of humanity there have always been people whose actions and ideas produced a great impact on the lives of other people. They have made a great contribution to our country. For this reason they are called outstanding. There are a lot of outstanding people famous for their contribution to our science. They are scientists, musicians, experienced and skilled workers of medicine and education.

Volodymyr Vernadsky, for instance, was the first president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. He was born in 1863. Volodymyr Vernadsky was the first in our country to introduce the spectral method for the solution of geochemical problems. He developed special study to the composition of the Earth’s crust, the ocean and the atmosphere. Volodymyr Vernadsky was the founder of the modern doctrine on the biosphere. His findings greatly contributed to the world science.

Yevhen Paton was another great scientist whom we take pride in. He was born in 1870 in the family of a Russian ambassador and received his education abroad. In 1904 Paton moved to Kyiv to work and teach at the Kyiv Politechnical Institute. He was a professor ang the head of the chair for nearly thirty years at the Institute. Yevhen Paton was the first to apply electro-welding in bridge-construction. Under his guidance a welded bridge was built across the Dnieper river in Kyiv. It is now known as the Paton Bridge. It is 1,5 km long. In 1930 Paton organized the Research Institute of Electro-welding at the Academy of Sciences.

Nowdays the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine includes many outstanding scientists and research workers famous for their discoveries. Great success has achieved by the Paton Research Institute of Electric Welding, the Research Institute of Cybernetics, Superhard Material, and others.

Vocabulary:

humanity -людство

produced a great impact on – справляти великий вплив на

for this reason – з цієї причини, через це

outstanding – видатний, славнозвісний

experienced -досвічений

for instance -наприклад

solution of geochemical problems – розв’язання геохімічних проблем

the Earth’s crust – земна кора

biosphere -біосфера

atmosphere -атмосфера

to contribute – робити внесок

to take pride in -гордитися

ambassador -посол

abroad – за кордоном

to move to - переїхати

to apply electro-welding – застосовувати електрозварювання

under his guidance - під керівництвом

to include – вміщувати, містити у собі, включати

discoverу -відкриття

success -успіх

to achieve – досягати, добиватися

Exercise 1. Ask the followings questions:

1. Are there a lot of outstanding people famous for their contribution to our science?

2. Which Ukrainian scientists do you know?

3. What discoveries of Volodymyr Vernadsky do you know?

4. What research did Volodymyr Vernadsky conduct?

5. Who was the first to apply electro-welding in bridge cnstruction?

6. When dis Yevhen Paton organize thr Research Institute of Electro-welding at the Academy of Sciences?

7. Which scientists made outstanding progress in nuclear physics, chemistry and other branches?

Exercise 2. Read the text, translate and find new words and copy them out from the following text:

Taras Shevchenko.

Taras Shevchenko was born on March 9, 1814 in the Ukrainian village of Moryntsi. His parents were serfs and lived in bitter poverty; both died before Taras was twelve years old. What saved the boy from the being submerged in the sea of indigence were his native intelligence and artistic talent.

In the late 1830’s he started to write poetry, at first ballads and lyrics of Romanticism, and later historical poems depicting the past glories of the Cossacks of Ukraine. In 1840 his first collection of poems Kobzar appeared.

In 1847, Shevchenko was arrested and charged with belonging to an illegal society and with writing insolent, revolutionary poetry.

Shevchenko lived the life of a exile. However, he managed to write secretly and even to paint. The poems from that period show a more philosophic attitude to life. After his release in 1857, Shevchenko was in poor health and he died unmarried in St.Peterburg on March 10, 1861.

New Words:

Serf -кріпак

bitter poverty – гірка убогість

to submerge – опускатися, опуститися

indigence - бідність, нестаток