1. What does a piece of amber achieve when it is rubbed with wool or fur?

2. When was the word electric used?

3. Is the word electric after the Greek word "electron"?

4. When were many discoveries about the nature of electricity and of magnetism made?

5. When does an electric spark pass between the sealing-wax rod and the glass rod?

6. What operates between two rods?

7. What are two kinds of electricity?

Exercise 1.2. Find the following words and word combinations in the text:

1. соприкасается с шерстью или мехом

2. приобретает способность притягивать легкие предметы

3. феномен был изучен

4. слово «электрический» от греческого слова «электрон»

5. тесно связаны с электричеством

6. электрическая искра возникнет между палочкой из сургуча и стеклянной палочкой

7. возникает сила притяжения

8. наэлектризованная стеклянная палочка отталкивается от

9. противоположные виды электричества притягивают друг друга

10. одинаковые виды отталкивают

Exercise 1.3. Find the wrong statements and correct them:

1. When a piece of amber is rubbed with wool or fur, it achieves the power of repelling light objects.

2. An electric spark will pass between the glass rod and the sealing wax-rod because a force of attraction operates between them.

3. An electrified glass rod is repelled by a wax rod.

4. Similar kinds of electricity attract one another.

5. A force of attraction operates between a sealing-wax rod and a woolen cloth.

Exercise 1.4. Translate into English:

1. В 19 веке были сделаны многие открытия о природе электричества и магнетизме.

2. Обнаружили, что палочка из сургуча отталкивается от шерстяной одежды и стеклянная палочка отталкивается от одежды из шелка.

3. Наэлектризованная палочка из сургуча отталкивается от такой же палочки.

4. Существует два вида электричества, которые были названы смоляным электричеством.

Exercise 1.5. Translate the text

Вариант 2

Read the text:

NATURE OF ELECTRIC CURRENT

In the modern conception of the constitution of matter it is composed of atoms. The atom is made up of a positive nucleus surrounded by negative charges of electricity, called electrons, which revolve about the nucleus at tremendous speed. The nucleus consists of a number of protons, each with a single positive charge, and, except for hydrogen, one or more neutrons, which have no charge. The atom is neutral when it contains equal numbers of electrons and protons. A negatively charged body contains more electrons than protons. A positively charged body is one which contains fewer electrons than its normal number. When the two ends of a conductor are connected to two points at different potentials, such as the terminals of a battery, we say that there is an electric current in the conductor. What actually happens? The conductor has equal numbers of positive and negative charges in its atoms, and we want to know how the charges can be made to produce a current. The atoms in metals are packed so closely that overlap to some extent, so that it is comparatively easy for the outer electrons to pass from one atom to another if a small force is applied to them. The battery causes a potential difference between the ends of the wire, and thus provides forces that make the negative electrons in the wire move toward the point of higher potential electrons.

This electron flow toward the positive electrode is the electric current. Naturally materials differ considerably in the ease with which electrons can be made to migrate from atom to atom. The current will not flow unless there is an electric circuit. The magnitude of the current depends simply on the rate of flow of electrons along the conductor.