ISAAC NEWTON PART I

Source: INGVIP

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1.This is Shirley Griffith. And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program EXPLORATIONS. Today we tell about(1) one of the world's greatest scientists, Isaac Newton.

Much of today's science of physics is based on Newton's discovery of the three laws of motion(3) and his theory of gravity. Newton also developed(4) one of the most powerful(5) tools(6) of mathematics. It is the method we call calculus.

2. Late in his life, Newton said of his work: "If I saw(7)further than(8) other men, it was because I stood(9) on the shoulders(10) of giants. "  One of those giants was the great Italian scientist, Galileo. Galileo died(11) the same year Newton was born(12). Another of the giants was the Polish(13) scientist Nicholas Copernicus. He lived a hundred years before Newton.

3. Copernicus had begun(14) a scientific revolution. It led to(15) a completely new understanding(16) of how the universe worked. Galileo continued and expanded the work of Copernicus. Isaac Newton built(17) on the ideas of these two scientists and others. He found(18) and proved the answers for which(19) they searched(20). Isaac Newton was born in Woolsthorpe, England, on December twenty-fifth, sixteen forty-two.

4. He was born early(21). He was a small baby and very weak(22). No one expected him to survive(23). But he surprised everyone. He had one of the most powerfulminds(24) in history. And he lived until(25) he was eighty-four.

Newton's father died before he was born. His mother married again(26) a few years later. She left(27) Isaac with his grandmother.

5. The boy was not a good student. Yet(28) he liked to make things, such as (29) kites(30) and clocks and simple machines.

 Newton also enjoyed(31) finding new ways(32) to answer questions(33) or solve(34) problems. As a boy, for example, he decided to find a way to measure(35) thespeed of the wind(36).

6. On a windy(37) day, he measured how far(38) he could jump(39) with the wind at his back(40). Then he measured how far he could jump with the wind in his face. From the difference between the two jumps, he made his own(41) measure of the strength(42) of the wind.

7. Strangely(43), Newton became(44) a much better student after a boy kicked(45) him in the stomach.

The boy was one of the best students in the school. Newton decided to get even(46) by getting higher marks(47) than the boy who kicked him. In a short time, Newton became the top student at the school.

 Newton left school to help on the family farm.

8.It soon became clear(48), however, that the boy was not a good farmer. He spent(49) his time solving(50) mathematical problems, instead of taking care of(51) thecrops(52). He spent hours visiting a bookstore(53) in town, instead of selling his vegetables in the market. An uncle decided that Newton would do better as a student than as a farmer. So he helped the young man enter Cambridge University to study mathematics.

9. Newton completed his university studies five years later, in sixteen sixty-five. He was twenty-two years old.

At that time, a deadly plague(54) was spreading across(55) England. To escape the disease(56), Newton returned to the family farm. He did more thinking than farming. In doing so(57), he found the answers to some of the greatest mysteries of science.

10. Newton used his great skill(58) in mathematics to form a better understanding(59) of the world and the universe. He used methods he had learned as a boy in making things. He experimented. Then he studied the results and used what he had learned to design new experiments.

11. Newton's work led(60) him to create a new method in mathematics for measuring areas curved in shape(61). He also used it to find how much material was contained in solid objects. The method he created became known as(62) integral calculus.

12. One day, sitting in the garden, Newton watched(63) an apple fall from a tree. He began to wonder(64) if the same force that pulled(65) the apple down also kept(66)the moon circling the Earth. Newton believed it was. And he believed it could be measured.

13. He called the force "gravity." He began to examine it carefully(67). He decided that the strength(68) of the force keeping a planet in orbit around the sun depended on two things. One was the amount of mass(69) in the planet and the sun. The other was how far apart(70) they were.

                                                   Vocabulary

Vocabulary:

1. tell about = falar sobre

2. physics = física

3. laws of motion = leis do movimento

4. developed = desenvolveu

5. powerful = poderoso

6. tools = ferramentas

7. saw  = viu

8. further than = mais longe do que

9. stood = fiquei

10. shoulders = ombros

11. died = morreu

12. was born = nasceu

13. Polish  = Polonês

14. had begun = tinha começado

15. led to = conduziu a

16. understanding = compreensão

17. built = construiu

18. found = encontrou

19. for which = pelas quais

20. searched = procuraram

21. early = prematuro

22. weak = fraco

23. survive = sobreviver

24. minds = mentes

25. until = até

26. again = novamente

27. left = deixou

28. Yet = porém

29. such as = tais como

30. kites = papagaios

31. enjoyed = adorava

32. ways = formas, maneiras

33. answer questions = responder perguntas

34. solve = solucionar

35. measure = medir

36. speed of the wind = velocidade do vento

37. windy = com vento

38. how far = o quão longe

39. could jump = conseguia saltar

40. at his back = às suas costas

41. own = próprio(a)

42. strength = força

43. Strangely = estranhamente

44. became = tornou-se

45. kicked = chutou

46. get even = ficar quites

47. getting higher marks = conseguindo notas mais altas

48. It soon became clear = logo ficou claro

49. spent = passava

50. solving = solucionando

51. instead of taking care of = Ao inves de cuidar de

52. crops = plantações

53. Bookstore = livraria

54. deadly plague = praga mortal

55. spreading across = espalhando-se por

56. disease = doença

57. In doing so = ao fazer isso

58. skill = habilidade

59. understanding = compreensão

60. led = conduziu, levou

61. shape = forma

62. became known as = tornou-se conhecido como
63. Watched = observou

64. wonder = perguntar-se
65. Pulled = puxou

66. kept = mantinha

67. carefully = cuidadosamente

68. strength = força

69. amount of mass = quantidade de massa
70. how far apart = O quão distantes