Expensive, explosives, overcomes, carbon dioxide, developing, consuming.

1. UK researchers are … a robot which is able to screen cargo at border controls far more accurately than traditional methods.

2. The process of investigation of the cargo is time ….

3. The screening systems are external, bulky and ….

4. Therefore, there is an urgent need for an alternative solution that … the shortcomings of current techniques of detecting cargoes.

5. Sniffer dogs are trained to search for drugs, … and humans.

6. Tiny traces of … indicate the presence of humans in the container.

5. Read the following text. Choose the sentences covering the main idea of the text.

Ferreting out Contraband

Smuggling – whether goods or people – is a growing problem.

While a variety of technologies is available, the screening systems are external, typically bulky, expensive and require ultra high sensitivity as the sensor is remote from the cargo. Further investigation requires either time consuming unpacking of the cargo orthe need for staff to enter the container, putting them at risk of potential contamination. There is, therefore, an urgent need for an alternative solution that overcomes the shortcomings of current techniques of detecting cargoes. X-rays and similar scanners produce images that can often be difficult to interpret – not to mention the dangers of working with radiation. Similarly, sniffer dogs have to be trained to search for a specific item – whether it is drugs, explosives or humans – and they can only work in half hour shifts before they get tired.

The solution is the Cargo Ferret. The device, which will be capable of detecting drugs, weapons and illegal immigrants hidden in cargo containers, is being developed as part of a £732,000 project, which began in October 2008 in the UK.

The three year research project will result in what its developers say is the world’s first screening device able to pinpoint all kinds of illicit substances and the first designed to operate inside standard freight containers.

The Ferret will reduce the need for customs and security officials to enter or unpack freight containers. Suitable for use at seaports and airports, the Ferret is equipped with a suite of sensors that is more comprehensive and more sensitive than any currently employed in conventional cargo scanners.

By combining two different types of sensor – laser and fibre optic based – the Ferret will lead to confidence in detection improving considerably.

The sensors are small enough to be carried on the robot and can detect specific “fingerprints” of illegal substances at much lower concentrations than currently possible. When placed inside a steel freight container, the ferret will attach itself magnetically to the top, then automatically move around searching for contraband, while sending a stream of information back to the controller.

There’s a better chance of detection if the sensors are inside a lorry. It improves detection rates and minimises false alarms – which is a huge problem. The act of emptying a lorry and finding nothing wastes a great deal of time.

By focusing on new sensor technologies, Dr Dodd and his team have made huge advancements in terms of miniaturisation and improving the capabilities of the sensors. The sensors developed are targeted to match the sensitivity of dogs in detecting substances problems of distraction, confusion, with a much longer on duty time, due to the sensor’s inanimate nature.

The core component of the sensor device, however, is the specific sensor material design, which is required to be able to interact with specific drugs and in the meantime to produce corresponding output signals – for example, fluorescent or spectroscopic signal variations in relation to the presence and the concentration of the drugs present.

Due to the advantageous nature of an optical fibre, both in terms of thewave guiding and of sensing, the sensor device created will be compact, low power and lightweight to be best tailored to use in field.

Fibre optic and laser properties vary greatly, depending on the presence of different items. In many ways, the approach is similar to fingerprinting. The sensors can detect extremely low concentrations of illegal substances and have the ability to locate multiple items. They transmit peak signals which correspond to particular substances.

Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal industry in the world. Equipped with magnetic wheels, the Ferret can not only attach itself to the ceiling, but can also dangle sensors deep into the container. These can then detect tiny traces of carbon dioxide, which indicate the presence of humans in the container.

UK researchers are designing the Cargo Ferret to be as user friendly as possible, so UK border agents will require only minimal training and the process of detection will be as quick and efficient as possible. The scientists predict that the Ferret will be ready for testing within two years, with potential deployment within five years.

6. Read the following statements and say whether they are true or false. Correct the false ones.

1. Nowadays smuggling is not a problem at all.

2. The screening systems available are typically bulky, high-priced and require ultra high sensitivity.

3. UK researchers are developing a robot which is able to screen cargo at border controls far more accurately than traditional methods.

4. The Ferret will increase the need for customs and security officials to enter or unpack freight containers.

5. The Cargo Ferret is equipped with only one type of sensor – fibre optic based.

6. The sensors can detect extremely low concentrations of illegal substances.

7. The Ferret can’t indicate the presence of humans in a container.

8. UK border agents will require thorough training before using the Ferret.

7. Express your attitude to the importance of developing new technologies in the field of border controls.

8. Using the information from the text speak about the advantages of the Cargo Ferret.

9. Make an outline of the text.

10. Make a short summary of the text in written form using your outline.

Part B

11. Look at the title. Make your predictions about the contents of the text.

12. Read the text and write out key words and phrases revealing the contents of the text.

13. Find the paragraphs in the text which describes an alternative way to process information.

Spintronics Technology May Cool the Laptop

Does your laptop sometimes get so hot that it can almost be used to fry eggs? New technology may help cool it and give information technology a unique twist, says Jairo Sinova, a professor of physics from Texas University. Sinova and colleagues from Hitachi Cambridge Laboratory, University of Cambridge and University of Nottingham have had their research published in the renowned journal Nature Physics.

Laptops are getting increasingly powerful, but as their sizes are getting smaller they are heating up, so how to deal with excessive heat becomes a headache. The crux of the problem is the way information is processed. Laptops and some other devices use flows of electric charge to process information, but they also produce heat. Theoretically, excessive heat may melt the laptop. This also wastes a considerable amount of energy. Is there a solution?

One approach may be found in Sinova’s research ‑ an alternative way to process information. The research looks at the spin of electrons, tiny particles that naked eyes cannot detect. The directions they spin can be used to record and process information. To process information, it is necessary to create information, transmit the information and read the information. How these are done is the big question. The device the researchers designed injects the electrons with spin pointing in a particular direction according to the information the scientists want to process, and then they transmit the electrons to another place in the device but with the spin still surviving, and finally the researchers are able to measure the spin direction via a voltage that they produce.

The biggest challenge to creating a spin-based device is the distance that the spins will survive in a particular direction. Transmission is no problem. You can think for comparison that if the old devices could only transmit the information to several hundred feet away, with the new device, information can be easily transmitted to hundreds of miles away. It is very efficient.

Talking about its practical application, Sinova is very optimistic. This new device, as the only all-semiconductor spin-based device for possible information processing, has a lot of real practical potential. One huge thing is that it is operational at room temperature, which nobody has been able to achieve until now. It may bring in a new and much more efficient way to process information.

14. Ask questions to the text making an outline of it.

15. Express your attitude to the facts given in the text. You may use the following phrases:

- it is full of interesting information…

- I find the text rather/ very cognitive…

- I've learnt a lot…

- I don't agree with it…

16. Say which facts presented in the text you've already been familiar with.

17. Give your point of view on possibility of using presented in the text information in your future profession.

Part C

18. Look through the following text, define the information presented in it and entitle the text.

Text C

As opposed to traditional electronics, which uses the charge of the electron, spintronics uses the electron’s “spin” and manipulates the spin orientation. An electron’s sense of rotation is represented by a spin that either points up or down. In magnetic material the spin orientation of the electron can be used to store information to a semiconductor, so that the information stored can be processed in spin-based electronic components.

The use of spintronics technology could revolutionize the electronics and computing industries by making it possible to store vast amounts of data in much smaller devices than is currently possible.

The development of a silicon-based device that works at room temperature is a breakthrough for two reasons: first, silicon is the prevalent material in modern electronics production; and second, until now scientists have only been able to demonstrate control of electron spin at low temperatures that are not everyday use.

The demonstration of information exchange between a magnetic material and a semiconductor at room temperature is a positive step in the development of spintronics technology. If the new technology takes off it would mean huge energy savings because reversing the “electronic spin” would require less power than the normal electronic charge.

19. Say where the information presented in the text can be used.

20. Prove that spintronics could mean big energy savings.

Unit VIII

Integrated circuits

Word List

Part A

1. Translate the following words which may have some similarity with the words in Russian but often differ in meaning.

Integration, component, diffusion, silicon, principal, miniature, demonstrate, control, application, scale, technique, chip, production, commercial, initiate, communication, manufacture, filter, typical, process, oxygen, solvent, mask, accurate, implant, deposit, separate, precision.

2. Read the following words in each line and define their part of speech. Translate the words into Russian:

1) integrate, integration, integrator;

2) process, processor, procession;

3) produce, production, producer, productive, product;

4) solve, solution, solvent, soluble, insoluble;

5) apply, application, applicable, appliance;

6) dope, dopant, doping;

7) control, controller, controllable;

8) identify, identity, identification;

9) separate, separation, separable;

10) react, reaction, reactive, reactor;

11) vapor, vaporize, vaporization;

12) ion, ionize, ionization;

13) oxide, oxidation, oxidizer;

14) pure, purify, purification, purity, impurity.

3. Match the following terms with their definitions.

4. Translate the following sentences paying attention to the words in bold type.

1. The mask is removed and portions of the photoresist are dissolved.

2. The uncovered areas are then either chemically etched to open up a layer or are subjected to chemical doping to create a layer of P or N regions.

3. The dopant is deposited on the hot surfaces left exposed by the masking process.

4. This is done through a process known as chemical vapor deposition.

5. A thin, round wafer of silicon is cut off the ingot using a precise cutting machine called a wafer slicer.

6. A drop of photoresist material is placed in the center of the silicon wafer, and the wafer is spun rapidly to distribute the photoresist over the entire surface.

7. The ions penetrate the wafer and remain implanted.

8. The process of masking and etching or doping is repeated for each successive layer depending on the doping process used until all of the integrated circuit chips are complete.

9. The hundreds of individual chips are separated with a fine diamond cutter.

10. The completed integrated circuits are sealed in anti-static plastic bags to be stored or shipped to the end user.

5. Complete the following sentences filling in one of the words given below:

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