II. Read and try to understand the text. Give detailed answers to the questions given below.

The lightning flash is certainly the earliest manifestation of electricity known to man, although for a long time nobody knew that lightning and atmospheric electricity are one and the same thing. Indeed, for the thousands of years people knew nothing about thunderstorms. However, they saw long sparks falling down from the dark sky and heard thunder. They knew that these sparks could kill people or strike their houses and destroy them. Trying to understand that dangerous phenomenon, they imagined things and invented numerous stories.

Take the early Scandinavians as an example. They thought that thunderstorms were produced by Thor, the god of thunder. Besides his throwing both thunders and lightning at some people, he was hammer-thrower. According to the story, his powerful hammer had the property of always coming back to his hands after it had been thrown. The fifth day of the week, that is Thursday (Torsdag – норв. – четверг), was named after him. A story like that invented by those early Scandinavians could also be heard from other peoples.

However, time flies. Thunderstorms have long stopped being a problem that scientists tried to solve. Now everybody knows that lightning is a very great flash of light resulting from discharge of atmospheric electricity either between a charged cloud and the earth or between charged clouds.

Even now some people do not like being out during a thunderstorm. Dark clouds cover the sky, turning day into night. There are lightning flashes followed by thunder which can be heard for kilometers around. Needless to say, there is always some danger in thunderstorm for a very high building or a man standing in the open field.

Many years ago people learned to protect their houses from thunderstorms. Coming down from a charged cloud to the earth, lightning usually strikes the nearest conductor. Therefore, it is necessary to provide an easy path along which electrons are conducted to the earth. That Benjamin Franklin invented the lightning conductor is a well-known fact. The lightning conductor, familiar to everybody at present, is a metal device protecting buildings from strokes of lightning by conducting the electrical charges to the earth.

Franklin's achievements in the field of electricity were known to Lomonosov who, in his turn, made experiments of his own. Along with other scientific problems that Lomonosov studied was that of atmospheric electricity. Both Lomonosov and his friend Professor Rihman took great interest in it. Both of them tried to solve the problem in question. They made numerous experiments and observations without thinking of possible danger. The first electrical measuring device in the world was constructed by Rihman. Making experiments of that kind was dangerous and Professor Rihman was killed by
a stroke of lightning while he was making one of his experiments.

III. Give detailed answers to the following questions:

1. What did early people think of lightning?

2. What idea did early Scandinavians have about thunderstorms?

3. Whom was Thursday named after?

4. What is the nature of lightning?

5. Is it dangerous being outside during thunderstorms? Why?

6. Who invented а lightning conductor?

7. How does it work?

8. What Russian scientist developed Franklin's achievements?

9. Who invented the first electrical measuring device in the world?

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1304