Complete the sentences with the words below. Explain the function of each device.

  The magnetic resonance imaging current limiters squid magnetometers filter(s)

 

1 __________ ________ enable very accurate measurement of magnetic field.

2 Superconducting circuits can be built so as to efficiently protect an electrical plant from supply accidents (high voltage, short-circuit). These _______ _________ react very quickly, guarantee an optimum protection of the plant and automatically reset when the accident is over.

3 _________ ________ __________ devices that have become mainstays of modern diagnostic medicine have been the best-known important practical application of the advances in superconductivity made in the second half of the 20^th century.

4 A _________ is an electronic circuit that selects some frequencies and blocks all the others. This kind of circuit is used in radio sets, for instance, to select the radio station we want to listen to. _________made of superconducting materials are more efficient than regular _______. They are used in relay antennas for cell phones and enable to pick up a signal at further distances from the antenna, hence increasing the range of the antenna.

These ___________ could also be used in telecommunication satellites.

Complete the table.                                            

WORD FAMILY define

 

Nouns ____________          Adjectives ___________        Adverbs ___________

                                                                    ____________                      ___________

Verbs   ____________                              ____________

                                                                                        

 REVIEW 1-4

1 Complete the text. Use the words below.

 

devices superconductivity transformers cost-effective innovations transmission circuits

 

Technological applications of superconductivity

 

Some technological ________ benefiting from the discovery of __________ include sensitive magnetometers, digital circuits, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, beam-steering magnets in particle accelerators, electric power _______ cables and microwave filters (e.g for mobile phone base stations).

Promising future industrial and commercial applications include _________, power storage, propulsion systems for vehicles such ships and spacecraft, electric motors, super fast computer _________ and magnetic levitation __________. Most applications employ the well-understood conventional superconductors, but it is expected that high-temperature superconductors will soon become more __________ in many cases.

 

Use the prompts to complete the sentences.

1 Floating Maglev trains would be much more practical if superconductors / work / high / temperature.

2 In theory, high-temperature superconductors could improve all existing electronics.

By replacing copper with superconductors / energy / waste / useless / heat /

3 Accelerators guide particles and accelerate them using / magnetic / field / strong

4 Materials exhibiting superconductivity basically allow for the passing of electrical current through them without opposing / resistance / electrons / flow

5 Until the discovery of high –temperature superconductors, the use of superconductors required …  (rare and expensive) or … (very explosive)

6 If superconductors with critical temperature above room temperature are ever found, technology/drastically/alter.                                                  

 

Read the quotation and comment on it.

 

“ It doesn’t matter whether you can or cannot achieve high temperature superconductivity or fuel cells, they will always be on the list because if you could achieve them they would be extremely valuable”                                                                                                      Martin Fleishmann

Work in pairs and take turns.

Student A: close your book

Student B: look at the words below ask your partner to write them down. Then check the spellings.

 

Essential vocabulary

assume v                density n               resistance n                               

below adv              finally adv            resistivity n

benefit n                insulator n             satisfactory a

boil v                    introduce v            suddenly adv

cool v                     lack v                    sufficiently adv

continue v             likely adv              superconductor n

current n                lose v                     superconductivity n   

discover v              pass v                     wire

Exercise 4

Student B:

1 One of the biggest successes in the recent past is the production of a flexible yttrium-barium-copper-oxide tape, created in April 1995

 

2 Electricity has become an essential energy source in our modern life. However, today’s power cables can carry only limited currents otherwise they would heat and melt. A network o f s uperconducting power cables would solve this problem because 1000 times more electric current can flow through them: smaller cables with more current

 

3 Superconductors can also be used to make a device known as s uperconducting q uantum i nterference d evice (SQUID). This is incredibly sensitive to small magnetic fields so that it can detect __________(What?). For comparison, the Earth’s magnetic field is about 10 -4 Tesla. As a result, SQUIDs are used in medical diagnostics on the brain.

 

4 A use of large and powerful superconducting electromagnets is in a possible future energy source known as nuclear fusion. ___________(What?) is currently being built in the south of France that will use large superconducting magnets and is due for completion in _______(When?) It is expected that this will demonstrate energy production using nuclear fusion.