Текст, упражнения и аудио "What's in the number?"

What’s in the number?

Text (+ Audio)

What’s in the number?

We live in a world whose formation is governed by numbers, fractions and equations. Indeed, the great scientist Galileo Galilei observed that “the entire universe is written in the language of mathematics”. Wherever we turn, mathematics provides the key to unlocking elementary secrets of the natural world and human society. Architecture, computing, finance, medicine, the list could go on and on. Music is an even more obvious example, and it deserves a place at the very top of this list. Behind the way in which pitch, tone and rhythm combine in harmony, to create graceful sounds, lie the solid and inevitable rules of mathematics. Indeed, it could be argued that music is mathematics.

These theoretical rules are universal, but the way in which numbers are perceived may vary from one country to another. In a study published in 2006, Japanese professor of economics, Yutaka Nishiyama, suggests that Eastern cultures prefer odd numbers, whereas since the time of Newton the West has preferred the “rationality” of even numbers, which seem to be more complete. As evidence he quotes the English saying “Two heads are better than one”, whereas the respective saying in Japanese says that “Three heads are better than two”. Another English saying claims that “Two’s company, but three’s a crowd”.

This odd-even number divide is partly borne out in the range of numbers considered to be “lucky” or “unlucky” in different cultures. For example, 13 is unlucky in most Western countries, while nine is a lucky number in China. Hence, in the US you can find hotels without a room number 13, and in China you see the doors on historic palaces with circular wooden decorations arranged in groups of nine.

But things aren’t as simple as the Japanese research suggests. For example, in Chinese culture six and eight are also considered lucky, and the Chinese have a saying which says “All god things come in pairs”, which reflect the English sayings. And when we travel through Europe we travel through Europe we find that 13 isn’t unlucky in every country. In Italy, it is the number 17 – because in Roman numbers the number 17 (XVII) can be arranged differently to look like a word found on Roman graves (VIXI). So what’s in the number? Whatever you choose to see in it, it seems.

Exercises

1. Read the passage and answer the questions.

1) What did Galileo Galilei say about the universe?

2) What have music and architecture got in common?

3) Who is Yutaka Nishiyama?

4) Why does he believe the West has a preference for even numbers?

5) Why don’t some hotels in the US have a room number 13?

6) Why is the number 17 unlucky in Italy?

2. Work in pairs and discuss the questions.

1) Do you know any Russian saying about numbers?

2) Which numbers are lucky for you, and why?

3) Which numbers are unlucky, and why?

4) What do you know about the history of mathematics?

5) How important is mathematics in modern education today?

Краткое описание документа:

Архив содержит текст "What's in the number", упражнения к нему, а также аудио-файл высокого качества (прочитанный текст) для проведения аудирования.

Данный материал может быть использован в рамках изучения тем, рассматривающих важность математики для технического и культурного прогресса. Кроме того, текст содержит лингвострановедческую информацию об отношении к разным числам в различных культурах, что также позволяет использовать его на уроках английского языка в старших классах средней общеобразовательной школы, а также на занятиях по английскому языку в высших и средних учебных заведениях.