S31) Numbers and shapes aie Anyone who works with any branch of science or technology needs to be able to talk about figures. Notice how the following are said in English, 28% twenty-eight per cent 10mx12m_ ten metres by twelve metres 10.3 ten point three V5 one and two thirds % four ninths % nine thirteenths o nine over thirteen 4 four squared 7 seven cubed 84 eight to the power of four 32° Cor F thirty-two degrees centigrade/celsius or fahrenheit 1,623,457 one million, six hundred and twenty-three thousand, four hundred and fifty- B All scientists and technologists also need to be able to talk about shapes. Note the names of mime the shapes below. Two-dimensional shapes (~) A rectangle has four right angles. AA circle is cut in half by its diameter. Ies two halves can be called semi-circles. ‘The radius of a circle is the distance from its centre to the circumference. Three-dimensional shapes C3 | od a. A pyramid ©. The two halves of a sphere can be called hemispheres. rectangle al Here are the four basic processes of arithmetic. —a, + addition — subtraction x multiplication — + division Notice how these formulae would be read aloud. 32 Two x plus three y minus z equals three z divided by four x. or Devine = 3E Two x plus three y minus 29 34" Fz Three ¢over four = 6% 7=42 Six times seven is forty two. or Six sevens are forty two. 102 English Vocabulary in Usesul 51.3 SiS Exercises How numerate are you? Try this numbers quiz. Name the first four odd numbers. Name the first four even numbers. ‘Name the first four prime numbers. Give an example of a decimal fraction. Give an example of a vulgar fraction. How do you read this formula and what does it represent: How do you read this and what does it represent: 2xr? mc? Nauaune ‘Write the following in words rather than in figures or symbols. 1 2% of the British population owned 90% of the country’s wealth in 1992. 20°C =32°F 362.3% of adults have false teeth. 4 Ka hex a= 14K, 5 2,769,425 people live here. Look at the figures in B opposite. What is the adjective relating to each of the shapes illustrated? Use a dictionary if necessary. Read the following records aloud. Oxygen accounts for 46.6% of the earth's crust. ‘The nearest star to earth is Proxima Centauri. It is 33,923,310,000,000 km from earth. The highest waterfall in the world is Angel Falls in Venezuela with a drop of 979 m. ‘The top coffee-drinking country in the world is Finland where 1,892 cups per annum are consumed per head of the population. ‘The tallest church in the world is the Chicago Methodist Temple which is 173 m or 568 ft high. 6 The commonest item of lost property on London transport is the umbrella. 23,250 umbrellas were handed in to London transport lost property offices in 1987/8. 7 The country with the most telephones in the world is Monaco. it has 733 telephones per 1,000 population. 8 The smallest country in the world is the Vatican City with an area of 0.4 sq km. Aone Draw the following figures. 1A right-angled triangle with two equal sides of about two centimetres in length. Draw a small circle at the centre of the triangle and then draw lines from the centre of the circle to each of the angles of the triangle 2A rectangle with diagonal lines joining opposite angles. 3 An octagon with equal sides. Draw an oval in the middle of the octagon 4A three-dimensional rectangular shape of roughly 6 cm by 3 cm by 2 cm. Englah Vocobulory in Use 103