Readable Science Books - Unit 12

C2 Proficiency · Word Formation · Objective Proficiency 2nd Edition Workbook, Cambridge University Press

For questions 1–8, read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of some of the lines to form a word that fits in the gap in the same line. There is an example at the beginning.

PASSION

COMPLEX

LITERATE

EXPECT

EXAMPLE

COMPROMISE

COMPREHEND

INITIATE

Just how (0) ___ should a popular science book be? This may seem an odd question, but there is an important issue at stake here. This was made clear at the Aventis Science Book Awards, when jury chairman Lewis Wolpert (1) ___ espoused the cause for making the genre more demanding of readers. The biologist believes too many science writers are now running scared of (2) ___ . As he points out, the public does not expect great (3) ___ figures like James Joyce or T.S. Eliot to be easy to follow. Indeed, readers positively relish their intricate styles. So why then do we not have such (4) ___ of science writers? Wolpert's belief is (5) ___ by his jury's choice of winner – Brian Greene's long, dense and extremely technical The Elegant Universe, a singularly (6) ___ treatise on cosmology. But how far should one go down this route? Although elegantly written, the book is so dense and opaque that it pushes the notion of popular science writing close to the precipice of (7) ___ and leaves one fearful that it will only daunt, rather than attract, the (8) ___ .

Readable Science Books

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Available as a free printable PDF worksheet with an optional answer key.

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