Unit 10 · Workbook

10A. Science fact, science fiction — Workbook

Extra practice for home study · with answer keys

Apex English← Back to contents
A student's desk with a science notebook full of word families, a small model rocket and a laptop showing a nebula wallpaper

How to use this workbook

  • Try each exercise on paper first — don't peek!
  • Tap Show answer on a single item, or use the big button above to reveal everything.
  • Re-do anything you got wrong the next day.

1. Vocabulary — science word families

Choose the word that fits best.

  1. Marie Curie is famous for her ___ of two new elements.

  2. The lab has published a series of ___ papers this year.

  3. Every ___ in the field respects her theoretical work.

  4. The results are still ___; we need more data.

  5. Alan Turing was one of the great ___ of the 20th century.

  6. This is genuinely ___ research — it will change the field.

2. Vocabulary — gap-fill (science verbs & nouns)

Complete each sentence with ONE word from the box (no changes).

Word bank — drag or tap, then tap a gap
  1. The paper has been  drop  by three independent scientists.
  2. SpaceX will  drop  the satellite from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday.
  3. Nobody knows if it works yet — the clinical  drop  starts in June.
  4. So far there is no  drop  for the disease, only treatments.
  5. Her  drop  was simple: sleep improves memory. She then spent ten years proving it.
  6. The vaccine was  drop  in just eleven months.

3. Grammar — pick the right quantifier

Choose ALL, EVERY, EACH, BOTH, EITHER, NEITHER, NONE or NO.

  1. ___ scientist in the lab has a different specialism.

  2. ___ of the two theories has really been proved.

  3. There are only two candidates and ___ of them is qualified.

  4. ___ (of) the results were ready by Friday.

  5. ___ of the ten trials has produced a positive result.

  6. There's ___ time to run another test before the deadline.

  7. The two studies agree — ___ show the same effect.

  8. ___ prediction Clarke made about screens turned out to be right.

4. Grammar — spot & fix the mistake

Each sentence has ONE mistake. Rewrite it correctly.

  1. Every scientists in the room agreed.

  2. All the information are on the website.

  3. Neither of the two theories are correct.

  4. I don't have no funding for this project.

  5. Both of experiments failed.

  6. Most of scientists agree on climate change.

  7. None of the results was a surprise.

  8. Each of the astronauts have their own capsule.

5. Word building — form the noun / adjective / verb

Write the correct form of the word in CAPS.

  1. SCIENCE → adjective: 'It is a ___ fact, not an opinion.'

  2. TECHNOLOGY → adjective: 'A ___ breakthrough.'

  3. DISCOVER → noun (person): 'The ___ of penicillin was Alexander Fleming.'

  4. INVENT → adjective: 'Edison was a very ___ engineer.'

  5. ANALYSE → noun (thing): 'The final ___ took six weeks.'

  6. PROVE → noun: 'There is no ___ that the theory is correct.'

  7. EXPLORE → adjective: 'The study was purely ___.'

  8. COMMUNICATE → adjective: 'She's a very ___ speaker.'

6. Reading — true / false / not given

Read the short text and mark each statement T, F or NG.

In 1961, President Kennedy promised that the United States would put a man on the Moon before the end of the decade. Most experts thought the timeline was ridiculous. All the technology needed to reach the Moon still had to be invented — new rockets, new life-support systems, new computers small enough to fit in a spacecraft. Neither the private companies nor the universities of the time were ready for a project on that scale. And yet, on 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped onto the lunar surface, and by 1972 twelve Americans in total had walked there. None of the six missions ended in disaster in space, although Apollo 13 came dangerously close. Since then, no human being has returned to the Moon. New missions are planned for the late 2020s, but none has yet launched.

  1. Most experts in 1961 thought Kennedy's timeline was realistic.T  /  F  /  NG
  2. New computers had to be developed for the missions.T  /  F  /  NG
  3. Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the Moon.T  /  F  /  NG
  4. Exactly six missions successfully reached the Moon.T  /  F  /  NG
  5. Apollo 13 astronauts died in space.T  /  F  /  NG
  6. The name of the first woman to walk on the Moon is mentioned.T  /  F  /  NG

7. Writing — a prediction essay for 2050 (120–150 words)

Write a short prediction essay. Paragraph 1: what WILL have happened by 2050. Paragraph 2: what will NOT have happened. Use at least THREE quantifiers, TWO word-family items, and ONE 'either / neither' structure.

Check your writing

  • 120–150 words
  • 3+ quantifiers (every / all / most / none / neither…)
  • 2+ word-family items (discovery, groundbreaking, technological, scientist…)
  • 1 'either / neither' structure
  • Two paragraphs: WILL happen · will NOT happen

8. Listening — 'the science-podcast bonus round'

Read the transcript (audio coming soon — two clearly different voices, no name-introductions). Answer the questions.

🎧 Podcast host (Voice A) and guest neuroscientist (Voice B)
📄 Full script

A: OK, bonus round. One brain-science prediction from 20 years ago that came true, one that didn't. Go.

B: Came true: brain implants that let a paralysed person type just by thinking. Twenty years ago that was pure science fiction. Every serious neurologist I knew said 'not in our lifetime'. Now three separate companies have working prototypes in actual patients.

A: Every neurologist said no?

B: Well — most of them. There were a few believers. But none of us thought it would come this fast.

A: And the one that didn't come true?

B: The 'brain-in-a-jar' idea. Uploading your consciousness to a computer. All the popular sci-fi from the nineties promised us we would be doing this by 2020. We are absolutely not. We don't even know what consciousness IS yet, let alone how to move it. Neither the biology nor the physics is even close.

A: So — safe prediction for the next twenty years?

B: Every year, brain-computer interfaces will get better. Most of them will be for medical use — paralysis, epilepsy, blindness. None of them will let you download French overnight. Both the hype and the fear are usually a decade ahead of the reality.

A: And the wild card?

B: A drug that safely, cleanly slows human ageing. Not one big breakthrough — a hundred small ones. That's where I'm putting my money.

  1. Which prediction came true, according to the neuroscientist?
  2. How many companies now have working prototypes?
  3. Which sci-fi prediction has NOT come true?
  4. Why hasn't consciousness upload happened?
  5. What kind of brain-computer interfaces will DOMINATE the next 20 years?
  6. What is the guest's wild-card prediction?

9. 🔥 Challenge — sentence transformation

Rewrite each sentence using the WORD in brackets, keeping the meaning.

  1. 1. 'Not one of the ten trials was successful.' → ___ of the ten trials ___ successful. (NONE)

  2. 2. 'The two theories are equally interesting.' → ___ theories ___ equally interesting. (BOTH)

  3. 3. 'Considered one by one, the astronauts are experts.' → ___ astronaut ___ an expert. (EACH)

  4. 4. 'The majority of experts agree.' → ___ experts ___. (MOST)

  5. 5. '100% of the data supports the theory.' → ___ the data ___ the theory. (ALL)

  6. 6. 'Not this option, and not that one either.' → ___ option ___ acceptable. (NEITHER)

10. 🔥 Challenge — where's the stress?

Choose the correct stress pattern. Then reveal the answer.

  1. science → scientific

  2. photograph → photographer

  3. discover → discovery

  4. analyse → analysis

  5. technology → technological

  6. economy → economical

11. Self-check

Tick what you can now do confidently.

  • I use EVERY / EACH with a singular verb.
  • I use ALL / BOTH / MOST / NONE (usually) with a plural verb.
  • I know that NEITHER is formally singular but plural in casual speech.
  • I never say 'I don't have no time' — I say 'I have NO time' or 'I don't have ANY time'.
  • I can build a full science word family: discover → discovery → discoverer → discovered.
  • I know that -ION and -ITY pull the stress ONE syllable back.