Science and Technology
Concetti chiave
Science-and-technology passages test vocabulary, inference, and the ability to distinguish process from result. Know terms such as ricerca (research), sperimentazione, scoperta, invenzione, sviluppo, brevetto, energia rinnovabile, inquinamento, salute pubblica, privacy, intelligenza artificiale, and sicurezza informatica. Familiar figures include Galileo (observation and the scientific method), Volta (battery), Meucci and Marconi (telephone and radio), Fermi (nuclear chain reaction), and Levi-Montalcini (nerve growth factor). Recognize impersonal constructions (si è scoperto, è stato dimostrato) and passive voice, which often hide the agent.
Trappole
Separate discovery from invention: scoprire is finding something that exists; inventare is creating something new. Do not credit Marconi with the telephone or Meucci with radio. Watch quantitative language: è aumentato del 10% differs from è aumentato di 10 punti percentuali, and entro means by a deadline, not within in every context. Modal verbs and conditionals signal hypothesis or obligation, so potrebbe is not deve. Avoid treating a correlation in a study as proof of cause.
Esempio guidato
A text says: “La ricerca è stata condotta su 200 studenti; il 60% ha dichiarato di usare i social più di tre ore al giorno.” The question asks what can be concluded. Correct: the study reports a self-declared habit in that sample. Incorrect: all Italian students use social media excessively. Rule of thumb: identify sample, agent, and verb type before choosing an answer; ha dichiarato marks self-report, not measured fact.