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I семестр

Text 1 ENGINEERING

Words for translation

civil engineering	_______________	гражданское строительство
mechanical engineering	_______________	машиностроение
a number of	_______________	ряд
to become (to be) interesting in	_______________	заинтересоваться чем-либо
to occupy	_______________	занимать (место, положение)
nuclear engineering	_______________	ядерная техника
space engineering	_______________	космическая техника
to comprise v	_______________	охватывать
to be concerned with	_______________	быть связанным с чем-либо
to govern v	_______________	управлять
minute adj	_______________	мелкий, маленький

 

Engineering is a science which deals with design, construction and operation of structures, machines, engines and other devices used in industry and everyday life. There is no single meaning of this word. Sometimes it is difficult to find the proper Russian equivalents at once. The most widely used are: техника, строительство, машиностроение, инженерное дело.

The term “engineering” is a modern one However, the art of building houses, palaces, pyramids and other structures was known many thousand years ago. Now we call it “civil engineering”. As time went on ¹, the art of civil engineering was enriched with new achievements of science. Nowadays, it is an important branch of national economy.

The invention of steam engine and a growth of factories laid the foundation for mechanical engineering. A number of civil engineers become interested in the practical application of the science of mechanics and thermodynamics to the design of machines. The result was that they called themselves “mechanical engineers”. At present mechanical engineering occupies a prominent position among modern production processes. It deals with the design and construction of steam engines, turbines and refrigeration devices. Machine-tools for various operations are also designed by mechanical engineers.

With the development of the science of electricity, there appeared ² another branch of engineering – electrical engineering. Now electrical engineering is divided into two main branches: communication engineering and power engineering. The former deals with minute quantities of electricity which are used for all kinds of communications, the latter ³ – with the means for producing power. Thus, the electrical

engineer is the one that designs radio, television and telephone equipment. The power

engineer designs generators, switches, transformers, etc.

In the middle of the 20th century there appeared other new branches of engineering – nuclear engineering and space engineering. And, of course, it is impos-sible to speak of present-day engineering without mentioning chemical engineering.

At present there are hundreds of subdivisions of engineering, but they all, at one time or another, branched from civil, mechanical, electrical or chemical engineering.

To become a good engineer you should study many complex and interesting subjects.

Mathematics is a science of space and quantity. It comprises several large branches such as arithmetic and algebra.

Arithmetic deals with numbers and numerical calculations.

Algebra goes beyond arithmetic by greatly extending the symbolism. In particular, algebra utilizes letters for unknown, or specified, numbers. A large part of algebra is the theory of equations. It includes systematic studies of equations of the first, second, third and forth degrees in one unknown.

Geometry is a vast field of mathematics with many subdivisions. The basic elements of geometry are points, lines and planes. Descriptive geometry is concerned with representing three dimensions on a flat surface so that each part is accurately represented.

Physics is the systematic study of natural phenomena to discover the basic laws governing them. Traditionally physics is divided into several major topics, namely, mechanics, heat, optics, electricity and magnetism, atomic and nuclear physics.

Mechanics is the oldest branch of physics, dealing with the state of rest or motion of particles and rigid bodies. The subject has three mean branches: statics, dynamics and fluid mechanics.

Примечания: 1 as time went on – с течением времени

2 there appeared – появилась

3 the formed … the latter – первый (из двух упомянутых) …, последний … (из двух упомянутых)

Words to be learnt

to deal with v	________________	иметь дело с
to design v	________________	проектировать, конструировать
device n	________________	прибор, механизм, устройство
to use v	________________	использовать
achievement n	________________	достижение
science n	________________	наука
important adj	________________	важный
branch n	________________	отрасль
invention n	________________	изобретение
to apply v	________________	применять
production n	________________	производство
machine-tool n	________________	станок
development n	________________	развитие
means n	________________	средство, способ
power n	________________	энергия. мощность
to study v	________________	изучать
to utilize v	________________	использовать
dimension n	________________	измерение
to include v	________________	включать
to divide v	________________	делить