1. Public transport in Hong Kong is cheap, but in London it is...
2. Paris has the Metro railway below ground and a large bus system...
3. People should... and finish work at different time to reduce peak hour traffic jams.
4. City administration try to encourage people to use... transport, not private cars in the city center.
5. An electronic device can record the absence or... of any person at the office.
6. The public transport available in Baltimore is very poor, while in Sidney it is...
E. Найдите в тексте А независимый причастный оборот. Переведите.
Упражнение 6. Заполните пропуски следующими словами:
reduce transportation advantage car per traffic public transport source study average routes increase symbol atmosphere number motor vehicle reduction solve
The private (1)... has dramatically improved the comfort, speed and individual freedom of movement. The automobile has become a status (2)... The car brought people much closer to places of work, (3)... and entertainment.
However, the use of private cars can also be a (4)... of many most serious problems today. The car is a disadvantage as well as an (5)... It pollutes the (6)..., may be involved in dangerous accidents, and by its very numbers blocks roads and chokes (душить) cities. In New York City, 2.5 million cars move in and out of the city each day. In this (7)..., the average speed is sometimes 8.1 miles (8)... hour. This speed could easily be reached by riding a horse instead of driving a (9)... But New Yorkers continue to drive, just as people in London where the (10)... speed in certain particularly overcrowded (11)... is only 2 miles per hour. Most people believe that the car is a necessary part of life in today's world. Car owners usually do not consider other methods of public (12)... such as bus, train or bicycle.
The only way to (13)... these problems is to reduce the use of private cars. How can we do it? We may (14)... access to parking spaces in the cities and simultaneously (15)... the quality and availability of public transport. Cars could not be permitted in certain parts of the city, thus making people walk and use (16)... The cost of buying and running a car can be increased with a corresponding (17)... in the price of public transport. The reduced (18)... of cars on the roads means less pollution.
Упражнение 7. Назовите прилагательные с окончанием -able/-ible, означающие:
that can be moved that can be used or obtained
that can be reached that can provide comfort
that can be managed that may be permitted
that can be solved that can be changed for new needs
Упражнение 8. Заполните таблицу на словообразование.
| Verb | Noun | Person | Adjective |
| compete | • • • | • • • | ... |
| action | • • • | ||
| ... | transporter | ... | |
| ... | ... | • • • | productive |
| assemble | ... | • • • | — |
| • • • | manufacture | — | |
| found | • • • | • • • | — |
| • • • | drive | • • • | — |
| • • • | • • • | — | reducible |
| ... | ... | ... | indicative |
Упражнение 9. А. Назовите 15—20 ключевых слов и словосочетаний на тему «Road transport».
В. Speak about:
1. The current public transport problems in your city or town, its safety, speed and comfort.
2. The role and importance of a private car in your own life.
3. The changes in technology (manual assembly — mass assembly lines — robotics — computerized production).
4. Offer your own ideas on traffic management improvement in your area.
LESSON 8
Герундий Значения as и by Суффикс -ize (-ise) Префикс over- Text 8A. A New Era for Aircraft Text 8B. The Return of the Dirigibles Text 8C. Off the Ground: How do We Find Where We are Going?
Text 8D. New York
ПРЕДТЕКСТОВЫЕ УПРАЖНЕНИЯ
Упражнение 1. Найдите в предложениях герундий по его признакам, переведите.
1. On detecting danger on the road the computer signals the driver. 2. Detecting an object in front of a car in the dark is the purpose of the «night vision system». 3. One of the main problems of a driver on the road is keeping the speed constant and watching the cars ahead. 4. A new device for monitoring and adjusting air pressure in tires has recently been developed. 5. Before starting a car one must examine it carefully. 6. Computers are widely used for controlling all kinds of processes. 7. Alexander Bell's being a teacher of deaf people influenced his interest in sound and its transmission. 8. Samuel Morse's hobby was experimenting with electricity. 9. Driving a truck in the city is difficult.
Упражнение 2. Определите формы и функции герундия.
1. One of the best ways of keeping the speed steady is using a computer for this purpose. 2. Newton's having made a mistake in his calculations has no influence on his theory. 3. On being turned
on the radar will warn the driver of stationary or slow-moving objects on the road. 4. Upon being heated the molecules begin moving very rapidly. 5. The white line in the centre of the road is one of the most effective means of controlling traffic. 6. On graduating from the University S.P. Korolev began working in the field of rocket design. 7. The function of a car computer is detecting and summing up the information about the road conditions. 8. Monitoring and adjusting air pressure in tires is one of the new developments of the car designers. 9. It is difficult to solve some of the present-day scientific and technological problems without using supercomputers. 10. On seeing a red light on a panel and on hearing a warning sound the driver should decrease the speed. 11. By picking up infrared rays emitted by objects ahead of the car an image-processing system produces different images of objects. 12. On studying for half an hour before an exam one should switch over to some other activity.
Упражнение 3. Переведите предложения и запомните значения выделенных слов.
A. 1. When the first self-propelled vehicles appeared, measures
were taken to limit their speed in many countries. 2. His having
measured the distance will enable him to calculate the intensity of
light. 3. The universal system of measures and weights was worked
out by the French Academy of Science in 1791. 4. The distance
from the North Pole to the Equator was measured, one-fourth was
taken and divided into ten million equal parts. One of these parts
was called a «measure» or «a meter».
B. 1. One of the earliest ideas to propel a vehicle using mechan
ical power was suggested by Isaac Newton. 2. Having used a steam-
driven engine a French engineer built a three-wheeled vehicle for
two passengers. 3. At the end of the 19th century the use of cars was
still very limited. 4. Constant efforts are made to use standard com
ponents for the cars. 5. The use of multi-cylinder engines greatly
increased the speed of cars. 6. N. Otto having used the gasoline en
gine, motor cars got the standard shape and appearance.
C. 1. Many times Alexander Bell wanted to stop his experi
ments being unable to get any results. 2. Since ancient times people
dreamt of flying. 3. Four times five is equal to twenty. 4. There is
much more lithium on the earth than zinc, 130 times more than
cadmium. 5. The magnesium-lithium alloy is 1.5 times lighter than
aluminium and 4.5 times lighter than iron.
Упражнение 4. Переведите предложения и запомните различные значения as.
1. People no longer think of the radio and television as something fantastic. 2. It was necessary to lay cables across the Atlantic Ocean as there was no radio or satellites at that time. 3. Rocket launching, concerts, football and tennis matches can be seen on TV as they occur. 4. As the operation of integrated circuits depends on microscopic components, the purity of all materials at the plant must be very high. 5. One can see that there is no principal difference between iron and copper as conductors. 6. President T. Jefferson offered his personal library as the basis for the national library. 7. It is difficult for the first-year students to study at the institute as they do not know yet how to organize their work and time. 8. No system of the past was as simple as the metric system. 9. Such metals as iron, cobalt, and nickel are much more magnetic than any other known substances. 10. Cryogenic fuels such as liquid hydrogen are used to cool the aircraft surface. 11. Metallurgists are trying to make composite materials as strong and light as possible. 12. Measures must be taken to keep Moscow air as clean as possible. 13. Engineers are working at the problem of making computers as small as possible.
Упражнение 5. Переведите предложения, учитывая различные значения предлога by.
1. It should be said that according to estimates the production of materials in space is to bring 60 billion dollars by 2030. 2. The best way to study before the exam is by changing one's activity every 30 minutes. 3. The first self-propelled vehicle in Russia was made by Kulibin in the 18-th century. 4. Driving a new Japanese car a driver will find his way even in Sahara by switching over to a navigation Earth satellite. 5. By 1960 the number of cars in the world has reached 60 million. 6. A driver may avoid collisions on the road by using a radar system. 7. Newton's great work «Principia» was published by Halley, the famous astronomer, who paid his own money for it. 8. The cosmonauts were told to increase their daily exercises by 30 minutes.
Упражнение б. А. Найдите русские эквиваленты для словосочетаний.
a new form of supersonic transport, prospective model, elongated fuselage, without horizontal stabilizer, cover the distance, less than two hours, overall length, overall aircraft weight, at high velocities, lower atmosphere, the skin is heated, the only way out,
one of the ways, combined engines, combined with, as economical as possible.
единственный выход, комбинированные двигатели, менее двух часов, без горизонтального стабилизатора, нижние слои атмосферы, один из путей, удлиненный фюзеляж, общий вес самолета, обшивка нагревается, на больших скоростях, общая длина, как можно более экономично, перспективная модель, новый вид сверхзвукового транспорта, в сочетании с, покрывать расстояние.
В. Переведите словосочетания.
today's aircraft, ordinary aircraft, ordinary aircraft windows, passenger liner, future superliners of such a class, reliable hypersonic plane, look like a rocket, five times above the speed of sound, diameter of the fuselage, the front of the cabin, the skin is heated to a very high temperature, highly economical engines, new generation model.
СЛОВООБРАЗОВАНИЕ
Упражнение 7. Образуйте и переведите производные слова согласно образцу:
прилагательное или существительное + ize/ise = глагол special — специальный -» specialize — специализировать(ся) computer, ideal, crystal, central;
префикс over- (сверх-; пере-) to heat — нагревать -» to overheat — перегревать production, active, grow, estimate.
Упражнение 8. Прочитайте и переведите интернациональные слова.
aviation, airplane, project, passenger, liner, model ['modi], fuselage ['fju:zila:3], horizontal stabilizer ['steibilaiza], rocket, distance, meter ['mi:ta], diameter [dai'aemita], cabin, technological, problem, thermodynamics ['9a:maudai'naemiks], aerodynamics ['saraudai'naemiks], per cent, efficiency [I'fifansi], extreme [iks'tri:m], temperature ['tempntfa], cryogenic ['kraiacfeenik].
Упражнение 9. Прочитайте и запомните произношение слов.
supersonic ['sju:pa'sonik], hypersonic ['haipa'sonik], Paris ['paeris], Tokyo ['taukjau], plane [plein], hours ['auaz], reliable [ri'laiabl], combined [kam'baind], engine ['encfein], heat-insulat-
ing [hi:t 'insjuleitiqj, extreme [iks'tri.m], generate ['djendreit], generation, in general, require [n'kwaid], fuel [fjudl], liquid ['likwid], hydrogen ['haidndjen], surface ['sd:fis], vaporize ['veiperaiz], inject [in'djekt], combustion [kem'bAStjen], chamber ['tfeimbd], percentage [pe'senticfe].
СЛОВА И СЛОВОСОЧЕТАНИЯ ДЛЯ ЗАПОМИНАНИЯ
| stress п — напряжение apart from— помимо, кроме way out— выход |
amount п — количество announce v — объявлять, заявлять
combine v — сочетать(ся), комбинировать(ся), объединяться)
| — обычный, |
| в настоящее |
combined with — в сочетании с combustion п — горение complicated p.p. — сложный conventional а стандартный currently adv -время
disadvantage п — недостаток measure п — мера noise п — шум overall а — полный, общий overcome v — преодолевать resistance п — сопротивление
efficiency п — производительность, КПД, эффективность e.g. (for example) — например expect v — ожидать, предполагать
extreme а — крайний, чрезвычайный
friction п — трение fuel п — топливо heat v — нагревать(ся) inject v — впрыскивать, вводить
mainly adv — главным образом structure п — конструкция, структура
substitute v — заменять, подставлять
vaporize v — испарять(ся) velocity п — скорость
Text 8А
Прочитайте текст по абзацам и озаглавьте их. Назовите основные проблемы, рассмотренные в каждом абзаце. Скажите, какие абзацы можно объединить под одним заглавием. Переведите текст.
A New Era for Aircraft
Aviation experts expect that today's aircraft will begin to be replaced with some new form of supersonic transport in a few years' time. A 21st century hypersonic aircraft may open a new age of aircraft design.
The designers of this country displayed the project of such a supersonic passenger liner among the prospective models at one of the latest Aerospace Salon held on the old Le Bourget airfield1 in Paris. An elongated fuselage with a sharp nose and without a horizontal stabilizer makes it look more like a rocket. The speed matches the looks2. This plane will fly at a speed five to six times above the speed of sound, e.g., it will cover the distance between Tokyo and Moscow in less than two hours. The diameter of the fuselage will be 4 meters and the overall length 100 meters, with the cabin accomodating 300 passengers. The future superplanes of such a class will have no windows, but the passengers can enjoy3 watching the panorama of the Earth on the TV monitor at the front of the cabin. They will fly so fast that ordinary aircraft windows would make the structure too weak to withstand the stresses at such a speed. At high velocities the air resistance in the lower atmosphere is so great that the skin is heated to very high temperature. The only way out is to fly higher. Therefore, airliners' routes will mainly lie in the stratosphere.
In general, to build a reliable hypersonic plane one has to overcome a whole set of technological and scientific difficulties. Apart from creating highly economical combined engines and heat-insulating materials4, designers have to make such an amount of thermodynamic computations that can't be performed without using supercomputers. One of the ways to make planes as economical as possible is lightening the aircraft by substituting new composite materials for conventional metal alloys. Accounting for5 less than 5 per cent of the overall aircraft weight now, the percentage of composite material parts will exceed 25 per cent in new generation models. An extensive use of new materials combined with better aerodynamics and engines will allow increasing fuel efficiency by one-third6.
Because of the extreme temperatures generated by the atmosphere friction, a hypersonic craft will also require complicated cooling measures. One possibility is using cryogenic fuels, such as liquid hydrogen, as both coolants7 and propellants. The fuel flowing through the aircraft's skin would cool the surfaces as it vaporizes before being injected into combustion chamber.
In addition, specialists in many countries are currently working on new propeller engines considered much more economical and less noisy than jets. The only disadvantage is that propeller planes fly slower than jet planes. However, it has recently been announced that specialists succeeded in8 solving this problem. As a result a ventilator engine with a propeller often fibre-glass blades has been built, each being five meters long. It will be mounted in the experimental passenger plane.
Notes to the Text
1. Le Bourget airfield — аэропорт Ле Бурже
2. the looks — внешний вид
3. can enjoy — с удовольствием (здесь)
4. heat-insulating materials — теплоизолирующие материалы
5. accounting for — составляя
6. by one-third — на одну треть
7. coolant — охлаждающая жидкость
8. succeeded in — удалось
УПРАЖНЕНИЯ Упражнение 10. Просмотрите текст 8А и ответьте на вопросы.
1. What is this text about? 2. What aircraft was displayed in Paris? 3. What are the characteristics of the new liner? 4. What are the difficulties in building a hypersonic plane?
Упражнение 11. Укажите, какие утверждения соответствуют содержанию текста 8А. Исправьте неправильные утверждения.
1. Today's aircraft will be replaced with a new form of supersonic transport in a few years' time. 2. The new hypersonic aircraft that looks like a rocket will cover the distance between Tokyo and Moscow in less than two hours. 3. The future superliner of this class will have large windows that will allow passengers to watch the panorama of the Earth. 4. Airliner's routes will mainly lie in the stratosphere because the air resistance in the lower atmosphere is too great. 5. Designers can easily make all the necessary thermody-namic calculations to build a reliable hypersonic plane. 6. It is possible to lighten the aircraft by substituting conventional metal alloys for new composite materials. 7. Cryogenic fuels are used as both coolants and propellants. 8. The great advantage of propeller planes is that they fly faster than jet planes.
Упражнение 12. Найдите в тексте 8А герундий (см. 3, 4 и 5-й абзацы).
Упражнение 13. Найдите герундий в функции обстоятельства, переведите предложения.
1. Flying from Los Angeles to Tokyo on board a new supersonic craft will take two hours. 2. On examining the car before starting on a long journey a driver can be sure that he will get to his destination without accidents. 3. By summing up the information about the speed and distance of various objects on the road, the computer de-
tects all possible dangers. 4. A superliner of a new kind will be capable of flying at five times above the speed of the sound. 5. The only way of overcoming the great air resistance at high velocities is flying higher. 6. At low speeds the engine can use turbines for compressing the air before mixing it with fuel in the combustion chamber. 7. In the future, in switching over to the new Earth satellite a driver can be sure of coming safely to his destination. 8. Cryogenic fuels will vaporize before being injected into combustion chamber. 9. In flowing over the aircraft's surface the fuel cools its skin. 10. On reaching its cruising speed the supersonic liner will fly at 100,000 feet above the Earth. 11. By using supercomputers it is possible to avoid making mistakes in extremely complicated ther-modynamic computations. 12. A new carburetor offers easier starting in cold weather. 13. By using the automatic guidance system a driver will be able to make long journeys without concentrating on the road conditions. 14. It is impossible to solve economic problems without using the achievements of the scientific and technological progress.
Упражнение 14. Найдите герундий в парах предложений, переведите их.
1. Overcoming these difficulties is not so easy as it may seem. Overcoming these difficulties the designers can increase the fuel efficiency. 2. Setting a problem the scientist makes the first step to its solution. Setting a problem is the first step to its solution. 3. Covering the distance between Tokyo and Moscow in less than two hours this superliner develops a speed five times above the speed of sound. Covering the distance between Tokyo and Moscow on board a superliner requires about two hours. 4. Putting the discovery into practice the engineers will solve a complicated technological task. Putting the discovery into practice sometimes requires more effort than making it.
УПРАЖНЕНИЯ ДЛЯ САМОСТОЯТЕЛЬНОЙ РАБОТЫ
Упражнение 15. Образуйте прилагательные от глаголов или существительных по образцу:
move — двинуть, двигаться -» movable — подвижный
comfort, change, compare, control, program, measure.
Упражнение 16. Определите, к какой части речи относятся слова.
reliable, elongate, percentage, stabilizer, stabilize, prospective, carrier, brilliant, relativity, intelligent, intelligence, assistance, fu-
selage, mainly, encircle, departure, statement, hypersonic, liner, horizontal, powerful.
Упражнение 17. Найдите русскому слову соответствующее английское.
конструктор — design, designer, to design стабилизировать — stabilizer, stability, stabilize самый последний — latest, late, later эффективный — efficient, efficiency, efficiently характеристика, работа — perform, performing, performance надежно — reliable, reliability, reliably немыслимый — thinking, thinkable, unthinkable невесомость — weightlessness, weightless, weight
Упражнение 18. Определите, синонимами или антонимами являются приведенные пары слов.
advantage — disadvantage; to remain — to stay; reliable — unreliable; fast — slow; apart from — besides, in addition; capable — incapable; to begin — to start; liquid — solid; to cool — to heat; possible — impossible; weak — strong; to build — to break; aircraft — plane; engine — motor.
Упражнение 19. Переведите выделенные слова и словосочетания, запомните их.
1. At higher schools specialization generally begins in the third year. 2. Nowadays we generally have computers at every plant. 3. This doesn't improve the speed of transport vehicles in general and that of an automobile in particular. 4. The general principles of the design of new transport machines in general and diesel locomotives in particular can be found in the new magazine. 5. The fifth-generation computers performing 100 billion operations a second will become available in the near future. 6. Because of the extreme temperatures generated by atmospheric friction a craft will require protection. 7.The generation of electric power increases every year.
Упражнение 20. Определите, какой частью речи является в предложении выделенное слово. Переведите.
1. Television has a great number of uses nowadays. 2. This car uses a new sensor mechanism. 3. A. Bell wanted to build a mechanism that people could use to talk to one another over long distances. 4. The new material can be applied in manufacturing components much smaller than those in use today. 5. The Library of Congress serves not only Members of the Congress, but re-
searchers and scientists who use it. 6. In Russian universities there is no charge for the use of reading rooms, laboratories and libraries. 7. Measures to keep Moscow's air clean are important components of our ecological programme. 8. A thermometer is a device that measures temperature. 9. Computers can do many things, they can control machines in factories, cars on roads, play chess and so on. 10. Computers control nearly everything we do in the modern world. 11. Today dirigibles are equipped with electronic controls.
Упражнение 21. Выберите правильный глагол из приведенных в скобках.
1. The car has... (brought, brought about) mobility to millions of people, but at the same time polluted the atmosphere. 2. The scientific and technological achievements... (brought, brought about) great changes in people's life and work. 3. A lot of people came to... (look at, look for) a new invention, the television set, at the World Fair in New York. 4. It was necessary... (to look at, to look for) a more reliable method of calculation. 5. The airplane «Ruslan» can... (carry, carry out) up to 150 tons. 6. Research is being... (carried, carried out) for developing new composite materials to lighten aircraft structure.
Упражнение 22. Заполните пропуски предлогами by, with, for, at, in.
The steam was invented... James Watt, who worked... many years before he could make the instruments... which he perfected his machine.... first he worked... primitive tools so he could not make his engine well-regulated. The old machine was kept going... a boy who stood by it and let... the air... means of which the steam was condensed at every revolution.... this machine, though it was imperfect, some work was done and it had been used... a large mine-owner (шахтовладелец) to pump out the water. The first efficient steam-engine was made... a Birmingham firm and it was soon used...nearly every manufacturer. The revolution in industry made... this machine was extremely great.
Упражнение 23. Дайте недостающие формы глаголов, запомните их. held, flown, overcome, withstanding, lain, flow, burnt.
Упражнение 24. Прочитайте и переведите без словаря.
«Even the birds aren't flying today» is an old saying used to indicate that the weather for flying is extremely bad. And for man nothing has a greater effect on flying than the weather. And because of its changing so quickly and without warning an extensive
network of weather stations has been set up for helping the pilots get all the information about weather. Before flying pilots may get current weather information on changing conditions along their route or at their destination. The weather reporting system helps overcoming many difficulties in flying. In winter, e.g., icing can cause the reduction of lift efficiency of airplane by changing the flow of air. Pilot's being informed about the weather allows him to avoid weather problems. The weather being too bad, pilots just stay on the ground like any wise (опытный) bird.
CONVERSATION
Exercise 1. Answer the questions.
1. What kind of aircraft may begin a new age in aviation? (a hypersonic passenger liner) 2. What is the shape of the new liner? (an elongated fuselage with a sharp nose) 3. What distance can the new liner cover in less than two hours? (the distance between Tokyo and Moscow) 4. What are the main problems of building a reliable hypersonic liner? (developing an economical engine and new heat insulating materials combined with better aerodynamics) 5. What is one of the ways to make a hypersonic liner as economical as possible? (using new composite materials) 6. What will be used for cooling a hypersonic craft? (cryogenic fuels) 7. What combined engine was developed? (a ventilator propeller engine)
Exercise 2. Make a sentence out of the two parts.
1. It is expected that a new hypersonic aircraft
2. The project of such an aircraft was displayed at
3. There is no horizontal stabilizer
4. Therefore it looks more
5. The superliner will mainly fly in the stratosphere at
6. The diameter of the fuselage
7. The passenger superliners of such a class will have no windows
1. will be 4 meters, overall length 100 meters and its cabin will carry 300 passengers.
2. a speed five to six times above the speed of sound.
3. like a rocket.
4. since conventional aircraft
windows are too weak to with
stand high stresses at supersonic
speed.
5. the Aerospace Salon in Paris.
6. will replace todays' aircrafts soon.
7. in the design of a new super-liner.
Exersice 3. Read and learn.
Departure
Ann: Well, good-bye, then! I hope you will have a pleasant journey.
Bob: I hope so too. The weather isn't too bad, anyway.
A.: No, it looks good. Just write me a few lines when you arrive,
will you?
| B. A. B. A. B. |
I will, indeed. And many thanks for your hospitality.
It was nice having you with us. When will you come again?
It is hard to say. It depends on a number of things.
Give my love to your mother.
I will. Thanks. Bye.
Bob: I think, the people of today are the most intelligent (умный)
people who have ever lived. Mary: Before answering this question I want you to listen to the following words: «Flying machines are possible. A man may sit in
the middle of the machine and turn some device. This device
makes the artificial wings beat the air in the manner of a flying
bird.» В.: Why have you said this? There is nothing new or interesting. M.: But they were written six hundred years ago. В.: Oh, really, who made this statement? M.: Roger Bacon, an English scientist. Of course, his sentences
have been made easier, but these were his words and thoughts.
Have you heard about him? В.: Certainly, I have heard about him. But I have thought he was
a monk (монах) and was in prison for many years. M.: You are quite right. Besides, he made a deep study of physics.
And this was the reason (причина) for his being in prison. He
made men think about new things. В.: Oh, Mary, Fve always said you are the most clever (умный)
girl I've ever met. Do you agree with me, Peter? Peter: Oh, sure. And I remember Bakon's statement about cars that
can go very rapidly by their own power and great ships on
rivers and oceans guided by one man.
Exercise 4. Speak about:
1. The characteristics of a new hypersonic passenger liner.
2. The main difficulties of its construction.
Use exercises 1, 2 and the following words and word combinations for your topic: The text gives the information on... It is interesting to note that... Speaking
about... Further description of... is given. It is pointed out that... As far as I know...
In conclusion I'd like to say that...
aviation designers, to display, to cover the distance, overall, to heat to a very high temperature, new generation aircraft, to overcome difficulties in, a great amount of, without using, extensive use of new materials, exceed, to solve a problem.
Exercise 5. Comment on the following statement.
Air transport has many advantages and many disadvantages.
One point of view: It is fast, comfortable, safe, it is particularly good and efficient for long distances, it is independent of roads, it is good for the health because it is not tiring (утомительно), it is the most modern means of transport and it is the best way of travelling.
A contrary point of view: It is not safe, it is not reliable, it depends on the weather, it is not always good for the health, it always takes a long time to get from and to the airport, it is expensive, it is always connected with nervous strain (напряжение, стресс)
Exercise 6. Read and smile.
A teacher was explaining fractions to the class of girls and boys. After having written several examples on the blackboard, he asked a boy whether he would prefer (предпочитать) one-fifth or one-eighth of a lemon.
«Fd prefer one-eighth, sir.»
Then the teacher began explaining again that though the fraction one-eighth looked larger than the fraction one-fifth, it was really the smaller of the two.
«I know that, sir. I don't like lemons.»
Einstein for a Day
Albert Einstein, one of the world's most brilliant and respected scientists, is best known for formulating the theory of relativity which played a critical part in the development of atomic energy. What may not be widely known is that Einstein had a fine sense of humor.
There is an amusing story about Einstein's visiting universities in a car driven by a chauffeur, giving lectures on relativity. One day the chauffeur said: «Mr. Einstein, I've heard you give this lecture about 30 times. I know it by heart, and I am sure I could give it myself.» «Well, I'll give you a chance», said Einstein. «They won't recognise me at the school. When we get there, I'll put on your cap and you introduce yourself as me and give the lecture.»
The chauffeur gave Einstein's lecture without making a single mistake. On finishing, he started to leave, but one of the professors stopped him to ask a complex question. The chauffeur thought fast.
«That problem is so trivial», he said, «I'm surprised that you have to ask me. In fact, to show you how simple it is, I'm going to ask my chauffeur to come up here and answer your question.»
Text 8B
Прочитайте текст. Ответьте на следующие вопросы:
Почему вернулись вновь к использованию дирижабля?
Чем отличаются современные дирижабли от первых конструкций?
Каково их практическое применение?
Какие сведения из текста вам знакомы?
Что нового вы узнали, прочитав этот текст?
The Return of the Dirigibles
When it comes to technology, people are not inclined to return to the past. Yet, some exceptions do exist. Such is the attitude at present towards dirigibles. Having abandoned the skies more than 40 years ago, they have suddenly begun to reappear. Designers have once again sat down to design this kind of transportation. Their use can still be limited, but there is no doubt that dirigibles are coming back.
Why is dirigible attractive? What do you do with it? As its cruising speed is about 60 miles per hour, it is too slow to be used as a passenger carrier. But it is cheaper to operate than a helicopter, comfortable and capable of flying for several days. The craft's large size and staying power (dirigibles have remained in skies for as long as a week) make it ideally suited for exploration.
Their use in countries that have large territories and are rich in forests and are planning to explore and exploit new regions is most promising. They may be used to make a geological survey and to make maps, to look for off-shore oil and minerals, to take tourists to roadless, but beautiful places, to deliver heavy loads to remote regions and bring the products back. They have a potential use as a flying platform. In general, their possibilities are endless. They do not need expensive runways required by cargo planes.
Besides, the technological possibilities of manufacturing these crafts have changed. In 1920 and 1930s the dirigibles were manned by a big crew. Today being equipped with electronic control they can be operated by three pilots.
The modern dirigibles have one more important advantage over older models — that of complete safety in flight, for, instead of hydrogen, they are filled with helium which does not burn. The craft is 200 feet long and is made of superstrong materials.
In the future it may be possible to build a dirigible with a metal hull that could carry hundreds of passengers and transport cargo around the world. In fact, it is probably as a cargo vehicle that the dirigible will have the best chance to find its use.
Text 8C
