Описание

1. Тексты для изучающего чтения, перевода и повторения грамматического материала.

Text 4 (A). 20th Century. Summing up…

Technology has made modern society possible. It has added to leisure time and reduced the long hours of work. Technology can allow the world feed itself. It has reduced the effects of natural catastrophes. The world is now a smaller place where people can communicate with each other and travel rapidly everywhere.

The establishment of the assembly line by Henry Ford in 1913 made automobiles inexpensive enough. Technology has raised the standard of living. The 20th century has become the century of many inventions. New materials (e.g. synthetic rubber, artificial fabrics and plastics) have affected the ways of life and fashion.

Electronics was ushered in when Marconi sent the first transatlantic radio message in1901. Radio and television changed communications and

entertainment habits. In 1948 the transistor was invented, and the era of modern computers was started.

In 1957 the Space Age began, when the first Earth-orbiting satellite – Sputnik – was launched by the Soviet Union.

Medical technology was expanded by the use of new medicines and new equipment. New technologies in biology led to genetic engineering, in which living cells can be altered. In 1996 a lamb called Dolly has become the first large animal? which was cloned from the genetic material extracted from the adult cell.

Technology keeps advancing at a rapid rate. It can only be guessed what the “information revolution” of the late 20th century will bring about.

Text 4 (B). Cosmonautics

The development of cosmonautics is closely connected with the achievements of pilots and spacemen, aircraft and spacecraft engineers and builders.

Aviation has become the cradle of cosmonautics. And this was not accidental/ At the turn of the 20th century the Russian scientists Konstantin Tsiolkovsky solved several problems on the theory of reactive movement and substantiated the possibility of manned space flight. His theoretical calculations have been extensively used by scientists in all countries.

In the 1920s several groups of scientists and engineers worked on the problems of rocketry in the Soviet Union. In 1934 a research Institute of reactive Propulsion was organized and all the fundamental works and investigations in rocketry were concentrated in it. It was this institute that trained many outstanding experts in rocketry, including S. Korolyov who subsequently became chief designer of powerful multi-stage rockets.

Today, outer space is not merely an object of study; it is also an enormous laboratory where new materials and design structures are tested under natural conditions. Cosmonautics is becoming more international in nature, mainly for global scientific, engineering and economic reasons.

A vital step towards understanding the Solar System and the Universe is the flight to another celestial body though such an exploration will take generations. Landing on the Moon is just the beginning – not the end – of a new era of discovery of new worlds. Manned flight to Mars seems to be the next logical step.

From the scientific and engineering standpoint, a typical Mars landing mission might begin with the orbiting of the elements for either one or two

identical spaceships by newly developed “space shuttles”. These are reusable carriers for transporting men and equipment between the ground and the Earth’s orbit. While the mission could be carried out with a single ship, the use of two would provide an additional safety factor, since each would be large enough to accommodate the astronauts of its sister ship in the event of a major failure. Furthermore, with two ships, additional equipment could be carried. The nominal crew of each ship would be six men.

The spaceship itself would be divided into major three sections: the forward compartment housing the Mars surface exploration module; the main mission module with living quarters, the control area, experimental laboratories, and a radiation shelter in which the crew could live during periods of intense solar activity; and the biological laboratory for receiving and analyzing surface samples from Mars.

The entire spaceship would be continuously rotated. If two ships made the trip simultaneously, they could be docked end-to-end and rotated in the plane of the longitudinal axis.

No doubt, the time will come when people will build and inhabit orbiting stations and reach other planets in order to harness outer space to serve the mankind.

Text 4 (C). Robotics: Japan Takes the Lead

In the mid-1960s Prof. Hiroyasu Funakubo of Japan’s Medical Precision Engineering Institute¹ was handed a particularly challenging assignment: develop an artificial limb for thalidomide² babies born without arms. Eight years later Funakubo produced an aluminum and carbon-fiber arm powered by eleven separate micromotors – which, on command, could duplicate almost any function of the human arm. Professor Funakubo’s arm proved too expensive for its intended purpose. But it has turned out to be a key element in a generation of “mechatronic” robots.

This class of robots seemed to cement Japan’s position as world leader in the business for years to come. Japanese companies moved into the field and quickly conquered the market. By the end of 1980s Japanese producers had supplied about 70% of the industrial robots working in the Western world. Nevertheless, industry leaders in Japan feel their biggest growth is yet to come.

Much of the growth is likely to stem from research like Professor Funakubo’s. The electrical arm is much more accurate than the hydraulic arms used in many robot models, and robot manufactures are now

confident they will produce “intelligent robots” that will be able to “see” and “feel” and take over more production-line and commercial functions. For example, there has been developed a snake-like robot that can creep through pipes and other narrow openings to inspect and even do repair work in places inaccessible to humans. One Japanese company is getting ready to market a janitor-watchman³ that is simultaneously able to clean the floor and send out radio signals warning against fires or intruders. In the prototype stage are even more sophisticated devices: a 25-fingered breast-cancer detector, a Seeing Eye dog and a home-care system for invalids.

Most of the new robots are expected to be used in heavy industry, where the current generation of smart machines has already proved popular in automotive and other assembly plants, performing such tasks as spot welding and body painting.

Industry around the world is looking for robots to save on labour costs. Nissan Motor says that its new light-truck plant in Smyrna, U.S., is equipped with more than 200 robots. Experts also point out that demographic trends show fewer people coming into the job market in the years ahead, making robots something of a necessity. Robots may also take over jobs that humans find undesirable – such as coal mining.

While industry should continue to be the biggest markets for robotry, some of the more interesting developments are taking place in the medical field. Funakubo’s arms, for example, have been mounted in pair on a bedside table and linked to a robot cart that shuttles back and forth between a storage cabinet and the patient’s bed. That system can be activated by keyboard, voice command and even by whistles and gasps. The cart and the arms can find and deliver to the patient a newspaper or a piece of fruit – anything that is stored in the cabinet. As yet the fingers of the arms are not able to peel the fruit, but Funakubo thinks they will have that capacity.

Among the other new robots under development is the Melkong, which can pick the patient gently off his bed, put him in a bathtub and deposit him back in bed again.

Not all of the applications on the robotry drawing boards will prove to be practical. But the demand for new smart machines will continue. After all, they never go on vacation, take a break or ask for a rise.

NOTES: ¹ институт точной медицинской техники

² седативный препарат, в результате приема которого женщина

может родить ребенка с деформированными конечностями

³ уборщик и сторож одновременно

Text 4 (D). The Engineering Profession

Engineering is one of the most ancient occupations in history. Without the skills included in the broad field of engineering, our present-day civilization never could have evoked. The first toolmakers that chipped arrows and spears from rock were forerunners of modern mechanical engineering. The craftsmen who discovered metals in the earth and found ways to refine and use them were ancestors of mining and metallurgical engineers. And the skilled technicians who devised irrigation systems and erected the marvelous buildings of the ancient world were the civil engineers of their time.

Engineering is often defined as making practical application of theoretical sciences such as physics and mathematics. Many of the early branches of engineering were based not on science but on empirical information that depended on observation and experience.

The great engineering works of ancient times were constructed and operated largely by means of slave labour. During the Middle Ages people began to seek devices and methods of work that were more efficient and humane. Wind, water and animals were used to provide energy for some of these devices. This led to the Industrial Revolution, which began in the 18th century. First steam engines and then all kinds of machines took over more and more of the work that had previously been done by human beings or by animals.

By the end of the 19th century not only were mechanical, civil, and mining and metallurgical engineering established but newer specialties of chemical and electrical engineering also emerged. This growth in the number of specialists is continuing with the establishment of such disciplines as aerospace, nuclear, petroleum, and electronic engineering.

Engineering has become a profession. Today technological and industrial progress depends on it and the engineer must combine many of the characteristics of the scientists, research engineer and technologist. His interest must be in combining the abstract-theoretical world and the technical-practical world.

1. Перепишите и письменно переведите данные ниже предложения, учитывая особенности употребления сослагательного наклонения в английском языке:

1. I should help him with pleasure. 2. He would tell me the news. 3. I should read this novel too, but I can’t get it. 4. We should go to the country with you. 5. She would go abroad for a month, but she won’t be able to finish her experiments. 6. I should have gone to the country with you but I fell ill. 7. It is impossible that they should have done this. 8. It was desirable that he should come. 9. Tom insisted that we should come together. 10. He suggests that we should go to a restaurant. 11. Don’t sit in the draught lest you should catch cold. 12. I wish I were you. 13. I feel as if I were back seven years. 14. He wished he had not said these words.

2. Перепишите и письменно переведите данные предложения, содержащие придаточные условные. Определите тип условного предложения (реальное или нереальное условие):

1. If you intensify the process by heating the materials, you’ll save a great deal of time. 2. If we fail to find the materials mentioned in the description, we shall try to use those available in the laboratory. 3. If we had any trouble with the equipment we were using in the tests, the engineer would always help us. 4. If the new materials such as plastics were applied in railway transport to a considerable extent, van and car bodies would have a long life and low costs of maintenance. 5. If the technician had given instructions we should have carried out the experiments successfully. 6. Had the students studied the English language well enough when they were at school, they would have been able to read any book without a dictionary. 7. If the same temperature is maintained all the time, we shall obtain the desired results. 8. If you applied this method, you would get better results. 9. If you had classified the data, fewer tests would have been needed. 10. Should you ask me what the advantages of plastics are I shall begin with those of their properties?

3. Употребите нужную форму сослагательного наклонения в придаточном предложении:

1. I shouldn’t have believed it if I ………….it with my own eyes.

a) didn’t see b) haven’t seen c) hadn’t seen

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2. He might have understood it if you …………slowly.

a) have spoken b) had spoken c) would speak

3. He would take me with him if I ……………ready.

a) were b) had been c) should be

4. The newspaper would print the story if it …………….true.

a) were b) had been c) was

4. Употребите нужную форму сослагательного наклонения в главном предложении:

1. If I had known that you were in hospital I ………………you.

a) shall visit b) should visit c) should have visited

2. If I knew that the traffic lights were red I …………………. .

a) would have stopped b) would stop c) should stop

3. If you had obeyed my instructions you …………… into trouble.

a) wouldn’t get b) wouldn’t have got c) couldn’t get

4. If I hadn’t been wearing tight shoes I ………….the bus quite easily.

a) should catch b) should have caught c) caught

5. Поставьте глагол в скобках в нужную форму сослагательного наклонения:

1. If you (to bring) me a book, I (to read) it. 2. If he (not to ring) me up, I (not to come). 3. If he (not to write) to me, I (not to answer) him. 4. If I (to be) you, I (to apologize) to her. 5. If he (to be in), he (to answer) the phone. 6. I (not to take) your umbrella if I (to know) that it was the only one you had. 7. He (to be) the best pupil in the class if he (to work) harder. 8. We (to stay) at home if we (to know) he was coming. 9. If I (to know) they were in town, I (to invite) them to dinner. 10. It (to be) fun to go to the park, if it (to be) a nicer day.

6. Перепишите и переведите следующие предложения, принимая во внимание многозначность английских глаголов should и would:

1. The workers insisted that the new method should be introduced without delay. 2. I thought that I should meet you in the laboratory. 3. We should meet today or tomorrow to discuss some of the common problems. 4. Should we have any trouble with the machine, we may ask the engineer to

give instructions to us. 5. I believed that we should double the output after having introduced new machine tools. 6. I thought it would be difficult to

avoid the motor overheating. 7. It would be difficult to avoid the overheating of the motor without introducing an effective cooling system. 8. If we began the work immediately, it would be finished by the end of the day. 9. I remember when I was at school I had a motorbike and I would spend hours overhauling it. 10. If the motor wouldn’t start in spite of all that, I would ask my father to help me and he would locate the trouble in no time.

7. Перепишите и письменно переведите данные ниже предложения, учитывая особенности перевода зависимого и независимого причастного оборота:

1. When calculating the weight of a body, we have to multiply its specific gravity by its volume. 2. While working at his new computer, the inventor made numerous improvements. 3. When translating some new text he used to write out all new words. 4. An electron computer forms an impressively complex device, when viewed as a whole. 5. When using a controller on a modern military aircraft, it can perform automatic testing of aircraft equipment. 6. Other conditions being equal, iron heats up faster than aluminum. 7. Personal computers being used for many purposes, scientists go on improving their characteristics. 8. There were some reports concerning electric waves at the Congress of 1896, Popov’s report of the new type of communication being the center of attention. 9. The machines arriving to day, we shall proceed to mount them. 10. The new instrument being designed in our laboratory will be used in radio engineering research. 11. The box is then turned, with its lid being gradually raised. 12. My father, being an engineer himself, was very pleased when he heard me speaking to my schoolmates about the methods of making various kinds of steel.

8. Перепишите и письменно переведите следующие предложения, принимая во внимание, что инфинитив в конструкциях Complex Object и Complex Subject часто соответствует придаточным предложениям в русском языке:

A. 1. We expect this discovery to produce great changes in the field of

electronics. 2. We want this machinery to be utilized to 80 % of its capacity. 3. He assumed the vacuum tubes to have been made of all sizes. 4. The engineer wants this new computer to be tested under very severe

conditions. 5. Many people believe computers to be able to solve problems yet unsolved. 6. We observe the precision required during processing be

constant. 7. The test has shown the system to be oriented principally to general business and industrial data processing. 8. The scientist believes a microcomputer system designed for severe-environment industrial application to have been constructed.

B. 1. The use of mercury in thermometers appears to have been first

mentioned in the middle of the 18th century. 2. The rocket is known to be an engine, which propels itself by using liquids as fuel. 3. Every educated person is supposed to know Newton’s Third Law “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”. 4. The human beings seem not to be able to add or multiply without using auxiliary devices such as pencil and paper. 5. The first stage appears to have taken almost a month to complete. 6. A party to investigate the local materials available for construction is expected to submit its report by the first of March. 7. These devices are considered to be very effective. 8. These changes are expected to take place due to the Earth magnetism.

9. Перепишите и письменно переведите предложения, содержащие конструкции с герундием:

1. They heard of the 8.30 train having left some minutes before. 2. I remember this weapon having been mentioned in the history of the First World War. 3. He mentioned his having tested this particular material for strength with entirely satisfactory results. 5. We know of his having been instructed to find a satisfactory substitute for copper. 6. The engineer insisted on plywood being used instead of metal for some parts of the car. 7. I can’t help his confiding his troubles on me. 8. She was displeased with her daughter’s having accepted the invitation.

10. Перепишите следующие сложноподчиненные предложения, подчеркните в них придаточные и укажите, являются ли они дополнительными (Д) или определительными (О):

1. In this case we can suppose that a molecule consists of two equal

atoms. 2. Perhaps, the most important uses of radar are those that give greater reliability to sea and air travel. 3. It is necessary to know whether or not the molecules can still rotate freely in the crystal at the lowest temperature. 4. The asymmetry we observe indicates that the electrons strike the plate with a tendency to spin to the right rather than to the left. 5. The latest investigations show how this deflection system works. 6. It is

interesting to know if this circuit is a low-level noise device. 7. The computer, which can utilize both analog and digital data is called hybrid computer.

11. Перепишите и письменно переведите на русский язык приводимый ниже текст

Computers may have a short history but prior to their development, there were many other ways of doing calculations. These calculations were done using devices, which are still used today; the slide rule being a perfect example, not to mention the ten fingers of the hands. These machines, unlike computers, are non-electronic and were replaced by faster calculating devices. It wasn’t until the mid-1940s that the first digital computer was built. The post-war industrial boom saw the development of computers take shape. By the 1960s, computers were faster than their predecessors and semiconductors had replaced vacuum tubes only to be replaced in a few years by tiny integrated circuit boards. Due to microminiaturization in the 1970s, these circuits were etched onto wafer-thin rectangular pieces of silicon. This integrated circuitry is known as a chip and is used in microcomputers of all kinds.

It has been forecasted that exceptionally faster and smaller computers will replace those in use today.

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