VIII. Form the comparative and superlative degrees of the following words, translate them.

Cold, wet, dry, early, few, fine, high, hot, lazy, large, lovely, long, light, nice, new, sunny, comfortable, beautiful, difficult, attractive, favorite, possible, popular, interesting.

IX. Supply the correct forms of the verbs (§ 11). Translate the sentences.

1. Now we (to pack) such goods into containers more and more often.

2. They (to correct) the defects now and tomorrow another test will be done.

3. Now we always (to install) such equipment with the help of our own personnel.

4. As far as we know they (to carry out) loading now.

5. The plant (to reach) the desired capacity by now.

6. Now they (to pack) new equipment in the assembly shop.

31

At leisure

1. Read the article without a dictionary, try to retell it. Word origin

Volume: a roll of papyrus

In ancient days books were written on papyrus. The sheets were pasted together and «rolled» a stick for con venience in handling and filling away. This process is contained in our word VOLUME, from the Latin word VOLUMEN, which in turn derives from VOLVO, mean ing «turn about» of «roll». There were said to have been more than 700,000 of these papyrus VOLUMES in the ancient Alex andrian library in Egypt, con taining most of the literary treasures of antiquity, but subsequently the library was destroyed by barbarian invasions.

2. Read and translate the proverbs, think of Russian equivalents, give a situation using them.

• The chain is no stronger than its weakest link.

• Strike while the iron is hot.

3. A glimpse of Great Britain

London loses its beautiful red buses

In December 2005 the last Routemaster bus was retired. Routemaster is the name for the classic red London bus. It is red, has two decks and an open platform on the back. The first Routemaster took to the London streets in 1954, and served the public for more than fifty years. It had a revolutionary design: special brakes, a light aluminium body, and power-assisted steering. Because the platform on the back was open, passengers could easily get on and off the bus. The driver didn’t need to open doors, but he did need to look carefully in his mirrors, to see if anyone was about to get on or off. Of course, because the driver sat in a separate compartment, the bus needed a conductor. There was a special place for the conductor near the platform. He communicated with the driver using a bell system. The stairs to the upper deck were very steep and the conductor (and the passengers) had to climb them while the bus was in motion.

The Routemaster has been replaced by «bendy buses» (buses with two sections connected in the middle, like in Moscow). Some Routemasters 32

will still be used for special tourist routes and can be hired for wedding parties. You can buy one for about 10 000 pounds.

Unit 5

Pre-text exercises

1. Find the transcription of new words in a dictionary, try to read them fluently: unfortunately, strength, restaurant, afford, commodity, equal, century, drawback, indicate, warn.

2. Word-building Compile and translate: Produce υ. + -tion → Govern υ. + -ment → Strong a. + -th → Grow υ. + - th →