Translate into english:

1. «Майкрософт» хорошо известная американская компания по производству программного обеспечения.

2. Операционная система Виндоуз является самой важной и популярной системой в мире.

3. «Майкрософт» поставляет около 50 процентов всего программного обеспечения в мире.

4. Эта компания контролирует 80-85 процентов всего рынка программного обеспечения персональных компьютеров.

5. В ассортименте компании сотни видов продукции, тысячи работников, что делает ее самой крупной компанией.

SEPTEMBER 11,2001

September 11, 2001 is the most tragic hour in the history of the United States, this terror kamikaze attack was called a second Pearl Harbour.

This day of unspeakable horror for New York and the whole American nation, terrorists crashed planes into the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. It was the deadliest assault on the U.S. in its history. Thousands of lives were suddenly ended. The attacks involved four synchronized plane hijackings, two from Boston, one from Newark and one from Dulles International Airport in Washington. The planes crashed within 90 minutes one after another.

The responsibility for the attacks was placed on Osama Bin Laden, the exiled Saudi millionaire indicted in the U.S. on charges of masterminding the bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998. He is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan, with the help from the Taliban, Afghanistan Islamic organization.

The attack began at 8:51 a.m. when one of the hijacked planes slammed into the first World Trade Centre, one of the New York mightiest symbols. As hundreds of sirens wailed through the city towards the burning tower, some of the center’s 50,000 workers could be seen falling from the windows of the sky-scraper. They included a man and a woman holding hands. They were alive, one could see them screaming, falling and flailing in the air. It was a horrible scene.

Then the next plane hit Tower 2, shortly after 9 a.m., and, in an instant, changed the way New York and the nation view its famous sense of invincibility. With thousands of workers still in the second World Trade Centre, the plane pierced the tower like a bullet, leaving a huge, fiery exit wound on the back side. About 10:30 a.m., the top of the second World Trade Centre collapsed. Some minutes later, the second tower fell.

The whole, chilling moment was caught on videotape, providing a news clip that has already been repeated thousands of times on TV.

At 9:28 a.m., just as news of the twin attacks rippled across the city's jammed phone lines, the third hijacked jet crashed into the Pentagon, the heart of America's military complex, the building that was considered to be one of the most secure in the world. It was burning more than 6 hours after the plane crash.

Finally, the fourth hijacked aircraft crashed southwest of Pittsburg shortly after 10 a.m. with 45 passengers and crew aboard. All were dead.

Several government sources suggested that the Pittsburg flight may have been brought down by a pilot winning a struggle with a terrorist.

The plane attacks rocked the nation like an earthquake. The whole country was seized with grief, disbelief, confusion and shock. Altogether, the four planes carried 266 people. The explosions had claimed the lives of more than 200 firefighters, about 100 police officers and emergency workers. The number of victims in the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon was horrific.

QUESTIONS:

1. What happened on September 11, 2001?

2. Who was responsible for the attacks that involved four synchronized plane hijackings and killed thousands of lives?

3. Where is Osama Bin Laden believed to be hiding?

4. What was one of the New York mightiest symbols?

5. How did the terrorists scheme the assault?

6. What was the nation's reaction to the tragic events?

VOCABULARY:

unspeakable — невыразимый

assault — атака, нападение

to hijack — угнать самолет to exile — изгонять, ссылать

to indict — обвинять в преступлении

to mastermind — тайно руководить

to wail — вопить, выть

sky-scraper — небоскреб

to provide — снабжать, доставлять, обеспечивать

instant — мгновение

invincibility — непобедимость

to pierce — протаранить, проткнуть

bullet — пуля

fiery — огненный, раскаленный

jammed phone lines — перегруженные телефонные линии

military — военный

crew — экипаж (корабля, самолета)

earthquake — землетрясение

grief — горе

explosion — взрыв

to seize — схватить, хватать, охватить

TRANSLATE INTO ENGLISH:

1. 11 сентября 2001 года считается самым трагическим моментом в истории Соединенных Штатов.

2. В этот день террористы направили самолеты на Всемирный торговый центр и здание Пентагона.

3. Самолеты разбились в течение 90 минут один за другим.

4. Это стало самым смертоносным нападением на Соединенные Штаты за всю историю.

5. Число жертв во Всемирном торговым центре и Пентагона ужасающе.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Our planet Earth is only a tiny part of the universe, but nowadays it's the only place where we can live.

People always polluted their surroundings. But until now pollution was not such a serious problem. People lived in rural areas and did not produce such amount of polluting agents that would cause a dangerous situation in global scale. With the development of overcrowded industrial highly developed cities, which put huge amounts of pollutants into surrounds, the problem has become more and more dangerous. Today our planet is in serious danger. Acid rains, global warming, air and water pollution, and overpopulation are the problems that threaten human lives on the Earth.

In order to understand how air pollution affects our body, we must understand exactly what this pollution is. The pollutants that harm our respiratory system are known as particulates. Particulates are the small solid particles that you can see through rays of sunlight. They are products of incomplete combustion in engines, for example: internal-combustion engines, road dust and wood smoke. Billions of tons of coal and oil are consumed around the world every year. When these fuels are burnt, they produce smoke and other by-products, which are emitted into the atmosphere. Although wind and rain occasionally wash away the smoke, given off by power plants and automobiles, but it is not enough. These chemical compounds undergo a series of chemical reactions in the presence of sunlight; as a result we have smog, mixture of fog and smoke. While such pollutants as particulates we can see, other harmful ones are not visible. Among the most dangerous to our health are carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and ozone or active oxygen. If you have ever been in an enclosed parking garage or a tunnel and felt dizzy or light-headed, then you have felt the effect of carbon monoxide (CO). This odorless, colorless, but poisonous gas is produced by the incomplete burning of fossil fuels, like gasoline or diesel fuel.

Factories emit tons of harmful chemicals. These emissions have disastrous consequences for our planet. They are the main reason for the greenhouse effect and acid rains.

Our forests are disappearing because they are cut down or burnt. If this trend continues, one day we won't have enough oxygen to breathe, we won't see a beautiful green forest at all.

The seas are in danger. They are filled with poison: industrial and nuclear wastes, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. If nothing is done about it, one day nothing will be able to live in our seas.

Every ten minutes one kind of animal, plant or insect dies out forever. If nothing is done about it, one million species that are alive today may soon become extinct.

And even greater threats are nuclear power stations. We all know how tragic the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster are.

Fortunately, it's not too late to solve these problems. We have the time, the money and even the technology to make our planet a better, cleaner and safer place. We can plant trees and create parks for endangered animals. We can recycle our wastes; persuade enterprises to stop polluting activities, because it is apparent that our careless use of fossil fuels and chemicals is destroying this planet. And it is now more than ever apparent that at the same time we are destroying our bodies and our future.

QUESTIONS:

1. When did the problem of pollution become dangerous?

2. What problems threaten human lives on the Earth?

3. Why is air pollution harmful?

4. Is it dangerous to breathe polluted air?

5. What does the burning of fuel and fossil fuels produce?

6. What are the most dangerous pollutants?

7. What is the main reason for the greenhouse effectand acid rains on our planet?

8. Can we solve the problem of environmental protection?

VOCABULARY:

tiny part — крошечная часть

to pollute — загрязнять

rural area — сельский район

polluting agents — загрязняющие компоненты

global scale — глобальный масштаб

acid rains — кислотные дожди

overpopulation — перенаселение

to threaten — угрожать

to affect — воздействовать

respiratory system — дыхательная система

particulates — макрочастицы

solid particles — твердые частицы

ray of sunlight — зд. солнечный свет

combustion — сжигание, сгорание

internal-combustion engine — двигатель внутреннего сгорания

wood smoke — зд. сгорание древесины

by-products — побочные продукты

power plants — силовые установки

chemical compounds — зд. химические элементы

to undergo — подвергаться воздействию

smog — смог

fog — туман

carbon monoxide — угарный газ

nitrogen oxides — окислы азота

sulfur dioxide — сернистый газ

dizzy — головокружение

odourless — без запаха

fossil fuels — органическое топливо

gasoline — бензин

to emit — испускать, выбрасывать

disastrous consequences — гибельные последствия

greenhouse effect — парниковый эффект

to breathe — дышать, вдыхать

chemical fertilizers — удобрения

pesticide — пестицид

plant — растение

insect — насекомое

extinct — исчезнуть, вымирать

to persuade enterprises — зд. убедить предпринимателей

wastes — отходы

TRANSLATE INTO ENGLISH:

1. С развитием индустриальных городов, которые загрязняют окружающую среду, проблема окружающей среды стала все более и более серьезной.

2. Загрязняющие вещества, которые вредят нашей дыхательной системе называются макрочастицами.

3. Выбросы фабрик и заводов имеют гибельные последствия для нашей планеты.

4. Химические элементы под воздействием солнечного света подвергаются серии химических реакций.

5. Каждые десять минут на нашей планете вымирает один вид животных, растений или насекомых.

CHILDREN AND TOXICOMANIA

Such products as glue, butane gas, solvents are made on solvent base. That is why they can be used for sniffing and then receiving post effects of visual hallucinations.

Solvents are usually commercial products, like glue, nail polish remover, aerosols, gas lighter fuel and petrol, which give off a vapor. When the vapor is inhaled, it can make you feel light-headed, happy, dizzy. The effects can last up to an hour, depending on what, and how much was inhaled. Solvents are depressant drugs.

It is estimated that one of five young people in Britain have used solvents. It is the second most commonly used drug for this age group. Talking about our country, there is no exact statistics concerning this fact, but it is not a secret that the number of «sniffers» is growing and yet has reached a tremendous index. It happens, because such substances are the most available and cheap.

Because solvents are often sniffed from a plastic bag, sometimes covering the head, there is a risk of suffocation, if the user becomes unconscious.

Solvent use is extremely dangerous. Nobody knows exactly how many children die in our country, because of solvent addiction. For example, in Great Britain in 1999 thirty nine young people died as a direct result of inhaling butane lighter fluid. This is ten times more than die from Ecstasy.

In Great Britain it is prohibited to sell solvent-based products to children under 18s. It is illegal there. Here, in our country, there is no such legislation concerning this problem, which is becoming worse day after day.

QUESTIONS:

1. Why can solvents be used for receiving post effects of visual hallucinations?

2. What are solvents?

3. What are the effects of sniffing solvents?

4. Why is the number of «sniffers» growing in our country?

5. Why is there a risk of suffocation for people sniffing solvents?

VOCABULARY:

glue — клей

to sniff — вдыхать через нос, нюхать

hallucination — галлюцинация

nail polish remover — жидкость для снятия лака

gas lighter fuel — газ для заправки зажигалок

vapor — пар

to inhale — вдыхать

to feel (past felt, p.p. felt) dizzy, light-headed — испытывать головокружение

tremendous — огромный

index — показатель

substance — вещество, субстанция

suffocation — удушье

to become (past became, p.p. become) unconscious — потерять сознание

extremely — крайне

solvent addiction — токсикомания

to prohibit — запрещать

illegal — незаконный

legislation — законодательство, законодательная деятельность