Some Facts about Building Materials

1. Humanity has accumulated a lot of building materials which have evolved thanks to the eternal need for construction.

2. The main building materials are timber, stone brick, concrete, steel, light metals, glass and plastics. Timber was one of the first materials to be used by man for constructional purposes. It is highly probable that it will be one of the last. Timber is unique among the materials of construction. It will be available when the earth's capital deposits of iron, coal, clay and the rest have been consumed. The buildings made of stone or brick are durable and fireproof, they have a poor heat conductivity.

3. Concrete made with natural hydraulic binders was used in antiquity, particularly by the Romans. After the decline of the Roman Empire the art of making concrete has been forgotten, and the revival came much later. Concrete may be considered an artificial conglomerate of crushed stone, gravel or similar inert material with a mortar. A mixture of sand, screenings or similar inert particles with cement and water which has the capacity of hardening into a rocklike mass is called mortar.

The fundamental object in proportioning concrete or mortar mixes is the production of a durable material of requisite strength, watertightness and other essential properties at minimum cost. To attain this end careful attention must be given to the selection of cement, aggregate and water.

4. Reinforced concrete is hardly 100 years old. Today it is used in all civilized countries as one of the most important building materials. One of the essential properties of concrete is its compressive strength.

5. Portland cement was produced more than a century ago. From the time of its first production there was a steady and gradual improvement in its compressive strength.

VII. Read the statements. Mark with the letter ”t” if the statement is true and with "f" if the statement is false

1. Concrete was one of the first building materials people used for construction.

2. Mortar is a soft substance consisting of sand, screenings and cement mixed with water.

3. If we have in mind to produce a high-quality concrete, we must think about its main components: cement, aggregate and water - about their quality and quantity as well.

4. Portland cement has a long history of its gradual development.

Part II

I. Copy the sentences. Underline predicates and define their tenses and voice. Translate the sentences

1. New aluminum panel is being manufactured at present.

2. Egyptians made use of brick vaults as early as 1540 B.C.

3. This factory has been specially designed and constructed for the sole purpose of industrialized building components.

II. Copy the sentences and translate them

1. To do this work quickly one must use cranes.

2. Industrial methods have been used for the building of a new department store.

3. The column and beam was the earliest method of stone construction.

III. Copy the sentences using proper voice and tense-forms of the verbs given in brackets. Translate the sentences

1. Builders realized yesterday that they (can) finish the stadium in time use of the shortage of building materials.

2. Brother (told) me last week that he (to give) much information about reinforced concrete.

3. Teacher let me know that his invention (to use) on the construction site.

IV. Copy and translate the complex sentences with asyndetical subordinate clauses

1. Concrete is an artificial kind of stone we use now very often.

2. The generation writes its biography in the buildings it creates.

3. Predicted mankind would find new methods of construction.

V. Copy the sentences. Underline Infinitives, Participles (I or II), Gerunds and define their functions. Translate the sentences.

1. Ancient Egyptians discovered how to cut stone for building purposes.

2. Finished product should receive no addition other than gypsum.

3. Master this profession is very difficult.

VI. Read and copy the text, given below. Translate it in a written form

Notes:

wrought iron - пудлінгове залізо

high-tensile steel - сталь із високим опором на розрив

hot-rolled section — гарячепрокатна сортова сталь

rolling mill - прокатний стан

alloying metal – легований