4.3 Прочитай и письменно переведи текст some trends in the history of buildings:

Human shelters were at first very simple and perhaps lasted only a few days or months. Over time, however, even temporary structures evolved into such highly refined forms as the igloo. Gradually more durable structures began to appear, particularly after the advent of agriculture, when people began to stay in one place for long periods. The first shelters were dwellings, but later other functions, such as food storage and ceremony, were housed in sep­arate buildings. Some structures began to have symbolic as well as functional value, marking the beginning of the distinction between architecture and building.

The history of building is marked by a number of trends. One is the increasing durability of the materials used. Early building materials were perishable, such as leaves, and branches. Later, more durable natural materials — such as clay, stone, and timber — and, finally, synthetic materials — such as brick, concrete, metals, and plastics — were used. Another is a quest for buildings of ever greater height and span; this was made possible by the development of stronger materials and by knowledge of how materials behave and how to exploit them to greater advantage. A third major trend involves the degree of control exercised over the interior environment of buildings: increasingly precise regulation of air temperature, light and sound levels, humidity, odours, air speed, and other factors that affect human comfort has been possible. Yet another trend is the change in energy available to the construction process, starting with human muscle power and developing toward the powerful machinery used today.

4.4 Заполни по прочтении текста:

The first trend
The second trend
The third trend
The fourth trend

4.5 Прочитай, письменно переведи текст the father of the american skyscraper:

William Le Baron Jenney (1832-1907) was an American civil engineer and architect who became known as the Father of the American skyscraper. Jenney was born in Fairhaven, Massachusetts on September 25, 1832. Jenney first began his formal education at the Lawrence Scientific school at Harvard in 1853, but transferred to Paris to get an education in engineering and architecture. He graduated in 1856, one year after his classmate, Gustave Eiffel, the designer of the Eiffel Tower. In 1861, he returned to the US to join the Union Army as an engineer in the Civil War. After the war, in 1867, Jenney moved to Chicago, Illinois and began his own architectural office, which specialized in commercial buildings and urban planning.

In 1998, Jenney was ranked number 89 in the book “1,000 Years, 1,000 People: Ranking the Men and Women Who Shaped the Millennium”. Jenney is best known for designing the ten- storey Home Insurance Building in Chicago. The building was the first fully metal-frame skyscraper, and is considered the first skyscraper. It was built from 1884 to 1885, enlarged in 1891, and demolished in 1931. In his designs, he used metal columns and beams, instead of stone and brick to support the building’s upper levels. The steel needed to support the Home Insurance Building weighed only one-third as much as a ten-storey building made of heavy masonry. Using this method, the weight of the building was reduced, thus allowing the possibility to construct even taller structures.

Later, he solved the problem of fireproof construction for tall buildings by using masonry, iron, and terracotta flooring and partitions. He displayed his system in the Leiter Building, also built in Chicago between the years 1889 and 1891.