2. MakeapresentationonRussiandesignachievementstoprovethat,greatthoughtheymaybe,Italy,GermanyandJapancertainlydonothaveamonopolyonmoderndesignculture. Unitnine

1. Forcenturies,mathematicshasbeenthemaindriverofscienceandtechnology,andtheresultshavetransformedourworld.Whatfactscanyoupresenttosupporttheidea?

2. Readthearticleandmarkthestatementsastrue(t)orfalse(f).

   1. Theavailableroadspacetodayisquiteenoughtoaccommodateallmodern

vehicles.

___________

2. Thereisonlyonereasonfortrafficjamstoday,anditisthegreatnumberofcarsonroads._______

3. Mathshasnothingtodowithtrafficjams._______

4. Adaptive cruise controlappears to be a usefultoolin providing the“equilibriumspacing”._______

5. AnACC-usingvehicleisquitearecentinnovation._______

6. SomedriversareunwillingtouseACC.______

Jamtoday Mathematiciansmakeheadwayinunderstandingtrafficcongestion

…Atcurrentrates,thenumberofcarsandlighttrucksworldwideissettodoubleoverthenext20years,fromtoday’sestimated900m.Bashingoutnewcarsisrelativelyeasy;buildingnewroadstoaccommodatethemisanythingbut.

Figuringouthowtousetheavailableroadspacemoreefficientlywillthusbenecessarytokeepevermorecarsfromlanguishinginjams,andspewingoutprodigiousquantitiesofcarbondioxideastheydo.

Scientistshavebeentryingtobringorder,oratleastpredictability,tomotorwaymêléesfordecades.Theyassumedthefamiliar“stop-and-go”wavesofcongestionwereduetothesheervolumeoftraffic.Morerecently,mathematicalmodelshavesuggestedtheymayactuallybedowntodrivers’behaviour.Withcarsmovingfluidlyinatightpackevenaseeminglyinnocuouschangeoflanesmaycauseatinydisruptionwhichispropagatedbackwardsformanymiles.

Now,inoneoftheRoyalSocietypapers,JorgeLaval,fromtheGeorgiaInstituteofTechnologyinAmerica,andLudovicLeclercq,ofUniversitédeLyoninFrance,fingertimidandaggressivedriverbehaviourasthemainculprit.Toarriveattheirconclusiontheylookedatactualtrafficona600-metre(athirdofamile)stretchoffreewaylanesinLosAngeles,andanothernearSanFrancisco,andcreatedamodeltomatchtheobserveddata.Theyfoundthatvehiclespeedsdroptozeroifjustafewdriversacceptshorterdistancesbetweentheircarandtheoneinfront,andahandfulofothersinthesamelanepreferagreatergap,relativetothe“equilibriumspacing”whichintheoryensuresasteadyride.

Onewaytomaintainthisidealgapwouldbemorewidespreaddeploymentofadaptivecruisecontrol(ACC),whichenablespartlyautomateddriving.Someofthesesystemsuseradartokeepacaratasetdistancefromtheoneinfront.Inanotherpaper,ArneKesting,ofTechnischeUniversitätDresdeninGermany,andcolleaguescalculatedthata1%increaseinthenumberofACC-usingvehicleswouldfreeup0.3%ofroadcapacity.Suchsystemshavebeenaroundsincethelate1990sbutmanymotoristsremainleeryofrelinquishingcontroltoacomputer.Untilthatchangestheyhadbettersteelthemselvesformorejams.

2.TranslatethearticlefromRussianintoEnglish.

TheEconomist

Азнаетеливы,чторыбыумеютсчитатьдочетырех?Этотинтересныйматематическийфактподтвердилиитальянскиеученые.СотрудникуниверситетаПадуиКристианАгрилло,которыйучаствовалвпроведенииэксперимента,сообщил:«Мыполучилидоказательстватого,чторыбынаделенырудиментарнымиматематическимиспособностями».Преждеужебылоизвестно,чторыбыумеютнаходитьотличиемеждубольшимиималенькимикосяками.Данныйопытпоказал,чторыбымогутпосчитать,сколькорыбплаваетвокругних.Аналогичнымиматематическимиспособностямиобладаютобезьяны,дельфиныинекоторыелюдисограниченнымивозможностями.

http://znaeteli.ru/stati/interesnye-matematicheskie-fakty/