656

4. Read the text again and choose the correct variant.

1. Diesel and electric locomotives are ___.

a) as efficient as steam ones b) more efficient than steam ones c) not as efficient as steam ones.

2. ___ is not self-sufficient.

a) steam locomotive b) diesel locomotive c) electric locomotive

3.Until World War II ___ was universally employed on railroads. a) diesel traction b) electric traction c) steam traction

4.___ is particular suitable for switching services.

a) diesel traction b) electric traction c) steam traction

5. The use of two-unit diesels provides ___.

a) greater cleanliness b) higher horsepower c) less damage to the track

6. Because high horsepower is required for high-speed operation, the diesel is ___ the electric for high-speed passenger services.

a) less desirable than b) more desirable than c) as desirable as

5. Paraphrase these statements using the sentences from the text.

1.The diesel locomotive is a self-sufficient unit.

2.Especially attractive to railroad management is the diesel’s flexibility: many units can be combined and run by one driver under multiple-unit control.

3.Electric locomotives differ from steam and diesel ones being simply power-converting, rather than power-generating, devices.

4.Electric locomotives do not generate their own power.

5.An electric locomotive draws its power from either an overhead wire or a third rail alongside the track.

6.Electric traction is in many ways extremely suitable for railroad work.

7.The high capital expenditures (затраты) required for substations and electrical-distribution networks have hindered (препятствовать) the electrification of all railroads.

8.Electric traction can be used on the lines where the traffic is sufficiently dense (интенсивный) and high capital investment can be repaid.

7. Answer the questions.

1.How is motive power provided for trains?

2.What types of locomotives can be used?

3.What was the earliest type of a locomotive?

4.Why did the diesel locomotive replace steam as the standard railroad motive power on nonelectrified lines?

5 What is an important drawback of diesel locomotives as compared with electrics?

6.What are the advantages of the electric locomotive?

7.What is the greatest drawback of electrification?

8.Make a summary of the text.

9.Render the text in English.

Локомотив — тяговое транспортное средство, предназначенное для передвижения по рельсовым путям поездов и вагонов. Паровозы и тепловозы автономны, имеют собственные силовые установки (power plants) для выработки энергии. Электровозы не имеют своих источников энергии и получают ее через электрическую контактную сеть. Функции локомотивов выполняют также моторные вагоны (motor cars). В отличие от локомотивов моторные вагоны имеют места для пассажиров и багажа. Магистральные локомотивы подразделяются на грузовые, пассажирские — для тяги поездов, и маневровые (switchers) — для маневровой работы на станциях.

На протяжении 19 в. паровозы были единственным тяговым средством ж.д. В начале 20 в. паровозы стали вытесняться новыми, более экономичными локомотивами, обладающими большей единичной мощностью и более высоким кпд (efficiency), — тепловозами и электровозами. Первый в мире магистральный тепловоз мощностью 1000 л.с. с электрической передачей был построен в 1924 году в нашей стране. Позднее была применена гидравлическая передача. В 1895 в США построен первый электровоз. В нашей стране электрическая тяга впервые была применена в 1926 году. Для обслуживания пассажирских поездов строят электровозы переменного и постоянного тока.

Остальные типы локомотивов из-за малой мощности и низкого КПД широкого развития не получили.

10. Work in pairs. Compare diesel and electric locomotives.

Optional tasks

1.Find in the text and write out comparatives and superlatives.

2.Find in the text the synonyms of these words.

Disadvantage, to generate (power), mainly, to use.

3. Find in the text the opposites of these words.

A lot of (time), high, advantage, direct (current), expensive.

4. Read the words and say what words they are formed from.

Propulsion, cleanliness, to nullify, flexibility.

Test 15

I. Match the words.

II. Choose the appropriate term.

1.A self-propelled engine, usually electric or diesel powered that pulls or pushes freight or passenger cars on railroad track.

a) locomotive b) accommodation c) propulsion

2.A flow of electric charge.

a) electricity b) electrification c) current

3.A group of people working together. a) passengers b) crew c) density

4.To wire and equip the railroad for the use of electric power. a) to electrify b) to justify c) repay

5.A machine that converts energy into mechanical motion. a) steam b) type c) engine

III. Decide if the sentences are true (T) or false (F).

1.The principal advantage of the diesel engine over the steam engine is higher thermal efficiency.

2.Diesels can move a train much faster up a grade than steam.

3.Diesels require more maintenance than steam locomotives.

4.The electric traction presents both advantages and drawbacks.

5.The electric locomotive is a self-sufficient unit.

Unit 16

Read the text. Complete the table.

Railroad Cars

Passenger cars. Passenger train cars include passenger-carrying cars such as sleeping cars that have berths for overnight travel, coaches that have individual seats or benches, and diners that provide meal service on long distance routes, as well as baggage cars and mail cars.

Passenger cars were modeled after road coaches. Early cars were made largely of wood. All-steel construction was introduced early in the twentieth century. The development was accompanied by many improvements in design and material, including automatic couplers, and electric and fluorescent lights. Automatic air brakes, wrought-steel wheels, and roller bearings help make high-speed operation safe. Air conditioning and many other improvements have been incorporated for passenger comfort. Modern cars, for both local and long-distance service, have an entrance at both ends of the car. Flexible connections between cars give passengers access to any car of a moving train.

A railroad passenger may dine, read, sleep, talk with other passengers, or enjoy the passing scenery through windows. He may also be informed of points of interest en route over loudspeaker systems.

Freight cars. Railroads are used to carry anything that needs to be transported — regardless of size, weight, or makeup, be it solid, liquid, or powder, mineral or organic. This diversity of commodities explains a great variety of freight-car types.

Simple, functional — that’s the flatcar. Essentially a platform on wheels, flatcars can carry large, tall and heavy loads — lumber, stone blocks, vehicles, machinery — items unaffected by weather and temperature. In the case of extra long freight (such as rail or pipe), two or more flatcars can carry the load. A modern method of reducing delay and avoiding damage to goods is by the use of containers. The goods are packed into the containers at the works or factory, and the containers are then moved to the railroad where they are placed onto flatcars.

In its most basic form, the gondola is merely a flatcar with sides — but what a difference sides can make! The gondola can handle bulk material like gravel or coal.

Initially, flatcars and gondolas dominated the railroad scene, but railroads had a special need for cars that could protect freight from rain and snow. The type of car most common, and also most versatile in the variety of goods it can handle, is the boxcar — the work horse of the freight car fleet. The evolution of an early wooden boxcar into an efficient vehicle for mass transportation of materials and manufactured goods is the result of several improvements. The Bessemer steel-making process together with the adoption of the automatic coupler and air brake in the late 19th century allowed for cars of greater capacity and longer trains. Resembling the boxcar in outward appearance, the refrigerator car is used to transport commodities that require refrigeration. The earliest attempts at railcar refrigeration were blocks of ice in a boxcar. Modern

refrigerator cars use mechanical refrigeration and improved insulation. For most food products, the refrigerator car provides the ideal combination of moisture and temperature.

The floor of a hopper is sloped toward hoppers which help funnel the material to the hatches through which the commodity is unloaded. Hoppers transport bulk commodities such as coal and ore. In America the covered hoppers are used to transport grain, cement and dry sand. Most hoppers have a capacity of 60 tons.

Tank cars are used to transport liquid commodities such as chemicals, acids, gasoline, and kerosene. Unlike flatcars, gondolas and boxcars, tank cars spend half their transit time empty. Regardless of this drawback, tank cars are in high demand. In the 1950s tank-car construction was improved through all-welded tanks and an increased use of aluminum. These and other technological improvements, such as high-pressure tanks, allowed railroads to carry larger quantities of liquids per car.

Special-service cars carry a specific type of freight. Their design is such that it would be impractical to use the car to haul anything other than its intended freight. The auto-carrier is among the most common special-service cars. Today’s automobile carrier cars are known as auto-racks. Because of vandalism, auto-racks are built with panels on their sides. Each bi-level car can carry 8–10 automobiles.

Read and remember the meanings of the words and phrases.

1. Сhoose the correct meaning.

2. Look at the entries for the words in bold and choose the correct meaning.

1. The gondola can handle bulk material like gravel or coal.

like 1. подобный; равный; 2. нравиться, любить

2. Air brakes, wrought-steel wheels, and roller bearings help make high-speed operation safe.

operation работа; действие; операция; эксплуатация; движение; управление

3. Railroads are used to carry anything that needs to be transported – regardless of size, weight, or makeup, be it solid, liquid, or powder, mineral or organic.

makeup грим; косметика; состав; структура; пополнение; выдумка; верстка

4. In the case of extra long freight (such as rail or pipe), two or more flatcars can carry the load.

case 1. случай; обстоятельство; доводы; судебное дело 2. ящик; чемодан.

5. The type of most common car is the boxcar.

common общий; совместный; распространенный; обыкновенный; обычный; простой

3. Match the type of a car with the type of a commodity.

4. In the text find the words that mean:

1)a system which provides comfortable conditions of travel in any climate.

2)a rail car designed to transport liquids.

3)a closed car built with insulation in the floor, sides, ends, roofs, and doors, and some form of refrigeration equipment designed for cooling during transit.

4)a freight car having a flat floor, with no sides, ends or roof.

5)a device for slowing or stopping motion of a vehicle.

6)a device for coupling two railroad cars.

5. Answer the questions.

1.What happens when a load exceeds (превышать) the length of even the longest flatcar?

2.What method is used to reduce damage to goods in a transloading situation?

3.What were the early cars made of?

4.What way has been devised to move fresh fruit, vegetables, etc.?

5.What is an example of a special-service car?

6.Make up a summary of the text consisting of 10 sentences.

7.Read the text and render it in English.

Железнодорожные вагоны

В России первые грузовые и пассажирские вагоны были построены в 1850–1854 годах на Александровском заводе в Петербурге.

Пассажирский вагон в наше время — это сложное (complicated) транспортное средство. Системы отопления, освещения, кондиционирования создают в вагоне необходимые условия для пассажиров зимой и летом. Автотормоза гарантируют безопасность.

Грузовые вагоны подразделяются на универсальные (крытые, полувагоны, платформы, хопперы, цистерны) и специальные. В крытых вагонах перевозят грузы, требующие защиты от атм. воздействий. В России наиболее распространены 4-осные крытые вагоны грузоподъемностью 60 т.

8.Work in pairs. Talk about the improvements made in passenger and freight cars.

9.Describe each of freight car types. Say what they are used for.

Optional tasks

1. Are the words in the groups below listed from general to specific or from specific to general? Write G→S or S→G.

1)passenger → crew → humans

2)car → vehicle → transport

3)transport network → railroad → track

2. Find the word in each group that is different. Explain why.

1)Works, factory, plant, station.

2)Delay, damage, contamination, corrosion.

3)Door, window, floor, entrance.

4)Hopper, gondola, flatcar, boxcar.

5)Boxcar, tank car, refrigerator car, baggage car.

6)Transport, carry, handle, avoid.

3. Read these notes about traveling by train. Write them under the correct heading.

1) comfortable, 2) relaxing, 3) sometimes crowded, 4) sometimes delayed, 5) no traffic jams, 6) not door to door, 7) fast, 8) travelling at certain times, 9) safe.

4. Answer the questions.

1.Do you often travel by train?

2.Which of these things do you do?

a)buy a ticket

b)eat

c)sleep

d)enjoy the passing scenery through windows

e)read

f)listen to music

g)mix in conversation with fellow passengers

3.Do you like traveling by train? Why?

5. Read a few considerations to make everyone’s train ride more pleasant. Put in the words from the box. Translate the sentences.

a)refrain b) allowed c) permitted d) prohibited e) leaving f) detrain or entrain

1)Smoking is not ___ on trains.

2)Please ___ from placing feet on seats.

3)Please don’t block the doors, making it difficult for passengers to ___ at their stations.

4)Help us to maintain a clean environment by not ___ litter on trains, in stations or in stairwells and walkways.

5)Passengers whose conduct is disorderly or unsafe will not be ___ on the train.

6)Obscene language is ___.

Test 16

I. Match the words.

II.Choose the correct word.

a)container b) size c) transport d) hatches e) require f) brake

1.The hopper can only haul materials that can self-unload by way of the car’s sloped sides, hoppers, and ___.

2.Freight can be carried in a ___ that itself can be transloaded, thereby reducing damage to the freight.

3.Like most other freight cars, the ___ and capacity of the gondola increased over the years. Now they are 40 and 50 feet long with a capacity of 50–70 tons.

4.Tank cars are used to ___ liquid commodities.

5.The boxcar is used to carry commodities that ___ protection from weather.

III. Decide if the sentences are true (T) or false (F).

1.The ordinary flatcar is without sides or ends, having only a floor.

2.Boxcars are used to transport commodities suited to open movement.

3.Gondolas carry various minerals in bulk, lumber, steel, and similar commodities.

4.Most tank cars have flat bottoms, with low sides and ends.

5.The auto-rack is an example of a special-service car.

Unit 17

Read the text.

Terminal Operation

Involved in the operation of terminals are such activities as maintenance, classification of cars, make-up of trains, loading or unloading freight, and handling passengers.

In classification yards, freight cars are sorted out and outgoing trains are made up. Most large classification yards have a hump over which cars are pushed. They then roll down from the hump by gravity, and each is routed into a classification track corresponding to its destination. By the 1970s, operations in the newer classification yards had reached a high degree of automation. The heart of such a yard is a central computer, into which is fed information concerning all cars in the yard or en route to it. As the cars are pushed up the hump (in some recently completed yards, by locomotives that are crewless and under remote radio control from the yard’s operations centre), electronic scanners confirm their identity by means of a light-reflective label, place the data (car owner, number, and type) in a computer, and then set switches to direct each car into the proper classification track. Electronic speed-control equipment measures such factors as the weight, speed, and rolling friction of each car and operates electric or electropneumatic retarders to control the speed of each car as it rolls down from the hump. Because such electronically equipped yards can sort cars with great efficiency, they eliminate the need to do such work at other, smaller yards.

The terminal operation is a complicated one. A car of the specified type and size is switched in place for loading. When the car is loaded it is pulled to a yard where trains are made up. The various cars are sorted into groups going to the same regions. Then the cars are coupled into a train and inspected, an engine is attached ahead, the air brake system is pumped up and tested, and finally orders are given to proceed. On arrival at the final terminal, the cars are inspected, the air is released from the brake system, the cars are switched out in proper groups and taken by switch engines to the proper sidings.

Besides selling tickets, giving information on arrivals and departures, and receiving and discharging passengers, the functions of the passenger station include provision of waiting rooms and restaurants for the convenience of passengers. The stations to be used by several lines have been built in many cities, and often they are among the cities’ most beautiful structures. They are often centers of which cities are proud. In 24 hours thousands of passengers pass through the world’s largest stations such as those in London, Paris, New York, Melbourne, and Moscow. Much construction work is involved in the maintenance of railway stations, especially in rebuilding and modernizing stations to meet changing conditions in passenger requirements and service.

Read and remember the meanings of the words and phrases.

1. Find the words in the text which mean.

1)a station at the end of a railroad.

2)a group of coupled cars hauled by a locomotive.

3)an elevated end of the yard cars are pushed to and are then released individually, or in small groups.

4)parallel rails upon which a train runs.

5)a rail-mounted brake to slow down and stop cars moving by gravity from a hump into the classification tracks.

6)a mechanism which moves the trains from one track to another.

2. Complete the sentences.

1)Involved in the operation of terminals are such activities as ___.

2)In classification yards, freight cars are ___ and outgoing trains are ___.

3)Cars roll down from the hump by ___.

4)Each car is routed into a classification track corresponding to its ___.

5)Retarders are used to ___ the speed of each car as it rolls down from the hump.

3. Choose the correct answer.

1.The efficiency of classification yards has been improved due to

a)the building of a great number of classification tracks.

b)using automatic equipment.

2.The cars which roll down from the hump by gravity are routed into

a)a classification track.

b)a main line.

3.To meet passenger requirements much construction work is involved

a)in building a great number of new railway stations.

b)in rebuilding and modernizing stations.

4. Put the sentences in the correct order.

1)Orders are given to proceed.

2)The air is released from the brake system.

3)The air brake system is pumped up and tested.

4)An engine is attached ahead.

5)A car is placed for loading.

6)The cars are inspected.

7)On arrival at the final terminal, the cars are inspected.

8)The cars are coupled into a train.

9)The car is pulled to a yard where trains are made up.

10)The various cars are sorted into groups going to the same regions.

11)The car is loaded.

5. Answer the questions.

1)What does the operation of terminals involve?

2)What information on cars is read by electronic scanners?

3)What does the procedure of humping include?

4)What facilities do passenger stations provide for passengers?

6.Make up a summary of the text consisting of 10 sentences.

7.Render the text in English.

Сортировочная горка есть на каждой станции, куда прибывают составы из вагонов различного направления следования. На этих станциях вагоны из одного поезда ставятся в другой в зависимости от станции назначения грузов. Для такой сортировки вагонов служит сортировочная горка. Это возвышенное место на станции, к которому ведет несколько путей. Состав надвигают на горку. Затем вагоны скатываются с нее под действием силы тяжести на сортировочные пути, где формируются новые маршруты. На спуске с горки для регулирования скорости вагонов установлены вагонные замедлители. Процесс расформирования и формирования составов облегчает автоматизированная система.

8.Tell your partner about the work done in classification yards.

9.Make a list of functions passenger stations perform. Discuss them with a partner.

Optional tasks

1.Find the passive verbs in the text.

2.Make nine two-word phrases. Then write the meaning in Russian. Use the English – Russian railway dictionary to help you.

Test 17

I. Match the words.