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.pdf2.The students speaking good English must help their class-
mates.
3.Being written in bad Russian the letter was difficult to
read.
4.The weather being favourable, the plane started in time.
5.Travelling is a pleasant way of spending holidays.
6.Having cleaned the room the girls went for a walk.
6.Прочитайте и переведите текст.
Foreign Trade of the United Kingdom
In the 19th century Britain dominated international trade, accounting for about one-third of word's exports. Early in the 20th century its position changed. The volume of world's ex-ports increased but the percentage of British exports in world trade declined significantly.
But still foreign trade is vital to Britain's livelihood. With a large population, small land area, and few natural resources, the country must depend on foreign trade to supply the raw materials for English factories and to provide a market for the sale of the thousands of types of manufactured goods produced by English industries.
The United Kingdom's principal exports are vehicles, machinery, manufactured goods and textiles. Her main exports are foodstuffs and most of the raw materials for industry. Britain imports half the food it needs.
There is usually an unfavourable balance of trade, that is imports exceed exports, but this is compensated for in part by the socalled invisible trade.
Britain has got very sound economic ties with various countries of the world, especially the Commonwealth countries. The Commonwealth, officially called the Commonwealth of Nations, has grown out of the old British Empire which came to an end with the Second world war. The Commonwealth countries are
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Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many other small countries and territories.
The United Kingdom has been a member of the European Free y" Trade Association (EFTA) since 1959, and a member of the European Economic community (EEC) since 1973.
7. Ответьте на вопрос: Why must England depend on foreign trade?
Тема OUR UNIVERSITY
I study at the Urals University of Railway Transport. Our University was founded in 1956. It is a modem beautiful fourstory building located in Kolmogorov Street near the pond.
The University trains highly qualified railway engineers. It has 6 faculties, they are: mechanical electromechanical, electrotechnical, building, operational and economical. There is also a correspondence department, a preparatory faculty and a post graduate course.
About seven thousand students study at our University.
Our curriculum is very intense. We have lecture, classes and work in the laboratories. We study many subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, strength of materials, theoretical mechanics, history of motherland, foreign languages (English, German, French) and many special subjects.
At the University we have many workshops and laboratories. The students have at their disposal a rich library and a large read- ing-room.
At present I am a first-year student of the ... faculty, correspondence department. Our dean is ... At the end of each term we take examinations.
It is difficult to combine work and studies, but I realize that higher education is necessary for every person. So I try to do my best to become a qualified specialist.
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ПРИЛОЖЕНИЕ
Text 1
From the History of Railways
Stephenson not only constructed, the world's first steam locomotive but he was also the builder of the first public railway in England. This railway used both steam and horses as tractive power. This railway was a success, and later he built another railway, now steam-powered.
It is difficult for the people living in the beginning of the 21 century to imagine the opposition to the building of the early railroads. Most people did not believe that it was possible to make locomotives suitable for service. Many of them were afraid of the railways when they first appeared and did all in their power to stop railway construction. However, in 1824 the steam powered railways were already in wide use in England.
In Russia, many people also had doubts about the possibility of using-steam engines in the Russian winter. Nevertheless, the first railway using steam traction was put into service at the Nizni Tagil metallurgical works. It was a short distance line covering only 854 metres. Soon a 15 mile public railway was built between St. Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo.
The first steam locomotive in Russia was built by the Gherepanovs, father and son, who were talented and skilled workmen of their time. Thanks to them our country may be placed among the countries which were the first to use steam as tractive power.
Many changes took place on railways. Still greater changes will take place in the future. We will run more powerful locomotives and have more comfortable cars. Diesel and electric locomotives will develop greater speeds. A great number of other developments will be introduced.
Vocabulary Notes
to be a success – иметь успех tractive power – тяговое усилие, тяга
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to do all in one's power to... – делать все, чтобы...
to be in wide use – широко использоваться nevertheless – все же
to run - управлять
Text 2
The Sverdlovsk Main Railway Line
In 2003 the Sverdlovsk Railway, one of the most lengthy railways in the Russian Federation, marked the 125th anniversary.
As it is known, the Russian railways were originated in the Urals. Naturally, for those times the more powerful transport than a horse-driven cart was required to suit the Demidovs' developing mining and metallurgical works. In 1834 the first railway engine was invented and a railway for transportation of ore was built by the Cherepanovs, the Tagil self-taught serfs. In 1836, the Peters- burg-to-Tsarskoye Selo railway was started to be built.
In 1851 the Petersburg-to-Moscow main railway line, considered for those times as the largest one, started to carry freights and passengers. This gave rise to the building of other railways which connected the country's centre with the outlying districts. The first Urals mining-and-metallurgical railway line (Perm- Chusovskaya-Kushva-Yekaterinburg) started its functioning in 1878. Since 1934 it is known as "The Sverdlovsk Railway".
The Sverdlovsk railway passes through three time zones and four soil-climatic zones. The region of 1791 thousand sq. km with the 11 mln population is serviced by the Sverdlovsk railway.
The full functioning main railway line length is over 7000 km. The main railway line has extended for a distance of about 15 thousand km from the West to the East, while to the North its steel lines cross the Polar Circle. The electrified railway lines extent constitutes 50,6 percent, that of the double-track railway lines, 34 percent of the length run. The traffic is automatically controlled over more than 70 percent of the railway length and the semiau-
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tomatic blocking is employed over approximately 20 percent of the railway length. Many sections (nearly 2 thousand km) are equipped with the centralized traffic control.
The railway line possesses a multi-computer organization, thus making the basic production and management computercontrolled.
Vocabulary Notes
to be originated – впервые появиться cart – повозка, тележка
self-taught serfs – крепостные самоучки to extend – тянуться, простираться
to constitute – составлять semiautomatic – полуавтоматический management – управление
Text 3
Electrification of the Russian Railways
Russian Railways are the most extensive and heavy-used electrified network in the world.
The reliability of electric traction is a function of the combined reliability of the locomotives and the power supply, especially the over-contact wire. It must not be forgotten that the overhead contact system must operate in exceptionally severe climatic conditions in Russia. Remote control of substations is introduced too.
On lines with very heavy freight traffic autotransformers are being introduced. The autotransformer feeding has certain advantages. With these transformers it is not necessary to design new substation equipment for a line voltage of 50 kV and very tight regulation of the voltage along length of the overhead wire is possible.
The autotransformer feeding system gives the possibility almost to double the distance between substations for the same cur-
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rent loading, which is especially important when supplies must be taken from the widely spaced 220-kV power transmission grid.
The prototype electric locomotives and train using 6 kV are also of great interest. They have successfully passed tests and soon will be placed in operation.
Improvements planned over the next years will include the replacement of porcelain insulators by other materials and the wider use of polymers.
Vocabulary Notes
network – сеть reliability – надежность
power supply – энергоснабжение overhead contact system – контактная сеть substation – подстанция
freight – груз
to introduce – вводить current – ток
feed – питать
equipment – оборудование
to be of great interest – представлять большой интерес loading – нагрузка
to pass tests – пройти испытания
Text 4
Moscow-St. Pete Train Sets New Record
Last week, the ER-2000 express, departing from Moscow for St. Petersburg, arrived at its destination half and hour earlier than scheduled. By covering the distance between Russia's northern and southern capitals in 3 hours and 54 minutes, engineer Sergei Bobrov set an absolute record for this route.
"There is no one to meet us,'' people in the driver's cabin noted with deep satisfaction. "No wonder: Neither the passengers nor their friends and family in St. Pete who expected them to arrive 26 minutes later had an inkling that this was a special train
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that had set out to break the 'four-hour barrier' Throughout the trip the drivers fought hard for every minute, every second even. And though a power blackout near the city of Tver set us back a whole six minutes, and we had to work like mad to make up for lost time, the barrier was broken."
"The result that has been achieved thus far is not going to affect train schedules noticeably," said Sergei Gapeyev, deputy railways minister for passenger traffic, "although we will work to cut the travel time. We have done this just to see what we can do. Making this kind of speed a standard fixture, however, will take a good deal of improvement, above all in the quality of railroad tracks."
As a matter of fact, to make this speed journey possible, the Oktyabrskaya main line that links Moscow and St. Petersburg had to undergo large-scale modernization. Even so, the ER-2000 cannot go at 200 kph throughout the route. Its average speed is just 140 kph.
Still, passengers got a chance to choose between, travelling by plane or by train. Railroad operators are making no secret of their intention to compete, as far as the Moscow-St. Petersburg route is concerned, with airlines (counting the time it takes to go to and from the airport, travel time is now the same). Meanwhile, Russia has joined the ranks of countries with a high-speed railway network, of which, until recently, there have been just three: France, Germany, and Japan. True, the Moscow-St. Petersburg route is just the first element of ours. Designed for the 2000-2015 period, a federal high-speed railway transport development program envisions a speed of 160 kph to 200 kph not only for trips to Europe (Helsinki or Berlin) but also to Nizhny Novgorod and Rostov-on-Don.
Vocabulary Notes
destination – назначение schedule – график, расписание
driver's cabin – кабина машиниста
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neither... nor – ни... ни
to affect – воздействовать на...
to cut – сокращать average – средний
to compete – конкурировать, соревноваться as far as... is concerned – что касается...
Text 5
London Underground
The city of London, England, grew rapidly in the 1800s. The streets of the city could not hold all traffic. A young South African named Henry Greathead had a very simple idea. Why not build tunnels below the streets? Then trains could carry people through them.
The first underground railway system in the world was in London. It opened in 1863 and ran 4 miles (6.5 kilometres) from the west of London to the City in the east. The first lines were built close to the surface and used steam trains. They then built deeper tunnels and the electric underground railway opened in 1890.
Henry Greathead talked about subways for 20 years but people who owned land in London said that they owned the streets as well as all the land under the streets. The landowners wanted to be paid for the use of this land. Then the Subway Act of 1884 was passed. This law declared that the streets and the land under them were public property. They belonged to everyone. At last, Henry Greathead could build his subway tunnels.
Henry made working Underground safer by using new ways to construct his tunnels. He also invented special tools for the job. Henry built two tubes, one on top of the other. Inside the tubes, electric engines pulled five-car trains. They could carry 160 passengers at 25 miles an hour. By 1890 the trains came at every three minutes. The subway was a great success.
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Vocabulary Notes
close to surface – близко к поверхности to own – владеть
public property – общественная собственность
Text 6
Sleepers
Wooden Sleepers. Before manufacturing ties, producers shall ascertain which kind of wood suitable for crossties will be accepted. The ties are made of oak, beech, larch, fir, line. Fir, larch, oak are used for manufacturing hard wooden ties because these kinds of wood are durable. Beach and pine are used for manufacturing soft wooden ties because these kinds of wood are the most suitable for soft wooden ties.
Wooden sleepers must be seasoned in the huge air-tight containers to be in good condition for treatment. Light and hard wooden ties are treated with creosote solution at treating plants.
Wooden sleepers are widely used because they are light in weight, have great electric resistance, have comparatively small cost. They are simple in loading and unloading and simple in maintaining.
Concrete sleepers. Concrete sleepers are used to hold the rails to proper gauge and to transmit traffic load to the ballast. The production of concrete sleepers increases from year to year due to the engineering progress. Concrete sleepers are laid in the main lines of the railroads which carry the largest volume of freight and passenger traffic.
Compared with wooden sleepers concrete sleepers are more costly and heavier but have greater strength and no preservation needed. They have longer span of life and high resistance to longitudinal movement of rails. Also they can be mass-produced and allow great speeds.
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Vocabulary Notes
to ascertain – устанавливать wood – древесина
oak – дуб beech – бук
larch – лиственница fir – ель
pine – сосна to cut – рубить
crosstie – шпала durable – прочный hard – твердый soft – мягкий
to season – просушивать
air-tight container – воздухонепроницаемый контейнер preservative treatment –- пропитка антисептиками creosote solution – раствор креозота
treating plant – шпалопропиточный завод
Text 7
Telephone
Do you remember that not so long ago the telephone was a simple receiver, and you used your telephone only when you wanted to make telephone call? But some years ago new technology changed the telephone and its usage.
Computer-based technologies gave us instant connections and clearer conversations over the telephone. Everyone will agree that it's not easy to live without a telephone. Even if you have a pager and can get messages and information quite quickly, you still have to look for telephone in a telephone booth. Some busy people who are out for a long time have mobile/cellular phones and find them very useful. Mobile phones don't have wires. A call from a mobile phone travels along radio waves to special stations in different places. From there, the radio signal gets the regular telephone station. Now people don't have to sit at their offices and
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