5. Translate the sentences. Pay attention to the Imperative Mood.

1. Maintain the proper liquid level in the reservoir.

2. Have the brake system checked for leaks and repaired immediately.

3. Remove the distributor cap and dry off the inside surfaces. Replace cap.

4. Examine the wires for damaged insulations.

5. Check to make sure that the emergency brake is completely released.

6. Never drive the vehicle any further than is necessary to reach a safe place to change the tire.

7. Dry off the tops of the sparking plugs, the top of the ignition coil, and the distributor-cap towers.

8. Do not operate the starter for more than 30 seconds at the time.

9. Allow approximately two minutes for the starter to cool down, then crank the engine again.

10. Check both ends of the battery leads, and clean and tighten them as required.

11. Reduce speed, and while still moving apply the brakes lightly, to dry out the brake mechanism.

12. Regardless of the outside temperature, turn on the heater fan and adjust the heat to the highest possible setting.

6. Do you pay attention to the following when you buy a car: a car’s fuel consumption, its recyclability, if it was manufactured in a plant with an eco-audit? What are the advantages and disadvantages of fuel cell-powered cars? Have you read anything about them? Have you ever googled this information for your lessons? Would you buy a fuel cell car? Why or why not?

   Text 18.

THE HISTORY OF THE AUTOMOBILE

(H) Ireland has few car-making boasts. But the Shamrock is a rare exception, built with the ambition of captivating US customers. Inspired by the American success of Californian businessmen, designers decided to put up the style by selling a shrunken copy of the contemporary Ford Thunderbird, powered by the same Austin engine found under the Metropolitan’s 2-tone steelwork. The fiberglass-bodied car came together, with help from Canadian race driver Rhiando, around a simple ladder-frame chassis with almost every mechanical component taken from the Austin A55. As a European-size car, it looked overbodied on its wheelbase, with huge front and rear overhangs and a narrow track. However, unlike the Metropolitan, it was a full 4-seater convertible, with optional removable hardtop. So, production started, but there were several design flaws.

The Simca Fulgur (Latin for ‘flash) is possibly the silliest concept car of the 1950s. But that was not surprising. The project was a fantasy car of the year 2000, created with suggestions from young readers of a French children’s magazine. Had it ever worked as intended, it would have been electrically driven, taking its power from a live rail buried in the road surface. When its speed reached 145kph, its 2 front wheels retracted into the body so that it planned along on its rear 2 wheels, steered by rudders. Fortunately, an on-board gyroscope made sure the car tracked upright and stably. A fiendish combination of radar and a computer, or ‘electronic brain’ as Simca preferred to call it, looked after navigation. It had a huge tailfin (V-shaped). Although there were doubts about how all this untried technology would actually function, the Fulgur went down a storm at the 1959 Motor Show. The man, who designed the static mock-up, was an architect Opron. Although he was made redundant from Simca’s styling department in 1961, he returned to the car industry and was responsible for the acclaimed looks of the Citroen SM and the Renault Fuego.

A specific little vehicle intended for specific users, the Haflinger was created with scant regard for passenger niceties and a total focus on off-road ability. Although many were built as pickups and military field cars, some came as open 4-seaters (automobiles). It was a tiny 4-wheel drive contraption powered by flat-twin engine from the Fiat Nuova 500. It was extremely trim light enough to be lifted and carried by 4 people and could also carry a 0.5-ton payload. Ingeniously simple, yet stark in appearance, it scattered mud as it bounced across soggy farmland. Several aspects aided its exceptional off-road ability. Front and rear differential locks kept it moving in the stickiest of terrain, while high-ground clearance was provided by swing axles back and front to keep the axle center higher than the wheel hubs. It was largely unaltered between 1959 and the end of manufacture in 1974, when it was replaced with a similar, but much larger vehicle – the Pinzgauer.