1. Answer the following questions:

1. What Institute deals with the problem of building in permafrost zones? 2. Where is this Institute situated? 3. How much land on our planet is frozen? 4. What can create great difficulties for builders in permafrost zones? 5. Are there any tall buildings in the Far North today?

II. Choose the correct variant and complete the sentences. Memorise them:

1. The Institute of Frozen Soils is situated in ... ( a) Norilsk, b) Yakutsk, c) Magadan). 2. The permafrost zones are ... ( a) only in the Far North, b) in many areas of our planet). 3. The permafrost... (a) is eternal, b) can turn into a boggy swamp). 4. All the buildings in Yakutsk ... ( a) stand on the ground, b) are raised off the ground on concrete piles).

III. Complete the following sentences:

1.There are many places on our planet with... .2. If we build a house without considering specific features of frozen ground, the house....3. The permafrost experts proved that permafrost can act as a solid foundation for any building, if... .4. When turning into a boggy swamp frozen ground can create great difficulties for ... .5. Many huge enterprises are built on....

Metric system in the usa

The use of the metric system in the USA is increasing. With 90% of the world's countries using or going to ^use the metric system the USA cannot as a nation stand alone in a metric world. Not adopting the International System of Units (SI) they will be limiting their position in world trade. The adoption of the metric system would give an opportunity to investigate and improve designs and materials in the construction industry. Standardisation of sizes, configurations, etc. could also be done at the same time.

The adoption of the metric system would further promote the international exchange of building construction techniques and materials and sharing in technological advancements among different countries.

The International System of Units is convenient for engineering computation thus reducing errors. US industries that have been working towards the metric system have not experienced the difficulty expected in learning and using the system. There are thousands of engineering standards applied to nealy every product from the smallest screw to the largest building truss. Cement and paint, nails and light bulbs, screen doors and linoleum, ceiling tile and kitchen cabinets, elevators and door knobs— all are covered by standards to attain comparability between competing products and to enhance product quality and reliability. There are standard provisions for processing (how products are fabricated, shipped, erected, installed), for materials (their chemical and physical constituency and properties); for functioning (how the product functions internally and along with interconnected or related products); for dimensions (linear sizes) and for tolerances (the latitude within which standard dimensions may vary for each product). All these standards must be changed to metric.

EXERCISES