Ex. 7. Before reading the text make sure you pronounce the following words and phrases correctly:

creosote, although, Shinkansen, gauge, recently, instead of, practice, the permanent way, rail fastenings, two parallel rails, the underlying subgrade, the whole structure, jointless tracks, the cost of maintenance, standard 60 ft rail lengths, 1435 mm, 1520 mm, the European Community, track laying machines, high-speed railways, carefully and regularly.

Ex. 8. Read the text and translate it, using a dictionary, if necessary.

Railway track

The track on a railway, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, rail fastenings, sleepers and ballast (or slab track), plus the underlying subgrade.

The main component parts of the modem railway track do not differ greatly from those of a hundred or more years ago. As then, railway track consists of two parallel rails which are supported on crossties (ties, sleepers). The sleepers hold the rails in place and at the right distance apart and play their part in spreading the load to the subgrade (formation). The number and spacing of the sleepers depend largely on the weight of trains passing over the track. The sleepers are laid on ballast, and the whole structure is supported on the subgrade. The rails are joined to each other by fastenings. High-speed railways use now continuous welded rails instead of standard ones because jointless tracks give better riding qualities, last longer, reduce the cost of maintenance and increase the stability of the line. The practice now is to weld standard 60 ft rail lengths into lengths of up to a mile or more. There are several types of rails now used on our railways, such as R60, R75. R75 type means that the weight of one meter of rail is 75 kg.

Recently the crossties consisted almost universally of wood treated with the special material called creosote which prevents it from decay. Now concrete sleepers are widely used on all the railways of the world. Metal plates, known as tie plates, protect the ties from damage due to the cutting action of the rail.

Track ballast consists almost universally of crushed stone (broken stone, rock stone), but some other materials (slag, gravel, sand, etc.) are used as well. There is usually a lower layer of large pieces of material (three to nine inches across) and an upper layer of half inch to two inches. On this the sleepers are laid, and loose ballast of the smaller size is fitted in between them.

Although ballast is one of the main component parts of railway track, some countries prefer laying tracks without ballast. Thus, the slab track has been adopted for all Shinkansen lines (high-speed lines in Japan). High-speed tests on the slab track showed that the stability of the trains is much higher.

The distance between rails is called gauge. The gauge is not the same on different railways of the world. The gauge on most railways in Europe, including Great Britain, is 1435 mm. As for the Russian railways, their gauge is 1520 mm. Finland is the only country in the European Community that has the same gauge as Russia. High-speed passenger and freight trains can cross the border without stopping.

To provide safe and reliable railway traffic it is important to maintain railway track carefully and regularly. For many years railway track has been laid, maintained and repaired by hard manual labor. Now this work is being modernized, and a lot of different machines are used in track service: track laying machines, tampers, ballast cleaners, rail-welding machines, track-laying cranes and some others.

Ex.9. Answer the following questions.

1. What is permanent way?

2. What are the main component parts of the modern railway track? Do they considerably differ from those of a hundred years ago?

3. What role do the sleepers play?

4. Where are the crossties placed?

5. What do the number and spacing of the ties depend on?

6. What way are the rails joined to each other?

7. Why do high-speed railways use CWR now?

8. What kind of sleepers are mostly used on the modern railways of the world?

9. What are the tie plates used for?

10. What are the features of the ballast laying?

11. What make the stability of track higher?

12. What is gauge?

13. Is the gauge on the British railways and the Russian railways different?

14. What is the only country that has the same gauge as Russia?

15. What machines are used in track service? Can you name them in Russian?

Ex. 10. Go back to the text and find sentences, which are similar to the following statements. Translate these sentences into Russian.

1. Notwithstanding modern technical developments, the dominant track form worldwide consists of steel rails supported on timber or concrete sleepers, which are themselves laid on crushed stone ballast.

2. Most railroads with heavy traffic use continuously welded rails.

3. The rail is usually held down to the sleeper (tie) with resilient fastenings.

4. Timber sleepers (ties) are of many available timbers, and are often treated with creosote, copper-chrome-arsenic, or other wood preservative.

5. The track ballast is customarily crushed stone.

Ex. 11. Translate the following sentences into English.

Железнодорожный путь должен обеспечивать безопасное движение поездов. Основными компонентами железнодорожного полотна являются рельсы, шпалы и балласт.

Рельсы удерживаются на шпалах. Шпалы укладываются на балласт. Рельсы соединяются друг с другом с помощью рельсовых скреплений. Стандартные рельсовые плети сваривают яс и образуют бесстыковой путь. В настоящее время бесстыковой путь широко используется на многих высокоскоростных магистралях. Такой путь обеспечивает более комфортное движение.

Существует два основных типа шпал: деревянные шпалы и бетонные шпалы. Деревянные шпалы обрабатываются креозотом, который предотвращают их гниение.

Балласт может состоять из щебня, песка, гравия и некоторых других материалов. Существует также безбалластный путь или путь на плитах.

Расстояние между рельсами называется шириной колеи. Ширина колеи на Российских железных дорогах составляет 1520 мм.

Для содержания и ремонта железнодорожного пути используются современные путевые машины.

UNIT TWO RAIL CLASSIFICATION

Ex. 1. Copy and memorize the following terms.

Glossary

alloy - сплав commodity - товар convenience - удобство convenient - удобный decimal system - десятичная система счисления dimension - размер, величина inch - дюйм measure - мера; единица измерения measurement – измерение; мерка range - предел, диапазон to estimate - (приблизительно) подсчитывать

Ex. 2.Translate the following sentences from English into Russian.

1. The Imperial system of units is based on the foot, pound, and second as the units of length, mass, and time. For scientific and most technical purposes these units have been replaced by SI units.

2. The temperature range is how many degrees is in between the highest and the lowest temperature.

3. An alloy is a metal made by combining two or more metallic elements, especially to give greater strength or resistance to corrosion.

4. Manganese is an important component of special steels and magnetic alloys.

5. I.B.C. trades worldwide buying and selling basic commodities such as timber, coal and cement.

6. I’d like to talk to the manager - can you suggest a convenient time?

7. Most of us like the convenience of using credit cards to buy things.

8. Geometry investigates objects and the spaces around them. In its simplest form, it deals with objects in two or three dimensions, such as lines, circles, cubes, and spheres.

9. Every inch of space in the tiny shop was crammed with goods.

10. It is estimated that smoking causes 100,000 premature deaths every year.

11. I’ll just take a few measurements, and then I can tell you how much paint you will need.

Ex. 3. Answer the following questions, using the information given in brackets.

1. What is the temperature range? (the highest temperature minus the lowest temperature) 

2. What is brass? (an alloy of copper and zinc)

3. Why did I phone your office? (to confirm that this date is convenient)

4. Why did ready meals sell well? (because of their convenience)

5. What does a decimal system involve? (counting in units of ten)

6. What represents things in only two dimensions? (a diagram)

7. How many inches are there in a foot? (twelve)

8. What is the world’s most important commodity? (crude [сырая] oil)

9. Is crude oil priced in dollars or in euros? (in dollars)

10. What do scientists estimate? (smoking reduces life expectancy by around 12 years on average)

11. What are the measurements like? (extraordinarily accurate)

12. What does the decimal numeral system have as its base? (ten)

Ex.4. Read the sentences, replacing the Russian words with their English equivalents.

1. The имперская система измерений uses inches, feet, and yards to measure length, ounces and pounds to measure weight, and pints and gallons to measure volume.

2. An сплав is a metal that is made by mixing two or more types of metal together.

3. A товар is something that is sold for money.

4. Mail-order catalogs are a удобный way to shop.

5. The десятичный numeral system is most widely used by modern civilizations.

6. The box measures 42 дюйм by 42 inches in height and width.

7. I подсчитывать that total cost for medical treatment will range from $9,000 to $12,500.

8. A измерение is a result, usually expressed in numbers that you obtain by measuring something.

9. Your мерка are the size of your waist, chest, hips, and other parts of your body, which you need to know when you are buying clothes.

10. Boats were able to sail from the river Humber into the village carrying fish and other товар.

Ex.5. Unscramble the underlined words and translate the sentences into Russian.

1. The pipes are made of an loyal of copper and zinc.

2. The government increased prices on several basic mmcoodities like bread and meat.

3. Credit cards are probably the most conentveni way of paying for concert tickets.

4. We’ll need to know the exact ionsdimens of the room.

5. The toy train is four nchies long.

6. His personal riches were estimdate at ₤368 million.

7. An inch is an impaleri unit of length, approximately equal to 2.54 centimeters.

8. Being able to pay bills over the Irnnteet is a real convenience.

Ex. 6. Make sure you pronounce the following numbers correctly:

130-pound rail	one hundred and thirty pound rail
130 lb/yd	one hundred and thirty pounds per yard
64.5 kg/m	sixty four point five kilograms per meter
115 to 141 lb/yd	one hundred and fifteen to one hundred and forty one pounds per yard
57.0 to 69.9 kg/m	fifty seven point zero to sixty nine point nine kilograms per meter
40 to 60 kg/m	forty to sixty kilograms per meter
80.6 to 121.0 lb/yd	eighty point six to one hundred and twenty one point zero pounds per yard
155 lb/yd	one hundred and fifty five pounds per yard
76.9 kg/m	seventy six point nine kilograms per meter
1/299,792,458	one two hundred and ninety nine million, seven hundred and ninety two thousand, four hundred and fifty eighth

Ex. 7. Read the text and translate it, using a dictionary, if necessary.