Text b. Automatic public carrier

(1) International transport exhibitions have turned into a useful tradition among transport engineers. The principal aim of these exhibitions is to demonstrate various achieve­ments in the field of surface transport including railways.

(2) At one of the international exhibitions France demonstrated a new city transportation system intended for towns with up to 800,000 people. The system is auto­matic and operates on its own rail track.

3. The vehicles are equipped with four wheels and driven electrically with the aid of a cable laid parallel to the track. These vehicles run continuously along the cable at a distance of 100 m from one another and are able to develop 35 km/h.

4. While reaching the station the car is automatically disconnected from the cable and decelerated (замедлять).At the platform it moves at a speed of 0.3 m/h when pas­sengers are getting on the car. As soon as the passengers have entered the car, the doors automatically close and the car accelerates until it attains the speed of 35 km/h. Then a specially designed automatic device connects the car to the cable.

5. Controlled by computers, the system is quite reliable. A large number of electronic devices eliminate any risk of an accident or emergency situation. The track can be built above the city streets, under the ground or at ground level. This makes the system particularly convenient for the streets with heavy traffic. The track itself is of light construction and the platforms are short. So the construc­tion cost of the whole system is rather cheap.

4. Прочитайте текст с без словаря (3 мин.) и перескажите его содержание по-русски.

5. Определите значение выделенных слов и словосочетаний по контексту.

Text c. Automatic trains in london

1. One of London's underground railways—the Victoria Line—was put into public service in 1968. The character­istic feature of this line is the automatically-driven trains and the automatic inspection of tickets.

2. The line is serviced by eight-car trains controlled automatically with the aid of coded signals which are re­ceived from the running rails. Special devices installed in front of the trains pick up these signals, set the speed of the trains or stop the train in case of any emergency.

(3) Each train employs a single operator who is to open and close the doors at stations. If any fault occurs, he can drive the train in the usual way.

(4) Thanks to the automatic equipment a minimum distance between the trains can be safely provided. Nu­merous electronic devices are intended to operate the whole system and to avoid (избегать) any emergency which may lead to a serious accident.

6. Опираясь на сигналы, определите явные и неявные сказуемые в каждом предложении данного текста.

1. Today, we travel from one place to another quite easily. But for thousands of years, people had to walk or travel in horse-drawn carriages.

2. In 1829, Shillibeer started the first bus service in London. The bus introduced by Shillibeer looked like a large carriage.

3. Everybody knows that the English buses are of red colour and are very high, as they are double-decked buses. But the upper deck of the early buses had no roof. The passengers were given raincoats to put on if it started to rain.

4. In 1885, the Londoners saw the first petrol-engine buses. In 1919, they achieved a speed of 12 mph.

5. As to the first important passenger railway in England it was the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. In 1829, the company offered a prize of £ 500 for the best steam locomotive for this railway. The prize was won by G. Stephenson.

(6) Today, people use electric and diesel traction on their railways because electric and diesel trains attain a very high speed.

7. Определите функцию слов, оканчивающихся на –ed и переведите предложения.

1. The newly designed locomotive is intended for passenger service. 2. The simulation technique ought to be used more widely for training locomotive drivers. 3. The el­ectronic computer, if installed in the locomotive, can perform the control functions. 4. It is expected that by the end of the year the production of the new passenger cars will have been initiated. 5. The equipment tested proved reliable in operation. 6. The track cannot keep its position if placed directly on the earth. 7. The ties on the railroad track are laid on a crushed rock bed called ballast which is consid­ered a very necessary element of the permanent way. 8. When widely introduced, containerized services will make the transportation of goods much easier. 9. The data obtained were transmitted to the central computer which supplied all information required. 10. Before opened, the railways ought to be carefully inspected. 11. When fully computerized, the sorting yards will be able to provide "high efficiency and reliability of their operations. 12. Applied to railways the electronic devices have facilitated many transportation processes.

8. Укажите предложения с модальными глаголами, выражающими необходимость совершения действия, и переведите их.

1. In the future the operation of railways should be turned into a fully computerized branch of a country's national economy. 2. Unlike the existing vehicles some trains of the future will have no wheels. 3. Numerous calculations had to be made while designing the vehicle. 4. To improve the passenger service there must be more ticket windows at railway stations. 5. The aim of the re­search was to develop a reliable power supply system. 6. The device is to perform two functions. 7. One ought to remember that automation means higher efficiency and reliability. 8. In recent years, some of the sorting yards have been computerized. 9. To facilitate traffic between big cities and their airports some more efficient mode of trans­port will have to be developed. 10. One should not forget that our country is a pioneer in diesel traction. 11. There existed a number of projects for strange railways in the past; according to one of them the power sources were to be installed along the track. 12. The general opinion (мнение) was to enclose the high speed trains in tubes.

Unit 7. Train Operation.

Слова для запоминания:

1. accident – несчастный случай, авария;

2. number – номер, число, количество; a number of .. – ряд;

3. devise – изобретать, разрабатывать;

4. simplify – упрощать; simple – простой;

5. except – кроме, за исключением;

6. divide (into) – делить (на), разделять; division – деление, отдел, отделение;

7. run –пробег, рейс; двигаться, управлять (локомотивом и т.д.), эксплуатировать;

8. crew – бригада (поездная и т.д.);

9. several – несколько;

10. time – время, раз;

11. i.e = id est – то есть;

12. example - пример; for example – например;

13. arrive (at) – прибывать (на); arrival – прибытие;

14. local – местный;

15. take into account – учитывать, принимать во внимание;

16. direct – направлять, руководить; прямой, непосредственный;

17. telecommunication – дистанционная (дальняя) связь;

18. comprise – включать, охватывать;

19. significant – значительный, важный;

20. mace use of – использовать;

21. both – оба; both ... and – как … так и ;

22. warn –предупреждать (об опасности); warning – предостережение, предупреждение;

23. danger - опасность; dangerous – опасный;

24. collision –столкновение; collide – сталкиваться;

25. constant – постоянный, непрерывный;

26. goods – грузы; goods train – грузовой (товарный) поезд;

27. common – общий; обычный; простой; commonly – обычно;

28. damage – повреждение, порча;

29. increasingly – все больше и больше;

30. contribute (to) – способствовать, вносить вклад.