If Microsoft were gm
Microsoft should make cars, GM should make software:
At a recent computer expo, Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated: "If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving twenty-five dollar cars that got 1000 miles to the gallon."
In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating the following: "If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would be driving cars with the following characteristics:
For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.
Every time they repainted the lines on the road, you would have to buy a new car.
Occasionally, your car would die on the freeway for no reason, and you would accept this, restart, and drive on.
Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart; in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.
Only one person at a time could use the car, unless you bought 'Car95' or 'CarNT.' Then you would have to buy more seats.
Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was more reliable, five times as fast, and twice as easy to drive, but would only run on five percent of the roads.
The oil, water, temperature and alternator warning lights would be replaced by a single 'general car fault' warning light.
New seats would force everyone to have the same back-end size.
The airbag system would say 'Are you sure?' before going off.
Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
GM would require all car buyers to also purchase a deluxe set of Rand McNally road maps (now a GM subsidiary), even though they neither need them nor want them. Attempting to delete this option would immediately cause the car's performance to diminish by 50 per cent or more.
Every time GM introduced a new model, car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
You'd press the 'Start' button to shut off the engine.
Look through the text again and compose eight IF-clause sentences. You can use the constructions given below:
If + Present, will + infinitive without to
If + Past, would + infinitive without to
If + Past Perfect, would have + Participle II
Unit 4
Text Aircraft hydraulic systems
Do you agree with the statement «Aircraft Hydraulics is a means of transmitting energy or power from one place to another efficiently»?
Do an aircraft hydraulic system and a car hydraulic system have a lot in common? What can you say about it?
Match these words with their definitions:
unit a. a rechargeable electric cell
to handle b. to make or become smaller or less
auxiliary c. the quality or degree of being viscous
controls d. to touch, move or operate with the hands
pump e. a machine for raising or moving liquids
to reduce f. switches and other devices by which a machine is controlled
accumulator g. a device with a specified function forming part of
a complex mechanism
viscosity h. subsidiary, additional
Translate the forms of the verbs remembering that there may be more that one translations depending on the grammar:
increased, required, were introduced, are controlled, to start, permitting.
Find the mistake. There are two wrong forms in each point:
valves, laws, controls, various, pumps, systems, comes, actuators, specifications, references.
Braking, permitting, during, obeying, starting, extinguishing, repairing, servicing.
Before you start reading the text look through it and define the functions of the infinitives in the sentences.
Words and phrases:
braking systems системы торможения
performance рабочие характеристики; эксплуатационные показатели;
to obey соответствовать требованиям
auxiliary power unit вспомогательная силовая установка
cannon артиллерийское орудие
to permit разрешать, позволять
redundancy резервирование; состояние резерва
flashpoint точка вспышки, точка воспламенения
stringent строгий, точный
to adhere приклеивать, придерживаться
The use of hydraulic systems in aircraft almost certainly began with braking systems.
As aircraft performance increased in mid-20th century, the amount of force required to operate mechanical flight controls became excessive, and hydraulic systems were introduced to reduce pilot effort. The hydraulic actuators are controlled by valves; these in turn are operated directly by input from the aircrew (hydro-mechanical) or by computers obeying control laws (fly by wire).
Hydraulic power is used for other purposes. It can be stored in accumulators to start an auxiliary power unit (APU) for self-starting the aircraft's main engines. Many aircraft equipped with the M61 family of cannon use hydraulic power to drive the gun system, permitting reliable high rates of fire.
The hydraulic power itself comes from pumps driven by the engines directly, or by electrically driven pumps. Electric pumps can provide both redundancy and the means of operating hydraulic systems without starting the engines, which can be very useful during maintenance.
Aircraft hydraulic fluids fall under various specifications:
Common petroleum-based:
Mil-H-5606: Mineral base, flammable, fairly low flashpoint, usable from – 65F to 275F, red color;
Mil-H-83282: Synthetic hydrocarbon base, higher flashpoint, self-extinguishing, backward compatible to – 5606, red color;
Mil-H-87257: A development of – 83282 fluid to improve its low temperature viscosity.
Phosphate-ester: Skydrol – Typically light purple, not compatible with petroleum-based fluids, will not support combustion.
Special, stringent care is required when handling aircraft hydraulic fluid as it is critical to flight safety that it stay free from contamination. It is also necesary to strictly adhere to authorized references when servicing or repairing any aircraft system.
(from http://www.thetravelinsider.info/2003/0314.htm)
Answer the questions in your own words:
What is the purpose of hydraulic systems?
How the valves are operated?
Describe the work of hydraulic power.