Вариант № 17

I.Прочитайте и переведите текст:

Solar Light by Night

Most people living in towns consider it a usual thing that streets are light at night. But street lights need a power supply therefore distant areas with no source of electricity remain in the sun comes up again.

With new appliances now offered by several British firms, many distant places could be lit with solar-powered street lights. It may seem strange that the lamps can use the power of the sun which shines by day when the lamps are needed at night, but they work by using energy accumulated during the day from a solar panel. The solar panel produces electricity which charges a battery. When the sun goes down the battery power is then used for lighting. Each lamp has its own panel so the system can be used for one individual light or a number of them.

In the south of Saudi Arabia a motorway tunnel miles from any power supply is lit day and night by solar-powered devices. The solar panels provide power during the day and charge batteries which accumulate enough power to light the tunnel at night. The generation of electricity by batteries is still expensive but the advantage of sun-powered lamps is that they can bring light to areas distant from any other power supply.

There is one more advantage of solar power: not only it is unlimited, but also its use does not pollute the environment. That is why it is very important to develop devices which make it possible to transform solar power into mechanical or electric forms of power.

Non-traditional Renewable Sources of Energy

It is known that much is being done in the world today for the development of non-traditional sources of energy. Without them the Earth cannot support its present population of 6 billion people and probably 8 billion people in the 21 century.

Now we are using traditional power sources, that is, oil, natural gas, coal and water power with the consumption of more than 50 billion barrels per year. It is evident that these sources are not unlimited.

That is why it is so important to use such renewable sources of energy as the sun, wind, geothermal energy and others. Research is being carried out in these fields.

One of the most promising research is the development of power stations with direct transformation of solar energy into electricity on the basis of photo effect. It was Russia that was the first in the world to develop and test a photoelectric battery of 32,000 volts and effective area of only 0.5 sq. m., which made it possible to concentrate solar radiation This idea is now being intensively developed in many countries.

However, the efficiency of a solar power station is considerably reduced because of the limited time of its work during the year.

HENRY CAVENDISH AND HIS DISCOVERY

Henry Cavendish was born in 1731 and died in 1810. He was an English nobleman who did scientific experiments as a hobby. In 1781 he made the important discovery that water is not an element but a compound of the gases we now call hydrogen and oxygen. He described his experiments to the Royal Society in 1785.

His method was new. He showed that if electric sparks are passed through a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen the two gases combine explosively and form water. This was a dangerous experiment. Cavendish did his experiment safely, he wisely used a strong brass container for the gases. He also passed electric sparks through air aid found that gases which readily dissolve in water form acids. We explain this reaction today as follows: oxygen and nitrogen combine and form oxides of nitrogen.

Cavendish also noticed that air contained a small proportion of gas which did not combine with any other gas even if we pass electric sparks through it for a long time. Now we think that this gas was probably argon, one of the inert gases. It was rediscovered many years later.

II.Переведите на русский язык следующие английские словосочетания:

1) a usual thing

2)much is being done

3)street lights

4)traditional power sources

5)many distant places

6)such renewable sources

7)solar-powered devices

8)scientific experiments

9)one more advantage

10)a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen

III.Найдите в тексте английские эквиваленты следующих словосочетаний:

1) подача энергии

2)нетрадиционные источники

3)энергия солнца

4)источники не бесконечны

5)освещать тоннель

6)самое обещающее исследование

7)не загрязняет окружающую среду

8)важное открытие

9)много делается

10)именно Россия была первой

IV.Найдите в тексте слова, имеющие общий корень с данными словами. Определите, к какой части речи они относятся, и переведите их на русский язык:

There, light, motor, limit, develop, consumer, new, photo, how, man, science, cover.

V.Задайте к выделенному в тексте предложению все типы вопросов: общий, альтернативный, разделительный, два специальных: а)к подлежащему, б)к любому члену предложения.

VI.Выполните анализ данных предложений, обратив внимание на следующие грамматические явления: формы глаголов to be, to have; оборот there is/are; степени сравнения прилагательных и наречий; множественное число существительных; Present, Past, Future Simple Active/Passive; модальные глаголы.

1. It may seem strange that the lamps can use the power of the sun which shines by day when the lamps are needed at night, but they work by using energy.

2. When the sun goes down the battery power is then used for lighting.

3. There is one more advantage of solar power: not only it is unlimited, but also its use does not pollute the environment.

4. One of the most promising research is the development of power stations.

5. Cavendish did his experiment safely, he wisely used a strong brass container for the gases.

VII.Ответьте на вопросы по тексту:

1. What do most people living in towns consider it a usual thing?

2. What kind of power can the lamps use?

3. What kind of power sources are we using now?

4. What is one of the most promising research?

5. What was Henry Cavendish?

6. What important discovery did he make and when?

7. Why was his experiment dangerous?

VIII.Составьте аннотацию к тексту (2-3 предложения).

IX.Составьте реферат текста (10-15 предложений).

X. Составьте план текста и перескажите текст.