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Chapter 4

Alloys

Unit 1

Text 1

Bronze and Brass

About 6,000 years ago people discovered that copper could be made harder if mixed with tin. This alloy is called bronze. It was so widely used for many years that this period of time became known as the Bronze Age.

If you had been a soldier in Ancient Greece you would have had to stop in battle to straighten your bronze sword. But bronze was a great improvement on copper, which bends even more easily. Most pure metals are weak and soft. But two soft metals mixed together make a harder metal called an alloy. Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. It was the first alloy.

Tin was the fifth metal discovered by man. It is a soft whitish substance. Various proportions of the two metals produced different qualities in the bronze. Most early metal-workers used about eight parts of copper to one of tin. Because weapons made of bronze were harder and stronger than those of copper, tin became very important. However, there was little tin to be found in western Asia - still the centre of the metal-working world. Mostly it was found in Europe, and the merchants of Troy, who brought their goods to Europe, began loading their boats with tin on their return journeys. In England, tin was discovered and mined in Cornwall and was a main export for a long time.

When zinc was discovered it was used to produce an important alloy in combination with copper. This alloy was brass, a hard-wearing, yellow metal which was valued more than bronze. The exact date of discovery is uncertain but it was probably about 200 BC. Brass is often mentioned in the Old Testament, most of which was written before zinc was discovered and therefore when there could not have been any brass. The bibical metal must have been either bronze or copper, and the word ‘brass’ is the result of a translator’s error at some time. So, bronze and brass were the first alloys - man-made metals.

Task 1.

Phonetic Exercise

Practise after the speaker and learn to pronounce the words given below.

straighten /’streitn/; Asia /’ei/; Europe /’jurp/; load /loud/; brass /bra:s/; export /’ekspo:t/; biblical /’biblik l/.

Task 2.

Lexical Exercises

Exercise 1. Find the English equivalents for the words and word- combinations given below.

большинство чистых металлов; сплав; мягкий металл беловатого цвета; оружие, сделанное из бронзы; Бронзовый век; износостойкость; упоминать; ошибка; добывать олово.

Exercise 2. Match the English words and word-combinations given below

with their Russian equivalents.

1. mixed with tin 1. либо бронза, либо медь

2. return journey 2. до нашей эры

3. a main export 3. в сочетании с

4. BC (before Christ) 4. в сочетании с оловом

5. the Old Testament 5. обратное путешествие

6. in combination with 6. Ветхий Завет

7. either bronze or copper 7. основной предмет экспорта

Exercise 3. Answer the following questions

1. Why was bronze a great improvement on copper? 2. What does bronze consist of? 3. Where were the major tin deposits located? 4. What alloy was produced of zinc in combinations with copper? 5. Why was brass valued more than bronze?

Exercise 4. Look through the text and find the words which mean

the same as:

find out; arms; so; in combination with; way back; mistake;

advance; principle.

Exercise 5. More about word-building: Adverbs.

Rule: to change an adjective into an adverb add -ly:

close - closely; easy - easily; heroic - heroically

Certain other words have the same form whether they are adjectives or adverbs:

a fast train - it came fast

a short time - he stopped short

an early bird - he rose early

a hard worker - he works hard

a close decision – he came close

Change the following adjectives into adverbs:

firm; usual; punctual; hard; manual; graphic; early; economic; normal; heavy; synthetic; extravagant; careful; wonderful; fast.

Exercise 6. Translate at sight.

1. Shaping of Metals. The last stage in smelting usually involves the casting of the metal into a mould. This mould may be shaped to the form desired in the finished article, the process being known as founding or casting. On the other hand the metal may be cast into a mould of simple form such as an ingot for subsequent shaping by such mechanical working methods as forging, rolling, extrusion, etc.

2. Requirements for blast furnace performance have increased dramatically over the last 15 years. Productivity and daily output must be high: downtime must be minimal. Operating and maintenance cost must be as low as possible. Campaign life of a blast furnace can last as long as 15 years nowadays, without any major repair.

Task 3. Focus on Grammar

Infinitive

Infinitive Active Passive

Simple to give to be given

Perfect to have given to have been given

Continuous to be giving __

Perfect Continuous to have been giving __

In a sentence Infinitive can be:

1) the subject To know him is to love him.

2) a part of a predicate I can play tennis.

3) an attribute There is nobody to help me.

4) an object Where did you learn to speak English?

5) an adverbial modifier You are clever enough to understand it.

The Continuous Infinitive is often used after the verbs: appear; happen; pretend; seem. It is also possible after: agree; arrange; decide; determine; hope; manage; plan and auxiliary verbs.

He seems to be following us.

The Perfect Infinitive is possible after: appear; hope; pretend; seem and auxiliary verbs.

He should have helped her.

Infinitive is used without ‘to’’ after:

- auxiliary verbs We shall help you.

- modal verbs May I come in?

- the verbs expressing senses I heard her sing once.

- ‘let’ (предоставлять), Let me do it myself.

- ‘make’ (заставлять) He made us get up early.

- ‘help’ He will help you do it.

- ‘nothing but’, ‘can’t help but’ I could not help but say it.

- ‘why’ and ‘why not’ Why not go to the country?

Exercise 1. Use the infinitives with or without ‘to’.

1. I think you must . . . do this exercise without a dictionary. 2. What makes you . . . think so. 3. She came up to the door . . . open it. 4. I’m awfully glad . . . have met you. 5. Why not . . . go and see him one of these days? 6. Have you ever heard her . . . sing? 7. It is the only thing . . . do. 8. Why should you . . . go there? 9. They don’t allow me . . . smoke here. 10. These are the letters . . . be typed tomorrow. 11. Are you sure he will help us . . . do it? 12. Do not make me . . . do it, I’m awfully short of time. 13. You were right when you told me not . . . leave the party. I am so glad . . . have met her. 14. You don’t have . . . worry, I’ll . . . do it for you.

Exercise 2. Open the brackets using the correct form of the Infinitive.

1. I’m really pleased (to see) you here. 2. Here are the instructions (to carry out). 3. I’d like (to lie) in the sun right now. 4. I asked (to inform) as soon as there was any news. 5. She didn’t know what (to do). 6. When he looked at the elderly lady he remembered (to see) her the day before. 7. He is not (to trust). 8. I am sorry (to keep) you waiting. 9. I am so sorry (to miss) that evening. 10. The girl seems (to sleep).

Exercise 3. Use one of the infinitives in brackets, give two variants

where possible and explain the difference.

1. They want (to discuss/ to have discussed) this project. 2. They were (to come/ to have come) by this time already. 3. We must hurry not (to be late/ to have been late) for the party. 4. The man seemed (to study/ to be studying) me attentively. 5. The only sound (to hear/ to be heard) was the ticking of the old clock downstairs. 6. They are glad (to invite/ to have invited) you for the conference. 7. He is lucky (to be visiting/ to have visited) so many countries. 8. Children like (to tell/ to be told) fairy tales. 9. Is there anything else (to tell/ to be told) him about ? 10. I’m glad (to be given/ to have been given) this book.

Exercise 4. Translate the following sentences into Russian, paying attention to the form of the Infinitive.

1. The cause of the increasing use of metals is to be found in their characteristic properties. 2. A computer software programme has been developed to conduct an effective analysis. 3. In the present study this type of alloys have been shown to have better properties. 4. The first metals to be used by primitive men were those that are found free in nature. 5. In considering the chemical properties of metals, the first point to be noted is that they vary widely in degree of chemical activity. 6. Part of the initial motivation to study this problem was to determine how many atoms are required for a tiny lump of material to attain the properties of the bulk solid. 7. To produce desired shapes, such as bars or sheets, the rolling is usually done in two or more rolling operations. 8. Ductility and malleability are qualitative forms describing the relative ability of metals to stand plastic deformation. 9. To refine the structure of the metal is one of the primary reasons for hot mechanical working of steel. 10. The two main reasons for forging steels are to reduce the block of metal to approximately the dimensions of the finished article.