Учебник английского языка для технических университетов и вузов Издание шестое, стереотипное
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To be read after Lesson 7 Electric Car The electric car is not a new idea. It had success with American women in the early 1900s. Women liked electric cars because they were quiet and, what was more important, they did not pollute the air. Electric cars were also easier to start than gasoline-powered ones. But the latter was faster, and in the 1920s they became much more popular. The electric car was not used until the 1970s, when there were serious problems with the availability of oil. The General Motors Co. had plans to develop an electric car by 1980. However, soon oil became available again, and this car was never produced. Today there is a new interest in the electric car. The Toyota Co. recently decided to spend $800 million a year on the development of new car technology. Many engineers believe that the electric car will lead to other forms of technology being used for transportation. Car companies are working at developing a supercar. A super efficient car will have an electric motor. Four possible power sources are being investigated. The simple one is batteries. Another possibility is fuel cells, which combine oxygen from air with hydro gen to make electricity. Yet another approach would be a flywheel (маховик), an electric generator consisting of free-spinning wheels with magnets in the rims that can produce a current. A fourth pos sible power source for the super-car would be a small turbine en gine, running on a clean fuel like natural gas. It would run at a constant speed, generating electricity for driving vehicles or for feeding a bank of batteries, storing energy for later use. Engines Do you know what the first engine was like? It was called the «water wheel». This was an ordinary wheel with blades fixed to it, and the current of a river turned it. These first engines were used for irrigating fields. Then a wind-powered engine was invented. This was a wheel, but a very small one. Long wide wooden blades were attached to it. The new engine was driven by the wind. Some of these ones can still be seen in the country. Both of these, the water- and wind-operated engines are very economical. They do not need fuel in order to function. But they are dependent on the weather. Many years passed and people invented a new engine, one op erated by steam. In a steam engine, there is a furnace and a boiler. The furnace is filled with wood or coal and then lit. The fire heats the water in the boiler and when it boils, it turns into steam which does some useful work. The more coal is put in the furnace, the stronger the fire is burning. The more steam there is, the faster a train or a boat is moving. The steam engine drove all sorts of machines, for example, steam ships and steam locomotives. Indeed, the very first aeroplane built by A.F. Mozhaisky also had a steam engine. However, the steam engine had its disadvantages. It was too large and heavy, and needed too much fuel. The imperfections of the steam engine led to the design of a new type. It was called the internal combustion engine, because its fuel ignites and bums inside the engine itself and not in a furnace. It is smaller and lighter than a steam engine because it does not have a boiler. It is also more powerful, as it uses better-quality fuel: petrol or kerosene. The internal combustion engine is now used in cars, diesel lo comotives and motor ships. But to enable aeroplanes to fly faster than the speed of sound another, more powerful engine was needed. Eventually, one was invented and it was given the name «jet en gine». The gases in it reach the temperature of over a thousand de grees. It is made of a very resistant metal so that it will not melt. To be read after Lesson 8 The Driving Lesson Miss Green: Good afternoon. My name is Miss Green and I’m your driving instructor. Is this your first lesson? Simon: It is my first lesson at this driving school. M. G.: Oh, you’ve been to another one? S.: Yes. The Greenwich school of driving. But I stopped going there. M. G.: Why? Weren’t the lessons good enough? S.: They were good but my instructor left. M. G.: Really? Well, let’s see what you can do. I want you to drive down this road and turn left at the end. S.: Yes, all right. M. G.: You drive very well! I’m sure you’ll pass your test. All my pupils pass their tests. Oh, look out! That lorry! S.: You said turn left at the end. M. G.: When you want to turn a corner, slow down and look first. You nearly hit that lorry. Please, be careful. Now turn right at the traffic lights... Right, not left! S.: Sorry it was too late. I’ve turned left now. M. G.: Didn’t you see the No Entry sign? This is a one-way street. S.: Why are those drivers shouting? M. G.: Because you’re driving the wrong way down a one-way street. Stop the car, please, and turn it round. S.: I’m not very good at that. M. G.: Mind that red car! S.: Madman! He nearly hit me! M. G.: He was right and you were wrong. Why didn’t you wait? Now you are blocking the road. You want re verse gear. Turn the wheel... more ... more ... Not too fast! Oh, what have you done now? S.: It is all right. I went into the lamp-post but it is still standing. I didn’t knock it down. M.G.: Oh, but look at the back of the car. S.: Sorry, but you said «reverse». M.G.: I didn’t say «drive into the lamp-post». Well, you’ve turned the car round now, so drive back to the traffic lights and go straight across. S.: Are we going to the park? M.G.: The roads are quiter near the park. Oh, not too fast! S.: The lights are green. M.G.: Slow down! The lights are changing! S.: I can’t slow down. There! We are across. M.G.: The lights were red! S.: It’s all right. There were no policemen. M.G.: I know why your last instructor left. He wanted to stay alive. S.: That’s not a very nice thing to say. And it’s not true. He left because he wasn’t very well. M.G.: Stop the car, please. Oh, gently! S.: Sorry. Did you hit your head on the roof? M.G.: No. Luckily I was wearing the seat belt. Now I want you to practise driving backwards. Reverse the park gates. Look first, than reverse in. S.: Right. M.G.: Oh, you’ve hit the gate!... Now you are driving on the grass! S.: I’m going backwards down the hill and I can’t stop! Help me! M.G.: Use the brakes! Don’t drive into the lake! S.: Too late. M.G.: Look what you’ve done. You reversed into a lamp post. You hit the park gate. Now you’ve driven into the lake. Oh, why didn’t you stay with the other driv ing school? S.: They had no more cars left. Heavy-Lift Dirigible Unlike other new dirigible projects the giant CargoLifter CL 160 (Germany) is aimed at heavy-lift cargo applications, not at tourism or advertising. It will be the beginning of a new era in freight transport. The 260-meter-long, 65-meter-diameter semi-rigid airship will be capable of transporting 160 ton loads-equivalent to 36 standard 40-ft containers — to out-of-the-way (remote) construction sites
Moored (причаливать) above the delivery site, the airship will lower loads using an onboard crane without actually having to touch down. A crew of five, including navigator and two cargo- masters (высококвалифицированные рабочие) would man the ship. In fact, the CargoLifter project was bom of a logistics need ex pressed by manufacturers of electric generators, turbines and other outsized (i.e., larger than the usual size) machinery. Rolls-Royce-Turbomeca turboshaft engines are to be used for maneuvering the big airship, cruise being provided by diesel power- plants. What Is GPS? The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navi gation system made up of a network of 24 satellites. GPS was origi nally intended for military applications, but now the systems is available for civilian use. GPS works in any weather conditions, anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day. GPS satellites circle the earth twice a day in a very precise orbit and transmit signal information to Earth. GPS receivers take this information and use triangulation to calculate the user’s exact lo cation. Essentially, the GPS receiver compares the time a signal was transmitted by a satellite with the time it was received. The time difference tells the GPS receiver how far away the satellite is. Now, with distance measurements from a few more satellites, the receiver can determine the user’s position and display it on the unit’s electronic map. A GPS receiver must be locked on to the signal of at least three satellites to calculate a 2D position (latitude and longitude) and track (прослеживать) movement. With four or more satellites in view, the receiver can determine the user’s 3D position (latitude, longitude and altitude). Once the user’s position has been deter mined, the GPS unit can calculate other information, such as speed, bearing (пеленг), track, trip distance, distance to destina tion, sunrise and sunset time and more. Today’s GPS receivers are extremely accurate within an aver age of three to five meters thanks to their parallel multi-channel design. The 24 satellites that make up the GPS space segment are orbit ing the earth about 12,000 miles above us. They are constantly moving, making two complete orbits in less than 24 hours. These satellites are travelling at speeds of roughly 7,000 miles an hour. GPS satellites are powered by solar energy. They have backup batteries onboard to keep them running in the event of a solar eclipse (затмение), when there’s no solar power. Small rocket boosters on each satellite keep them flying in the correct path. Here are some other interesting facts about the GPS satellites:
GPS satellites transmit two low power radio signals. The signals travel by line of sight, meaning they will pass through clouds, glass and plastic but will not go through most solid objects such as build ings and mountains. A GPS signal contains three different bits of information — a pseudorandom code, ephemeris data and almanac data. Some factors that can degrade the GPS signal and thus affect accuracy include the following:
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