Английский язык. Учебное пособие по развитию навыков устной речи и чтения для магистрантов технических специальностей
 Скачать 0.62 Mb.
|
|
Part 1 Cities are locations having a high level of accumulation and concentration of economic activities and are complex spatial structures that are supported by transport systems. The most important transport problems are often related to urban areas and take place when transport systems, for a variety of reasons, cannot satisfy the numerous requirements of urban mobility. Urban productivity is highly dependent on the efficiency of its transport system to move labor, consumers and freight between multiple origins and destinations. Additionally, important transport terminals such as ports, airports, and railyards are located within urban areas, contributing to a specific array of problems. Some problems are ancient, like congestion (which plagued cities such as Rome), while others are new like urban freight distribution or environmental impacts. Among the most notable urban transport problems are the following. Traffic congestion and parking difficulties. Congestion is one of the most prevalent transport problems in large urban agglomerations, usually above a threshold of about 1 million inhabitants. It is particularly linked with motorization and the diffusion of the automobile, which has increased the demand for transport infrastructures. However, the supply of infrastructures has often not been able to keep up with the growth of mobility. Since vehicles spend the majority of the time parked, motorization has expanded the demand for parking space, which has created space consumption problems particularly in central areas; the spatial imprint of parked vehicles is significant. Congestion and parking are also interrelated since looking for a parking space creates additional delays and impairs local circulation. Many delivery vehicles will simply double-park at the closest possible spot to unload their cargo. Longer commuting. On par with congestion people are spending an increasing amount of time commuting between their residence and workplace. An important factor behind this trend is related to residential affordability as housing located further away from central areas (where most of the employment remains) is more affordable. Therefore, commuters are trading time for housing affordability. However, long commuting is linked with several social problems, such as isolation, as well as poorer health (obesity). Public transport inadequacy. Many public transit systems, or parts of them, are either over or under used. During peak hours, crowdedness creates discomfort for users as the system copes with a temporary surge in demand. Low ridership makes many services financially unsustainable, particularly in suburban areas. In spite of significant subsidies and cross-financing (e.g. tolls) almost every public transit systems cannot generate sufficient income to cover its operating and capital costs. While in the past deficits were deemed acceptable because of the essential service public transit was providing for urban mobility, its financial burden is increasingly controversial. 4. Are the statements true or false according to the text? 1) Urban productivity is highly dependent on the efficiency of its transport system to move officials between multiple origins and destinations. 2) Nowadays automobile has increased the demand for transport infrastructures. 3) However, the supply of infrastructures can cope with the growth of mobility. 4) People are spending a lot of time driving between their residence and workplace. 5) Low passenger stream makes most of services financially unstable. 5. Answer the questions on Text A. 1) Why do we need a developed transport systems? 2) What places are the transport problems especially related to? 3) What is one of the most prevalent transport problems in cities? 4) Which urban transport problem is linked with some social problems? 5) Is the public transport business profitable? Why? 6.1. Look through Text A and find the international words or their derivates and guess their meanings: accumulate, space, satisfaction, public, mobile, product, efficient, freight, terminal, urban, contribute, traffic, parking, to prevail, agglomeration, motorization, diffusion, infrastructure, cargo, circulation, double, resident, trend, isolation, adequate, comfort, print, finance, deficit, generate, provide, contra, intense, fatality, circulation. Can you explain the meaning of the words in English? 6.2. Check the pronunciation of the words. 7. Study the highlighted words in Text A Part 1 and define their speech part: a noun, a verb, an adjective. 8. Match the highlighted words in Text A with the definitions below. 1) Place; 2) to connect, to link; 3) to deal with, to cope with; 4) to relate; 5) to annoy continually; 6) well known, considerable; 7) to maintain; 8) need, an urgent request; 9) excessive crowding; 10) to widen, to enlarge, to extend; 11) consuming, use; 12) duty, responsibility; 13) a regular journey of some distance to and from your place of work; 14) availability; 15) to take place; 16) to bring smth. or smb. to some other place, change location; 17) number of transported passengers; 18) profit; 19) to deal with; to keep up with; 20) to believe, to think, to suppose; 21) beyond ones strength. 9. Which of the following are the urban transport problems, in your opinion? Loss of public space. Accidents and safety. Difficulties for non-motorized transport. Freight distribution; Environmental impacts and energy consumption. Land consumption. Which of them are the most / least notable transport problems? Put them in order of their importance (in your opinion). 10. Read Part 2 and match the titles from the list in Activity 9 to the paragraphs of the text. Is your order of problems the same as in the text? Part 2 Urban transport difficulties are either the outcome of intense traffic, where the mobility of pedestrians, bicycles and vehicles is impaired, but also because of a blatant lack of consideration for pedestrians and bicycles in the physical design of infrastructures and facilities. The majority of roads are publicly owned and free of access. Increased traffic has adverse impacts on public activities which once crowded the streets such as markets, agoras, parades and processions, games, and community interactions. These have gradually disappeared to be replaced by automobiles. In many cases, these activities have shifted to shopping malls while in other cases, they have been abandoned altogether. Traffic flows influence the life and interactions of residents and their usage of street space. More traffic impedes social interactions and street activities. People tend to walk and cycle less when traffic is high. Pollution, including noise, generated by circulation has become a serious impediment to the quality of life and even the health of urban populations. Further, energy consumption by urban transportation has dramatically increased and so the dependency on petroleum. Yet, peak oil considerations are increasingly linked with peak mobility expectations where high energy prices incite a shift towards more efficient and sustainable forms of urban transportation, namely public transit. Growing traffic in urban areas is linked with a growing number of accidents and fatalities, especially in developing countries. Accidents account for a significant share of recurring delays. As traffic increases, people feel less safe to use the streets. The territorial imprint of transportation is significant, particularly for the automobile. Between 30 and 60% of a metropolitan area may be devoted to transportation, an outcome of the over-reliance on some forms of urban transportation. Yet, this land consumption also underlines the strategic importance of transportation in the economic and social welfare of cities. Globalization and the materialization of the economy have resulted in growing quantities of freight moving within cities. As freight traffic commonly shares infrastructures with the circulation of passengers, the mobility of freight in urban areas has become, increasingly problematic. City logistics strategies can be established to mitigate the variety of challenges faced by urban freight distribution. 11. Study the vocabulary. Put the words into the categories relating to the traffic problems mentioned in Text A (Part 1, Part 2). Outcome, pedestrians, a blatant lack, publicly owned, free of access, feel less safe, adverse impacts on, impedes, underlines the strategic importance, shifted to, city logistics strategies a growing number of accidents and fatalities, abandoned, disappeared to be replaced, the quality of life, share, dramatically increased, incite, sustainable forms, over-reliance, community interaction, be devoted, recurring delays, resulted in, mitigate, freight traffic, to impair. 12. Study Parts 1 and 2 again and write down 3 key words from each paragraph. 13. Talk about the urban traffic problems using key words and active vocabulary. 14. Work in small groups and discuss. 1) Can you say the urban transport problem is more serious and important than you have ever thought? 2) Can you predict the prospects of the problem in the nearest future / in 10 years / 20 years? 3) What could be the ways of solving the problem? 15. Read Text B. Here are some ideas to reduce the number of cars in cities. Which do you think is the most efficient one? Which one is suitable for your city? Text B. A Amsterdam: everyone has a bicycle. The narrow streets and cannel paths are easier for bikes than for cars. Thirty years ago, a Dutch anarchist, Lut Schimmelpennick, organized a system of free bicycles, with the agreement of the city authority. The bicycles were white. The idea of a ‘car-free’ city was simple: take a bike when you need it, and leave it at your destination. Then someone else can use it. For a few weeks, the idea was a great success, but then thieves stole nearly all the bicycles. One of them is actually in the Museum of Modern Art in Moscow. Later Schimmelpennick persuaded the Amsterdam city authority to try the idea again. The new system is different and hi-tech. it depends on ‘smart card’ technology. Bicycle users carry a smart card with their personal details. The user swipes the card and types in his or her destination. This opens the lock on the bicycle and the user can ride it away. B Washington DC (and other American cities): after 4 pm in the afternoon, you can drive out of the city along faster lanes with less traffic if there are more than two people in your car. C Athens, Greece: on certain days of the week, only cars with certain numbers can enter the city. For example, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the car number must end in an even number (2, 4 etc.). The following week, these cars can only enter the city on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. On Sunday, there are some areas of the city where no one can drive. D Singapore: driving a car is very expensive in Singapore and public transport is cheap and efficient. There is a charge to drive along most roads. All cars contain a computer chip. Drivers pay automatically when they pass computers in the street. The computers deduct money from their bank accounts. 16. Work in groups of 3. Discuss advantages and disadvantages of each idea. 17. Project 1. Work in groups of three. A Prepare a project presenting one way how to avoid urban traffic disaster. B Present your project to your group mates. C Listen to your partners attentively and be ready to ask questions about their presentations. 18. Work in small groups. Discuss the main problems of the public transport net in your city. 1) What kinds of public transport are there? 2) Which of them do you use? 3) How many routes are there in the city? 4) What are the most important routes there? 5) Are they profitable? Why? 6) Does the public transport net in your city need improving? 19. Project 2. Work in groups of three. A Work out a public transport route in your city. Prove its necessity, efficiency and profitability. B Present your project to your group mates. Vote for the best project. C Listen to your partners attentively and be ready to ask questions about their presentations. Is it difficult to work out a public transport net for your city? 20. Work in pairs and discuss the questions. 1) What unusual means of transport do you know? 2) Which of them are used? 3) Are they popular in our country/city/every day life? 4) Can you imagine a space elevator? 5) How do you think a space elevator would work? 6) What could it be used for? 7) What technical challenges would it face? 8) How seriously do you think the concept of space elevators is being taken at present? 21. Read Text C and compare it to your answers in Activity 20. Text C. SPACE ELEVATORS: PREPARING FOR TAKE OFF In his 1979 novel, The Fountains of Paradise, Arthur Clarke wrote about an elevator connecting the earth's surface to space. Three decades later, this science fiction concept is preparing to take off in the real world. NASA has launched the Space Elevator Challenge, a competition with a generous prize fund, and several teams and companies are working on serious research projects aimed at winning it . As its name suggests, a space elevator is designed to raise things into space. Satellites, components for space ships, supplies for astronauts in space stations, and even astronauts themselves are examples of payloads that could be transported into orbit without the need for explosive and environmental unfriendly rockets. However, the altitude of orbital space - a colossal 35,790 km above the earth - is a measure of the challenge facing engineers. How could such a height be reached? The answer is by using an incredibly strong and lightweight cable, strong enough to support its own weight and a heavy load. The design of such a cable is still largely theoretical. This would be attached to a base station on earth at one end and a satellite in geostationary orbit (fixed above a point on the equator) at the other. Lift vehicles would then ascend and descend the cable, powered by electromagnetic force and controlled remotely. 22. Match the highlighted verbs in Text C to the definitions. 1) Carried (objects, over a distance); 2) hold something firmly/ bear its weight; 3) climb down; 4) provided with energy / moved by a force; 5) joining; 6) driven / have movement directed 7) fixed; 8) climb up; 9) lift / make something go up. 23. Complete the notes using the verbs in Activity 22. Space Elevators Challenge of (1) … a satellite to earth by cable is significant. To (2) … its own weight and be securely (3) … at each end, cable would need phenomenal straight-to-weight ratio. How could vehicles be (4) into space, up cable? Self-contained energy source problematic, due to weight (heavy fuel or batteries required to (5) … vehicle). Two possible ways round problem: Transmit electricity wirelessly. But technique only at research stage. Solar power. But would only allow vehicle to (6) … slowly. Not necessarily a problem, as car could be controlled remotely, allowing it to (7) … payloads unmanned. 24. Work in small groups. You are members of a space elevator research team. Discuss the possible ways to use this idea in modern industry. 25. Some space elevator designs propose an offshore base station. In pairs, discuss how such a system might work. What advantages might an offshore base have compared with a land base? 26. Try to predict the answer to the questions before reading the text about offshore base stations. 1) How would an offshore base station be supported? 2) What would the function of its anchors be? 3) How would payloads reach the base station? 4) What problem would a mobile base station help to prevent? 5) What would the procedure be if there was an alert? 27. Read Text D and check your answers to the questions in Activity 26. Text D The offshore base station would be supported by a floating structure, which could be attached to the seabed by anchors. Payloads could be carried from the shore to the station by ship before being lifted into orbit. The main advantage of a floating mobile station, rather than a fixed base on land, would be to help reduce the risk of a collision between the cable and one of the many lumps of space debris, such as redundant satellites, that litter orbital space. Based on careful monitoring of debris movements, in the case of an alert the station's anchors could be raised and the station could be moved, driven by propellers, to a new location out of harm's way. 28. Role play. A Make a speech about space elevators using the notes in Activity 20. To make full sentences you can use the vocabulary: obviously, in order to, might be up to the job, there are some possible ways, first, second, so, I think. |