Transport for Tomorrow

1.	One thing is certain about the public transport of the future. it must be more effective than it is today. The time is coming when it will be quicker to fly across the Atlantic to New York than to travel from home to office. The two main problems are. what vehicle shall we use and how can we plan our use of it?
2.	There is already a number of modern vehicles which are not yet in common use, but which may become a usual means of transport in the future. One of these is a small electric car. we go out into the street, find an empty car, get into it, drive to our destination, get out and leave the car for the next person who comes along. In fact, there may be no need to drive these cars. With an automatic guidance system for cars being developed, it will be possible for us to select our destination just as today we select a telephone number and our car will move automatically.
3.	For long journeys in private cars one can also use an automatic guidance system. Arriving at the motorway, a driver will select the lane he wishes to use, switch over to automatic driving and then relax – dream, read the newspaper, have a meal while the car does the work for him. Unbelievable? It is already possible. Just as in many ships and aircraft today we are piloted automatically for the greater part of the journey, so in the future we can also have this luxury in our own cars.
4.	At present sophisticated electronics is playing a big part in current automatic research. For example, in every gasoline-powered car that General Motors Corporation makes there is a small computer continuously monitoring the exhaust. The device, about the size of a pack of cigarettes, adjusts the vehicle carburetor fuel intake to get the best fuel economy. Ford cars are equipped with an electronic instrument panel that, among other things, will calculate how far one can drive on the fuel left in the tank. It also will estimate the time of the arrival at destination and tell the driver what speed he has averaged since turning on the ignition. According to specialists these features made possible by microelectronics are only the beginning. Radar may control the brakes to avoid collisions, and a display screen may show the car’s position on the road.
5.	A Japanese company is designing a car of a new generation. When completed, the new model will have a lot of unusual characteristics. The cars four-wheel control system will ensure movement diagonally and even side-ways – like a crab, at right angles to the longitudinal axis. This is especially important when leaving the car in parking places. To help the driver get information while concentrating on the road the most important data will be projected on the windscreen. A tourist traveling in such a car will not lose his way even in Sahara with its impossible roads. a navigation Earth satellite will indicate the road.
6.	A new ceramic engine has been developed in Japan. Many important parts as pistons, pressure rings, valves and some others have been made of various ceramic materials, piston rings made of silicon materials being in many respects better than those of steel. They withstand temperatures up to 1000 C⁰. Therefore, the engine does not need a cooling system.

Пояснения к тексту.

guidance system – система наведения

to pilot – вести, направлять

sophisticated – сложный

gasoline-powered car – автомобиль с бензиновым двигателем

exhaust – выхлоп, выхлопная труба

intake – всасывание

instrument panel – приборная панель

ignition – зажигание

display screen – экран индикатора

control system – система управления

sideways – боком

longitudinal axis – продольная ось

windscreen – переднее (ветровое) стекло

navigation Earth satellite – навигационный спутник Земли

piston – поршень

pressure ring – компрессионное кольцо

I. Ответьте на следующие вопросы к тексту.

1. What car may become a usual means of transport in the future?

2. In the future driving cars may become less tiring (утомительный). Why?

II. Выпишите из текста предложения, подтверждающие следующие высказывания.

a) Настает время, когда люди с трудом будут добираться на работу из-за простаивания в “пробках” и малоэффективности автомобилей.

b) Для передвижения по городу можно будет воспользоваться общественными автомобилями.

III. Переведите письменно заглавие текста и абзацы 4, 5, 6.

КОНТРОЛЬНАЯ РАБОТА № 8

Вариант B

Прочитайте текст, постарайтесь понять его, чтобы выполнить задания к тексту.

Made in Space

1.	This label “Made in Space” for industrial materials will probably surprise no one in the not so distant future. They may include superconductors, new kinds of alloys, substances with peculiar magnetic properties, polymers, plastics and so on. Numerous experiments carried out at the Russian orbital space stations have paved the way to the development of methods and means for industrial production of new materials with better qualities. Experts estimate that within a few coming years industrial production of various materials will be started in space.
2.	Conditions on board a space vehicle orbiting the earth greatly differ from those on its surface. All of these conditions can be simulated on the Earth, except for one prolonged weightlessness. Weightlessness can be created on the Earth, but only for a few seconds. A space flight is another matter. a satellite orbiting the earth is in a dynamic zero gravity state, i.e., when gravity is cancelled out by inertia. Many well-known processes go on differently due to the absence of weight.
3.	In space there is no gravitational connection, i.e., movement of gases or liquids caused by difference of temperatures. It is well known that various defects in semiconductors occur because of convection. Biochemists also have to deal with the worst aspects of convection, for example, in the production of superpure biologically active substances. Convection makes it very difficult to produce them on the Earth.
4.	Following the launching of the first orbital station the specialists started experiments aimed at proving the advantages of the zero gravity state for the production of certain materials. In Russia all orbital stations from Salyut 5 onwards were used for that purpose. Since 1976 over 600 technological experiments have been carried out on board manned and unmanned space vehicles. The experiments proved that many of the properties of the materials obtained under the zero gravity condition were much better than those produced on the Earth. Besides, it has been found out that it is necessary to develop a new science – physics of the weightless state – which forms the theoretical basis for space industry and space materials study.
5.	Special space vehicles will also be needed for industrial production of new generation materials. Research has shown that the acceleration rate on board these vehicles must be reduced to the minimum. It was found that space platforms in independent flight carrying the equipment were most suitable for producing materials. These vehicles will have to use their own propulsion systems to approach their base orbital station after a certain period of time. The cosmonauts on board the station can replace the speci
	mens.
6.	Many new and very interesting projects are planned for orbital stations. Here is one of them. Convection does not allow to grow large protein crystals on the Earth. But it is possible to grow such crystals under the zero gravity conditions and to study their structure. The data obtained can be useful for genetic engineering. Thus, it may be possible to make new materials in space and also to obtain valuable scientific data for new highly efficient technologies on the Earth.