Translating Without a Translator

(1) This is how the translation is done from English into Ukrainian, for example.

(2) The English words are converted into figures using a number for each letter: thus if a = 16, n = 15, d = 30, the word ‘and’ becomes ‘161530’. These figures are punched out on a teletype ribbon.

(3) The ribbon is fed into the electronic calculating machine, into which ‘a vocabulary’ has been installed in advance with all the words, English and Russian, converted into figures.

(4) The machine ‘searches’ (by a sequence of electronic impulses) all through the English section of its vocabulary for a number corresponding to each word that has been fed into it, each stage in this ‘search’ occupying one ten-thousandth of a second.

(5) Having found the right number on the English side, the machine automatically begins to search on the Russian side at the same lightning speed, and the resulting translation comes out printed on a teletype ribbon in Russian.

Exercise 2 Answer the following questions.

1. What is the text about? 2. What do computers represent? 3. Why did many problems of exceptional importance remain unsolved for a long time? 4. What is the principle of this machine? 5. To what operations are all higher mathematical calculations reduced? 6. What does an electronic ‘memory’ store? 7. What for the computer can be used? 8. How is translation from English into Russian done? 9. Where are figures punched out? 10. How much time does it take a computer to translate a word?

Exercise 3 Translate and memorize the following expressions from the text.

To represent a new branch of science, mathematical formula, scientific and technical problems, arithmetical operations, problems of exceptional importance, volume of calculations, human possibilities to carry out thousand arithmetical operations, complicated problems, radio-technical scheme, the sequence of operations, measuring instruments, to convert words into figures, vice versa, boundless possibilities, teletype ribbon, calculating machine, in advance, lightning speed, mathematical computations.

Exercise 4 Find synonyms among the following words.

Machine (n), revolution (n), solve (v), computer (n), problem (n), exceptional , remain (v), unsolved , complicated (adj), wonderful (adj), calculation (n), sum (n), carry out (v), introduce (v), section (n), mechanism (n), part (n), turning (n), decide (v), electronic machine (n), task (n), exclusive (adj), stay (v), unsettled (adj), complex (adj), remarkable (adj), account (n), amount (n), fulfil (v), meet (v).

Exercise 5 Write a summary of the text, presenting the content of each paragraph in 2-3 sentences. Use the expressions:

The main idea of the text is … The text deals with the one of the most important (urgent) issues … Much attention (consideration) is given to (classification, description) … It focuses on the matter of … The text gives an overview of … The text is mainly concerned with … The aim of the survey is to show (demonstrate, find) … Particular emphasis is given to the analysis of… The text gives a detailed analysis of (reports on) … To sum up … In conclusion …

Индивидуальное задание для студентов заочного отделения к курсу

«Английский язык»

Вариант № 19/3c

Exercise 1 Read the text and translate it in written form.

Supersonic Waves

(1) The word ‘supersonic’ means moving faster than sound. Sound waves travel with a definite speed in any elastic medium. A vibrating source of sound acts on the surrounding particles of the medium, creating compressions and rarefactions that spread out in alternate sequence through the whole area of the medium. The number of compressions and rarefactions following one another in the course of a second determine the pitch at which a sound is heard.

(2) The human ear can register sounds to about 20,000 vibrations per second. Nature, however, has a much greater range of sounds than that. Science discovered the existence of these frequencies in the last century. They were called supersonic, and a method was worked out to produce them in laboratory conditions. At present, scientists in various countries are successfully creating instruments emitting supersonic waves of great intensity at frequencies of several hundred million vibrations per second.

(3) One of the excellent properties of supersonic waves is their ability of penetrating metals, alloys and other materials to a great depth. With the help of supersonic detectors we can discover cavities, cracks and other internal faults in metal and ceramics at the depth of over 30 feet. The faults reflect supersonic waves that recorded on the screen of an oscillograph in the form of an impulse indicating the position of the faults.

(4) By means of a supersonic apparatus the thickness of any object can be measured with great accuracy. Special supersonic echo sounders on board a ship help to determine the exact depth of the sea, on every yard of the ship’s course, underwater rocks, reefs, and icebergs being discovered in the same way.

(5) Supersonic waves may also be used to bore holes in hard and brittle metals. Moreover, they are made use of in breaking up and crushing various substances to produce fine emulsions of liquids and metals, such emulsions being now widely employed in different industries. Supersonic waves are very sensitive; their speed changing if a medium contains even a small quantity of foreign matter. Special instruments having been constructed on this basis, it became possible to control chemical reactions and technological processes with great precision.

(6) Under the influence of supersonic waves the minute particles of a hard substance in a gaseous medium join together, forming larger particles that fall out of the medium. This principle forms the basis of a method of cleaning smoky air.

(7) Scientists are working on problems connected with the physical nature of supersonic waves and their application in science and everyday life. It is to be hoped that in a few years from now this work will bring us many discoveries of still greater importance.

(8) Supersonic waves are widely employed in different technological process as well as in everyday life. Thus, for example, supersonic wave vibration is successfully used for washing many of the minute parts of electronic tubes at the time of the assembly, this method being much more efficient than washing with water.

(9) By means of supersonic waves it is possible to remove grease from various fibers. Cloth treated in this way is cleaned much more easily and quickly than if washed in an ordinary way.

(10) Moreover, it has been found that supersonic waves can destroy different micro-organisms. The property discovered has enabled scientists to device new means of pasteurizing milk and preserving food.

(11) There are but a few examples of various applications that supersonic waves have already found in the world of today.