The Birth of the Internal Combustion Engine

In 1860 Etienne Lenoir built an internal combustion engine which ran on city gas. This engine used the explosion of a mixture of gas and air inside a cylinder without previously compressing it. Lenoir ΄s engine applied a method of transmitting piston motion to the crankshaft and the mixture, which was introduced by means of slide valve gear, was electrically ignited by a Ruhmkorff coil (индукционная катушка). Engine was mainly used for the mechanization of machine tools in workshops and in 1862 it was installed in a wheeled vehicle.

In this same period, Nikolaus Otto began to take an interest in the problems of the internal combustion engine based on the studies of Lenoir. After a series of experiments, he requested a patent from the Prussian government, in 1861, for the use of “a mixture of gas contained in the cylinder of an engine ignited by an electric spark”, making it clear “that this does not concern a combination of gas and air, but of vapour emanating from a hydrocarbon and from liquids”. The patent was not granted. Nevertheless, Otto persevered in his studies, and after the construction of two unsuccessful engines he was able to enter into a profitable partnership with a German engineer and businessman, Eugen Langen.

First “atmospheric” engines, deriving in1866 from the partnership between Otto and Langen, were uncommonly heavy and noisy, but they displayed many advantages over the Lenoir motor: the fuel consumption, for example, was reduced to exactly one half. Within a few years, however, the characteristics of the Otto-Langen engine had been considerably improved, and a regular series production began in the factories at Deutz, near Cologne. By 1875 over 2,000 Otto-Langen motors had been sold in Europe and many more had been built under license.

VI. Ответьте письменно на следующий вопрос: What features had the first “atmospheric” engine?

ВАРИАНТ 3

I. Перепишите следующие предложения, определите в каждом из них

видо-временную форму и залог глагола-ска­зуемого (см. образец). Переведите предложения на русский язык.

1. Many 16 story houses with all modern conveniences are being built in this part of Moscow.

2. The sputniks are used for the research of magnetic fields and cosmic rays.

3. Scientific and engineering progress opens up wide prospects before man.

4. The properties of materials are affected by solar radiation.

II. Перепишите следующие предложения и переведите их на русский язык, обращая внимание на функцию инфи­нитива в предложении

1. They promised to supply us with the necessary equipment.

2. The purpose of this book is to describe certain properties of metals.

3. To convert chemical energy into electrical energy we must use an electrical cell.

4. The experiment to be carried out is of great importance for our research.

III. Переведите предложения, обращая внимание на функции глагола to HAVE

1. The engineers have to study the problem of using cosmic rays.

2. The book has many diagrams.

3. We have to do this work in time.

4. They have built the bridge recently.

IV. Переведите предложения на русский язык, обращая внимание на разные значе­ния слова THAT

1. That the Earth is round was unknown for a long time.

2. The problems of water supply in this city are as important as those of lighting.

3. The simplest materials are those which have only one kind of atoms.

4. The cities that were destroyed during the war were reconstructed.

V. Прочтите и переведите текст

METALS

The first metals which were used by primitive men were gold, silver and copper. Iron is the world's most common metal. Metals are mostly solids at ordinary temperature, and have comparatively high melting points with the exception of mercury. They are good conductors of heat and electricity and silver is the best in these respects.

Tin entered the metal picture when someone discovered, that if it was mixed with copper, the resulting substance was harder. So there came into being the alloy that we call bronze. This metal is often used for making various ornaments.

Copper was used in prehistoric times for making weapons and tools and later was alloyed with tin to form bronze. It was replaced for these purposes by iron and steel. The great development of the electric industries has resulted in such extensive uses of the metal that it now ranks next to iron in importance.

The copper alloys are widely employed. The alloying of copper with other elements increases the strength of the metal in some cases and improves the anti-corrosive and anti-friction properties in others.

Titanium was unknown before 1791. Titanium is the fourth most abundant structural metal in nature. Ore deposits and beach sands throughout the world contain large quantities of titanium. Titanium is lightweight, strong, corrosion - resistant. It is finding increasing application in many different fields. Engineers often use titanium in construction as it doesn't lose its properties when used in conditions of high temperature.

VI. Ответьте на следующий вопрос: Why are the copper alloys widely employed?

ВАРИАНТ 4

I. Перепишите следующие предложения, определите в каждом из них видо-временную форму и залог глагола-ска­зуемого (см. образец). Переведите предложения на русский язык.

1. The radar has been used for the automatic control of ground transport.

2. Today plastics are being widely used instead of metals.

3. The construction of the dam has been completed this month.

4. The alloys were experimented upon in our lab.

II. Перепишите следующие предложения и переведите их на русский язык, обращая внимание на функцию инфи­нитива в предложении

1. То design new buildings is the work of an architect.

2. To measure volumes we must know the dimensions of a body.

3. Our plant was the first to install the automatic equipment.

4. To attain this end careful attention must be given to the selection of cement, aggregate, and water.

III. Переведите предложения, обращая внимание на функции глагола to HAVE.

1. Students have two exams in January.

2. He had to work hard to pass this exam.

3. Russian researchers have just begun to study this phenomenon.

4. You will have to repeat the material of the lectures before the exam.

IV. Переведите предложения, обращая внимание на разные значе­ния слова THAT.

1. Not many scientists understood Einstein's discovery at that time.

2. That air and water pollution by industrialization is reaching dangerous levels is realized by everyone.

3. The essential feature of higher education in this country is that it combines theory with practice.

4. The territory of Moscow is larger than that of London.

V. Прочитайте и письменно переве­дите на русский язык текст

Car of Future.

Ever since Nicolas Cugnot, a Frenchman, invented the first self-propelled road vehicle in 1770 there has been no shortage of companies willing to make a better automobile. Over years their efforts have given users the gasoline engine, the electric starter, tubeless tires, fuel - injected engines and anti-lock brakes, these are only a few innovations. What is next? Here are some examples of what the car designers are working at in the world today.

Engineers are experimenting with a state-of-art system that enables drivers to see better after dark. This "night vision" system uses infrared sensors can detect a human figure at night more than 1,600 feet away. That's five times distance at which conventional headlights are effective. The sensors pick up infrared rays emitted by any object that gives off heat. An image-processing system scans the information from the sensors, creating different images for different objects. The images are then displayed on a cathode - ray screen built-in car's instrumental panel. It is lake black — and - white photograph' of an object ahead. And the system is passive, which means no lights are needed to illuminate the object in front of the vehicle. But the biggest problem will be reducing cost and the other one is the size of the sensor mechanism which is to big now.

One of the latest applications of sophisticated electronics is the wheel -computerized system that not only monitors air pressure in automobile tires but adjusts it automatically. This system in addition enables a driver to set tire pressure while seated. The system developed consists of three separate modules.

VI. Ответьте письменно на вопрос:What is the «night vision» system?

ВАРИАНТ 5

I. Перепишите следующие предложения, определите в каждом из них видо-временную форму и залог глагола-ска­зуемого (см. образец). Переведите предложения на русский язык.

1. The automatic equipment is being installed in our shop.

2. The construction of this house will be completed in a month.

3. The engineer was asked about the new technology used at the plant.

4. Radioactive isotopes have been made in nuclear reactor.

II. Перепишите следующие предложения и переведите их на русский язык, обращая внимание на функцию инфи­нитива в предложении.

1. The Russian scientists were the first to construct and launch the space rocket.

2. In order to make interplanetary flights in the future it is necessary to know factors affecting the human organism.

3. The main purpose of the computers is to solve complex problems quickly.

4. The problem to be solved is of great importance for our research.

III. Переведите предложения, обращая внимание на функции глагола to HAVE

1. You have to heat the mixture for two hours.

2. He had to determine the temperature of the air in the container.

3. There are some kinds of cements that have appeared comparatively recently.

4. The University has a five - year course of studies.

IV. Переведите предложения, обращая внимание на разные значе­ния слова THAT

1. One must realize that the increasing number of cars brings about considerable pollution of the air.

2. Specialists consider that in future city transport will reject gasoline.

3. That computers and industrial robots are important for industrial uses is well known to scientists and engineers.

4. This metro station was opened last year, and that one will be put into operation in two years.

V. Прочитайте и письменно переве­дите на русский язык текст.

The Wheel

One of mankind’s earliest and greatest inventions was the wheel. Without it there could be no industry, little transportation or communication, only crude farming, no electric power. Nobody knows when the wheel was invented. It came into use during the Bronze Age. At first all wheels were solid disks. The problem to be solved was to make the wheels lighter and at the same time keep them strong. Holes were made in the wheels, and they became somewhat lighter. Then wheels with spokes were made. Finally, the wheel was covered with iron and then with rubber.

Light two-wheeled carriages were used widely in the ancient world. As time passed they were made lighter, stronger, and better. Later people joined together a pair of two-wheeled carts into a four-wheeled vehicle.

In the West the first steam carriage was invented in France. The three-wheeled machine had the front wheel driven by a two-cylinder steam engine, and carried two people along the road at a walking pace. It was not a great success, as the boiler did not produce enough steam for keeping the carriage going for more than about 15 minutes.

The steam engine appeared in 1763. It was followed by several improved steam road carriages. Their further development was prevented by railway companies. The rapid spread of railways in the United Kingdom was due largely to G. Stephenson, who was an enthusiast as well as a brilliant engineer. He demonstrated a locomotive that could run eighteen kilometers an hour and carry passengers cheaper than horses carry them. Eleven years later Stephenson was operating a railway between Stockton and Darlington. The steam locomotive was a success.

VI. Ответьте письменно на вопрос: Who demonstrated the first locomotive ?

Тексты для перевода

Text 1 AutomobileOur era has sometimes even been named the, age of electricity and automobiles. What is the reason for the tremendous advancement of automobiles? The motor car is the most efficient thermal powered road vehicle, since it makes the most effective use of the most widely spread and comparatively cheap fuel: gasoline and other oil products. Another reason for the vast expansion of automobile transports its comparatively high speed and its versatility. Bad roads are only a partial impediment to the automobile, espe­cially the modern lorry, which scales steep gradients, seldom sticks in mud, and easily negotiates the sharpest curves. Automobiles have a vast vari­ety of purposes and they possess most different design. Besides passenger cars and lorries, there exist special service motor cars, such as ambulances, emergency technical repair, machines for fire-brigades, dump-cars, tanks for liquids of various descriptions beginning with milk tanks and ending with oil tanks. Motor buses - both city and interurban are winning every day in comfort, speed and safety. Tourism is materially helped by motor-buses which, along with mo­tor-launches, are responsible for the transportation of tourists to various places of interest. Not to be forgotten in connection with internal-combustion engine vehicles is also the motor-cycle which caters for individual needs and, to a great extent, for sport.

As to freight - carrying trucks, we see here a vast range of most different types. Nowadays the traditional road-going lorry has been joined by long distance heavies, containers trailers, haul trucks, and on the other end of the scale there are machines designed for short-run operation at construction sites, forest estates, etc. ranging from the tropics to Polar Regions.

Automobiles are trackless, self-propelled vehicles for land transportation of people or goods, or for moving materials. So there are three main types of automobiles. These are passenger cars, buses, and lorries. The automobile con­sists of the following components: the engine, the framework, the mechanism that transmits the power from the engine to the wheels, the body.

Passenger cars are, as a rule, propelled by an internal combustion engine. They are distinguished by the horsepower of the engine, the number of the cyl­inders in the engine and the type of the body, the type of the transmission, wheelbase, weight and overall length.

There are engines of various designs. They differ in the number of cylin­ders, their position, their operation cycle, valve mechanism, ignition and cool­ing system.