Translate the text in the written form
Retell the text “Agriculture” (10-12 sentences).
Read the texts A and B and translate them without a dictionary.
Put 5 questions to the text A.
Make up a summary of the text B.
A. AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT
Agriculture and environment are closely connected with each other. Crop yields and animal productivity depend on soil and climatic conditions of the region in which they are grown. When environmental conditions are favorable, crops grow and develop well and produce high yields.
At present agriculture is not so dependent on the environment as in the past. (Man can improve the conditions under which crops are grown. The conditions can be improved by using irrigation and drainage, by applying fertilizers and different chemicals such as herbicides and insecticides and by some other practices. The environmental factors do not only affect agriculture, but they are also affected by the agricultural activity. Mineral fertilizers and chemicals used by farmers accumulate in the soil and in plants and may become harmful for people. Thus, the farmers have to solve two problems. On the one hand l they are to improve and intensify agricultural production and on the other hand 2 they are to minimize the effect of agriculture on the environment.
Пояснения к тексту
1. on the one hand — с одной стороны
2. on the other hand — с другой стороны
B. INTENSIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN AGRICULTURE
There are two ways of increasing the yield of farm crops. They are the cultivation of new lands and the increase in yields per hectare. In the recent past the first way was more popular. At present more agricultural products are obtained by intensification of agricultural production.
Intensification is based on mechanization, electrification and chemization which are the main sources of progress in agriculture. Most of agricultural processes in crop production and animal husbandry are mechanized now. They are the preparation of the soil, planting and harvesting crops, feeding farm animals and cleaning livestock buildings. Chemization of agriculture is increased by higher production and use of mineral fertilizers and other chemicals. They increase crop yields and quality.
Some other important intensive technologies are the development of better high-yielding varieties of crops, the application of most effective cultural practices, the breeding of better farm animals, the control of weeds, insects and diseases. All intensification factors must be used in such a way as not to damage the land which is the basis of agriculture.
Пояснения к тексту
1. per hectare — с гектара; на гектар
2. high-yielding — высокоурожайный
3. cultural practices — агротехнические приемы; агротехника
4. in such a way — таким образом
5. as not to damage — чтобы не повредить
| TEXTS FOR READING |
TEXT 1
Measurements
Metric System is a decimal system of physical units, named after its unit of length; the metre, the metric system is adopted as the common system of weights and measures by the majority of countries, and by all countries as the system used in scientific work.
Weights and Measures.Length, capacity, and weight can be measured using standard units. The principal early standards of length were the palm or hand breadth, the foot, and the cubit, which is the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. Such standards were not accurate and definite. Unchanging standards of measurement have been adopted only in modern time.
In the English-speaking world, the everyday units of linear measurement were traditionally the inch, foot, yard and mile. In Great Britain, until recently, these units of length were defined in terms of the imperial standard yard, which was the distance between two lines on a bronze bar made in 1845.
In Britain units of weight (ounces, pounds, and tons) are now also derived from the metric standard — kilogram. This is a solid cylinder of platinum-iridium alloy maintained at constant temperature at Sevres, near Paris. Copies, as exact as possible, of this standard are maintained by national standards laboratories in many countries.
International System of Units is a system of measurement units based on the MKS (metre-kilogram-second) system. This international system is commonly referred to as SI.
At the Eleventh General Conference on Weights and Measures, held in Paris in 1960 standards were defined for six base units and two supplementary units:
Length.The metre had its origin in the metric system. By international agreement, the standard metre had been defined as the distance between two fine lines on a bar of platinum-iridium alloy. The 1960 conference redefined the metre as 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of the reddish-orange light emitted by the isotope krypton-86. The metre was again redefined in 1983 as the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum during a time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a second.
Mass.When the metric system was created, the kilogram was defined as the mass of 1 cubic decimetre of pure water at the temperature of its maximum density or at 4.0 °C.
Time.For centuries, time has been universally measured in terms of the rotation of the earth. The second, the basic unit of time, was defined as 1/86,400 of a mean solar day or one complete rotation of the earth on its axis in relation to the sun. Scientists discovered, however, that the rotation of the earth was not constant enough to serve as the basis of the time standard. As a result, the second was redefined in 1967 in terms of the resonant frequency of the caesium atom, that is, the frequency at which this atom absorbs energy: 9,192,631,7 70 Hz (hertz, or cycles per second).
Temperature.The temperature scale is based on a fixed temperature, that of the triple point of water at which it's solid, liquid and gaseous. The freezing point of water was designated as 273.15 K, equaling exactly 0° on the Celsius temperature scale. The Celsius scale, which is identical to the centigrade scale, is named after the 18th-century Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius, who first proposed the use of a scale in which the interval between the freezing and boiling points of water is divided into 100 degrees. By international agreement, the term Celsius has officially replaced centigrade.
One feature of SI is that some units are too large for ordinary use and others too small. To compensate, the prefixes developed for the metric system have been borrowed and expanded. These prefixes are used with all three types of units: base, supplementary, and derived. Examples are millimetre (mm), kilometre/hour (km/h), megawatt (MW), and picofarad (pF). Because double prefixes are not used, and because the base unit name kilogram already contains a prefix, prefixes are used not with kilogram but with gram. The prefixes hecto, deka, deci, and centi are used only rarely and then usually with metre to express areas and volumes. In accordance with established usage, the centimetre is retained for body measurements and clothing.
In cases where their usage is already well established, certain other units are allowed for a limited time, subject to future review. These include the nautical mile, knot, angstrom, standard atmosphere, hectare, and bar.
TEXT 2
MECHANIZATION
Like all branches of national economy rural economy is carefully planned and extended both in respect of raising the yield and in the recovery of new land for farming purposes. As is well known, a wide acreage of virgin and longfallow land was brought under the plough in recent years. This is mainly accounted for by all-round mechanization along with the application of scientific farming.
Overall mechanization embraces all field operations, as well as to a considerable extent also scientific cattle-breeding. It makes available the best methods of tillage while it, at the same time, permits of doing away with arduous farm-labour.
Our mechanical engineering provides agriculture with all necessary machinery. The aggregate capacity of agricultural machinery is increasing, and new improved machines are being built which carry out most varied operations in agriculture.
TEXT 3