Exercise 35. Choose appropriate words and word-combinations. Fill in the spaces in the sentence.
| water table ground water pump drill dewatering system |
1. A ______________________ is a good way of lowering the underground water levels.
2. He attempted to ____________ a hole in the ground, and hit a massive piece of rock.
3. The ___________________ rises and lowers according to environmental conditions, such as the amount of rainfall.
4. They used a_______________ to collect the standing pool of water.
5. Most of our drinking supply comes from sources of ____________ below the earth’s surface.
Exercise 36. Act out the roles below. Switch the roles.
Use the following phrases:
We’ve got a problem.
Ok, well let’s……
We’d better go with….
| Student A: You are a construction worker. Talk to Student B about: - water that you have encountered on the excavation site; - methods of getting rid of the water. | Student B: You are a project manager. Tell Student A how to get rid of the water. |
Exercise 37. Use the e-mail in exercise 34 and the conversation from exercise 36 to fill out the manager’s daily status report.
| Excavation project: |
| Status report: |
| Problem: |
| Solution: |
UNIT 3
BUILDING MATERIALS
The term “materials” refers to the physical matter used to produce an object or product. Materials not only comprise the products we use in our everyday lives, but define the environment in which we live.
Exercise 1. Before reading the text make sure that you understand the following words and expressions.
| Durability, ecological impact, value, assumptions, processed goods, raw materials, inorganic matter, organic living matter, iron ore, clay, biotic materials, biodegradable, metal alloys, extrusion, rubbers, resins |
Text A
Exercise 2. Read the text and answer the questions.
1. What should be considered before choosing materials?
2. What is raw material?
3. Give examples of inorganic matter and organic living matter?
The selection of materials is one of the most important decisions that any construction engineer must make as the implications of that choice will necessarily impact all the processes and decisions that follow.
An almost unlimited number of materials exist, and new materials are evolving and being discovered at an incredibly rapid pace. Construction engineers have to consider and weigh all of the implications before choosing one particular material over other materials: how it feels, looks, smells, how heavy or light it is, its durability, cost, aesthetic or cultural resonance, ecological impact, and so on. Successful designs are dependent on the strategic selection of the best materials, coupled with the incorporation of those materials into a design that takes full advantage of their unique properties and characteristics.
Although all materials are derived from the earth, most products today are comprised of materials whose properties are far removed from those of their natural sources. In other words, most products are the result of a series of processes that transform naturally occurring substances into processed goods. Raw materials – unprocessed matter extracted directly from the earth – may be comprised of inorganic matter (iron ore, clay) or organic living matter (wood, cotton, silk). Materials comprised of organic matter are referred to as natural or biotic materials, and are for the most part easily biodegradable. Raw materials are then treated or combined with other materials to become semi–finished or processed materials (metal alloys, composites, paper, cloth). Today, these processed materials are often synthetic or man–made – that is, materials that require a series of extrusion or chemical reaction processes not found in nature (synthetic plastics, rubbers, resins, and fibers such as polyester and nylon).