The mystery of the tunnels of South America
Recently, Erick von Daniken reported that he'd had been in a network of tunnels that run for thousands of miles beneath the South American continent. He saw immense rooms filled with metallic plaques. They constitute a possible record of the ancient world. The first knowledge about these immense underground tunnels came when the Conquistadores invaded ancient South America.
It is believed by some treasure hunters that the llama loads of gold were hidden in these ancient tunnels. Indian legends say the gold was secreted "in such a place that even we do not know the location."
Among the artifacts that vanished were the mummified bodies of thirteen Inca emperors. They had sat on golden chairs in the Temple of the Sun, the chairs resting on a huge slab of gold. The mummified remains of Inca rulers were placed around the temple decorated with golden jewelry and precious stones. Near the mummies were large gold plates engraved with a picture of the Inca as they appeared during life.
The important buildings in the Coricancha were connected by underground tunnels with the fortress. Entrances to these tunnels started at the Chincana, "the place where one gets lost." Too many adventurous treasure hunters were going in to the caverns and disappearing.
The masonry is for the most part, as solid as if built only a few years ago, and the passages are so extensive that we were able to spend the whole day exploring the recesses of this building which must have been reared three thousand years ago. No such walls are built in that region today. In a place where four corridors meet stands the famous idol of Chavin.
Rumors of these massive tunnels were so persistent during the 1850's that a viceroy of Peru decided to find the entrance. An expedition was outfitted and sent to find an entrance into the subterranean passages.
The tunnels started at Cuzco and ran underground to Lima, a distance of around 380 miles by air. At Lima the tunnels turn southward into what is now modern Bolivia. This is a distance of some thousand miles!
We can assume that the ancient builders of the tunnels anticipated possible grave robbers. They probably created a deadly trap for unwary ghouls.
The concept of vast underground passages is enough to boggle the mind. That such tunnels could be constructed indicates a science in pre-Inca or Inca days. It means there was a technology capable of building a labyrinth beneath the earth.
And for what purpose? It is one thing to construct an underground shelter in the event of a catastrophe. Such a cavern, man-made or naturally formed, would provide safe refuge against an impending disaster. To construct tunnels that run for a hundred or a thousand miles beneath the South American continent is beyond the boundaries of present knowledge. Exactly who built the tunnel and why, remains a mystery.
Perhaps the mystery of the tunnels will be solved someday in the future. Until then, we might consider that these structures were probably in South America prior to the reign of the Incas. Some scholars have suggested that the tunnels were built by the Atlaneans. Others have speculated that an unknown race that existed before the flood constructed the tunnels.
Task 14. Transcribe the following words.
1. tunnel
2. beneath
3. ancient
4. treasure
5. mummified
6. precious
7. adventurous
8. subterranean
9. southward
10. assume
11. ghoul
12. science
13. labyrinth
14. catastrophe
15. boundaries
Task 15. Answer the following questions.
1. What is your impression of the text?
2. Why is the text called as the mystery of tunnels?
3. What remained in the tunnels?
4. What do the scientists say about the manner of building and decorating of these tunnels?
5. Is it known exactly now what purpose did the ancients have to build the tunnels?
6. What points of views exist among the scientists on the subject of purpose of building tunnels?
Task 16. Put the verbs in brackets in suitable tense-form.
A tunnel _____ (to be) an underground passageway for trains or automobiles, through or under an obstruction, as a city, mountain, river, harbor, or the like. It _____ (to be) also an approximately horizontal gallery or corridor in a mine.
The definition of what constitutes a tunnel ____ (to be) not universally agreed upon. However, in general tunnels ______ (to be) at least twice as long as they ______ (to be) wide. In addition, they should be completely enclosed on all sides, save for the openings at each end. Some civic planners ______ (to define) a tunnel as 0.1 miles (0.16 km) in length or longer, while anything shorter than this should be called an underpass or a chute.
A tunnel may ____ (to be) for pedestrians or cyclists, for general road traffic, for motor vehicles only, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some ______ (to be) aqueducts, constructed purely for carrying water — for consumption, for hydroelectric purposes or as sewers — while others _____ (to carry) other services such as telecommunications cables. There _____ (to be) even tunnels designed as wildlife crossings for European badgers and other endangered species. Some secret tunnels ____ also ______ _________ (to make) as a method of entrance or escape from an area. Some tunnels ____ (to be) not for transport at all but are fortifications.
In the United Kingdom a pedestrian tunnel or other underpass beneath a road _____ (to call) a subway. This term _____ (to use) in the past in the United States, but now _______ (to refer) to underground rapid transit systems.
The central part of a rapid transit network ___ usually _____ (to build) in tunnels. To allow non-level crossings, some lines _____ (to run) in deeper tunnels than others. Rail stations with much traffic usually _______ (to provide) pedestrian tunnels from one platform to another, though others _____ (to use) bridges.
Unit IV.
Types of transport.
Task 1. Read and translate the text.
The coming revolution in transportation.
You ride toward the city at 90 miles an hour, glancing through the morning newspaper while your electrically powered car follows its programmed route on an automated "guideway". You leave your car at the city's edge - a parklike city without streets - and enter a small plastic "people capsule". Inside, you dial your destination on a sequence of numbered buttons and settle back. Smoothly, silently, your capsule accelerates to 80 miles an hour. Guided by a distant master computer, it slips down into the network of tunnels under the city and takes precisely the fastest route to your destination.
Far-fetched? Not at all. Every element of this fantastic system is already within range of our scientists' skills. Indeed, the system utilizes only a few of the exciting new people-moving machines that have reached or passed the experimental stage.
Automated highways - engineers call them guideways - are technically feasible today. General Motors successfully demonstrated an electronically controlled guidance system. A wire was embedded in the road, and two pick-up coils were installed at the front of a car to sense its position in relation of that wire. The coils sent electrical signals to the steering system, to keep the vehicle automatically on course. They tested a system that also controlled spacing and detected obstacles. It could slow down or stop an overtaking vehicle until the road was clear.
Other companies are also experimenting with guide ways. In some systems, the car's power comes from an electric transmission line built into the road. In others, vehicles would be carried on a high speed conveyer, or perhaps in a container.
Computer-controlled highways will almost surely become a reality, for when the human element is removed, vehicles can travel with greater safety at faster speeds, closer together. In fact, most experts believe that each lane of automated highway could move the traffic of three or four of today's uncontrolled lanes.
"People Places". And when all this comes true, will we drive into even more nightmarish traffic tangles on city streets? The answer to this was found in Sweden. As you stroll across a fountain-dotted plaza lined with attractive shops, you don't hear any traffic noise here; this is "a walking plaza", "a people place", and the key to its success is the network of tunnels beneath it. Down there, trucks are supplying the stores with merchandise, and a subway carry people to and from nearby Stockholm.
Underground Highways? Most transportation experts don't consider them extravagant at all. Improved boring methods laser beams, chemicals, water or flame jets - will make tunneling cheaper. Moreover, underground highways are not affected by weather, and they do not provoke the bitter debates that have erupted in many cities over the displacement of people by surface construction.
Many of the transportation authorities are enthusiastic about Stockholm's "walking plaza" concept. The idea is to provide for most of the people's needs in a more concentrated area, so that they have less reason to travel outside their own community.
Still, people must travel to their place of work - which is not necessarily near where they live - and this causes an almost universal problem in our cities. Some recent studies point toward solution. For example, a bus line picks up passengers practically at their doors (for a monthly charge) and carries them, directly to their place of work. In the future, such personalized computer services may be provided by mini-buses. One proposal calls for special metal plates connected to a central computer, installed throughout a neighborhood. When someone pushes a plate, it signals the computer which orders the nearest mini-bus to pick him up.
Task 2. Answer the following questions.
1. What will the city of the future look like?
2. Can you explain what an automated "guide way" mean?
3. What is a "people capsule"? Is it fantasy?
4. What is a small computer in the automated autos used for and where is it placed?
5. What are the advantages of automated highway lanes as compared with uncontrolled lanes?
6. How did the specialists in Sweden solve the transportation problem in the busy centre of the city?
7. What are the advantages of the underground highways as compared with the surface highways?
8. What services may be provided by mini-buses in the future city?
Task 3. Unscramble the words.
edawyugi ______________________
stediotaion _____________________
leuscpa ________________________
hielvec _________________________
vorkepo __________________________
ghdoonobrhi ______________________
telericc ___________________________
Task 4. Make the following interrogative.
1. You leave your car at the city's edge and enter a small plastic "people capsule".
2. You dial your destination on a sequence of numbered buttons.
3. Other companies are also experimenting with guide ways.
4. Vehicles would be carried on a high speed conveyer or in a container.
5. You don't hear any traffic noise here.
6. Trucks are supplying the stores with merchandise.
7. This causes an almost universal problem in our cities.
8. A bus line picks up passengers practically at their doors.
9. Personalized computer services may be provided by mini-buses.
10. The computer orders the nearest mini-bus to pick him up.
Task 5. Translate sentences into English.
1. Просматривая утреннюю газету ______________________________________
2. Вы оставляете свою машину на окраине города _________________________
_______
3. Достигать 80 миль в час ____________________________________________
4. Посылать электрический сигнал _____________________________________
5. Подземные шоссе не зависят от погоды _______________________________
6. Установленный в окрестностях ______________________________________
7. Персональные компьютерные службы ________________________________
Task 6. Complete the sentences.
1. You leave your car at the city's edge - a parklike city without streets – and
__________________________________________________________________
2. Guided by a distant master computer, it slips ________________________
3. The system utilizes only_________________________________________
4. The coils sent electrical signals to _________________________________
5. When the human element is removed, vehicles can ____________________
__________________________________________________________________
6. The key to success of "a people place" is ________________________________
7. Underground highways do not provoke __________________________________
8. When someone pushes a plate, it _______________________________________
Task 7. Read and translate the text.