Лекция: Прочитайте текст и расскажите по-английски о Массачусетском Технологиче­ском Институте.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT is an independent university located in Boston area. It was founded in 1861 by William Barton Rogers, a distinguished natural scientist, who believed professional competence to be best fostered (воспитывать) by the combining of teaching, research, and the application of knowledge to real-world problems. MIT held its first classes in 1865 after having delayed opening because of the Civil War. There were approximately 15 students enroled at that time.

Today MIT has about 9,700 students, a faculty (профессорское-преподавательский состав) of approximately 1,000 and several thousand research staff. The total teaching staff numbers more that 1,800. The institute is broadly organized into five academic Schools -Architecture and Planning, Engineering, Humanities and Social Science, Management and Science — and a large number of interdisciplinary Programs, laboratories, and centers, including the Whitaker College



ofHealth Science, Technology and Management. A unique feature of MIT is that undergraduates join with graduate students, faculty, and staff to work on research projects throughout the institute.

Most academic activities take place in a group of interconnected buildings designed to permit easy communication among the Schools and their 22 departments. Across the street from this set of buildings there are athletic fields, the student center, and many of the dormitories.

The main purpose of the academic program at MIT is to give students a sound command (прочное усвоение) of basic principles, the habit of continued learning and the confidence that comes from a thorough and systematic approach to learning. This results in continued professional and personal growth, especially in today's rapidly changing world.

The two essential parts of all MIT educational programs are teaching and research. Both of these activities carried on together have greater potential than either performed alone. They provide experience in theory and experiment for both students and teaching staff.

Each student pursues a degree (стремиться получить степень) in one of the departments. Undergraduate courses at MIT lead to the degree of Bachelor of Science (S.B.). The academic programs require fouryears offull-time study for the Bachelor of Science. Degrees are awarded on the basis of satisfactory completion of general institute and departmental requirements (общеинститутские и кафедральные требования) in each program.

There is enough flexibility (гибкость), however, to allow each student, in collaboration with the adviser, to develop an individual program in accordance with his or her own interests and preparation.


LESSON 12

Сослагательное наклонение

Многофункциональность should, would

Особенности пассива

Глаголы to involve, result in, result from

Text 12A. The Mars Programme

Text 12B. Thirty Years of the Space Age

Text 12C. Living Aboard the Space Shuttle

Text 12D. Time Travel and New Universes

Упражнение 1. Переведите предложения с глаголом-сказуемым в сослагательном наклонении:

1. Would you like to come with us? 2. Would you be so kind as to tell me how to get to the Red Square? 3. Could you tell me the way to the main building of the University? 4. Would you mind giving me your dictionary for a minute? 5. Would you be kind enough to pass me the text-book? 6. I'd like to thank you for your help. 7. He'd like to meet you.

1. You are the only person she would listen to. 2. The material in this book is very much out of date. The book must have been written a long time ago. 3. He speaks English well. He must have lived in the United States for a long time. 4. You could have done it in a different way. 5. It's strange he is not here. However, he might have forgotten all about it. Or he might have come while I was out. 6. For long journeys in private cars one could use automatic guidance systems. 7. One laser beam could carry all the radio, TV and telephone messages simultaneously.


1. Mary wishes she could drive a car. 2. I wish that, for just a
day, I were President of the United States. 3. I wish I had not spent
so much money yesterday. 4. I wish when a boy I had studied French
instead of English. 5. John wishes he had been a mechanical engineer.
6. I wish I had a car. 7. I wish you had mentioned this fact to me
before. '


       
   
 
acknowledge v- признавать broad a — широкий deliver v- доставлять

1. If he were better educated, he would get the job. 2. Were I you, I should speak to him about it. 3. I would have called you, if I had had your telephone number. 4. Had she felt better, she would have gone with them. 5. If you watch a laser operate. you might be surprised at the simplicity of a device capable of such power. 6. «If I had had a chance to live my life again, I should have tried to combine the study of the history of art, philosophy and science». «But then you wouldn't be good at either». «No, you’re probably right, I'd be a dilettante».

1. K. Ones found that it was necessary that a mercury wire be cooled to -265° С for electrical resistively to disappear. 2. Tsiolkovsky proposed that liquid propellants should be used for space travel.

3. Recently it has been improbable that superconductivity should appear
at an unbelievable temperature of 98 К in a special ceramic material.

4. The great speeds and high resistance of air demand that new
hyper liners be built without windows. 5. It is essential that a
superconductor should be a solid material and it is necessary that it
should be cooled to -273° С 6. It was natural for the ancient Greeks
to suppose that the stars, planets, the sun and the moon move round
the Earth in space. 7. It is possible that a compound should become
a superconductor even if the chemical elements constituting it are not.
8. Copernicus suggested that the Sun and not the Earth should be at
the centre of everything.

Упражнение 2.Переведите предложения, обращая внимание на союзы in order that, so that, lest:

I. A special system is being developed so that drivers could see after dark. 2. Aircraft designers tend to substitute conventional metal alloys by new composite materials in order that an aircraft structure should be lighter. 3. Some materials are cooled almost to -273° С so that they should become superconductors. 4. Great attention is paid to ecological problems all over the world so that air in super cities should be kept clean. 5. You must put down this formula lest you should forget it. 6. Metal parts are tested for defects lest they should fail in operation. 7. Students must work hard lest they should fail at the examination. 8. All kinds of safety devices for motor cars are being developed lest accidents should occur. 9. A hypersonic craft will require complicated measures lest it should burn.

Упражнение З.Переведите предложения, принимая во внимание особенности страдательного залога в английском языке:

1. International cooperation, especially in the field of space and science, may be spoken of as a long-standing tradition. 2. The «night


vision» system is being worked at in many design bureaus. 3. The invention of an internal combustion engine was followed by the appearance of a motor car as we know it today. 4. Any flying vehicle is acted upon by aerodynamic forces. 5. The improvement of our working conditions and life is influenced by achievements of scientific and technological progress. 6. New developments in the field of superconductivity are much written about at present. 7. The invention of a steam engine was followed by the first industrial revolution. 8. The neutron is not influenced by a magnetic field. 9. The appearance of a jet engine was followed by a tremendous increase of aircraft speeds. 10. The problems of interplanetary flight are dealt with in the latest magazine.

Упражнение 4.Объясните различные значения глагола to involve и его произ­водных:

1. While on their last space flight French cosmonauts were mostly involved in carrying out scientific experiments. 2. A program to establish an International Lunar Base can involve many nations. 3. The struggle for the protection of Lake Baikal has shown the true position of the organizations involved. 4. To understand the operation of computers one must understand the principles involved.

Упражнение 5.Переведите интернациональные слова:

automatic [,o:tama2tik], station, dozen [dV\zn], natural [natural], national ['nae/anl], resources [ri'sosiz], aeronautics [,eara'no:tiks], European [Juara'pkan], Mars expedition, gravity, satellite ['saetslait], socialist ['saujblist], atmosphere, robots, analysis [a'nasbsis], control [kan'traul], alternative [ o:l'ta:nativ], progress, exploration, Martian [mce/jan], Europe ['juror].

Упражнение б. Прочтите и запомните произношение слов: origin ['Drid3in], multitude ['mAltitju:d], agency ['edams], importance [important], acknowledge [зек'пои$], NASA jennies], re­searcher [reseat], incorporate [in'korpareit], enterprise ['enterprise], propose [pra'pauz], jointly [d33intli], artificial [euripi'/al], areas [arias], detailed ['dirtied], special taste/al], balloons [balms], basic ['basic], officials [a'fijalz], major ['midi], crew [koru:], require [ri'kwaia], fuel [fuel], priority [prai'ariti], purpose ['pa:pas], vehicle [Vigil], launch [b:ntjT].

Слова и словосочетания для запоминания

hence adv — следовательно implementation n — выполнение, осуществление



 

encounter v — встречать, сталки­ваться enterprise n — промышленное предприятие flight n — полет follow v- следовать (за) gather v- собирать guide v — направлять note v-отмечать origin n — происхождение own a — собственный, свой predict v-предсказывать, прогно­зировать prepare v — готовить, подготовить promising a — перспективный, многообеща ющий propose v — предлагать

incorporate v — включать, объеди­нять

investigation n — исследование land v-приземляться, опускаться last v- сохраняться, длиться launch v- запускать multitude n — множество, большое число, масса purpose v-цель, reason v- причина representative a — представитель­ный

self-propelled a — самоходный, са­модвижущийся space n — пространство, космос specimen я -образец, экземпляр supply v — снабжать, обеспечивать

Text 12A

Прочитайте текст и объясните, почему так важно провести широкие исследо­вания Марса. Расскажите о программах изучения Марса. Назовите наиболее изве­стные в мире организации, занимающиеся космическими исследованиями.

The Mars Programme

In 1962 the first automatic station — the USSR's Mars-1 — was launched. It was followed by more than a dozen Soviet and US space vehicles. Then came a lengthy interval starting in 1975. Now the time has come for mankind to carry out detailed studies of Mars which is known to be a planet in many respects similar to the Earth. It is necessary that man should understand the origin and development of the Solar System in order to understand the history of our own planet and the reasons of the appearance of life on it.

New knowledge about Mars might help us to explain the multitude of natural phenomena occurring on earth and enable us to predict these phenomena, as well as control them. This would help mankind begin exploring the Solar System's resources in the not so distant future.

The importance of Mars studies is acknowledged by all. Thus the working programmers of the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) envisage flights to Mars in the 1990s. The most representative community of space research — the International Astronautically Federation (IAF), now incorporating some eighty space agencies,


institutes and industrial enterprises in 36 countries — considers the preparation of manned and unmanned expeditions to Mars to be one of its main priorities.

Russia has proposed that a broad international programme of detailed study of Mars and its natural satellites should be carried out. Scientists and space experts suggested that automatic stations for Mars' expeditions should be designed and produced by Russia, and the scientific instruments for them should be jointly prepared by ten countries: six East and four West European. It was reported that the programme would enable us to deliver to Mars the automatic station for global studies of the planet from the orbits of its artificial satellites, determine the most promising areas for detailed investigations and study the planet's atmosphere by landing special vehicles as well as balloons.

A new generation of the Photos space probes has been developed for this purpose in Russia. It should be noted that these probes are sophisticated programmed space robots. They are believed to be the basic means for the expedition to Photos, Mars satellite, and hence for carrying out the Mars programme in 1998 and 1999. It is planned to launch six unmanned spacecrafts — two each in 1992, 1994, and 1996. The Mars Sample Return Mission1, now being planned for the late 1990s should be the most important part in the space programme for the period ending in 2000. The spacecraft to be launched to Mars is to make a soft landing on the planet and send a self-propelled vehicle, so-called rover, to gather soil samples and specimens of Mars rock. It is to travel several hundred kilometers on Mars' surface, encountering storms, frosts and heat. Then about 2 lbs5 of materials would be returned to earth for detailed analysis. The U.S. is supposed to supply the rover plus advanced electronics to guide this rover from orbiting spacecraft.

NASA experts are studying a quicker, simpler alternative that would allow to visit Photos, one of the two Mars main moons. They wish the USA were the first to send people towards Mars. And NASA officials predict that a U.S. spacecraft carrying four crew members could reach Photos' surface by 2003, more than four years earlier than it could reach Mars. The Photos mission is similar to that of a Mars flight. It, too, would require two space vehicles, a cargo ship followed by a manned spacecraft. And it, too, would last 14 months. But the Photos rockets would need only half the fuel, since they wouldn't have to overcome Martian gravity to get back.

Besides being a major step in the progress of space science, the implementation of the programmers described may serve as a transitional stage from the study of space to its exploration for the benefit of earth.


 




Notes to the Text


1. The Mars Sample Return Mission — полет с целью возвращения

образцов с Марса

2. the late 1990s — в конце 1990-х годов

3. rover — ковер, самоходный аппарат для исследования повар-

юности

4. Mars rock — грунт, порода Марса

5. lb. = pound — фунт (453, 5 гр.).

УПРАЖНЕНИЯ

Упражнение 7.Определите значения глагола should в различных предложениях: 1. It should be said that the importance of Mars studies is ac­knowledged by all. 2. Reliability of every vehicle should be paid great attention to during the production process. 3. It is required that an airplane should be well balanced dynamically. 4. Should there be even a small deviation (отклонение) in the velocity, the space vehicle would pass the planet. 5. K.E. Tsiolkovsky suggested that man-made rockets for the future space flights should use liquid-propelled engines. 6. We were told that we should take part in the discussion. 7. One should not forget that electricity is the most important source of energy at present.

Упражнение 8. Определите значения глагола would в различных предложениях:

1. Halley predicted that the comet would appear at regular intervals of 75 years. 2. If you were on the first manned space station your task would be to study the stars and planets including the Earth. 3. Some materials cooled to proper temperature would conduct electricity practically without any resistance. 4. In future it may be possible to build a dirigible with a metal hull that would carry hundreds of passengers round the world. 5. In 1883 Tsiolkovsky wrote that rocket would be the only means able to reach outer space. 6. Popov would make his experiments with radio although the government was not interested in the work. 7. We tried to start the car, but it would not go. 8. We know that a body in motion would continue to travel in a straight line unless some force were applied. 9. Without gravity we would not be able to walk in an upright position. 10. Non-equatorial regions of Mars would be difficult and expensive to reach and explore.

Упражнение 9.Укажите предложения, где should является модальным глаголом, а также те предложения, где глаголы would, could и might выражают сослагательное наклонение:

1. It is essential that international cooperation should be as productive as possible. 2. Research and technology should provide the basis for a better life. 3. Military uses of a space station could complicate


international cooperation since there are several neutral countries among the participants. 4. It is desirable that international space cooperation should give significant economic advantage for the countries involved. 5. NASA agreed that Canada would develop a remote manipulation system for the space Shuttle. 6. It should be pointed out that Japan space programmers are based on close government-industry cooperation. 7. The craft to be launched would essentially be used as a service module for space stations. 8. Typical missions of a new system might include the assembly of space structures. 9. Exploring Photos would be a difficult problem because of its small gravity field. If an astronaut threw a stone right ahead, it would orbit the entire moon and hit him in the back of the head. 10. Such a vehicle could be operational by the end of the century. 11. One should know that the broader the basis for utilizing a space station is, the better the prospects for economic efficiency of developing it are. 12. After the Challenger tragedy the military experts insisted that a new Shuttle should be built. 13. It was reported that the appearance of photon computers could be expected.

Упражнение 10.Переведите предложения в страдательном залоге: 1. In mechanics the study of kinematics is followed by the study of dynamics. 2. A gas may be looked upon as the vapor of a liquid with a very low boiling point or very great vapor pressure. 3. Lead is very slightly acted upon by the oxygen of the air. 4. The works of Tsiolkovsky were followed by a number of very important works in the field of astronautics. 5. The production of special metallurgical alloys is seldom influenced by gravity. 6. This article describes design characteristics which are followed by the description of the results of the experiments. This description is followed by a discussion of no technical aspects of the lunar programme proposed.

Упражнение 11.Объясните различные значения глагола to result: 1. It is well known that automation results in higher labour productivity. 2. A manned space flight has resulted from the great achievements in Russian science. 3. This experiment resulted in the discovery of several new properties of the composite material. 4. A release of automatic energy results from a very complex process. 5. World War II resulted in the victory of the USSR, the US and Great Britain. 6. Such experiments usually result in obtaining new information. 7. The motion of an electron results from a force acting upon it. 8. The growing intensity of air traffic has resulted in the automation of its control. 9. Newton's famous work «Principia» resulted from 40 years of experimental work.



УПРАЖНЕНИЯ ДЛЯ САМОСТОЯТЕЛЬНОЙ РАБОТЫ

Упражнение 12. Определите, к каким частям речи относятся следующие слова: gravity, peaceful, permanent, consequence, subatomic, dominant, relative, relativity, flexible, apparently, celebrity, novelty, connection, complicate, desirable, significant, utilize, pressure, famous, involvement, significance, weightlessness, eaten, recorder, suppression, useless, dense, density, depth, damage, shorten.

Упражнение 13. Образуйте существительные от следующих слов: appear, explore, prepare, prior, important, implement, transit, propose, create, lighten, encode, structural, useful, discuss, grow, store, differ, electronic.

Упражнение 14. Найдите

а) синонимы:

spacecraft, to call, artificial, significance, area, man-made, satellite, purpose, complicated, importance, space vehicle, explorer, aim, to guide, to offer, researcher, investigation, to incorporate, sophisticated, to propose, to determine, exploration, to define, to gather, to control, to collect, to name, to include, district, moon;

б) антонимы:

special, upper, unmanned, natural, last, manned, unequal, conventional, distant, first, lower, civil, equal, inefficient, military, near, efficient, artificial.

Упражнение 15. Переведите следующие предложения, учитывая различные зна­чения глагола to involve и его производных:

1. NASA began looking for the way to involve other countries in its post-Apollo space programme. 2. International involvement in the space programme raises a number of questions. 3. The international programme has involved Russia, Canada, Japan and various developing countries, as well as both individual European countries and various European space organizations. 4. There exists a clear trend towards increased international involvement in those uses of space which could be economically beneficial. 5. The aim of the experiment involving dogs, monkeys and other animals aboard Cosmos was to study the way zero gravitation affects the living organisms. 6. An efficient radiator is capable of warming a large room, the process involved is called convection. 7. Work with computers and other sophisticated electronic devices involves two different types of construct-tion: hardware and software.

Упражнение 16. Переведите следующие предложения, учитывая различные зна­чения слова only:

1. You are the only person who could help us in solving this problem. 2. The International Academy of Astronautics including nearly


one thousand scientists and engineers from 50 countries is the only organization which can plan technical efforts on an international scale. 3. Only through cooperation on a world-wide scale could space technology be improved. 4. Effective communication across national borders appeared to be the only way for space science to develop successfully.

Упражнение 17. Найдите глаголы-сказуемые в страдательном залоге, переведите: Dolly Madison was born in South Carolina while her parents were visiting there. She was soon taken to Virginia where she was educated. She was taught by her Quaker parents to say «thee» and «thou» for «you». Dolly was married to John Payne who died a short time afterwards from yellow fever. Several years later she was married to James Madison, a brilliant lawyer. When Thomas Jefferson was elected President of the US, James Madison was selected Secretary of State. Mr. Jefferson was a widower, so Dolly was often invited to preside at the White House. When James Madison was elected president, Mrs. Madison was the hostess of the White House on all occasions. People from everywhere were impressed with her sincerity and her love for humanity.

Упражнение 18. Дайте недостающие формы глаголов, запомните их:

beaten, steal, carrying out, learnt, ate, slept.

Упражнение 19. Прочитайте и переведите текст без словаря:

Exploration experts suggest that the tiny moon Photos should be used as a perfect place for gas refilling station. Some scientists think Photos rocks to contain crystalline ice. If one heats them, it will be possible to produce water. The latter could be divided into hydrogen and oxygen which are necessary components for rocket propulsion. Such a fuel supply would greatly reduce the amount of weight that must be delivered from the Earth for manned missions to Mars. Thus, it might be possible for spacecrafts to leave the Earth for Mars carrying no return fuel. To get home, they should simply fill up at Photos.

Conversation Exercise 1. Answer the questions:

1. What planet is in many respects similar to the Earth? (Mars).

2. What can help mankind explain natural phenomena occurring on Earth and predict them? (more detailed study of Mars and its satellites).

3. What organizations are working at the programmers of Mars expeditions? (NASA, ESA, IAF). 4. What programme of Mars investigation was proposed by Russia? (international broad programme of Mars investigation by several European countries). 5. What was the purpose of this programme? (to deliver the Photos space probes for


 




studies of Mars from the orbit of its satellites). 6. What are the Photos space probes? (sophisticated programmed space robots). 7. What is the most important part of this space programme? (the Mars sample return mission).

Exercise2. Make a sentence out of the two parts:

1. NASA has proposed l. a cargo ship followed by a manned

spacecraft.

2. NASA experts predict that a US 2. they wouldn't have to overcome spacecraft Martian gravity to get back.

3. It would be more 3. a quicker and simpler programme

of visiting Photos, one of the two tiny Mars satellites.

4. The Photos flight would require 4. to last 14 months, two space vehicles

5. It is believed 5. could reach Photos surface by

2003.

6. The Photos rockets would need 6. than four years earlier that such a
only spacecraft could reach Mars.

7. It can be explained by the fact 7. half of the fuel necessary for a
that Mars flight.

Exercise 3. Read and learn:

SATELLITES

Peter: Hello, Ann. How did you happen to come to California? Ann.: Hello, Peter. How are you. My father got a job here. It

is so exciting to meet you here. I've not seen you since

you graduated from the University.
P.: I'm working on a newspaper. I cover the space research

problems. Now I study the application of space satellites

for scientific purposes.
A.: I think that the best application of satellites is for

military purposes.
P.: You are absolutely wrong. The most promising field of

application of satellites is the scientific one.
A.: Oh, Yes, I know satellites look down on everything: the

clouds, forests and oceans, the winds, ice on the sea.

But don't forget spy(unhook) satellites.
P.: Spy and weather satellites gather data for forecasting.

The Japanese have a satellite studying the ocean;

European and Russian satellites produce a radar images

of the ground; an American satellite is studying the

upper atmosphere.


A.: It seems to me that the era of satellites has passed.

You see, the Japanese have already delayed the launch

of their earth observing mission.
P.: Yes, they did, because of cost. The most effective way

to gather data is not always with a big satellite.
A.: Have you met my elder brother Mike?

P.: Of course, I have. We played in the same football team

at the college, though he is about three years older

than me.
A.: He is five years older than you. He takes part in the

research programme at the Goddard Institute for Space

Studies. They are developing now a small cheap satellite.

It would carry three simple instruments to measure

clouds, water vapor and surface temperature.
P.: Oh, really. I think, that such researches make sense

and help develop a single Global Climate Observing

System.
A.: Such a system could change the world or at least see

the world changing.

Exercise 4. Comment on the following statement:

Space exploration ought to be abandoned (откладываться) until more important problems of mankind have been solved.

One point of view: Space exploration is very expensive; food production is far more important than Mars studies or Moon walks; it is immoral to spend huge sums of money on space exploration while millions of people suffer hunger (голод); space exploration is useless anyway because we can't colonize other planets; it would be much better to colonize, for example, the Sahara before trying to colonize the Moon or Mars; mankind ought novo waste its resources.

A contrary point of view. Space exploration is of great significance for scientific and technological development; space exploration gives man new knowledge that he can use for other purposes; we shouldn't try.

Exercise 5.Conduct a scientific conference on: «The potential of space exploration for peaceful purposes».

Use texts 12 А, В, С, exercise 3 (Satellites) as a basis for the preparation of oral talks and discussion. Useful words and phrases of scientific communication are given in exercise 5 (see Lesson 10 «Conversation»).

Exercise 6.Read and smile:

The Farmer and the Apple Tree

A farmer once had a friend who was famous for wonderful apple trees which he grew. One day this friend gave the farmer a fine young tree and told him to take it home and plant it. The farmer was pleased with the gift, but when he got home he did not know how to plant it. If he planted it near the road, people might steal the fruit. If he planted it in his field his neighbours might come at night and rob(rap-


 



12-2501



бить) him. If he planted it near the house, his own children might steal the apples. Finally he planted the tree deep in the woods where no one could see it. But naturally the tree couldn't grow without sunlight and suitable soil. In time, it withered (засыхать) and died.

Later his friend was criticizing him for planting the tree in such a poor place.

«What is the difference», the farmer said. «If I had planted the •tree near the road, people would have stolen the fruit. If I had planted it in my field, my neighbors would have come at night and robbed me. If I had planted it near my house, my own children would have stolen the apples».

«Indeed! But at least someone could have enjoyed the fruit», said his friend. «Now you have robbed everyone of the apples, and you have destroyed a fine tree».

A fanner's wife spent most of her time wishing for things which she did not possess. She wished she were beautiful; she wished she were rich; she wished she had a handsome (красивый) husband. Therefore one day fairies (волшебницы) decided to give her 4hree wishes as an experiment.

The farmer and his wife talked a long time over what she would wish for. But the farmer's wife suddenly became a little hungry (го­ладный) and wished she had some sausages to eat. At once her plate was full of sausages. Then a heated argument began, because her husband said his wife had wasted one of the valuable wishes on such a cheap thing as sausages. The argument grew hotter, and finally the wife cried that she wished the sausages were hanging from her husband's nose. At once a row of sausages flew to her husband's nose and stayed there. Nor could they be removed.

Now there was the only one thing the poor woman could do. She really loved her husband and so she had to spend her third wish in removing the sausages from his nose. Thus, except for the few sausages, she got nothing from her three wishes.

TEXT 12B

Прочитайте текст и найдите информацию о вкладе России в космическую науку. Объясните, чем отличается космическая станция «Мир» от предшествующих станций. Расскажите о перспективах использования ракеты-носителя «Энергия».

Thirty Years of the Space Age

In the thirty years since Yury Gagarin's flight Russian space science and engineering have come a long way. According to space experts in the US and Europe Russia takes the lead in almost all


space exploration now. It is likely to become the world's dominant power in space by the 21-st century. Russia has launched more than 2,300 space vehicles designed to perform a variety of functions. Unmanned satellites have been of great significance in the exploration and peaceful use of outer space. They help us learn more about the relations between processes occurring on the sun and near the earth and study the structure of the upper atmosphere. These satellites are provided with scientific equipment for space navigation of civil aviation and ships, as well as exploration of the World Ocean, the earth's surface and its natural resources.

Russia is known to carry out many orbital manned flights involving over 62 cosmonauts, many of them having flown several times. It is well known that Russian cosmonauts hold the record for the longest time in space (L.Kizim has worked 375 days)and for continuous stay in space (V.Titov and M.Manarov — 365 days, i.e. a year). The knowledge of Russian doctors and researchers about the medical and psychological consequences of long-term space flight far exceed that of American scientists.

Two permanent space stations, Salyut and a third generation station Mir, are now orbiting the earth. The creation of a new, more sophisticated, efficient space lab aboard the Mir station is a good example of the scientific and technological progress under way in Russia's space industry. New metal alloys, composite materials and more effective means of communication are in use. This space station is equipped with an astronomical observatory module named Kwan. It incorporates all the novelty that could be offered by designers and engineers. To keep productivity high Russian designers pay much attention to the space station livability. The interior of Mir has been painted in two colors to provide the crew with a sense of floor and ceiling. On Mir cosmonauts get two days off each week and have a special radio so that they can talk to their families and with any sportsman, scientist or celebrity they want.

With the twin Vega space probes being successfully launched in 1986, Russian scientists conducted close-range studies of Halley's comet and gathered impressive scientific data about Venus. Vega 1 and Vega 2 carrying more than 30 research instruments passed within 10,000 kilometers of the comet's heart, transmitted high-quality pictures to the Earth and revealed for the first time the dimensions and dynamics of its ten-mile-long nucleus. The relative speed of approaching the comet was equal to ,78 km/sec. It should be pointed out that the study of Halley's comet was conducted on the basis of extensive cooperation of scientists. Scientists from nine countries, including the U.S, joined the Vega project.


 



12*



When the 170-million horse power carrier-rocket called «Energies» was successfully tested in 1987, Russia has gone far ahead of the United States in the space race. With the new Energies rocket it is possible to put into orbit a 100-ton payload (One must know that the first satellite carried 83,6 kg). That is enough to carry a shuttled.e.a reusable craft) or to put into orbit components for a space station much larger than Mir which could be a platform for a manned flight to Mars. Russian experts believe «Energies» to be able to take explorers to the Moon or bring back to the Earth satellites that went out of operation. In principle, this makes it possible to assemble and build in orbit large complexes from separate units not tens of meters but kilometers across. Cosmonauts would live there permanently. And from these structures there may be flights to other planets.

In general, the creation of Mir station and Energies rocket is a new major advance in the development not only of Russian, but also world cosmonautics. Whole research laboratories and production shops equipped and prepared on earth by different countries might successfully work with Mir station.

TEXT 12C

Прочитайте текст и опишите жилой и рабочий отсеки Шатала.

Living Aboard the Space Shuttle

We often see the cosmonauts carry out their complicated work in space, but what do they do in their off-duty hours? What do they eat, where do they sleep?

One of the main features of the Shuttle is the relatively low forces of gravity during launch and reentry. These are about 3 g, that is within the limits that can be withstood by people.

Its living accommodation is relatively comfortable. The crew cabin is 71.5 m. There are two floors inside the cabin. On the top level, the commander and pilot monitor and control sophisticated equipment. Behind their seats is a work area where the crew can carry out experiments.

The bottom level is the living area. It contains facilities for sleeping, eating and waste disposal.

Living in such a kind of cabin requires only ordinary clothing. Air pressure is the same as the Earth's at sea level. This air is made of 80% nitrogen and 20% oxygen. The air is cleaner than the Earth’s. Temperature can be regulated between 16° and 32° С

The Shuttle meals are eaten in a small dining area consisting of a table and restraints (ограничители) which function as chairs in zero-gravity. Meals are served in a special tray which separates the


different food containers and keeps them from floating around in the weightless cabin. Most foods can be eaten with ordinary spoons and forks as long as there are no sudden starts and stops.

Just as on Earth recreation and sleep are important to good health in space. Different games, books and tape-recorders to listen to music are available.

In zero-gravity there is no «up» position and the cosmonaut is oriented in the sleeping bag as if he or she were sleeping up. Now beds are built into the walls with an individual light, communications, fan, sound suppression, blanket and sheets. They even have pillows.

TEXT 12D

Прочитайте текст, выскажите свое мнение о его содержании. Time Travel and New Universes

It is known that for a long time well before Albert Einstein scientists were studying the ideas that seemed strange. Consider a few of such ideas now accepted by the scientific community: clocks that tick slower when they are on rockets in outer space, black holes with the mass of a million stars compressed into a volume smaller than that of atom and subatomic particles whose behavior depends on whether they are being watched.

Butpf all strange ideas in physics, perhaps, the strangest one is the hole in the structure of space and time, a tunnel to a distant part of the universe. American researchers have determined that it will apparently be possible in principle for mankind to create an entirely new Universe by using the idea of wormhole (ход, прорытый червем) connection. Such a universe will automatically create its own wormhole, squeeze through it, and then close the hole after it.

Although to many people such an idea may seem useless and fantastic, it can help scientists to develop their imagination and explore how flexible the laws of physics are. It is such an idea that could give answers to some of the fundamental questions of cosmology: how the universe began, how it works and how it will end.

The idea of wormhole comes directly from the accepted concepts of general relativity. In that theory A. Einstein proved that very massive or dense objects distort space and time around them. One possible distortion is in the form of a tube that can lead anywhere in the universe — even to a place billions of light years away. The name «wormhole» comes about by analogy: imagine a fly on an apple. The only way the fly can reach the apple's other side is the long way over the fruit's surface. But a worm could make a tunnel through the apple and thus shorten the way considerably. A wormhole in space is the


 




same kind of tunnel; it is a shortcut (кратчайшее расстояние) from one part of the universe to another that reduces the travel time to about zero.

In fact, instantaneous travel leads to the idea of wormhole as time machine. If it were possible to move one end of a wormhole at nearly the speed of light, then, according to general relativity, time at that end would slow down and that part of the tunnel would be younger than the other end. Anything moving from the faster-aging end of the wormhole to the slower one would essentially go backward on time. The type of travel, however, could be nothing like the mechanical time machine described by H. Wells. It is difficult to imagine how a human being could move through a wormhole, since it would theoretically be narrower than an atom and it would tend to disappear the instant it formed.


ДОПОЛНИТЕЛЬНЫЕ ТЕКСТЫ (SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS)

To be read after Lesson 1:

Education

Most Americans start to school at the age of five when they enter kindergarten. Children do not really study at this time. They only attend for half the day and learn what school is like. Children attend elementary school for next six years. They learn to read and write and work with numbers. They also study the world and its people. After they leave elementary school, children go to junior high school for three years and senior high school for another three years. This is called secondary education. In some places the children go to elementary school for eight years and high school for four. At any rate, elementary and secondary education together take twelve years to complete excluding kindergarten.

In their secondary schooling children get more advanced knowledgeand begin to concentrate on their special interests. They usually study further in history, geography, government and English language and literature.

They may choose to study foreign languages, advanced mathematics or science, such as physics or chemistry. Students who plan to go on to college or professional training must take some of these courses in order to enter college. Other students who do not intend to go on with school may take classes in accounting or typing or other subjects that will help them in the business world. Some senior high schools are vocational. Boys may learn to operate machines or do other work. Girls may learn cooking, sewing or office work. High schools have athletic teams which play against teams from other schools. Many boys enjoy playing football, basketball or baseball. These games take place after school hours. Girls are given physical education too, but they do not usually play teams from another schools.

In the most places in the US children must not attend school until they are sixteen, or until they finish high school, usually at the age of seventeen or eighteen. Some children who are not good students drop out of school at the age of sixteen. This is a growing problem,



for it is harder and harder for people to find work when they have not finished their high school education.

Public schools are free for all boys and girls, but some parents prefer to send their children to private schools. Some private schools are connected with churches and children receive religious instruction as well as their regular studies. Other private schools are not religious, buthave small classes and very good teachers so that the parents think their children will get a better education there than in the larger classes of the public schools. The private schools do not receive any taxmoney, so most of them must charge the students several hundred dollars a year to pay for the cost of the school. Boys and girls attend the public schools together, but many private schools are for girls only or for boys only.

To be read after Lesson 2:

The Trees Fell — So Did the People

Early civilizations may have killed themselves off by plundering (хищнически уничтожать) local plants and animals. New archeological findings suggest that far from living in perfect harmony with nature, prehistoric civilization dealt major and sometimes fatal blow to natural surroundings. Many investigators now question the idea that environmental problems began only with industrial revolution in the 19-thcentury.

Long before the appearance of industrial civilization prehistoric societies were destroying (уничтожать) forests, plants, animals and far-land. Such destruction sometimes destroyed them in turn.

The mysterious disappearance of Anastasia Indians may be a dramatic example of this. In territories that are now New Mexico and Arizona the Indians built a complex of roads, irrigation systems and giant «houses» with 800 rooms and more. All were abruptly left by them around A.D. 1200. Until now, the majority of archeologists have believed that the reason was a prolonged drought (засуха), but by using an electron microscope to analyze the tree rings American scientists found that over two centuries or so the Indians were systematically deforesting the canyon where they lived until the forest’s ability to replenish itself was destroyed.

Some Words About Words

With about 200,000 words in current usage English is generally regarded as the richest of the world's languages. Few other languages can match this word power. Chinese comes close. German has a


vocabulary of only 184,000 words, and French has fewer than 100,000 words.

English owes its exceptionally large vocabulary to its ability to borrow and absorb words from outside. Atomic, jeans, khaki, sputnik, perestroika, glasnost are just a few of the many words that have come into use during this century. They have been taken or adopted from Italian, Hindi, Creek and Russian. The process of borrowing words from other languages has been going on for more than 1,000 years. When the Normans crossed over from France to conquer England in 1066, most of the English spoke old English or Anglo-Saxon — a language of about 30,000 words. The Normans spoke a language which was a mixture of Latin and French. It took about three centuries for the language to become one that is the ancestor the English they speak today. The Normans gave us words such as «city», and «palace». The Anglo-Saxon gave us «ring and town».

Latin and Greek have been a fruitful source of vocabulary since the 16th century. The Latin word «mini», its opposite «maxi» and the Greek word «micro» have become popular adjectives to describe everything from bikes to fashion.

To be read after Lesson 3:

Nuclear Power? Well, Yes

Although nuclear reactors have generated electricity commercially for almost 40 years and nearly 400 now in operation, two major accidents — in the US in 1979 and Chernobyl in the USSR in 1986 -have put the industry under a radioactive cloud. In the popular imagination, reactors are nuclear bombs; even if they don't explode, they go on accumulating waste that will finally cause a global catastrophe.

As a result, an energy source once considered as the fuel of the future became questionable. But not everywhere. Nuclear power provides nearly a quarter of the electricity generated in the industrialized Western world by the 24-member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In France more than 76% of electric power is nuclear-generated, in Belgium — 62%, Sweden — 50%, Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Finland come in at one third, Japan — a little less; Britain, the US and Canada — under 20%. Some countries have no nuclear power plants at all and don't want any.

Not only the strong emotions of fear have worked against nuclear power. Energy demand grew more slowly than expected in the past decade. Prices of oil and coal have reduced. However, energy prices can rise. Moreover, supplies of fossil fuel are limited, while energy


 




needs and Ем(прилив) can't meet the increasing requirements. Besides, nuclear power doesn't add to global warming.

All this causes the people to believe that the world can't live and work without nuclear power.

To be read after Lesson 4:

Telecommunication

A group of people enter a room, the lights jog down, the screens come… the videoconference is under way.

Tomorrow's scientific fiction has become today's new technology -a daily reality for global companies who recognize the importance of regular communication between groups of people in different locations around the world.

Essentially the videoconference room resembles a usual conference room. Delegates sit along one side of a table facing their colleagues on screen on the other side. They can see, hear and talk to each other simultaneously and can present slides of diagrams, even pieces of equipment. The technology is relatively simple. A device called video codec takes the picture, digitalizes it for transmission over a special network and reforms the picture at the other end.

The problem today is to manufacture codec to the new international standard and to improve picture quality through faster transmission speeds. Research and development is also focusing on mobile videoconferencing with broad cast quality pictures which enable to have instant communication with colleagues around the world.

There is no doubt about the effectiveness of videoconferencing, as the videoconference eliminates the working time lost through travel.

The First Travelling Post Office

The first travelling post office in the United States was Abraham Lincoln's hat. That was a strange place, indeed, for mail; but that is where it was kept. Lincoln was appointed postmaster of New Salem, a small Weston town, about the year 1833. The postman visited the place once a week and brought the mail — a dozen letters, perhaps, and two or three newspapers — in his saddle (седло) bags. He was always met by Postmaster Lincoln who put the letters into his hat for safekeeping. Lincoln was also the clerk in the country store; so he had a good opportunity to distribute the mail. But if people did not come for it, he put on his hat and delivered it. So New Salem was the first town in the US to have rural free delivery, even though the postmaster received very small pay for his work. At that time, stamps and envelopes were not used. When the sender of a letter paid the postal charges,


the postmaster wrote PAID in the large letters on the face of the letter. But the postal rates were so high that the sender seldom paid them. Thus the mailing charges were usually collected from the person who received the mail. The postmaster always held his postal receipts until a government representative came for them.

To be read after Lesson 5:

Harnessing (обуздание) the Speed of Light

When the American scientist Alan Huang revealed his plants to build an optical computer, most scientists considered this idea as hopeless. It was impractical, if not possible, they said, to create a general-purpose computer that could use pulses of light rather than electrical signals to process data. During one of the scientist's lectures on the subject, a third of the audience walked out. At another one, some of the scientists laughed, calling the researcher a dreamer.

That was several years ago. Now the scientist demonstrated his experimental computing machine based on optics. It took him five years to develop it. The device — a collection of lasers, lenses and prisms — can serve as the basis for future optical computers 100 to 1,000 times as powerful as today's most advanced supercomputers. The potential applications are remarkable: robots that can see, computers that can design aircraft, processors that can convert spoken words into written text and vice versa. Such practical optical computers are still years away — some would say light-years.

Yet many scientists are predicting that the device will have an impact similar to that of the integrated circuit which made small personal computers possible.

Photons, the basic unit of light beams, can in theory be much better than electrons for moving signals through a computer. First of all, photons can travel about the times as fast as electrons. And while electrons react with one another, beams of photons, which have no mass or charge, can cross through one another without interference. Thus, photons can move in free space. This could open the door to radically new and different computer designs, including so-called parallel processors that could work on more than one problem at a time instead of one after another, as today's new generation computers do.

To be read after Lesson 6:

Ceramic Application

The application which has captured the imagination of engineers, as well as the general public, is certainly the ceramic engine, that is


Theadiabatic turbo-diesel engine and the ceramic turbine for automotive use. Thereare some successful prototypes on the road, however, applications on a large scale have been held back by problems of cost andreliability. Steady progress is being made in the increase of the reliability ofceramics. But the cost factor is likely to remain a problem for some time.

One shouldmention here that the long-term reliability in service still needs tobe defined for those applications where the material must withstandvery high temperatures and dynamically changing mechanicaland thermal loads in a chemically aggressive environment.

Ceramic engines and turbines are but the top of the pyramid with respect to applications. At lower levels of performance there are numerous other applications, in which the operating conditions are lesssevere, forexample, ceramic heat exchangers for chemical plants. Ceramics finds application in bearings and engine parts because its highhardness and high abrasion resistance.

To be read after Lesson 7:

The Driving Lesson

Miss Green: Good afternoon. My name is Miss Green and I'm

your driving instructor. Is this your first lesson?
Simon: It is my first lesson at this driving school.

M. G.: Oh, you've been to another one?

S.: Yes. The Greenwich school of driving. But I stopped

going there.
M. G.: Why? Weren't the lessons good enough?

S.: They were good but my instructor left.

M. G.: Really? Well, let's see what you can do. I want you

to drive down this road and turn left at the end.
S.: Yes, all right.

M. G.: You drive very well! I'm sure you'll pass your test.

All my pupils pass their tests. Oh, look out! That

lorry!
S.: You said turn left at the end.

M. G.: When you want to turn a corner, slow down and

look first. You nearly hit that lorry. Please, be

careful. Now turn right at the traffic lights… Right,

not left!
S.: Sorry it was too late. I've turned left now.

M. G.: Didn't you see the No Entry sign? This is a one-way

street.
S.: Why are those drivers shouting?

M. G.: Because you're driving the wrong way down a


one-way street. Stop the car, please, and turn it
round.
S<: I'm not very good at that.

M. G.: Mind that red car!

S.: Madman! He nearly hit me!

M. G.: He was right and you were wrong. Why didn't you

wait? Now you are blocking the road. You want
reverse gear. Turn the wheel… more… more...
Not too fast! Oh, what have you done now?
S.: It is all right. I went into the lamp-post but it is

still standing. I didn't knock it down.
M.G.: Oh, but look at the back of the car.

S.: Sorry, but you said «reverse».

M.G.: I didn't say «drive into the lamp-post». Well, you've

turned the car round now, so drive back to the
traffic lights and go straight across.
S.: Are we going to the park?

M.G.: The roads are quitter near the park. Oh, not too fast!

S.: The lights are green.

M.G.: Slow down! The lights are changing!

S.: I can't slow down. There! We are across.

M.G.: The lights were red!

S.: It's all right. There were no policemen.

M.G.: I know why your last instructor left. He wanted to

stay alive.
S.: That's not a very nice thing to say. And it's not

true. He left because he wasn't very well.
M.G.: Stop the car, please. Oh, gently!

S.: Sorry. Did you hit your head on the roof?

M.G.: No. Luckily I was wearing the seat belt. Now I want

you to practice driving backwards. Reverse the park
gates. Look first, than reverse in.
S.: Right.

M.G.: Oh, you've hit the gate!.. Now you are driving on

the grass!
S.: I'm going backwards down the hill and I can't stop!

Help me!
M.G.: Use the brakes! Don't drive into the lake!

S.: Too late.

M.G.: Look what you've done. You reversed into a lamp-

post. You hit the park gate. Now you've driven into
the lake. Oh, why didn't you stay with the other
driving school?
S.: They had no more cars left.


 




To be read after Lesson 8:

Engines

Do you know what the first engine was like? It was called the «water wheel». This was an ordinary wheel with blades fixed to it, and the current of a river turned it. These first engines were used for irrigating fields.

Then a wind-powered engine was invented. This was a wheel, but a very small one. Long wide wooden blades were attached to it. The new engine was driven by the wind. Some of these one can still see in the country.

Both of these, the water- and wind-operated engines are very economical. They do not need fuel in order to function. But they are dependent on the weather.

Many years passed and people invented a new engine, one operated by steam. In a steam engine, there is a furnace and a boiler. The furnace is filled with wood or coal and then lit. The fire heats the water in the boiler and when it boils, it turns into steam which does some useful work.

The more coal is put in the furnace, the stronger the fire is burning. The more steam there is the faster a train or a boat is moving.

The steam engine drove all sorts of machines, for example, steam ships and steam locomotives. Indeed, the very first aero plane built by A.F.Mozhaisky also had a steam engine. However, the steam engine had its disadvantages. It was too large and heavy, and needed too much fuel.

The imperfections of the steam engine led to the design of a new type. It was called the internal combustion engine, because its fuel ignites and burns inside the engine itself and not in a furnace. It is smaller and lighter than a steam engine because it does not have a boiler. It is also more powerful, as it uses better-quality fuel: petrol or kerosene.

The internal combustion engine is now used in cars, diesel locomotives and motor ships. But to enable aero planes to fly faster than the speed of sound another, more powerful engine was needed. Eventually, one was invented and it was given the name «jet engine». The gases in it reach the temperature of over a thousand degrees. It is made of a very resistant metal so that it will not melt.


To be read after Lesson 9:

Getting into Deep Water

The dark depths of the Gulf of Mexico, once frequented by only the sea creatures, are now alive with human activity. Miniature submarines and robot-like vehicles move around the ocean bottom while divers make their way around incredible underwater structures -taller than New York City skyscrapers but almost totally beneath the surface of the waves. Modern-day explorers are using technology worth of Jules Verne and Jacques Cousteau to find fresh supplies of oil and natural gas.

Until recently, drilling in the Gulf was concentrated close to shore in water as deep as 9 m. But now the scientists are looking to hundreds of meters deep and 160 km and more from land.

The deep water research began in 1984. Since many American companies have built the world's deepest production platforms of more than 100 stories high. Finding gas and oil deposits at large depth is not an easy technological task.

To be read after Lesson 10:

Laser Technology

In the last decade there was outstanding progress in the development of laser technology and it's application in science, industry and commerce. Laser cutting, welding and machining are beginning to be big business. The market for laser systems represents around 2,5 % of the world machine tool market.

Which country is the biggest producer and consumer of lasers? Why, Japan, naturally: Japan produced 46% of world's lasers in 1989, while figures for Europe and the USA are 32% and 22%. Japan is building 1 200 to 2 000 CO2 lasers per year of which some 95% are over 500 W power and 80% of them are used for cutting operations.

Europe is the second largest user and the third largest producer. In 1990 Europe's market for lasers was $ 128 million, of which Germany consumed about $ 51 million, and Italy — $12 million. The Germany met 90% of its demands through domestic producers. Growth rate of the European market is estimated at 10 to 15% per year.

In future the main trend influencing the industry will be laser source prices. The prices are dropping. There appear lasers of modular construction. The complexity of laser machines is rising. Multi-axes systems are in more use now. Recently 7-axis CNC laser machining center has been introduced. In addition to X,Y and Z axes, there are two rotary axes, A and C, and two more linear axes, U and V, to give a trepanning (прорезать большие отверстия) motion to the laser.


 




To be read after Lesson 11:

Space Cooling

A new method of cooling that can generate cryogenic temperatures o

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