Файл: О.А. Ставцева Английский язык. Методические указания и устные материалы для выполнения контрольных работ №1, 2, 3 для студентов заочного обучения горно-строительного профиля.pdf

42

Belgium. The share of the chemical, machine-building and some other industries is also high.

The Krasnoyarskaya and Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power stations, the Kuznetsk and West Siberian metallurgical combines, the ma- chine-building plants in Kemerovo and Novosibirsk, the Omsk petrochemical plant, the timber-processing complex in Bratsk, the cellulose plant in Ust-Ilimsk – all these are the indication of the Siberia’s industrial potential.

Along with its successes in industry Siberia has a number of serious problems and associated with its infrastructure, organization of trade and services, construction of housing. Special attention should be paid there to ecology – the atmosphere, soil, and water protection.

2. THE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANADA

Today it is often said that we live in the age of science and technology. On the other hand, scientific and technological achievements would be impossible without an intensive research work which is carried out both by individuals and various organizations. One of such organizations in Canada is the National Research Council.

The National Research Council (NRC), closely associated with the higher levels of scientific investigation, was founded in 1916 to stimulate and coordinate scientific and industrial research all over the country. Among its major activities there is the provision of grants for research. A grant to an individual research worker or institution serves to establish and encourage permanent research centers in some of the smaller universities.

Within the NRC’s structure there are eleven laboratories across Canada, each one having its own research program. One of the Council’s most important functions is to organize and coordinate national cooperative research, in which a number of government departments and organizations may have an interest. This function is realized by means of speciallyorganized committees composed of the leading experts in each field of research. These committees seem to be a Canadian invention and have proved to be very effective.

More recently there have come into existence the Canadian Social Sciences Research Council and the Humanities Research Council of Canada, their purpose being to provide stimulus and encourage research in their respective disciplines.

43

3. UNITS AND SYSTEMS OF MEASUREMENT

Measurement unit is a quantity or dimension adopted as a standard measurement. Measurements of physical quantities are widely used in physics and include those of length, time, area, velocity, mass, density, temperature, energy, the most fundamental units being length, time, and mass.

The idea of a universal system of measures and weights dates back to far-off times but it was created only in 1791 by the French Academy of Sciences.

Two scientists were given the task to define the units for length and weight. They took one fourth of the distance from the North Pole to the Equator on the geographical meridian which is running through Paris (the distance from Dunkirk [Дюнкерк] in France to Barcelona in Spain) and divided it into ten million equal parts. One of these parts was called a meter or “measure”. For shorter measurements the meter was divided by ten, for longer ones it was multiplied by tens. It was not difficult to use the same meter for measuring volumes. The weight of one cubic centimeter of water was called a gram. Thus the metric or decimal system was created.

In Russia the system was adopted in 1918 only, although Russian scientists had been addressed by D.I. Mendeleyev to take part in its spreading as early as 1867.

It should be said that different units of measurements were used in the world till the end of the 19th century. Today there are three main systems: the metric system, the British system (with its inches, feet, yards, pounds) and the more recently adopted SI Units (System of International Units). However, nearly all the nations of the world use the metric system as the MKS’s (meter-kilogram-second) system is the simplest and most logical one.

4. HOUSES OF GLASS

Present-day designs of houses are numerous but each one aims at larger, better built and better equipped flats and houses. A house which is a physical environment for a family is to have a new and modern look.

Nowadays there is a great number of houses, varying in the design, height, building materials, conveniences, etc.

There is even a house built entirely of glass! Yes, the external and internal walls, the floor, everything, is made of glass. Of course, it is not an

44

ordinary glass. It will not break if you throw stones at it because it is thick and flexible. And you will not be able to see what there is inside, because the glass automatically goes dark when night falls – there is no need for curtains. What is more, the glass can conduct electricity in such a way that gas pockets within the glass change their shape and colour, creating a visual display. You can “redecorate” it with a switch. There is no need to paint the house. Moreover, the glass repels dust, so you have not to clean it.

One of the walls is planned to function as a television and computer screen. You will be able to download (загружать) famous paintings from the Internet and turn your house into an art gallery. One of the walls may even contain tropical fish. The glass providing good insulation, you do not need any heating system. All the heat comes from the sun.

By the end of the decade, the architect, Shigeru Kawabata, will have designed ten houses of this type. Glass houses would become the houses of the future.

5. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Scientific and technological progress has drastically changed our life as well as our views both of ourselves as individuals in society and of the Universe as a whole.

Science and technology are closely related. Many up-to-date technologies such as nuclear power and space flights would be impossible without science and the application of scientific knowledge and principles. Successes in pure science create new opportunities for the development of new ways of making things to be used in our daily life. Technology, in its turn, provides science with new and more accurate instruments for investigation and research.

The scientific revolution is considered to have begun in the 16th century. It was the time when science and technology began working together.

Thus, it is known that Galileo not only had made revolutionary discoveries in astronomy but had built an improved telescope and patented a system of water lifting. However, only in the 19th century science became the real basis for technology and inventors began to use scientific principles. Thomas Edison, for example, invented the first practical system of electrical lighting on the basis of Faraday’s discoveries. He was carrying out his investigations in a research laboratory until he found the carbon filament (уголь-

45

ная нить накала) for the electric bulb. This was the first truly modern technological research.

Generally speaking, the history of science and technology is an integral part of the history of mankind.

6. THE POWER UNDER OUR FEET

One of the vast energy sources is known as geothermal reservoirs. Geothermal reservoirs are extremely hot regions of the earth lying deep under the land’s surface. The earth’s temperature was found to increase by 1.8oF for every 100 feet of depth and that in geothermal reservoirs usually ranges from 150 to 750oF, sometimes reaching 2,000oF and even more.

Most geothermal reservoirs are located in the areas of recent volcanic activity. The energy in such reservoirs is presented by the heat or steam stored in rock and water. The heat accumulation in them is explained by a slow decay of radioactive elements, such as uranium and thorium, lying deep in the earth. Experts believe that only five to ten per cent of all geothermal reservoirs contain dry steam, more often they are filled with water heated from 350 to 700o F.

To obtain the energy and help the steam or water come to the surface, deep wells (скважина) have to be drilled. Drilling operations result in the pressure relief which gives a mixture containing 20 per cent of steam and the rest of hot water.

The use of geothermal energy for large-scale heating of buildings was pioneered in Iceland where because of the climate house heating is required for over 300 days a year. Forty per cent of the country’s population live in houses heated with local geothermal energy. Today power generating stations utilising wet steam are in operation in many countries, including Italy, Iceland, New Zealand, Russia, Japan.

Nobody expects geothermal energy to eliminate the need for fossil fuels. If developed, however, it will free vast amounts of oil and natural gas for other uses.

46

Тексты для чтения и анализа в аудитории

1. THE RICHES OF KUZBASS

Kuzbass is known as the most important industrial region of Siberia. There are huge agricultural lands and forests, rivers and lakes, it is rich in flora and fauna. Its main wealth, however, is hidden underground. These are natural resources of coal, iron and copper ores, aluminum, manganese, dolomite, etc.

It is the Kuzbass’s natural resources that determine the structure of its industry and the trades of its population. Mining, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, chemical and building materials industries have been developed there. Huge iron-and-steel works, machine-building and building materials plants, timber-processing plants, numerous mines and collieries – all these are the indication of the region’s industrial potential today. Plastics, coal, some types of machinery are known both inside the country and on foreign market.

At present the technical level of fuel extraction is at a sufficiently high level in Kuzbass, but this is not the case with infrastructure. By infrastructure it is meant a complex of facilities serving industrial and agricultural production. It includes roads and waterways, canals and bridges, airports and railways, transport and communication, water and power supply, the development of general and specialized education, of research work and medical care. Nowadays some special measures are being taken to improve the situation.

The development of new deposits of natural resources to be discovered as well as new industrial enterprises to be constructed in Siberia will require the application of up-to-date theoretical and practical knowledge. That’s why the task of numerous higher schools, design and research institutions and laboratories is not only to carry out research in various branches of national economy but to provide the training of highly qualified specialists and scientific personnel.

Occupying as little as one per cent of the Siberian territory the Kemerovo region is the largest industrial complex of Russia. That is why one should remember that the development of this territory is of greatest importance not only for Russia but for other countries as well.

47

2. SOME FACTS FROM THE EUROPEAN TACIS PROGRAMME

The Tacis programme is a European Union initiative to provide grantfinanced assistance for the process of transition to market economies in the thirteen partner countries including Russia. Here are some abstracts from its projects.

-At the heart of the Tacis programme is the individual. The various projects aimed at transferring know-how and technical assistance all come back to this.

-Projects cover a wide range of sectors. For example in environment, they have focused on tackling water pollution, industrial wastes and saving endangered natural ecosystems, often working in several countries together to maximize effectiveness. Given the huge costs of some projects, Tacis has acted as a catalyst to ensure that sufficient work can be undertaken for a project to be effective, for example in the Caspian Sea. Activities to strengthen nuclear safety in the countries having nuclear power stations are also aimed at safeguarding the environment.

-Modernizing and constructing infrastructure is another area. In order to foster trading, reliable, high-capacity infrastructure is essential, whether for transport of goods and people, or for telecommunication. In addition, it is essential for existing and new infrastructure to meet international standards.

-Georgia has suffered from disrupted supplies of the energy and lack of finance to upgrade existing facilities. Tacis has therefore funded an energy efficiency centre in Tbilisi, one of the tasks of which is to explore renewable energy sources. It has begun work in the hydro-power sector as well as at the projects of mini-hydropower, wood fuel, biogas, wind and geothermal energy sources.

-One project aims to develop two border crossings between Finland and Russia. One is above the Arctic Circle in Finland, and the other at the other end of Finland, crossing into Svetogorsk, in Russia. This is to help develop eastern Lapland and the southern Kola peninsula. The Svetogorsk crossing will help ease traffic through southern Finland and give an alternative to the heavily used St Petersburg route.

Within the Tacis programme there is a lot of other projects dealing with the most variable areas of economy: assistance to selected enterprises and entrepreneurs, restructuring of agriculture, tourism sector, education and others.

48

СПИСОК ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ

1. Английский язык для школьников и поступающих в вузы: Письменный и устный экзамен / И.В. Цветкова, И.А. Клепальченко и др.– М.: Глосса, 1997. – С. 116-129.

2.Книга для чтения по английскому языку для заочных технических вузов / Л.Н. Андрианова, Н.Ю. Багрова, Э.В. Ершова. –

М.: Высш. шк., 1980. – 103 с.

3.Программа, методические указания и контрольные задания для студентов-заочников неязыковых специальностей. – М.: Высш. шк., 1989. – 112 с.

4.Учебник английского языка для заочных техничических вузов / Т.М. Новицкая, Н.Д. Кучин и др. – М.: Высш. шк., 1974. – 304. с.

5.Cooperation that Counts: A Focus on the European Tacis Programme, 1999. – Brussels: the Phare and Tacis Information Centre, 2000. – 37 p.

6.Eldorado in Siberia. – Kemerovo Siberian Business: Verlag Lutz Garnies, Neukeferloh. – Munchen, 1992. – 129 p.

7.Kuzbass Welcomes Business Partners. – Kemerovo: Joint-Stock Co. Respect, 1993. – 64 p.

8.Periodicals: Moscow News.

50

Ольга Алексеевна Ставцева и другие

АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК Методические указания и устные материалы

для выполнения контрольных работ № 1, 2, 3 для студентов заочного обучения горно-строительного профиля

Редактор Е.Л. Наркевич

ИД № 06536 от 16.01.02.

Подписано в печать 01.11.02. Формат 60 Х 84/16. Бумага офсетная. Печать офсетная. Уч.-изд. л. 3,0. Тираж 300 экз. Заказ №

ГУ Кузбасский государственный технический университет 650026, Кемерово, ул. Весенняя, 28

Типография ГУ Кузбасский государственный технический университет 650099, Кемерово, ул. Д. Бедного, 4А.