Файл: Английский 1 семестр.docx

Electricity слова и словосочетания для запоминания

It is impossible to imagine our civilization without electricity: economic and social progress will be turned to the past and our daily lives completely transformed.

Electrical power has become universal. Thousands of applications of electricity such as lighting, electrochemistry and electrometallurgy are longstanding and unquestionable.

With the appearance of the electrical motor, power cables replaced transmission shafts, gear wheels, belts and pulleys¹ in the 19-th century workshops. And in the home a whole range of various time and labour saving appliances² have become a part of our everyday lives.

Other devices are based on specific properties of electricity: electrostatics in the case of photocopying machine and electro magnetism in the case of radar and television. These applications have made electricity most widely used.

The first industrial application was in the silver workshops in Paris. The generator — a new compact source of electricity — was also developed there. The generator replaced the batteries and other devices that had been used before.

Electric lighting came into wide use at the end of the 19-th century with the development of the electric lamp by Thomas Edison. Then the transformer was invented, the first electric lines and networks were set up, dynamos (генератор, динамо-машина) and induction motors³ were designed (to design – проектировать, конструировать, рассчитывать (напр. какую либо конструкцию), поэтому часто наиболее подходящий вариант перевода – «разрабатывать», «создавать»).

Since the beginning of the 20th century the successful development of electricity has begun throughout the industrial world. The consumption (потребление, расход) of electricity has doubled every ten years.

One of the greatest advantages of electricity is that it is clean, easily-regulated and generates no by-products⁵. Applications of electricity now cover all fields of human activity from house washing machines to the latest laser devices. Electricity is the efficient source of some of the most recent technological advances (достижения) such as the laser and electron beams (electron beam – электронный луч; электронный пучек). Truly⁶ electricity provides mankind with the energy of the future.

Notes to the Text

1. transmission shafts, gear wheels, belts and pulleys — трансмиссионные валы, зубчатые колеса, ремни и блоки

2. time and labour saving appliances — электроприборы, экономящие время и труд

3. induction motors — индукционные моторы

4. per capita — на человека; на душу населения

5. by-products — побочные продукты

6. truly — поистине

Electronic Computers

The first electronic computers appeared in 1945. In the course of (в течение) some dozens of years mathematicians learned to solve problems of great complexity (сложность) using these machines. Electronic computers can be classified into two general types: general-purpose computers and special-purpose machines.

General-purpose computers are electronic machines that do all types of arithmetical computation - add, subtract, multiply, devide, square root (извлекать кв. корень). In addition, general-purpose computers are capable of (capable of - способный что-л. делать) performing a large number of other operations. A general-purpose computer san be regarded (to regard - считать, рассматривать) as a data-processing center. From a machine point of view, a general-purpose computer is a combination of devices. From the functional point of view, it is a system that permits the user to process data for a large number of purposes. General-purpose computers can be further classified according to size and the speed of computation.

Special-purpose electronic computers are limited either to the type of computations they can make or (either.. .or - или.. .или; либо.. .либо) as to the functions they can perform.

Electronic computers cannot replace the judgement (зд. способность мыслить) of the human brain, but they will release (to release - освобождать) it from mechanical functions.

Sound

Everything that is heard is a sound. The fact that something is heard establishes (to establish - устанавливать) the that there is sound present. However, this does not mean that when nothing is heard there is no Sound, because there are many sounds that are beyond the range of human ear.

For a sound to be heard by the human ear it should be between the frequencies of approximately (приблизительно) 20 cycles and 15,000 cycles, the former (первое) value representing the lower limit and the latter (второе) value the upper limit of the hearing limit of the average (средний) person.

However, some people are known to hear sounds up to 18,000 cycles and even as high as (зд. до...) 20,000 cycles. These people hear sounds that the average person does not notice. It also has been observed that dogs, cats, and other animals can easily hear sounds of 20,000 cycles.

For the sound to arise (to arise - возникать) it is necessary to have a sound source and a medium (среда) to travel (распространяться, проходить (о звуке, сигнале, волне)) through. Any type of a physical body may give rise to (вызывать, быть причиной (источником появления чего- л.)) sound if it vibrates back and forth (совершает колебательные движения назад и вперед) thus causing (вызывая приводя к ) a disturbance (возмущение) in a material around it, no matter (независимо от того...) whether that material is a liquid, a solid, or a gas. The speed at which the sound waves travel depends upon the material (the medium) they travel through. In air, sound waves travel at about 1,100 фа; in water, at about 4,800 fps; and in steel, at about 16,500 fps.

Atmosphere

Atmosphere is a gaseous envelope (оболочка) surrounding (окружающая) a star, a planet or a satellite. Whether such a body can retain an atmosphere permanently (постоянно) depends chiefly (главным образом) on its mass, size and surface temperature. The molecules in a gas appear to be in constant motion, with their average speed increasing as the temperature increases. At any moment, a proportion (часть) of these molecules will be moving away from the surface of the body, and those whose, speed is greater than the escape velocity (скорость отрыва) for the particular (конкретный) star or planet will leave it altogether (вообще; навсегда) and drift (to drift – зд. уноситься) into interstellar space. Thus (таким образом), a small light body will constantly lose (терять) some of its atmosphere unless its surface is so cold that (пока его поверхность не станет настолько холодной, что...) virtually (фактически; в конечном счете) no molecules can reach escape velocity.

A more massive body may actually (фактически) increase its atmosphere by the reverse (обратный) process: while traveling through space, it sweeps up (захватывает) interstellar matter (материя; вещество) by its gravitational attraction (притяжение), and this is added to its atmosphere. Out of the 31 satellites existing in our solar system the only (единственный) one known to have an atmosphere is Saturn's Titan.

The Moon may posses a very thin (разреженный) atmosphere made up of argon and other chemically inert gases. In its younger days, however, the Moon is likely to have had appreciable (значительный, существенный, заметный) atmosphere but we have no justification (зд основание) to assume that this atmosphere was similar in composition to (похожий на) ours. Now most of any fomier (бывший, прежний) atmosphere has leaked away (to leak - протекать, просачиваться) into space.

That Mars has a gaseous mantle (оболочка; «рубашка») is known. It was revealed as long as (еще в...) 1784. On the other hand (с другой стороны), the mere existence (само существование) of the atmosphere does not mean that the planet may prove (может оказаться) suitable (пригодный) for an earthman (землянин) to breathe (дышать) therb.

The small escape velocity of tile planet - only a little over 5 miles a second - seems to indicate an atmosphere of less density than ours. The air of Mars proves to be thinner than that on top of mount Everest.

Cybernetics Applied to (применительно к...) Space

Cybernetics is the study (учение; наука) of control (управление) and communication (связь) mechanisms in machines and animals. It covers (to cover - покрывать; охватывать) all automatic control devices; selectors, relays, computers and robots, and also the corresponding physiological mechanisms such as those of automatic balance and reflex action (рефлекторная деятельность). The application of cybernetics to electronic computers is stated (to state - утверждать) to be leading to (to lead to - вести к...) a better understanding of the working of the brain, and conversely (и наоборот) a deeper knowledge of the "human mechanism" is expected (to expect - ожидать, предполагать) to lead to the development of machines of almost human capabilities (capability -). It is known that (известно, что...) the Russian scientists have been making a close (зд тщательный, подробный) study of the implications (выводы) of this work in astronautics and the results may be applied to the problems of spacecraft control and the remote (дальний; дистанционный) analysis of the planets.

Cybernetics has brought about (to bring about - вызывать (к жизни), быть (стать) (причиной)) a revolution in the design (проектирование; разработка) of machines. By revealing (to reveal - обнаруживать, показывать) the profound (глубокий, полный) analogy between the work of the computer and the work of the control system of the living organism, cybernetics has brought (to bring - приносить; зд давать) a new approach (подход, метод) to investigations (исследования) in biology and medicine.

Cybernetics has been a great assistance (помощь) in the pre-flight training of cosmonauts. Besides making it possible (to make it possible - давать возможность, делать возможным) to design various automatic simulators (simulator - тренажер, моделирующая установка), the science has given experts in space medicine methods for the exact (точный) analysis of all the physiological processes taking place (to take place - иметь место; происходить) in the human body under different conditions. The results of this analysis have made it possible to draw up (составлять) a list (перечень) of requirements (требования) which must be met (to meet requirements - удовлетворять требованиям) by the spaceship, and it has also been possible to select the people best fitted (пригодный для) to travel (совершать полет) into space.

It is quite obvious (совершенно очевидно) that much greater accuracy (точность) is required in controlling the course of a rocket for a flight to other planets than that required for launching (to launch -запускать) an artificial Earth satellite. What is more important (но что более важно), the very character (сам характер) of control of the spaceship during interplanetary flight must differ in principle from the techniques (technique - метод, способ (исполнения чего-л.)) used for controlling orbital flights. The distances between the Earth and even the nearest planets are measured (to measure - измерять) in millions, not hundreds, of miles. Under these conditions the fact that signals transmitted (to transmit - передавать) from Earth to the interplanetary ships and back will be subject to (быть подверженным чему-то; испытывать (какое-либо воздействие (влияние)) considerable delay (задержка, запаздывание) will be of particular importance (иметь особенно важное значение). The speed with which such signals travel (to travel - проходить, распространяться (о сигналах, волнах)) cannot exceed (to exceed - превышать) the velocity of light that exceeds 186^000 miles/sec. Although (хотя) that is a very high velocity, under the conditions of interplanetary flight, it is insufficient (недостаточный) to permit (позволять, обеспечивать) control of the spaceship from Earth. This extremely (очень) difficult problem can be solved through (благодаря) the application of cybernetics.