656

Optional tasks

1. Answer the questions.

1)What is the main tendency in using excavators?

2)Are the excavators self propelled machines?

3)What attachments can be used to equip the universal excavator?

4)Why are the backhoes with telescopic booms very widely used now?

5)Can hydraulically operated excavators dig trenches with vertical sides on sloping ground?

6)Why is it profitable to change the angle of cutting in the process of digging?

7)Are hydraulically operated excavators more progressive then the rope-operated ones?

2. Read the plan of the text. Does it correspond to it? If no, give your own plan.

a) The history of excavators design. b)The description of a bulldozer.

c)How does the excavator work?

d)What is a scraper?

e)First stages in construction work.

f)Parts of a universal excavator.

g)Four classes of machines for excavation.

3. To which of the incomplete sentences does the following phrases refer?

1.…………………………………one must use earth-moving equipment.

a)As the years went on…

b)To carry out this work…

c)During the last fifty years…

2.…………………………….can be divided into four classes.

a)Machines, which plane off a thin layer of soil…

b)Plant for site preparation and excavation…

4. Use a dictionary to complete the chart below and mark the stressed syllable in each word of more than one syllable.

5.Write down the main technical characteristics of any excavator or another construction machine according to the above table of Plasser and Theurer machines. Think of such factors as age, make and capacity.

6.☺ Have some fun.

Continue the sentence.

My father is the sort of person who calls a spade a spade. This means he ……

•says exactly what he thinks

•likes digging

•likes gardening

•operates an excavator

Test 14

I. Match the terms with their definitions.

II. Group the words which can go together.

III. Choose the correct word in B and put it into the gap in A.

3.Machines dig out soil by some form of a bucket c. employment and load it for transportation into separate

___________________.

4._______________ of children’s food is under d. slow special control.

5.When you look out of an airplane window people e. moving

Test 10

1.1-j, 2-i, 3-d, 4-a, 5-h, 6-f, 7-b, 8-g, 9-e, 10-c

2.1-e, 2-a, 3-b, 4-c, 5-d

Unit 11

Ex. 2:

• Roadbed leveling, tamping and alignment machines VPRS-02, VPRS-03

Ex. 4:

1. What is the name of the construction machine company?

Ex. 5:

1.JSC Mashzavod 1 Maya.

2.Construction and road machines.

3.It performs leveling, alignment and tamping simultaneously or separately in either semi-automatic or manual mode, both on main and switching lines, and at switch assemblies.

4.The machine is equipped with an additional removable device for hoisting a third rail for working on heavy switch assemblies with bars of reinforced concrete.

5.max 1,0 ‰

6.They work!

7.They are intended to perform longitudinal and lateral alignment of railroad track, lining of track and tamping of ballast around ties, switch assemblies and cross-members.

2.What equipment does the company produce?

3.How do the tamping units work on tracks?

4.What are leveling and tamping machines additionally equipped with?

5.What is the longitudinal inclination after leveling?

6.What do the VPRS-03 and VPRS-02 do on railroad tracks?

7.What task are they intended for?

Ex. 6:

The machine is used for the construction, repair and routine maintenance of railroad tracks and it performs these operations both on main and switching lines, and at switch assemblies.

The VPRS-02 is a multi-purpose machine which performs alignment, lining and tamping of track simultaneously or one at a time either in semi-automatic or manual-control mode.

Ex. 7: 1-b, 2-d, 3-f, 4-h, 5-a, 6-c, 7-e, 8-g

Ex. 8: E.g. construction machines — heavy, for work, with shovels and hoists, high, dangerous, use mostly diesel fuel;

1)ordinary automobiles — light, for driving somewhere, with convenient appliances, not high, use mostly petrol

2)Produced by Kirovsky Mashzavod or produced by Stroidormash plant or produced by different foreign producers

3) they level, tamp and align roadbeds

Optional task

Ex. 1:

1. 1-c, 2-a, 3-d, 4-b

3.1-a, 2-f, 3-h, 4-b, 5-c, 6-d, 7-e, -g, 9-j, 10-i

4.b, a, c

5.1-c, 4-a, 5-b, 6-d

Unit 12

Ex. 4: E.g. Kirow’s cranes — carrying a jib and other necessary hoisting and controlling equipment, for work with, wheels of the pneumatic type, working below rail level and at boom heights beyond 15 m, without a separate counterweight, useful in areas with limited space;

other types of cranes — for work with, rope-operated, not high, etc.

Ex. 5: mobile – fixed, hydraulically operated – rope operated, prefer – not to be overfond of, high – low, better – worse, handle – bring down, versatile – one-sided, steel – wooden, available

– unavailable, out – in

Ex. 6: Various types of cranes are available, the type and size best suited for a specific operation being influenced by the following factors: the nature of the work on which it is to operate, the weight of load it has to handle.

Cranes of this type usually take the form of a frame carrying a jib, a winch, and other necessary hoisting and controlling equipment, the whole being mounted on a cast-iron bed plate fitted with road wheels of the pneumatic type.

At present rope-operated mobile cranes are being superseded by hydraulically operated ones in which all working operations but traveling are performed with the help of hydraulic rams.

Optional task

Ex. 1:

Ex. 2:

i.Bracket, breakdown, bridge-building, crawler, erecting, hand power, hoisting, jib, lorry-mounted, mobile, railway, slewing, telescopic, track-laying, truck, whirler cranes.

ii.They hoist and lower loads.

Test 12

3.1-b, 2-d, 3-f, 4-g, 5-c, 6-h, 7-a, 8-i, 9-e

4.1-b, 2-a, 3-c

5.1-c, 2-a, 3-b

Unit 13

Ex. 3: self-propelled – loco hauled, to lift out – to put down, to tow – to push, to tidy – to ruin, depletion – excess

Ex. 4: Машина для тяжелых работ; со скоростью 100 кубо-метров в час; условия покрытия; стрелка и разъезды; самоходный; на и с рабочего места; производитель машины; высота над уровнем рельсов; оси; тормоза; тяга; выход двигателя; глубина резания; стрелы, установленные на платформе; пропускная способность; общая длина; мощность при буксировке; резать и убирать балласт; облегчить подбивку; заново обработать скат пути; ехать со скоростью; воздушно-охлаждаемый двигатель; гидравлический; машина, обслуживающая путь

Ex. 5: the ballast; panels, replace them; depleted; support, capable; switch and crossings

Optional task

Ex. 4: 1) place 2) with 3) crane 4) of 5) gantry

Test 13

1.1-g, 2-i, 3-d, 4-c, 5-f, 6-e, 7-a, 8-h, 9-b

2.1-h, 2-d, 3-j, 4-e, 5-l, 6-m, 7-f, 8-i, 9-n, 10-a, 11-g, 12-b, 13-o, 14-c, 15-k

3. 1)True 2)False 3)False 4)True 5)False

4.1-c, 2-b, 3-a, 4-e, 5-d

5.a, c, e, f

Unit 14

Ex. 1: 1-e, 2-i, 3-a, 4-d, 5-f, 6-g, 7-h, 8-c, 9-b

Ex. 3: Earth-moving machinery

Ex. 5: 1-d, 2-e, 3-b, 4-a, 5-c, 6-g, 7-f, 8-h

Ex. 6: to require – to demand, job – work, preliminary – preparatory, to carry out – to fulfil, to excavate – to dig, continuous – endless, considerable – not small, huge – enormous

Optional task

Ex. 3: 1-b, 2-a

Ex.4:

Test 14

1.1-a, 2-c, 3-b, 4-d

2.1-gbc, 2-gbc, 3-d, 4-h, 5-I, 6-a, 7-e, 8-f, 9-c

3.1-c, 2-a, 3-h, 4-g, 5-d, 6-f, 7-g

4.1-a, 2-b, 3-a

5.1-False, 2-True, 3-False, 4-True, 5-True

PART IV

TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT

Unit 15

Skim the text. Write the number of the paragraph (1–9) that gives you the information (a–g).

a)Types of motive power.

b)The definition of a locomotive.

c)Types of transmission used in diesel locomotives.

d)Advantages of a diesel locomotive as compared with a steam one.

e)A disadvantage of diesel traction.

f)Advantages and disadvantages of electric traction.

g)Other types of motive power.

Motive Power

1.Motive power for trains is provided either by a locomotive or is incorporated into a car that also has passenger, baggage, or freight accommodations. A locomotive is a self-propelled vehicle used for hauling railroad cars on tracks. Today there are two main sources of power for a locomotive: diesel fuel and electricity. Steam, the earliest form of propulsion, was in almost universal use until about the time of World War II.

2.Like the steam locomotive the diesel carries its own fuel supply, but the diesel-engine output cannot be coupled directly to the wheels; instead, a mechanical, electric, or hydraulic transmission must be used.

3.By the end of the 1960s, diesel had almost completely replaced steam as the standard railroad motive power on nonelectrified lines in most parts of the world. Compared with steam, the diesel traction unit had a number of major advantages:

•It could operate for long periods with no lost time for maintenance.

•It used less fuel energy than a steam locomotive, for its thermal efficiency was about four times as great.

•It could accelerate a train more rapidly and operate at higher sustained speeds with less damage to the track.

4. In addition, the diesel locomotive had smoother acceleration, greater cleanliness, standardized repair parts, and operating flexibility (a number of diesel units could be combined according to the power needed for a particular train with only one crew required for all the units).

5. In the 1990s 3,500 to 4,000 horsepower was universally regarded as the maximum output to be sought from a single diesel locomotive. Several types used in Russia have much higher outputs because each locomotive is formed of two identically powered and wheeled units permanently short-coupled together (the same principle has been applied to the majority of its electric locomotives).

6. As compared with an electric locomotive, however, the diesel has an important drawback: it can develop less horsepower per locomotive unit. Because high horsepower is required for high-speed operation, the diesel is, therefore, less desirable than the electric for high-speed passenger services. The diesel locomotives excel in railroad switching where intensity of use is

high.

7.Unlike steam and diesel locomotives, which produce their own power, electric locomotives simply convert the electric power that is generated elsewhere. The electric locomotive is not selfsufficient; it picks up current from an overhead wire or a third rail beside the running rails. Electric-traction systems can be divided into those using alternating current and those using direct current.

8.Electric traction is generally considered the most economical and efficient means of operating a railroad, provided that cheap electricity is available and that the traffic density justifies the high capital cost. Electric locomotives have several advantages. They can develop greater power to start a heavy train or to surmount a steep grade at high speed. Electric locomotives are cleaner and quieter in operation than other types. Electric locomotives require little time in the shop for maintenance, their maintenance costs are low, and they have a longer life than diesels. The greatest drawback of electrification is the high capital investment and maintenance cost of power substations, overhead wires and structures. Electric locomotives are used principally on main-line railroads to haul standard passenger and freight equipment.

9.Railroads have experimented with other types of motive power. In the 1950s and '60s the gas turbine was adopted by one American and some European railroads as an alternative to the diesel engine, but its advantages were nullified by advances in diesel traction technology.

Read and remember the meanings of the words and phrases.

1. Сhoose the correct word or phrase.