Пособия / Techical English Basics. Основы технического английского

Text 1. Noisy Neighbours

Carol and her friends were having a party. They were all making a lot of noise. The record player was playing at full volume. Pete was playing his guitar and Polly was trying to play Tom’s clarinette. To make things worse, Tom had got his dog with him and it was chasing Carol’s cat round the room. Everybody was talking, laughing, singing and dancing. The dog was barking and the cat screeching.

The doorbell rang. It kept ringing and ringing, but of course they didn’t hear it n all that noise. Then Carol went to change a record and noticed that there was somebody at the door. She opened it and found her neighbour from upstairs standing outside in his dressing-gown.

-Hello, Mr Smith. What are you doing out here in your dressinggown? It’s very late. Come in!

Mr Smith pointed to the ceiling and shouted.

-Can you hear that noise? That’s my wife!

Carol listened. Somebody was banging on the floor of the flat upstairs.

-My wife is making that noise. She’s banging on the floor. Carol smiled at Mr Smith.

-That’s all right, Mr Smith. Don’t worry. We’re making quite a lot of noise, too. Come on in and join the party!

Words and expressions to be remembered:

Text 2. Electronic Car

The electronic car is the most modern car in the world. My uncle had one. The car had no engine, no battery, no brakes, nothing. Instead it had an electronic computer. The computer reacted to the driver’s voice.

When my uncle said, ‘Thank goodness’ the car started. And when he said, ‘Bread and Butter’ the car stopped. One day my uncle was driving in the mountains. The road was very bad. There were many sharp bends. Then he saw a sign, ‘Stop! Road ends.’

My uncle said ‘Bread and butter’ but the car didn’t stop. Again he said ‘Bread and butter,’ this time a little louder. But still the car didn’t stop. Uncle was beginning to feel very frightened. ‘Bread and butter,

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bread and butter, bread and butter,’ he shouted. At last the car stopped at the edge of the cliff.

‘Thank goodness,’ said uncle.

Words and expressions to be remembered:

Vocabulary and Comprehension Exercises

I. (Text 1) Answer the questions.

1. What were Carol and her friends doing?

2.What was Pete doing?

3.What was Tom’s dog doing?

4.Was everybody sleeping and dreaming?

5.Did the guests hear the doorbell?

6.Who was standing at the door?

7.What was Mr Smith wearing?

8.What did Carol ask Mr Smith to do?

II. (Text 2) Answer the questions:

1. Did the car have an engine or a battery?

2.In what way did the computer work?

3.When did the car start and when did it stop?

4.Where was the uncle driving one day?

5.Why was the road bad?

6.What sign did he see?

7.What did the uncle say when he saw a sign?

8.Did the car stop?

9.Where did the car stop at last?

10. What did the uncle say when the car stopped at last?

III. Translate the following sentences into English.

1. У Кэрол и ее друзей была вечеринка.

2.Проигрыватель играл на полную мощность.

3.Что хуже всего, Том взял свою собаку в гости и она гонялась по всей комнате за котом Кэрол.

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4.В дверь позвонили, но, конечно же, в этом шуме они не услышали его.

5.Не беспокойтесь, мистер Смит. Входите и присоединяйтесь

кнам.

6.Электронный автомобиль – самый современный в мире.

7.У машины не было ни двигателя, ни аккумулятора, ни тормозов, а вместо этого был компьютер.

8.Компьютер реагировал на голос водителя.

9.Дорога была плохая, и в ней было много резких поворотов. 10.Наконец машина остановилась на краю обрыва.

Drills

Дайте ответы на вопросы, следуя образцам.

Drill 1. Are they dancing?

· I don’t think so. They weren’t dancing when I left them.

Drill 2. Why didn’t you go out last night? (rain) · Because it was raining.

1. Why didn’t you come to the party? (feel bad)

2.Why did they tell him to be quiet? (watch TV)

3.Why did Nancy stay at home? (do the flat)

4.Why didn’t he stop to talk to you? (hurry to the lecture)

5.Why did you switch off the radio? (work)

Drill 3. When did she meet Helen? (walk along the street)

· She met Helen when she was walking along the street.

1. When did you catch that cold? (skate on a frosty day)

2.When did he write those nice poems? (have a holiday)

3.When did she learn the language? (live in England)

4.When did Philip lose his camera? (walk about the city)

5.When did he ring you up? (have supper)

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Drill 4. I made the tea. John cleaned the car.

· I was making the tea while John was cleaning the car.

1. It rained. I walked up the hill.

2.They watched television. I wrote some letters.

3.You talked to Mary. I talked to John.

4.I had a holiday. He worked hard.

5.You had a bath. The girls washed the dishes.

Grammar Exercises

I. Проанализируйте глагольные формы во времени Past Continuous.

II. Составьте вопросительные и отрицательные предложения.

1. The fire was still burning at six o’clock this morning.

2.She was reading a book when he came in.

3.The sun was shining when we went out.

4.It was raining this morning when I got up.

III. Раскройте скобки, употребив глаголы во времени Past Continuous.

1. You (walk) very quickly when I saw you.

2.James (go) to a disco when I met him.

3.When you came in I (write).

4.The boy jumped off the bus while it (move).

5.I (have) a bath when the phone rang.

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IV. Проанализируйте наречия, употребляемые в Past Simple tense и Past Continuous tense.

V. Раскройтескобки, употребляяглаголывсоответствующем времени: Past Simple или Past Continuous.

1. Yesterday the sun (shine) when I (cycle) to school.

2.When I (come) home it (get) dark.

3.Tom (still read) when the phone (ring).

4.We (have) dinner when John (arrive).

5.Mary (know) that her husband (love) fishing.

VI. Раскройтескобки, употребляяглаголывсоответствующем времени: Present Simple, Present Continuous, Past Simple, Past Continuous, Present Perfect.

1. She (go) away every weekend.

2.He (go) abroad last week.

3.No, he isn’t here. He just (go) out.

4.He (go) downstairs when I (meet) him.

5.This boy never (see) the sea.

6.I (see) you yesterday. You (sit) outside a cafй.

7.He is busy now; he (write) a letter.

8.I usually (not take) sugar in my tea.

UNIT 11

Nobody Had Believed It Was Possible

In 1912, the Titanic hit an iceberg on its first trip across the Atlantic, and it sank four hours later. At that time, the Titanic was the largest

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ship that had ever traveled on the sea. It was carrying 2207 people, but it had taken on enough lifeboats for only 1178 people. When the passengers tried to leave the ship, only 651 of them were able to get into lifeboats.

The Carpathia was 58 miles away when the Titanic called on its radio for help. It arrived two hours after the great ship had gone down, and it saved 705 people. Some of the survivors had been in the icy water for hours when they were saved. Most of the passengers hadn’t lived that long; 1502 people had lost their lives.

Through the whole tragedy, the Californian was only ten miles away. Its officers were close enough to see the Titanic, but they didn’t understand the situation.

Why were there so few survivors? Why didn’t the Californian come to help?

First of all, nobody had prepared for such a tragedy. Nobody had believed that the Titanic could sink. The steamship company had thought that its ship would be completely safe in all situations.

The ship had already received six ice warnings on its radio when it struck the iceberg. Nevertheless, it had not changed its direction or its speed. When the Titanic hit the iceberg, the radio officer in the Californian had just gone to bed. He’d tried to warn the officers on the Titanic about the ice before he went to bed, but the officers hadn’t listened.

After this accident, ocean travel changed. Now there are always enough lifeboats for everybody. Radio officers work 24 hours a day. A tragedy like the sinking of the Titanic should never happen again.

Words and expressions to be remembered:

Vocabulary and Comprehension Exercises

I. Answer each question in the Past Perfect Tense.

e.g. Did the ‘Titanic’ cross the Atlantic in 1913? – No, it had already sunk in 1913.

1. Did the ‘Titanic’ have enough lifeboats for its passengers?

2. Did the people on the ‘Carpathia’ see the ‘Titanic’ when they picked up the survivors?

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1. He studied for three years but failed his exams.

2.He worked in an office for a while and then emigrated to Aus-

tralia.

3.He tried several jobs and then he became a farmer.

4.He made a lot of money and decided to go home for a holiday.

5.He arrived in England and married an old girlfriend.

6.He met his old friends and didn’t want to go back again.

7.He sold his farm and bought a business in England.

IV. Поставьтевсетипывопросовкследующимпредложениям.

1. Most of the shops had closed by 6 p.m.

2.By 1960 most of Britain’s old colonies had become independent.

3.He had been smoking for 30 years before he gave up smoking.

4.They had been waiting for 20 minutes before the bus came.

V. Проанализируйте наречия, употребляемые во временах

Past Simple и Past Perfect.

VI. Раскройтескобки, употребляяглаголывсоответствующем времени: Past Simple или Past Perfect.

1. First she (open) the parcel, and then she (read) the letter.

2.After she (open) the parcel, she (read) the letter.

3.He quickly (forget) all he (learn) at school.

4.After she (put) her baby to bed, she (walk) down into the town.

5.I (know) that they (not see) him since Friday.

6.He (have) no idea in which room he (hear) the noise.

7.When he (go) to London he (already study) English.

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VII. Проанализируйте употребление относительных местоимений ‘who, whom, which, that’.

VIII. Заполните пропуски, употребив who, whom, which.

2.That’s the woman ..... I met yesterday.

3.That’s the programme ..... we saw last night.

4.That’s the girl ..... smiled at me.

5.That’s the astronaut ..... walked on the moon.

6.That’s the language ..... I have learned.

7. ..... steals once is for ever a thief.

8.Here is the money ..... I earned.

9.That’s the door ..... he painted.

UNIT 12

Grammar: 1. The Future Simple Tense

The Car of the Future

A pessimist is a person who always expects bad things to happen. Pessimists think that today’s cars are in trouble because they use too much gas. They say the car of the future will be much, much smaller. The car of tomorrow will have no heater and no air conditioning. It’ll have no radio and no lights. Tomorrow’s car will be an open air car with no doors and windows. It won’t need a pollution control system because it won’t use gas. In fact, drivers will push this new car with their feet.

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