III. Find out the translation of the underlined word combinations.

IV. Find the sentence with the Possessive Case.

Text 13

K.A. Timiryazev: the importance of his works for agriculture

Kliment Arkadievich Timiryazev (1843-1920) began his scientific activities in the field of agriculture in the town of Simbirsk. His teachers were D. I. Mendeleyev, I. M. Sechenov, I. I. Mechnikov, and other well-known scientists.

K. A. Timiryazev was one of the greatest plant physiologists of the 19^th and 20^th centuries. In his experiments and theory he practically solved the problem of photosynthesis, showing that it depended on light intensity as well as light quality. He also wrote much on the importance of chlorophyll for photosynthesis process which takes place in all plants on the Earth.

K. A. Timiryazev also studied, on an experimental plot, the effect of various mineral fertilizers on grain yields and proved that the use of phosphates in black soil raised greatly crop yields. Yet some of the fertilizers, e.g. sulphate ammonia, may have harmful effect on plants. Working on the same experimental plot, he discovered that deep ploughing was highly important in the fight against drought.

Later, Academician V. R. Williams and farm practitioner T. S. Maltzev developed Timiryazev`s idea on deep ploughing: they introduced a new method of grain cultivation. They used machines that could plough soil some 40-50 cm deep.

Thus, K. A.Timiryazev`s work had great influence on modern research in agriculture.

K. A. Timiryazev`s principal idea of agronomy was that plant is the central object of agronomist`s work. According to his theory, this means that agriculturalists should concentrate on the studies of climate, soil, fertilizers, etc, only in connection with plant`s life.

K. A. Timiryazev was a great patriot. After the Great October Socialist Revolution he did much to help people. He helped farmers to increase crop yields and thus to raise their standard of living.

Today the Moscow Higher Agricultural School where K. A. Timiryazev was a lecturer on plant physiology is the well-known Timiryazev Agricultural Academy.

Vocabulary:

1. scientific – научный

2. to solve the problem – решать проблему

3. a fertilizer – удобрение

4. crop yields – урожай

5. harmful – вредный

6. a deep ploughing – глубокое вспахивание

7. a drought – засуха

8. an influence - влияние

Ex.1. Make antonymous pairs from the following words:

increase v, harmless, the same, ask, practically, harmful, before, to be independent, decrease v, different, after, to be dependent, theoretically, easy, answer v, difficult

Ex.2. Translate the following parts of the sentences, paying attention to the functions of Participle I:

1. The student translating the text is…. 2. The translating student …. 3. Translating the text the student …. 4. The student is translating the text …. 5. Going along the street I …. 6. He is going along the street …. 7. The man going along the street ….

Ex.3. Tell your desk-mate that you are not translating now. Tell him or her what you are doing now. Use the words and word combinations given below:

Example: to prepare for my examination → I am not translating now. I am preparing for my examination.

to solve the problem, to read a newspaper, to prepare for examinations, to wait for a friend, to study English, to plant trees, to answer a question, to ask, to help a friend, to go to the Academy, to write a letter, to telephone

Ex.4. Ask your group-mates the following questions. Let them answer using the example. Use adjectives long, wide, deep, high, thick:

Example: long → What is the length of the river? → Какова длина реки? The river is 50 km long. Длина реки 50 км.

1. What is the length of the corridor? 2. What is the width of the street? 3. What is the depth of the lake? 4. What is the height of the tree? 5. What is the thickness of the tree?

Text 14

Cut worm (Euxoa Segetum)

This agricultural pest does much damage. It is the caterpillar of the gray night-flying Owlet Moth, which flies as noiseless as the owl (hence its name).

The eggs are laid on weeds in early summer.

The caterpillars (Cutworms) feed on the weeds first, and then migrate to the fields of young winter crops.

They are ashy-gray in color (to match the earth) and have nocturnal habits: burying themselves during the day, they crawl to the surface at night and bite through the stems of plants at or near ground level. The damage done by the Cutworms is not easily noticed until autumn when bare patches in the fields become apparent; in the south the Cutworm destroys sugar-beet, and other crops.

Pupation takes place in the earth in spring.

Large-scale invasions of this pest necessitate urgent measures. One of the most effective is the destruction of the host weeds which serve as food until the shoots of the winter crops appear.

Vocabulary:

1. caterpillar – гусеница

2. to lay (to deposit) eggs– откладывать яйца

3. weed – сорняк

4. crop – культура

5. nocturnal – ночной

6. to bite through – прокусывать

7. stem – стебель

8. field – поле

9. shoot – молодой побег

10. measure – мера, средство

Tasks:

1. Translate the sentence with the underlined word combinations.

2. Write out all the adjectives with the suffixes.

Text 15

Beet Pest

This small insect causes great damage to sugar-beet. Feeding first on weeds it later invades nearby sugar beet plantations. It devours mostly leaves but may also eat through the stalks of young seedlings, causing their death.

The white, legless grubs do great damage to the taproot of beet plants. A heavy infestation reduces the number of healthy plants so drastically that a second sowing becomes necessary.

An effective means of control is to dig trenches with sheer walls. The beetles fall into them, cannot crawl out, and can easily be killed. It is also advisable to dust the sugar-beet seedlings with DDT or hexachloran, and also to destroy all weeds.

Vocabulary:

1. damage – вред, разрушения

2. 2to invade – захватывать, оккупировать

3. stalk of seedling – стебель побега

4. grub – личинка

5. taproot – стержневой корень

6. infestation – инвазия (заражение паразитами)

7. sowing – посев

8. trench – траншея

9. to crawl out – выползать

10. to dust – опылять

Tasks:

1. Write out all the adverbs.

2. Translate the sentences with the Participle 1.

Text 16

Wireworm

This is the grub (larva) of the Click Beetle. As the Click Beetles have short legs it is not easy for them to get on their feet again if they happen to fall on their backs. They overcome the difficulty in an interesting way. Bending the body until it rests upon the head and tip of the tail; they then straighten out so suddenly that they strike the ground and spring upwards, turning over at the same time. In doing so they make the sound from which they get their name.

The body of the Wireworm is hard. The grubs, which invade the fields in swarms, damage the roots of cereals and potato, and are among the worst enemies of crops. They can be get rid of by introducing a mixture of hexachloran and phosphates, or other insecticides into the soil.

Vocabulary:

1. bending – сгибая

2. to straighten – выпрямлять

3. swarms – куча, масса

4. root – корень

5. cereals – зерновые

6. enemy – враг, вредитель

7. to get rid of – избавиться

8. to introduce – вносить

9. mixture – смесь

10. soil – почва

Tasks:

1. Find the verbs with the suffixes.

2. Find the sentences with the Passive Voice.

Text 17

Migratory locust

In pre-revolutionary times, the devastation caused by swarms of migratory locust (Fig. 45) was dreaded by farmers in the south of our country. The locusts would suddenly appear in immense swarms forming black clouds that blotted out the sun. Setting on the fields they devoured all the vegetation before them and people were often forced to abandon their farms.

The locust is similar in general appearance to the larger grasshopper, but has shorter horns. Of the three pairs of jointed limbs, the hind legs are the most developed. By contracting the muscles of the hind legs the insect can leap a considerable distance.

The locust has hardened, elongated forewings with the hindwings folded fanwise beneath them. Adult locusts possess remarkable flying powers.

Reproduction takes place in the reed beds along southern rivers and lakes, which provide a very suitable environment. In the latter half of summer the female digs a hole in the ground with the posterior part of her abdomen, and deposits her eggs. The remainder of the hole is filled with a mucous substance, which, with particles of soil, hardens into a protective covering, an egg-sac. The eggs inside (about 50) are reliably shielded against excessive moisture or dryness. They lie there until the following spring, often being soaked by the spring rains and floods. This does them no harm. As soon as the floods subside, the eggs hatch out. The young nymphs greatly resemble the adult insects except that they have no wings and are smaller.

The nymphs, which are wingless, are known as “hoppers”. To satisfy their voracious appetites they travel from their breeding grounds, the flood lands, to feed in nearby fields. They cast their skins (moult) several times, and grow very rapidly. After a series of changes, the winged stage is reached, and the young locusts develop into adult insect.

As you see, the locust omits the pupal stage. Its metamorphosis is therefore incomplete.

In the USSR agricultural aviation has been developed and a chemical industry set up. The USSR took the initiative in using planes for distributing poisonous baits and dusting or spraying locust breeding-rounds with insecticides. After several years of intensive effort the locust has been eliminated and its devastating raids stopped. But sometimes the migratory locust appears again.

Vocabulary:

1. to devour – пожирать

2. grasshopper – кузнечик

3. hardened forewings – жесткие надкрылья

4. adult – взрослый

5. reproduction – воспроизводство, размножение

6. abdomen – брюшко

7. hatch out – вылупляться

8. nymph – нимфа, куколка, личинка

9. to cast one’s skin (to moult) – линять, сбрасывать хитин

10. pupal stage – стадия куколки

Tasks:

1. Make the Plural form of the underlined word.

2. Find all the adjectives with the suffixes in the fifth passage.

Text 18

Potato Beetle

A serious potato pest, known also as the Colorado Beetle, looks something like the popular Ladybird, but instead of seven black dotted markings on a red body its forewings have alternate stripes of black and yellow (five on each side), which are almost parallel.

The insect was originally a native of America (like the potatoes on which it feeds), reaching Western Europe half a century ago with a consignment of goods. It spread at an alarming rate and caused enormous damage. Now it came to Russia.

The Colorado Beetle spends the winter buried in the earth. In spring it multiplies and spreads over the fields devouring potato leaves. The females deposit masses of elongated orange-yellow eggs on the leaves. The grubs which hatch out are reddish insect, with small black spots. Multiplying rapidly, they strip potato plants bare and poor harvest result.

The voracious grubs grow fast. When grown, they leave the plants, burrow into the soil, and pupate. When the pupation period is over, a new generation of insects crawls out. If the weather is favourable the Colorado Beetle can produce two generations in one summer.

The remarkable power of reproduction, as well as the amazing capacity to withstand unfavourable conditions, makes this insect extremely harmful.

Vocabulary:

1. pest – насекомое-вредитель

2. at alarming rate – с угрожающей скоростью

3. to multiply – размножаться

4. to strip smth bare – оголять что-либо, объедать

5. burrow into the soil – зарываться в землю

6. to pupate – окукливаться

7. generation –поколение

8. to withstand – противостоять

9. condition – условие

10. harmful – вредный

Tasks:

1. Find the sentence with the modal verb and translate it.

2. Write out the nouns in the plural form from the third passage.

Text 19

⇐ Предыдущая 1 2 3 4 567 8 9 Следующая ⇒