The International Space Station
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| The International Space Station (ISS), the most complex and expensive structure that has ever been launched and built in space, is expected to be a permanent off-planet extension of human civilization. When completed, it will be a multi-room hotel and research facility orbiting the Earth. By that time, resupply and assembly flight by shuttles and rockets will have
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| The Russians and Americans are partners in this international enterprise. The three-person multi-national crews will be alternately composed of two Americans and one Russian followed by a Russian majority. Later a six- or seven-person crew will occupy the station. Some astronauts may stay on the ISS up to 187 days, but there are no plans yet for longer missions. The official life expectancy of the station itself is 10 years, but it should last much longer.
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| Built by a partnership of 16 nations, the ISS will consist of 36 modules and hundreds of individual elements that come from all over the world. The station involves the most technologically advanced nations – Russia, the United States, Canada, Japan, Brazil, and 11 European nations. There will be many interconnected parts from so many countries and it is very important that all these elements made by different suppliers should fit together properly and work exactly as planned.
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| The ISS could not have been realized without previous extensive experience in operating the Russian Mir space station. Russia learned how to build and maintain complex structures in space. Mir also gave citizens of more than a dozen countries their first opportunity to explore space. Mir has proved to be the perfect training ground for the ISS. for more than a decade at least two humans were always in low Earth orbit. That is why it was planned that Russia would supply and deliver 12 modules for the future station. They are. the basic power module, the control, the life support, the service modules and others.
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| What is the purpose of the ISS? It is a political program as well as a science program. This program is no longer only about conducting scientific investigations in the absence of gravity, or about establishing the base for a future trip to Mars. The ISS is more than merely the next great adventure of the space age. It is also about promoting international cooperation and creating thousands of peacetime jobs for highly skilled workers and engineers.
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Пояснения к тексту.
life expectancy – предполагаемый срок службы
has proved to be … – оказался …
decade – десятилетие
life support – система жизнеобеспечения
service module – рабочий отсек
control module – отсек управления
I. Ответьте на следующие вопросы к тексту.
1. What is the International Space Station designed for?
2. What countries took part in building the station?
II. Выпишите из текста предложения, подтверждающие следующие высказывания.
a) Опыт, приобретенный при работе на станции Мир, был использован при реализации проекта МКС.
b) К тому времени полеты челноков и ракет для проведения монтажных работ и пополнения запасов станут обычным делом.
III. Переведите письменно заглавие текста и абзацы 3, 4, 5.
КОНТРОЛЬНАЯ РАБОТА № 8
Вариант A
Прочитайте текст, постарайтесь понять его, чтобы выполнить задания к тексту.
Transport for Tomorrow
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| One thing is certain about the public transport of the future. it must be more effective than it is today. The time is coming when it will be quicker to fly across the Atlantic to New York than to travel from home to office. The two main problems are. what vehicle shall we use and how can we plan our use of it?
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| There is already a number of modern vehicles which are not yet in common use, but which may become a usual means of transport in the future. One of these is a small electric car. we go out into the street, find an empty car, get into it, drive to our destination, get out and leave the car for the next person who comes along. In fact, there may be no need to drive these cars. With an automatic guidance system for cars being developed, it will be possible for us to select our destination just as today we select a telephone number and our car will move automatically.
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| For long journeys in private cars one can also use an automatic guidance system. Arriving at the motorway, a driver will select the lane he wishes to use, switch over to automatic driving and then relax – dream, read the newspaper, have a meal while the car does the work for him. Unbelievable? It is already possible. Just as in many ships and aircraft today we are piloted automatically for the greater part of the journey, so in the future we can also have this luxury in our own cars.
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| At present sophisticated electronics is playing a big part in current automatic research. For example, in every gasoline-powered car that General Motors Corporation makes there is a small computer continuously monitoring the exhaust. The device, about the size of a pack of cigarettes, adjusts the vehicle carburetor fuel intake to get the best fuel economy. Ford cars are equipped with an electronic instrument panel that, among other things, will calculate how far one can drive on the fuel left in the tank. It also will estimate the time of the arrival at destination and tell the driver what speed he has averaged since turning on the ignition. According to specialists these features made possible by microelectronics are only the beginning. Radar may control the brakes to avoid collisions, and a display screen may show the car’s position on the road.
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| A Japanese company is designing a car of a new generation. When completed, the new model will have a lot of unusual characteristics. The cars four-wheel control system will ensure movement diagonally and even side-ways – like a crab, at right angles to the longitudinal axis. This is especially important when leaving the car in parking places. To help the driver get information while concentrating on the road the most important data will be projected on the windscreen. A tourist traveling in such a car will not lose his way even in Sahara with its impossible roads. a navigation Earth satellite will indicate the road.
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| A new ceramic engine has been developed in Japan. Many important parts as pistons, pressure rings, valves and some others have been made of various ceramic materials, piston rings made of silicon materials being in many respects better than those of steel. They withstand temperatures up to 1000 C0. Therefore, the engine does not need a cooling system.
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Пояснения к тексту.
guidance system – система наведения
to pilot – вести, направлять
sophisticated – сложный
gasoline-powered car – автомобиль с бензиновым двигателем
exhaust – выхлоп, выхлопная труба
intake – всасывание
instrument panel – приборная панель
ignition – зажигание
display screen – экран индикатора
control system – система управления
sideways – боком
longitudinal axis – продольная ось
windscreen – переднее (ветровое) стекло
navigation Earth satellite – навигационный спутник Земли
piston – поршень
pressure ring – компрессионное кольцо
I. Ответьте на следующие вопросы к тексту.
1. What car may become a usual means of transport in the future?
2. In the future driving cars may become less tiring (утомительный). Why?
II. Выпишите из текста предложения, подтверждающие следующие высказывания.
a) Настает время, когда люди с трудом будут добираться на работу из-за простаивания в “пробках” и малоэффективности автомобилей.
b) Для передвижения по городу можно будет воспользоваться общественными автомобилями.
III. Переведите письменно заглавие текста и абзацы 4, 5, 6.
КОНТРОЛЬНАЯ РАБОТА № 8
Вариант B
Прочитайте текст, постарайтесь понять его, чтобы выполнить задания к тексту.
Made in Space
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| This label “Made in Space” for industrial materials will probably surprise no one in the not so distant future. They may include superconductors, new kinds of alloys, substances with peculiar magnetic properties, polymers, plastics and so on. Numerous experiments carried out at the Russian orbital space stations have paved the way to the development of methods and means for industrial production of new materials with better qualities. Experts estimate that within a few coming years industrial production of various materials will be started in space.
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| Conditions on board a space vehicle orbiting the earth greatly differ from those on its surface. All of these conditions can be simulated on the Earth, except for one prolonged weightlessness. Weightlessness can be created on the Earth, but only for a few seconds. A space flight is another matter. a satellite orbiting the earth is in a dynamic zero gravity state, i.e., when gravity is cancelled out by inertia. Many well-known processes go on differently due to the absence of weight.
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| In space there is no gravitational connection, i.e., movement of gases or liquids caused by difference of temperatures. It is well known that various defects in semiconductors occur because of convection. Biochemists also have to deal with the worst aspects of convection, for example, in the production of superpure biologically active substances. Convection makes it very difficult to produce them on the Earth.
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| Following the launching of the first orbital station the specialists started experiments aimed at proving the advantages of the zero gravity state for the production of certain materials. In Russia all orbital stations from Salyut 5 onwards were used for that purpose. Since 1976 over 600 technological experiments have been carried out on board manned and unmanned space vehicles. The experiments proved that many of the properties of the materials obtained under the zero gravity condition were much better than those produced on the Earth. Besides, it has been found out that it is necessary to develop a new science – physics of the weightless state – which forms the theoretical basis for space industry and space materials study.
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| Special space vehicles will also be needed for industrial production of new generation materials. Research has shown that the acceleration rate on board these vehicles must be reduced to the minimum. It was found that space platforms in independent flight carrying the equipment were most suitable for producing materials. These vehicles will have to use their own propulsion systems to approach their base orbital station after a certain period of time. The cosmonauts on board the station can replace the speci
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| Many new and very interesting projects are planned for orbital stations. Here is one of them. Convection does not allow to grow large protein crystals on the Earth. But it is possible to grow such crystals under the zero gravity conditions and to study their structure. The data obtained can be useful for genetic engineering. Thus, it may be possible to make new materials in space and also to obtain valuable scientific data for new highly efficient technologies on the Earth.
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Пояснения к тексту.
superconductor – сверхпроводник
alloy – сплав
pave the way (for) – подготовить почву (для)
prolonged weightlessness – длительная невесомость
zero gravity state – состояние невесомости
space vehicle – космический корабль
i.e. (id est)– т.е. (то есть)
cancel out – нейтрализовать
gravity – сила тяжести
convection – конвекция (перенос тепла движущейся средой, например, потоками воздуха)
acceleration rate – степень ускорения
propulsion system – система тяги
genetic engineering –генная инженерия
manned space vehicle – космический корабль с человеком на борту
I. Ответьте на следующие вопросы к тексту.
1. What is the practical importance of orbital space stations?
2. What condition cannot be simulated on the Earth?
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