Vocabulary and grammar exercises

VOCABULARY

UNIT 3

AN ABSENT-MINDED WRITER

MARK TWAIN IN FRANCE

Ex.9.Translate the following funny stories. Write your translation and read it in your English group.

While on a trip in France, Mark Twain was traveling to the city of Dijon. On that afternoon, he was very tired and wished to sleep. He therefore asked the conductor to wake him up when they arrived at Dijon. But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. “I shall probably protest loudly when you try to wake me up”, he told the train conductor. “But don’t pay any attention to me. Just put me off the train anyway”.

Mark Twain went to sleep. Later, when he woke up it was a late night, and the train was in Paris. He realized at once that the conductor had forgotten to wake him up at Dijon. Mark Twain got very angry. He ran up to the conductor and began to cry at him.

“I have never been so angry in all my life”, shouted the writer. The conductor looked at him calmly. “You are not half so angry as was the American I put off the train at Dijon”, he replied.

A well-known writer was once traveling by train. When the ticket collector came for the tickets, the writer could not find his. The ticket collector who had recognized the famous author asked him not to be nervous about his ticket, saying that he would come for it at the next station.

But at the next station there was the same difficulty again: the writer could not find his ticket anywhere.

“Never mind”, said the ticket officer. “Don’t worry, I believe that you have got a ticket”.

“I have to find my ticket by all means”, said the absent-minded writer. “I must know where I’m going to”.

1TEXT
ROLLING STOCK

Railroad trains are pulled by locomotives. But some locomotives can push as well as pull. These locomotives are especially useful on commuter lines.

Locomotives can be classified into two groups according to the work they do. Road locomotives haul freight or passenger trains. Switching locomotives, or switch engines, move cars from track to track in rail yards.

Almost all locomotives can also be classified into three groups according to how they are powered.

Diesel-electric locomotives use oil-burning diesel engines to turn electric generators. The electric power produced by the generators runs the driving mechanisms that turn the locomotive's wheels.

Electric locomotives work much as diesel-electrics do. But instead of producing their own electric power, they get it from wires suspended above the track or from an electrified third rail.

Steam locomotives burn coal or fuel oil to produce steam. The force of the steam runs the locomotive.

A few trains are powered by two other kinds of locomotives. Gas-turbine electric locomotives use the force of hot gases to run turbines, which in turn operate electric generators. The power produced by the generators runs the trains. Diesel-hydraulic locomotives use diesel engines to produce energy transmitted to the driving mechanisms by means of fluids under pressure.

Railroads in the United States operate about 20,000 locomotives. Almost all of them are diesel-electric. Only a few US railroads use electric locomotives. Railroads in most industrial countries operate both diesel-electric and electric locomotives. Steam locomotives are still used in China, India, and some other countries.

Railroad cars are grouped into two general categories: passenger cars and freight cars. Each car has a coupler at each end. This device links the cars together. The first automatic car couplers were designed in 1873. Cars also have air brakes connected to a master control in the locomotive. Railroad air brakes were patented by George Westinghouse in 1869 but were put into common practice only in the beginning of the 20th century.

On most passenger trains the cars consist mainly of coaches. The majority of coaches have seats for 50 to 90 passengers. Double-deck coaches on commuter trains seat from 150 to 170 people. Some passenger train cars include baggage cars, dining cars and sleeping cars.

Freight cars differ in shape and size according to the freight they are designed to haul. They range from boxcars for carrying general freight, to specially designed cars for new automobiles. Many newer freight cars are longer and have been designed to carry different kinds of load. Flat cars, for example, are specially equipped to hold truck trailers or containers.

Railroads have greatly improved the safety of railroad cars over years. One of the chief improvements has been to reduce the danger from overheated journal boxes. On older cars, each end of an axle turned on solid surfaces enclosed in an oil-filled journal box. A box might become overheated due to the lack of lubrication and so become a hotbox. A hotbox might cause a derailment.

On newer cars, the use of roller bearings at the ends of axles has helped to reduce the number of hotboxes. Railroads have also installed electronic devices called hotbox detectors at various points alongside railroad tracks. As trains pass by, the devices detect hotboxes. This information is transmitted to a central control station and cars with hotboxes are removed from the train.

Railcars are railroad cars with a built-in power unit. These cars do not need a locomotive, because they provide their own power. A railcar may be diesel-electric, electric, or gas-turbine electric.

Some railcars are intended for carrying passengers and form railcar trains. These trains include gas-turbine electric trains called turbo trains that operate between the cities of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK, Japan, Canada, the USA and some other countries.

Some self-propelled cars are designed for railroad maintenance. Each car carries special equipment to do a particular job along a railroad line. Some cars have track-laying machinery or machinery for inspecting or repairing tracks; others carry such equipment as snowplows or weed cutters.

1. rolling stock – подвижной состав

2. locomotive – локомотив

road ~ – магистральный ~

switching ~ – маневровый ~

steam ~ – паровой ~

diesel-electric ~ – дизель-электрический ~

diesel-hydraulic ~ – дизель-гидравлический ~

electric~ – электровоз

gas-turbine ~ – газотурбинный ~

3. rail yard – сортировочная станция

4. automatic car coupler – автосцепка вагонов

5. air brake – пневматический тормоз

6. master control – пульт управления локомотива

7. coach – пассажирский вагон

double-deck ~ – двухъярусный ~

8. car – железнодорожный вагон

passenger ~ – пассажирский ~

freight ~ – грузовой ~

dining ~ – ~ ресторан

sleeping ~ – спальный ~

baggage ~ – багажный ~

box ~ – крытый ~

flat ~ – ~ платформа

rail ~ – ~ со встроенным блоком питания

9. journal box – букса (колеса)

oil-filled ~ – маслонаполненная ~

overheated ~ – перегревшаяся ~

10. lubrication – смазка

11. roller bearing – роликоподшипник

12. derailment – авария, сход поезда с рельсов

13. central control station – центральный диспетчерский пост

управления

14. power unit – энергоблок

built-in ~ – встроенный ~

15. turbo train – турбо поезд

16. maintenance – эксплуатация, содержание пути

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