Учебное пособие составлено на основе учебной программы по английскому языку для технических вузов и предназначено для студентов вторых курсов автотранспортных факультетов, а также может быть использовано студентами для самостоятельного дополнительного чтения.

УДК 629.1

ББК 81.2

ПРЕДИСЛОВИЕ

Учебное пособие «Автомобили и автомобильное хозяйство» предназначено для студентов второго курса автотранспортных факультетов технических вузов, изучающих иностранный язык.

Целью пособия является развитие у студентов умений и навыков чтения и устной речи, аутентичных профессионально-ориентированных текстов на английском языке в соответствии с программой.

Учебное пособие для развития навыков профессионально-ориентированного чтения состоит из десяти разделов (Units), которые посвящены соответствующим направлениям автомобилестроения и связанными с ними направлениями промышленности. Разделы пособия построены по тематическому принципу в соответствии с программой обучения студентов по направлению 190500 «Эксплуатация транспортных средств». Разделы пособия содержат тексты, вопросы для самоконтроля и упражнения. В конце учебного пособия находятся тесты, предназначенные для самоконтроля студентов.

Словарь содержит не только специальные термины, но и слова и словосочетания технического характера по изучаемой проблеме. Для того чтобы сделать работу над текстом более удобной, лексика вводится тематически.

При составлении пособия были использованы различные английские и американские технические журналы, рекламные материалы, сервисная документация, англо-русскоязычные справочники, словари и Интернет.

Данное издание может быть полезно широкому кругу читателей, прежде всего студентам и аспирантам, а также научным работникам, инженерам, переводчикам и преподавателям высших технических учебных заведений в работе над переводом научно-технической литературы по автомобилестроению.

UNIT I.
Automobile

Development of the Automobile

Vocabulary:

automobile – автомобиль

carriage – повозка

cylinder – цилиндр

engine – двигатель

features – особенности

internal-combustion engine – двигатель внутреннего сгорания

inventor – изобретатель

lever – рычаг

mass production – массовое производство

rear wheel – заднее колесо

self-propelled vehicle – самоходное транспортное средство

speed – скорость

to accelerate – ускорять

to produce – производить

to require – требовать

well-known – известный

The automobile has a long history. The French engineer Nicolas Joseph Cugnot built the first self-propelled vehicle (Paris, 1789), a heavy, three-wheeled, steam-driven carriage with a boiler that projected in front; its speed was 5 kph. In 1801 the English engineer Richard Trevithick also built a three-wheeled, steam-driven car; the engine drove the rear wheels. Development of the automobile was retarded for decades by over-regulation: speed was limited to 6.4 kph and until 1896 a person was required to walk in front of a self-propelled vehicle, carrying a red flag by day and a red lantern by night. The Stanley brothers of Massachusetts, the most well-known American manufacturers of steam-driven autos, produced their Stanley Steamers from 1897 until after World War I.

The development of the automobile was accelerated by the introduction of the internal-combustion engine. Probably the first vehicle of this type was the three-wheeled car built in 1885 by the engineer Karl Benz in Germany. Another German engineer, Gottlieb Daimler, built an improved internal-combustion engine c.1885. The Panhard car, introduced in France by the Daimler company in 1894, had many features of the modern car. In the United States, internal-combustion cars of the horseless buggy type were manufactured in the 1890s by Charles Dmyea and J. Frank Duryea, Elwood Haynes, Henry Ford, Ransom E. Olds, and Alexander Winton. Many of the early engines had only one cylinder, with a chain-and-sprocket drive on wooden carriage wheels. The cars generally were open, accommodated two passengers, and were steered by a lever.

The free growth of the automobile industry in the early 20th cent. was threatened by the American inventor George Selden’s patent, issued in 1895. Several early manufacturers licensed by Selden formed an association in 1903 and took over the patent in 1907. Henry Ford, the leader of a group of independent manufacturers who refused to acknowledge the patent, was engaged in litigation with Selden and the association from 1903 until 1911, when the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the patent, although valid, covered only the two-cycle engine; most cars, including Ford’s, used a four-cycle engine. The mass production of automobiles that followed, and the later creation of highways linking cities to suburbs and region to region, transformed American landscape and society.

General understanding:

1. Who built the first self-propelled vehicle?

2. What accelerated the development of the automobile?

3. Who manufactured internal-combustion cars of the horseless buggy type in the United States, in the 1890s?

4. When was the first vehicle of the internal – combustion engine built?

5. What is the name of independent manufacturers leader?

Exercise 1. Find in the left column English equivalents of Russian words and word-combinations.

1. Internal-combustion engine

2. Speed

3. Self-propelled vehicle

4. Lever

5. Engine

6. Mass production

7. Rear wheel

A. Самоходное транспортное средство

B. Двигатель

C. Заднее колесо

D. Двигатель внутреннего сгорания

E. Скорость

F. Рычаг

G. Массовое производство

Exercise 2. Translate words and word-combinations in brackets into English, and then translate the sentences, into Russian in writing form.

1. The French engineer Nicolas Joseph Cugnot built the first (самоходное транспортное средство).

2. The development of the automobile was accelerated by the introduction of (двигателя внутреннего сгорания).

3. (массовое производство автомобилей) that followed, and the later creation of highways linking cities to suburbs and region to region, transformed American landscape and society.

Exercise 3. Complete the sentences, having chosen a corresponding variant.

1. The first self-propelled vehicle was built by ... .

a) french engineer Nicolas Joseph Cugnot;

b) american inventor George Selden;

c) germany engineer Karl Benz.

2. The development of the automobile was accelerated by the introduction of the ... .

a) assembly lines;

b) internal-combustion engine;

c) electricity.

3. Henry Ford is the leader of a group of independent ... .

a) manufacturers;

b) engineers;

c) bankers.

Automobile Industry

Industry History

Vocabulary:

assembly lines – сборочные линии

consumer – потребитель

front axle – передняя ось

mass production – массовое производство

to compete – конкурировать

Although ancient Chinese writers described steam-powered vehicles, and both steam- and electric-powered cars competed with gas-powered vehicles in the late 19th cent. Frenchman Jean Joseph Etienne developed the first practical internal-combustion engine (1860), and later in the decade several inventors, most notably Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, produced gas-powered vehicles that ultimately dominated the industry because they were lighter and less expensive to build. French companies set the design of the modern auto by placing the engine over the front axle in the 1890s and U.S. manufacturers made important advances in the mass production of the auto by introducing cars with interchangeable machine-produced parts (one such car was created by Ransom E. Olds in 1901). In 1914 Henry Ford began to use assembly lines. In addition, his practice of providing loans to consumers to buy cars (1915) made the model-T affordable to the middle class. In the 1920s, General Motors further changed the industry by emphasizing car design. The company introduced new models each year, marketed different lines of cars to different income brackets (the Cadillac for the rich; the Chevrolet for the masses), and created a modern decentralized system of management. U.S. auto sales grew from 4,100 in 1900 to 895,900 in 1915, to 3.7 million in 1925. Sales dropped to only 1.1 million in 1932 and during World War II, the auto factories were converted to wartime production.

General understanding:

1. Who produced gas-powered vehicles that ultimately dominated the industry?

2. What Henry Ford used for mass production cars?

3. What happened during World War II?

4. When did Henry Ford begin to use assembly lines?

5. How did General Motors change the industry in the 1920s?

Exercise 4. Find in the left column English equivalents of Russian words and word-combinations.

1. Assembly lines

2. Manufacturer

3. Industry

4. Front axle

5. Vehicle

6. Production

A. Транспортное средство

B. Передняя ось

C. Производство

D. Промышленность

E. Сборочные линии

F. Промышленник

Exercise 5. Translate words and word-combinations in brackets into English, and then translate the sentences, into Russian in writing form.

1. Frenchman Jean Joseph Etienne (спроектировал) the first practical internal-combustion engine.

2. In 1914 Henry Ford began to using (сборочную линию).

3. In 1890s U.S. manufacturers made important advances in the (массовом производстве) of the auto by introducing (автомобилей) with (взаимозаменяемыми) machine-produced parts.

Exercise 6. Complete the sentences, having chosen a corresponding variant.

1. Henry Ford provided loans to consumers to buy ....

a) buses;

b) tractors;

c) cars.

2. Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, produced gas-powered vehicles that ultimately dominated the industry because they were ..to build.

a) expensive and not light;

b) lighter and less expensive;

c) the lightest and the least expensive.

3. General Motors further introduced new models ....

a) each month;

b) each year;

c) each week.

The Modern Industry

Vocabulary:

alternative energy sources – альтернативные источники энергии

auto pollution – автозагрязнение

electricity – электричество

global market – мировой рынок

natural gas – природный газ

safety – безопасность

solar power – солнечная энергия

After 1945, sales once again took off, reaching 6.7 million in 1950 and 9.3 million in 1965. The U.S. auto industry dominated the global market with 83% of all sales, but as Europe and Japan rebuilt their economics, their auto industries grew and the U.S. share dropped to about 25%. Following the OPEC oil embargo in 1973, smaller, fuel-efficient imports increased their share of the U.S. market to 26% by 1980. In the early 1980s, U.S. auto makers cut costs with massive layoffs. Throughout the 1990s, imports particularly from Japan took an increasing share of the U.S. market.

Beginning in the early 1980s, Japanese and, later, German companies set up factories in the United States; by 1999, these were capable of producing about 3 million vehicles per year. As a result, the three big U.S. auto makers now produce less than two thirds of the cars sold in America. In the early 1990s, over $140 billion worth of motor vehicles and parts were produced in the United States by companies employing more than 210,000 workers. Complaints about auto pollution, traffic congestion, and auto safety led to the passage of government regulations beginning in the 1970s, forcing auto manufacturers to improve fuel efficiency and safety. Auto companies are now experimenting with cars powered by such alternative energy sources as natural gas, electricity, and solar power.

General understanding:

1. What happened after the OPEC oil embargo in 1973?

2. What were capable after Japanese and German companies set up factories in the United States?

3. What kind of alternative energy sources use the companies?

Exercise 7. Find in the left column English equivalents of Russian words and word-combinations.

1. Safety

2. Solar power

3. Pollution

4. Economics

5. Alternative energy sources

6. Natural gas

A. Загрязнение

B. Альтернативные источники энергии

C. Экономика

D. Природный газ

E. Солнечная энергия

F. Безопасность

Exercise 8. Translate words and word-combinations in brackets into English, and then translate the sentences into Russian in writing form.

1. Beginning in the early 1980s, Japanese and, later, German companies (создали) factories in the United States.

2. Complaints about auto (загрязнения), traffic congestion and auto (безопасности) led to the passage of government regulations beginning in the 1970s.

3. Auto companies are now experimenting with cars powered by such alternative energy sources as (природный газ), (электричество), and (солнечная энергия).

Exercise 9. Complete the sentences, having chosen a corresponding variant.

1. The U.S. auto industry dominated the global market with 83% of all ... .

a) sales;

b) purchases;

c) manufacture.

2. As a result, the three big U.S. auto makers now produce less than two thirds of the cars sold in America

a) Russia;

b) Japan;

c) America.

3. Auto companies are now experimenting with powered by such alternative energy sources as natural gas, electricity, and solar power.

a) heavy trucks;

b) tractors;