Vocabulary

breadth - широта

option - право выбора

to advance - ускорять; продвигать

device - устройство; прибор

to assure - обеспечивать, гарантировать

to assume - предполагать

useful - полезный

demand - потребность

a wide range of - широкий ряд

vital - важный, существенный

objective - цель

profitability - прибыльность

to be at the core of - занимать ключевые положения

at the forefront - на переднем плане

to push the limits of … capability - расширять возможности

sophisticated - сверхсложный

to be likely - вероятно

opportunity - возможность

impossible - невозможный

skill - мастерство

to be concerned with - быть связанным с …

ЗАДАНИЯ К ТЕКСТУ:

1. Прочтите текст и скажите, какими факторами определяется значимость роли инженера механика в производстве.

2. Опираясь на информацию текста, перечислите сферы деятельности инженера-механика.

3. Ответьте на вопросы:

1. Do mechanical engineers have professional options? 2. Where do the graduates work? 3. How many areas do they usually specialize in? 4. What do mechanical engineers concentrate on? 5. May they head operations departments? 6. What do mechanical engineers often combine? 7. What careers may graduates choose? 8. What opportunities have mechanical engineers? 9. What industries can they work? 10. What are mechanical engineers vital for? 11. What are they concerned with? 12. What is the core of the plants? 13. Is each plant different from the next?

Тексты автотранспортной тематики Classification of Automobiles and Tractors

The AUTOMOBILE (car or truck) is a self-propelled (motor) vehicle intended for transporting goods and/or people and for carrying out special tasks.

AS TO THE PURPOSE, motor vehicles are divided into transport vehicles, special-purpose vehicles, and competition vehicles.

Transport vehicles are classed in several types:

(a) cas - motor vehicles intended for carrying small groups of people (up to eight in number);

(b) buses – passenger service vehicles designed for carrying large groups of people (more than eight in number);

(c) trucks – motor vehicles intended for carrying various cargos.

According to cargo (load-carrying) capacity, trucks are in turn divided into the following classes: pick-up trucks (up to 0,5 t), light trucks (from 1 to 2 t), medium tracks (from 2 to 5 t), heavy trucks (from 5 to 15 t), and overweight tracks (more than to 15 t)

Trucks used to carry loose and sticky goods are equipped with tipping bodies and are referred to as dump trucks.

Special-purpose vehicles, as their name implies, are intended for special work and are equipped accordingly. This group includes truck cranes, tank trucks, seed-filler trucks, etc. These are modifications of standard transport vehicle models.

Competition vehicles are cars specially designed for racing.

AS TO THE TYPE OF CHASSIS, motor vehicles may be either framed or frameless.

Framed vehicles have a support structure, called frame, to which all the component parts of the vehicle are attached.

Frameless (unit-construction) vehicles have no frame, and all their component parts are attached directly to the vehicles body. The body in this case is referred to as unitized.

AS TO THE PRIME MOVER, automobiles may be powered by carburettor engines, diesel engines, or electric motors.

Carburettor engines operate mainly on gasoline (petrol), diesel engines run on diesel fuel, and electric motors are supplied from storage batteries. Accordingly, automobiles are divided into gasoline-powered, diesel-powered, and battery-powered types.

The TRACTOR is a wheeled or tracked self-propelled vehicle used as a power means for moving agricultural, road building, and other machines equipped with special tools, and also for towing trailers. The tractor engine can be used as a prime mover for active (moving) tools or stationary farm machinery through the intermediary of the power takeoff (PTO) shaft or belt pulley.

The uses of the tractor in agriculture are many, also so different types of tractor are needed to do different types of farm work.

AS TO THE PURPOSE, modern farm tractors are classed in three groups: general purpose (land utility) tractors, universal-row-crop (row-crop-utility) tractors, and special-purpose tractors.

Special-purpose tractors are modifications of standard land or row-crop utility tractor models and are used for definite jobs (e.g. in vineyards, cotton fields) or for various jobs under certain conditions (e.g., on marshy soils, hillsides). Thus, special tractors used to mechanize the cultivation of cotton have a single front (steerable) wheel, swamp tractors are equipped with-wide tracks enabling then to operate on marshy soils, and hillsides tractors are designed to work on hillsides tractors are designed to work on hillsides sloping at up to 16

AS TO DESIGN OF THE RUNNING GEAR, tractors are divided into crawler (track-laying) and wheeled types.

Crawler tractors are distinguished by a large ground contact area and therefore have a good track adhesion; they crush and compact the soil insignificantly. Such tractors show a high cross-country power and are capable of developing a high pull.

Wheeled tractors are more versatile and can be used for both field and transport work, but their traction is lower than that of crawler tractors.