Lesson 1. Metals

Task 1. What kinds of metal do you know?

Task 2. How many metals can you name in English?

Task 3. Read the text and complete the table:

metal	use
gold
silver
copper…

One basis of classification of the elements groups them into metals and non-metals. It is with the metals that we shall concern ourselves, considering the group as a whole. It is now 2,000 years since Julius Caesar was stabbed in a small auditorium known as Pompeii's Curia and his body cremated in the Roman Forum. Since that time, many changes have taken place. Yet, in a sense, many things have remained the same. Steel is still the basic material of armaments, although, it is not used in the manufacture of shields and short swords. Gold, silver, and copper are, as 2,000 years ago, the coinage metals. Bronze is still used for objects in­tended to resist the corrosive action of the atmosphere, but now it has many competitors.

Knowledge of the metals, of course, has increased, greatly since Caesar's day. Yet, the average citizen might have difficulty in naming more than twice as many metals as a Roman could. The Roman world knew, at least, copper, lead, gold, silver, tin, iron, mercury, and zinc (in a copper alloy). To this list, the twentieth-century's man in the street might add aluminum, magnesium, nickel, chromium, cobalt, tungsten, molybdenum, ura­nium, and one or two others. If he happened to be interested in aeronautics, he might add titanium. Almost certainly, he would be unable to name more than a third of the known metals.

The first metals which were used by primitive man were those that are found free in nature to a comparatively large extent. These are gold, silver, and copper. Tin entered the metal picture when someone discovered, probably accidentally, that if it was mixed with copper the resulting substance was harder. So there came into being the alloy that we call bronze, a material which was so important in the ancient world that its name is given to one of the cultural stages in human development. The Bronze Age began in Egypt around 3,000 before our era and in Europe some 500 or 1,000 years later.

Since almost no iron exists free in nature, it undoubtedly came into general use somewhat later than those just mentioned. However, the Egyptians and Assyrians made some use of iron a number of centuries before our era. As soon as methods were developed for separating iron from its ores in reasonably large quantities and at fairly low cost, it ceased to be classed as a precious material and began its career as the world's most valuable metal from the standpoint of actual use.

It is only since the time a man had learnt how to obtain and use metals and their alloys, he has been able to adapt his environment to his needs and desires. The present age is, in fact, the Age of Metals and it is important that we should have some acquaintance with these useful substances. In the ancient times, gold, silver, copper, tin, iron, lead and mercury were known as "The Seven Metals".

One other metal, zinc, has also been known in its role as one of the constituents of the alloy brass. Almost no metals other than these seven or eight were known until the eighteenth century and many that we use today, not until the nineteenth.

Metals are mostly solids at ordinary temperature and have comparatively high melting points with the exception of mercury. They are for the most part good conductors of heat and electricity, and silver is the best in these respects. They can be drawn into fine wires and hammered into thin sheets, characteristics that are called ductility and malleability, respectively. An ounce of gold can be drawn into a wire almost 50 miles long or hammered into a sheet that has an area of between 175 and 200 square feet.

From the point of tonnage produced and used, iron is the world's most common metal, followed in turn by copper, zinc, lead and aluminium.

Task 4. Find in the text equivalents to the following words and expressions:

класифікація елементів, озброєння, щит, пересічний громадянин, мідний сплав, кінцева речовина, відокремлення заліза від руди, дорогоцінний метал, знайомство, давні часи, твердий при звичайній температурі, за виключенням ртуті, провідники тепла та електроенергії, тонкі дроти, ковкість

Task 5. Translate the following words and word combinations into Ukrainian:

to take place, manufacture, to resist, corrosive action, to increase, at least, copper alloy, to be interested in, to a comparatively large extent, to discover, to mix, development, use of iron, separating iron from ore, quantity, low cost, valuable metal, to obtain, constituent, solids, conductor, to draw, fine wires, to hammer, thin sheets

Task 6. Read and memorize the names of the following metals and alloys:

copper, lead, gold, silver, tin, iron, mercury, zinc, aluminum, magnesium, nickel, chromium, cobalt, tungsten, molybdenum, ura­nium, titanium, bronze, brass

Task 7. Translate the following groups of words:

compare – comparison – comparative – comparatively,

conduct – conductor – conduction - conductive – conductivity,

produce – product – production – productivity – productiveness,

class – classify – classification,

separate – separator – separation.

Task 8. Translate the following sentences into English:

1. Сталь залишається основним матеріалом для виготовлення озброєння.

2. Золото, срібло та мідь – метали для виготовлення монет.

3. Бронза використовується для виготовлення предметів, що стійкі до корозії.

4. Золото та срібло знаходяться в природі у вільному стані в порівняно великій кількості, а залізо майже не існує в природі у вільному стані.

5. Цинк є однією з складових латуні.

6. Коли були розроблені методи виділення заліза з руди, воно стало цінним матеріалом.

Task 9. Answer the following questions:

1. What is the basic classification of the elements?

2. What metals were known in Roman world?

3. What were the first metals used by primitive man?

4. When did tin enter the metal picture?

5. Which name is given to one of the cultural stages in human development?

6. Does iron exist free in nature?

7. When did iron begin its career as the world’s most valuable metal?

8. Are metals solids or liquids?

9. What metal is the world’s most common metal?

Task 10. Memorize the following words and word combinations:

1.	acquaintance	знайомство
2.	to adapt	прилаштовуватись
3.	aeronautics	аеронавтика
4.	armament	озброєння
5.	brass	латунь
6.	to cease	зупиняти, закінчувати
7.	coinage	виробництво монет
8.	conductor	провідник
9.	corrosive	корозійний
10.	to discover	виявляти, розкривати, з’ясовувати
11.	ductility	ковкість, в’язкість
12.	fine wire	тонкі дроти
13.	hard	твердий
14.	iron	залізо
15.	lead	свинець
16.	malleability	ковкість
17.	melting point	точка кипіння
18.	mercury	ртуть
19.	non-metals	неметали
20.	precious material	дорогоцінний матеріал
21.	to remain	залишати(ся)
22.	separating	відокремлення
23.	shield	щит
24.	solid	тверде тіло, твердий
25.	standpoint	точка зору
26.	to stab	наносити удар, поранити
27.	substance	субстанція, речовина
28.	tin	олово
29.	tungsten	вольфрам
30.	undoubtedly	безумовно