23 Воспроизведите диалог.

JIM: First let's locate the main cities on the route. Here we are. San Diego is in the southernmost part of the State of California. It is close to Mexico. San Diego is in the west. Los Angeles is north of San Diego. The northernmost of the three cities is San Francisco. San Francisco is on the ocean. It is about 379 miles north of Los Angeles.

SAM: There are two roads. Highway 101 and Alternate 101. When we get to Capistano Beach we'll get onto Alternate 101 as there is less traffic on the highway.

JIM: But if we stay on 101 we'll find ourselves in downtown Los Angeles. We're not going there during rush hour. So in the Los Angeles area we'll follow the signs that say Alternate 101 North to San Francisco.

SAM: O.K. After we get around Los Angeles we continue on 101 to San Louis Obispo. It's about halfway between San Diego and San Francisco. There we can stop for the night in a moderately priced motel.

JIM: Great. Which road shall we go in the morning?

SAM: According to the map it is Highway 1. It runs along the coast. The scenery should be fabulous. We'll stop and take pictures.

JIM: The highway will take us directly to San Francisco. But there we'll need still another map – a city map to find our way around.

SAM: The journey looks fantastic on the map.

JIM: Sure, it does.

24 Прочитайте и переведите текст 3с, обращая внимание на значение следующих слов:

omnibus (old word) – bus

brakes – the part of a bus, car, etc. that makes the wheels stop

tilt – lean to one side

self-propelled – that is moved by a motor

vehicles – road transport: cars, buses, lorries, etc.

restric­tions – laws to prevent certain things

relaxed – made (them) less strict

fuel – substance burned to produce power

trailer – an extra section of a car, train, etc. attached to the back of a vehicle and pulled along

can­teen – restaurant for the staff

grandstands – seats for spectators, viewers

do away with – remove, discontinue, get rid of

flat fare – one price for travelling any distance

simulates – copies and gives a similar effect

cab – where the driver sits (bus, lorry)

ached – was hurt

threaten – say or indicate that you will do sth unpleasant, violent (if you don't get what you want)

Text 3C

ON THE BUSES

Omnibuses were introduced to London in 1829. These carriages were pulled by horses and, because there were no bus-stops, they stopped wherever you wanted them to – and on either side of the road. At first they only carried about twelve people who all sat inside; but later, seats were put on the roof and the first double-decker buses were created. The stairs to reach the top deck and the top deck itself were not protected from the wind and the rain, so passengers must have had an uncomfortable ride sitting back to back on long wooden benches. To make it worse, the wheels were made of wood and metal with very primitive brakes.

The basic design remained the same for many years – even when buses became motorized – the only improvement being the introduction of solid rubber wheels. The faults in the design became obvious and caused a public scandal when, in 1906, a long-distance bus lost control going downhill – ten people were swept off the top deck by overhanging trees and killed.

However, buses were still not allowed to have roofs because it was thought that the extra weight would make them top-heavy. It is still forbidden for passengers to stand as this might raise the centre of gravity and special machines are used to test how far a loaded bus can tilt before it falls on its side.

Horse-drawn vehicles were still in use many years after the invention of the motor. This was because the government restrictions on "self-propelled" vehicles were very strict. A man with a red flag had to walk in front of any vehicle with a motor. This was of course very slow and not practical for public transport. In 1896 another Act of Parliament relaxed these regula­tions and allowed motor vehicles to go as fast as horse-drawn vehicles. To celebrate this, the few people who actually owned cars drove down to Brighton at the new speed. This London-to-Brighton rally of fine old veteran cars still takes place each November.

The new motor buses were made in the same styles as the old horse buses. This meant no windscreen in front of the driver as it was thought to be dangerous. The original oil-lamp lighting (which the conductor had to pay for) was replaced by acetylene gas lighting; and for a short time during the Second World War buses even used gas as a fuel because of a petrol shortage. This involved pulling a trailer for the water tank and burning anthracite to make the gas; this made the buses so heavy that they could not go up hills.

Before London Transport was formed in 1933 to organize all the buses as well as underground trains, there were many private bus companies. Each company had a different color for its buses which also helped the public to know where it was going. Nowadays all London buses are red ex­cept the single-decker green buses which go out into the country. These "Green-line" buses were taken out of service and used as canteens and am­bulances during the war. Afterwards in 1951 many London buses were sold abroad – especially in Yougoslavia.

Since then buses have been modernized in many ways. The main im­provement is that they are lower so they have roofs (although it is impossi­ble for a tall man to stand upstairs). The old open double-deckers are still sometimes used as a tourist attraction, for cutting the branches of high trees or even as grandstands at horse-races.

The old colored tickets which the conductors had to clip have been replaced by a roll of paper on a machine which prints the fare. In many cases conductor has been done away with completely and the driver does both jobs. The first "pay-as-you-enter" buses were tried as far back as 1946. There are both single and double-decker buses and the ones which only make short journeys have started charging a single flat fare however far you go. Unfortunately the automatic machines in these new buses were espe­cially designed for the old sixpenny piece which had almost gone out of cir­culation.

There is a very strict training course for all new drivers. Before they are allowed to drive through London they have to be able to control a bus on a dangerous track which simulates all the worst conditions; these include water-spraying to create artificial rain and an oily surface to test his ability to control a skid. At the moment it is still very unusual for women to drive buses. A woman was employed as a bus driver in London for the first time only in June 1974. Mrs Rosamund Viner became London Transport's first woman bus driver after she passed her bus driver's test. She put down her conductor's ticket machine and climbed into the cab of a No. 65 double-decker. Rosamund wanted to be a bus driver when she was only eight years old. And now she is one. Her only problem at the beginning was the heavy steering wheel – sometimes she ached all over. On her first day her passengers reported that she drove the bus carefully – "A wonderful driver". Only one man driver at the garage canteen made an unpleasant remark about women drivers and Women's Lib. London bus service needs drivers badly. Recently, a fully qualified woman was offered the job of a bus driver in the Midlands – and all the men drivers threatened to go out on strike! The London bus itself may have progressed – but certain attitudes seem to take a lot longer.