The Oldest Railway In Russia
The St.Petersburg–Moscow mainline is considered to be the oldest and the most outstanding railway in Russia.
In the thirties of the 19th century much was spoken about the necessity of its construction and various projects were proposed by Pravdin, Safonov, Muravjov, Abaza, but all of them were rejected.
In June 1839, the professors of the Moscow Engineering Institute P.P.Melnikov and N.O. Kraft were sent to the USA for the purpose of studying experience gained by the Americans in constructing and operating the railways. Melnikov's report about the results of their trip laid down the basis of the future railway project.
According to this project «chugunka» was planned as a double-track line, 664 km long, with the 5 feet gauge (now the standard), steam powered. The speed of passenger and freight trains was supposed to be 34.4 km/h and 16 km/h respectively.
The construction began in 1843 and lasted 8 years. From the very beginning the builders faced many hardships because of severe climatic and difficult geological conditions. Hundreds of kilometers of track were laid down through forests and marshes, many rivers were crossed. It should be noted that the line is virtually straight and level. 185 bridges and 19 viaducts were built to make the line as straight as possible. There is a legend that the route of the railway was chosen by the tsar Nikolay I, who took the map and the ruler, drew a straight line between the two cities on the map and ordered this line to be the route of the railway. But the fact is that the construction of the line was preceded by long and thorough surveying work.
The railway was officially opened for public traffic on November 1, 1851. The speed of the first trains was 40 km/h but two years later it was increased up to 60 km/h. It was the world's record in the speed of passenger trains.
Exercise 8. Translate the text from Russian into English in written form.
Начало строительства железных дорог в России.
Строительство железных дорог в России началось во второй половине 18 века. Первые вагонеточные пути были проложены на Урале. Как рельсы, так и шпалы были сделаны из дерева. Уголь перевозили в деревянных тележках, которые назывались «собаками», потому что скрип несмазанных колёс был похож на визг собаки. Следует упомянуть, что тележки приводились в движение водяным колесом, в то время как в Европе основной движущей силой был ручной труд.
Русские изобретатели А.С. Ярцев, отец и сын Фроловы, сыграли важную роль в истории строительства железных дорог. Ярцев предложил заменить деревянные рельсы чугунными и в 1788 году построил первую «чугунку» в Петрозаводске. 30 лет спустя другая железная дорога с чугунными рельсами была проложена в Алтайских горах инженером Фроловым. Её длина была 2 км. Железная дорога приводилась в движение лошадьми.
Следующий этап в истории железнодорожного транспорта в России начался с изобретения парового двигателя. Он был изобретён И.И. Ползуновым, а отец и сын Черепановы построили первый паровоз. Первый паровоз был испытан в Нижнем Тагиле. Л. Гумилёвский писал в своей книге «Русские инженеры»: «Нижнетагильскую железную дорогу, сооружённую русскими мастерами, из русских материалов, по проекту русских изобретателей следует считать первой русской железной дорогой».
LISTENING AND SPEAKING
Exersice 1. Before you watch the video read the information below about the Bluebell Railway and answer the questions.
a) How many people work on the Bluebell Railway?
b) Why don't they gel any money?
c) How much does dinner on the train cost?
d) Where does the railway go ш?
e) How much is a single ticket?
Exercise 2. Watch the whole video and tick the correct answers.
1) Ian Wright is a □ Maths teacher.
□ Science teacher.
2) Ian gets up early □ at weekends.
□ late at weekends.
3) Steam engines are □ difficult to drive
□ easy tо drive
4) Over □ 2,000 passengers travel on the railway every year
□ 250, 000 passengers travel on the railway every year
5) Ian □ thinks that steam trains are beautiful
□ doesn't think that steam trains are beautiful
Exercise 3. Complete the text. Than watch and check.
Ian Wright is a school___________. .He teaches Science at a school in Sussex in the south of England. He teaches _______ days a week, and he __________his job. But in his _________ time, Ian has another job. He's a _______driver.
Exercise 4. Continue to watch and write in the times.
At weekends ... .
Ian Wright gets up at …… .
The journey to the station takes ……minute
He arrives at the station at …..
Exercise 5. Do the following tasks.
a) Complete Michael's questions. Than watch and check.
Michael: How _____ are the engines, Ian?
Ian: Very old. This one is 120 years old.
Michael: How______________ it cost to mend a engine like this?
Ian: Thousands of pounds.
Michael: Where _________ the _________ come from?
Ian: From the passengers.
Michael: How _____________it take?
Ian: About ten years.
b) Continue to watch and complete Ian's answers only.
Michael:__________________________________________ ?
Ian: Yes, it is. It's called Baxter. It's a tank _____ .
Michael: ______________________________ ?
Ian: ____________________________________ .
Michael: _______________________________ ?
Ian: No, it travels at about _____ per hour.
Michael: __________________________ ?
Ian: No, it isn't. It's very ______. It takes a _______time to learn.
c) Can you remember Michael's questions? Watch and check.
Exercise 6. There are three mistakes in the text. Watch and correct them.
Over 250,000 passengers travel on the Bluebell Railway every year. They go from Sheffield Park Station to Homed Keynes and back again. That's about forty kilometres. The journey there and back lakes two hours. The tickets cost £3 for a single and £5 for a return
Exercise 7. Why does Ian like driving old trains? Look at these words. Which words does Ian use? Than watch and check.
power noise fast smell lovely beautiful difficult romantic
Exercise 8. Tell about old trains. Give answer in 5-6 sentences.
Do you like old trains? Why/Why not?
Exercise 9. Fill in the gaps in the text using the verbs in the box. Remember to use the correct form of the verb.
-
teach drive travel like
be love have do
Ian Wright_______Science in a school in Sussex. He _______his job, but in his free time he_______another job. He_______a train driver. He_______steam engines on the Bluebell Railway in Sussex. The steam engines_______very old and they do not_______very fast, but Ian_______driving them.
LANGUAGE SPOT.
Exercise 1. Pay attention to prepositions (in italic). Match the beginnings of the sentences with their endings.
1) Because of bad weather… |
a) due to careless driving. |
2) He ran across the street… |
b) the Metro station with you. |
3) Everything went… |
c) on account of low clouds. |
4) The accident has happened… |
d) in order to catch the bus. |
5) No planes took off on that day… |
e) according to the plan. |
6) In addition to the usual methods of computation… |
f) the passenger service in the city was improved. |
7) I will go as far as… |
g) the train was not late. |
8) By means of telephone… |
h) they used computers. |
9) Is there a bus stop… |
i) the number of accidents went down. |
10) Owing to the establishment of the new trolleybus route… |
j) people communicate with each other at great distance. |
11) Thanks to the new system of regulations… |
k) the match was postponed for a week. |
12) In spite of the dense fog… |
l) in front of your house? |
Exercise 2. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate prepositions. Consult the box.
according to [4] as far as [2] because of [2] by means of [3] due to in addition to [2] in front of in order to [3] on account of owing to in spite of [3] |
1) ___ the information received by us the ship will arrive on the 10th of April.
2) I go by bus ___ the Library and then walk a few blocks to my office.
3) ___ his help we finished our work early.
4) Taking off the plane was delayed ___ a heavy rain.
5) The dispatcher can communicate with the loco driver over long distances ___ a radio.
6) The new equipment was used ___ test the vibration of the engine.
7) ___ the trouble in the engine there appeared another in the transmission.
8) The work is going on ___ the schedule.
9) He was late ___ heavy traffic.
10) The Metro station is ___ my house.
11) ___ the new project, the railway will be extended ___ the seaport.
12) ___ win in the competition with air transport, the efficiency and quality of freight and passenger services must be improved.
13) The train departure had not been delayed ___ the accident.
14) ___ this device we can carry out more operations in shorter time.
15) ___ the problem with the car, we enjoyed the journey very much.
16) The engine didn't operate well ___ bad fuel.
17) ___ to sails the boat was also supplied with a motor.
18) No traffic was allowed ___ the accident.
19) In big ports ships are loaded and unloaded ___ powerful cranes.
20) ___ the traffic lights ahead, the car continued moving at the same speed.
21) It is necessary to build good roads ___ promote the rapid development of this region.
22) D.I. Mendeleyev arranged chemical elements ___ their atomic weights.
Exercise 3. Open the brackets using the verbs in the required tense form and translate the sentences from English into Russian.
1) Many people [to be – Past Indefinite Active] afraid of the railways when they first [to appear – Past Indefinite Active].
2) The movement of trains was stopped on that section of the line because the workers [to replace – Past Continuous Active] the sleepers.
3) Several newspapers [to report – Present Perfect Active] that the Russian and Finnish governments [to discuss – Present Continuous Active] a project for the reconstruction of the Helsinki - St.Petersburg railroad known in Finland as the Eastern Railway.
4) There [to be – Past Indefinite Active] a car by the side of the road. It had been broken down and the driver [to try – Past Continuous Active] to repair it.
5) Nowadays crossties are made of wood, concrete, steel, cast-iron;
in some countries experiments [to go on – Present Continuous Active] with plastic sleepers.
6) He [to spend – Present Indefinite Active] all his spare time driving his new car.
7) I [to take – Present Perfect Active] somebody else’s suitcase by mistake.
8) Turn off the gas. Don’t you see the kettle [to boil – Present Continuous Active]?
Exercise 4. Past Indefinite or Present Perfect? Put the verbs into the correct tense forms.
1) I [to lose] my passport last month, and nobody to find it yet.
2) Two years [to pass] since he left.
3) They [to move] to Washington several years ago.
4) The engineer [to show] his foreign friends the bridge in the building of which he to take part in 1980.
5) He [not/ to decide] yet what to do.
6) We [to know] each other since childhood.
7) The journalists [to ask] me many questions at the yesterday’s interview.
8) When … you [to arrive] in Prague? – I [to arrive] here last September. So I [to live] in this city for three months.
9) Are you still studying or … you already [to find] a job?
10) I [to rush] to the platform and [to get] on the train.
11) The coffee I [ to buy] last week is very good but very expensive.
12) We [to learn] a lot of words and grammatical rules lately.
13) All my money [to steal] on the way to the airport yesterday and I couldn’t fly anywhere.
14) Mail just [to deliver] by the helicopter
15) …you ever [to visit] other countries? – Yes, I to be to France and Spain.
16) Today I [to invite] to give a talk on the radio.
17) Don’t worry! The equipment already [to pack].
18) We first to come to this town more than twenty years ago. Everything [to change] in the town since that time.
19) The nearest way to the station [to show] to them an hour ago, but they [not/ to arrive] yet.
20) She [to ask] the clerk if all the trains arrive on time here.
Exercise 5. Read the text putting the verbs in brackets into the correct form of Past Indefinite Active or Past Indefinite Passive.