C. New aircraft takes off for a greener but noisier future

Ben Webster, transport correspondent

(from the Times June 15, 2007)

Nowadays targets for reducing aircraft noise will have to be sacrificed to halve the climate change emission of a new generation of airliners.

The budget airline easyJet unveiled a model of what it described as an "eco-jet", which would use open rotor engines invented in response to the oil crisis of the 1970s. Manufacturers abandoned the design in the 1980s because the oil price fell and fuel efficiency became less important. But now they are going to come back as the company hope that these engines will generate 50 per cent less CO2 than those used on its current aircraft. The engines would be much more efficient than existing ones, but also noisier because they would have no outer shell around the rotating blades.

Rolls-Royce is among seven manufacturers working on open rotor engines, which are double the diameter of existing engines and produce the same amount of thrust with half the fuel. The eco-jet would also be designed o fly more slowly to save fuel, adding five to ten minutes to most journeys within Europe.

Andy Harrison, chief executive of easyJet, said: "There is a trade-off between noise and carbon dioxide emissions. We think reducing CO2 should be the priority."

The aviation industry has agreed a target with the European Commission to reduce noise from new aircraft by 50% by 2020.

Mr. Harrison said that the new jet would not be able to meet this target, but could achieve a 25 per cent reduction in the noise perceived on the ground by attaching the engines at the rear of the aircraft and using the tailfin to direct the noise upwards. The lightweight structure and open-rotor engines are based on technologies that are being developed by manufacturers. The wings of the eco-jet are swept forward rather than back in order to reduce drag.

Budget airliners have been under fire recently from environmental groups and politicians for their contribution to global warming. But according to figures from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, airlines contribute only two percent of global carbon emissions. Nevertheless aviation is the fastest growing source of emissions and has no credible alternative source of fuel. So it is important that the aviation industry looks at ways to significantly reduce its impact on climate change. But unless this includes massive cuts in the anticipated growth in air travel, it is unlikely to be achieved.

1. What are the advantages and drawbacks of the new eco-Jet plane?

2. Which features of its construction are responsible for the unusual characteristics of this model?

3. Is eco-Jet likely to be put into service in the nearest future?

 

XVII. Role-play

Student A: You are an ecologist. Your opinion is that the mankind should do anything to prevent global warming. Try to convince the representatives of Airtravel to buy eco-Jets.

Student B: You are a representative of Airtravel. Your task is to decide if eco-Jets are suitable for your company.

Student C: You are the designer of eco-Jet. Try to convince everybody that your plane is ecologically friendly, reliable and beautiful.

Student D: You are a client of Airtravel, just a common passenger. Say what you think of this model and its features.

 

 

XVIII. Work in groups. Students of Group A read text 3D. Imagine you are the team of German researches which has just developed an ‘acoustic cloak.’ Tell the students of Group B about your research.

Group B: do not read the text! You are journalists working for GEO magazine. Ask students A as many questions as you can and write a short article about their invention.

D. Diverting Sound

German scientists produce a silence never known before – with an “acoustic cloak.”

 

However much we may wish it, nothing can make noisy neighbours or barking dogs simply disappear. Nevertheless, a new invention does make it possible to deflect disturbing sound waves such that the noise seems not to exist at all.

The principle of this “sound diverter” is similar to the recently developed “invisibility cloak” that uses so-called meta-materials to redirect light beams around and behind an object. When such deflected light waves hit the eye, observers do not see the object between themselves and the background as they usually can, but only the background. Thus, the object seemingly disappears.

In the same way, it now seems that it might be possible in the future to make the noise from the people living next door simply flow around their peace-loving neighbour. Or the redirect the clatter of a freight train away from a village. Of course, in both these hypothetical cases, the noise does not actually go away: it is merely rerouted.

Scientists from Karlruhe Institute of Technology, Germany, have so far succeeded in redirecting sound waves only a level surface – literally around a coin. It will take a while before this ‘acoustic cloak’ can function in large spaces, as ‘real’ noise spreads out in three dimensions. Moreover, test have only been carried out only on a small part of the entire frequency spectrum – from about 20 to 20,000 hertz – that is audible to the human ear.

 

Unit 4. Safety Engineering

 

Words to remember:

 

safety - безопасность responsible - ответственный injury - повреждение variety - разнообразие insurance - страхование  to employ - нанимать to assist - помогать duty - долг, обязанность plant - завод to develop - разрабатывать broad - широкий procedure - методика to record - записывать, регистрировать to point out - указывать  hazardous - рискованный to suggest - предлагать layout - оборудование, расположение инструментов to draw up - разрабатывать maintenance - ремонт habit - привычка be in charge of - быть ответственным entire - весь, целый eventually - в конце концов executive - исполнительный

advancement - продвижение to depend on - зависеть от experience - опыт to investigate - расследовать accident - происшествие, несчастный случай emergency - критическое положение, крайняя необходимость precaution - мера предосторожности to convince - убеждать measure - мера in addition to - помимо, кроме area - область, площадь management - управление law - закон psychology - психология to solve - решать loss - потеря property - имущество damage - ущерб to eliminate - исключать to store - хранить, накапливать construction - строительство

 

I. Match the words to their definitions:

 

1) safety 2) injury 3) procedure 4) duty 5) plant 6) measure 7) management 8) executive 9) emergency 10) responsible

a) a senior manager in a business or other organization b) an unexpected situation involving danger c) the fact that smth is harmless to do or use d) physical damage done to a person or to a part of their body f) to be in charge of smth at work or some other situations g) a way of doing smth, especially the correct or usual way h) the control and operation of a business or organization i) a legal or moral obligation j) an action that is intended to achieve or deal with smth k) a factory that produces power or processes smth

II. Find the synonyms:

 

1) to employ 2) to assist 3) plant 4) broad 5) hazardous 6) entire 7) eventually 8) measure 9) to be in charge of 10) to suggest

a) risky b) finally c) to offer d) step f) to help g) to be responsible for h) to hire i) factory j) wide k) whole

 

III. Find the antonyms:

 

safety to employ broad entire advancement to convince variety responsible loss to store

to spend gain careless danger regress narrow to talk out scarcity partial to dismiss

 

IV. Make all possible collocations:

 

1) to be responsible for 2) safety 3) insurance 4) to assist 5) to suggest 6) entire 7) to eliminate 8) manufacturing 9) to point out 10) to investigate

a) company b) data c) engineer d) accident f) equipment g) programme h) risk i) collegue j) procedure k) change

 

V. Fill in the table:

 

Verb	Personal noun
employ
	indicator
assist
	creator
investigate
develop
manage
	executive
advice
regulate

 

VI. Read out the text and put it into Russian.

Safety Engineer At Work

 

Safety engineers are responsible for keeping people free from danger, risk or injury in the workplace. Safety engineers work for a wide variety of industrial, insurance and commercial companies. Others are employed by government agencies or safety organizations. Still others teach in colleges and universities or work as independent consultants.

Safety engineers often have other titles, such as director of safety, safety manager, or safety coordinator. Sometimes technicians assist them. The duties of safety engineers vary depending on where they work. Engineers employed in large manufacturing plants often develop broad safety programmes. They study the buildings, equipment, procedures and records of accidents in their plant and point out safety hazards. They may suggest ways to fix unsafe structures or recommend changes in the layout of the plant. Sometimes they draw up plans for the regular maintenance of machinery or teach safe work habits to managers and workers.

In large manufacturing companies, for example, safety engineers can become managers in charge of safety for a large department, an entire plant, or a group of plants. In an insurance company, safety engineers can be advanced to department head, branch manager, and eventually executive. Their advancement depends on education, experience and the industry. Some start their own consulting firms.

Safety engineers spend much of their time reviewing and inspecting on-site safety conditions and investigating accidents. They also have an office in which they analyze data and write reports. They may have to do some traveling to worksites, conferences, and seminars.

Safety engineers generally work nine-to-five. In many cases, longer hours are necessary. Manufacturing plants may require some shift work. Sometimes safety engineers have to answer unexpected emergency calls. There may be some danger involved in their work, but safety precautions minimize danger.

Safety engineers often meet with clients, workers, and managers. They must be able to convince these people of the need for safety measures. In addition to knowledge of the engineering problems involved in keeping work areas and other public places free from hazards, safety engineers need to have a good knowledge of management methods, safety laws, and industrial psychology. They should be good at solving professional problems.

Safety engineers develop safety regulations to minimize losses due to injuries and property damage. They try to eliminate unsafe practices and conditions in industrial plants, mines, and stores, as well as on construction sites and throughout transportation systems.

 

VII. Answer the questions:

1. What are safety engineers responsible for? 2. Where do they usually work? 3. Could you describe the duties of safety engineers at work? 4. Is it easy to be advanced in their careers for safety engineers? What does it depend on? 5. How can workers be kept from danger, risk or injury in the workplace? 6. What are the working conditions for safety engineers? 7. If you are going to become a safety engineer, why did you choose this profession?

 

VIII. Retell the text.

 

IX. Make up the dialogues for the following situations, using the words given below.

a) A safety engineer is discussing his duties with his boss at a new job.

safety - безопасность equipment - оборудование to identify - определять to monitor - наблюдать to review - просматривать to obtain - получать to determine - определять

requirement - требование to interpret - объяснять  testing - испытание to conduct - проводить to provide - обеспечивать guidance - управление to install - устанавливать

 

b) Two safety engineers are speaking about the causes of an accident at the plant.

to investigate - расследовать to cause - вызывать to determine - определять report - отчет findings - данные to check - проверять machinery - оборудование

to apply - применять responsibility - ответственность to ensure - гарантировать hospital - больница sick leave - больничный лист treatment - лечение

 

X. You work at The Human Resources Department at a plant. You try to summarize the problems of education and looking for a job for safety engineers for the annual report.

Try to make use of the following expressions:

 

the problem is raised in connection with to turn attention to a new problem to be confronted with the difficulties the problem of… is very complex it is worth pointing out that it would be interesting to mention that

one may point to numerous examples, where the figures afford a typical picture of it may be suggested that it is evident that

 

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