Ex. 18. Translate the following text into English.

Самарский государственный университет путей сообщения (СамГУПС) готовит специалистов для железных дорог и предприятий (businesses) железнодорожного транспорта. Наш вуз был основан в 1973 году как Куйбышевский институт инженеров железнодорожного транспорта. Первый набор составил 75 человек. В то время институт имел два факультета – эксплуатационный факультет и строительный факультет.

В 2007 году вузу был присвоен статус университета. СамГУПС выступил с инициативой создания университетского комплекса, который включает филиалы в Оренбурге, Орске, Рузаевке и Уфе, а также техникумы в Самаре, Оренбурге, Пензе, Саратове, Казани и других городах Поволжья.

Сейчас в институте обучается 10 тысяч студентов и работает свыше 700 преподавателей. СамГУПС имеет три института, три факультета, 37 кафедр. 16 кафедр являются выпускающими. 13 корпусов университета оснащены современным учебным и научным оборудованием. Студенты и преподаватели имеют доступ к современным информационным ресурсам через Интернет. СамГУПС имеет 45 компьютерных классов. Учебный полигон нашего вуза является лучшим среди железнодорожных университетов России.

Вы можете узнать об университете на сайте СамГУПС или из газет, которые освещают наиболее важные и интересные события студенческой жизни.

Руководство СамГУПС уделяет большое внимание международному сотрудничеству с ведущими зарубежными вузами, например, Германии, Великобритании, Польши, Швеции и других стран.

В университете есть четыре общежития для студентов, которые приезжают из других городов. На территории университетского городка находится большой спортивный комплекс с плавательным бассейном и фитнес-центрами. Многие студенты принимают активное участие в региональных и международных соревнованиях.

 

Text B

LEARNING AT

SAMARA STATE UNIVERSITY OF TRANSPORT

 

Ex. 1. Practice the reading of the words and phrases.

entrance, unified, length, lecture, lecturer, allow, area, laboratory, others, dozen, discuss, variety, major, study, mathematics, physics, mechanics, chemistry, economics, logistics, might, choice, together, exam, final, commission, subject, term, continue, senior, regularly, recruit, control, own, integral;

digital voice recorder, general engineering subjects, foreign language.

 

Ex. 2. Copy the following words and phrases and memorize their meanings.

1. aim – цель 2. to allow – позволять, разрешать 3. as well as – а также 4. to attend – посещать (занятия и т.п.) 5. to broaden – расширять broad (= wide) – широкий 6. to carry out – выполнять, осуществлять, проводить 7. to discuss – обсуждать discussion – обсуждение 8. to devote – посвящать 9. to divide (into) – делить (на) 10. length – длина, протяжённость 11. to link (= to connect) – соединять, связывать 12. major – крупный, важный; специальный предмет 13. to own – владеть, быть собственником; иметь own – свой, собственный 14. to provide (with) – снабжать, обеспечивать; предоставлять (услугу, информацию и т.п.) 15. to record – записывать 16. to recruit– нанимать на работу 17. skill – навык, умение skilled – квалифицированный 18. to vary – отличаться, различаться variety – ряд, множество 19. to use – использовать, применять useful – полезный

 

Ex. 3. Read the sentences and translate them.

1. In Spain, most of the railroads were built by foreign investors, although the Spanish government provided major subsidies.

2. Long-distance trains have a dining car or restaurant car to allow passengers to have a meal during the course of their journey.

3. The library is installing new equipment to broaden access to its huge database.

4. Containers can be divided into two categories: a large type used for transporting a load of up to 5-7 tons and a small type suitable for a load of about 1 tone in weight.

5. The Trans-Europe expresses are passenger trains linking major cities of Europe and running at high speeds.

6. The aim of modernizing the 567-km Ankara-Istanbul railway is to cut the journey time from 6h 30min to 3h 30min.

7. Arizona law limited train lengths to 14 passenger cars or 70 freight cars in the interests of safety (безопасность).

8. Flatcars can transport a wide variety of freight, including steel beams (балка, брус), timber, farm machinery, construction materials and equipment as well as many other large, heavyweight materials.

9. Smith was recruited as an electrical engineer on a six-month trial basis.

10. More than 1000 people attended the conference devoted to the problems of developing environmentally-friendly kinds of transport.

11. Skilled engine-drivers are needed to operate modern locomotives.

12. Trainspotting is recording the names and registration numbers of locomotives. It used to (раньше) be a popular hobby in Britain but is less common now.

13. For the first time, the idea of building the underground railway in Moscow was discussed before the revolution but the construction of the first line (from Sokolniki to Central Park) began only in 1932.

14. Russian Railways is the state- owned railway company. It owns 19,700 locomotives, 24,100 long-distance passenger carriages, 15,600 short-range passenger carriages and 624,900 goods wagons. A further 270,000 freight cars in Russia are privately owned.

15. The first plans for constructing a new railway line along the west coast of India were offered in 1880s, but they were not carried out because of financial and technical difficulties.

Ex. 4. Complete the sentences with a preposition from the box given below.

1. The aim ** reconstructing this railway is to increase the train speeds up to 240 kmh.

2. The Russian Railways company is divided ** 17 territorial railway operators.

3. Rails must be of such lengths that they can be carried ** the standard wagons.

4. Dallas, a major transportation hub (узел) in the south of the US is served ** six railroads.

5. In Spain, first-class train passengers are provided ** free newspapers and at-seat meals.

6. The Alaska government plans to construct a railroad, which will link the rail networks of the US, Canada and Russia via a 90 km rail tunnel ** the Bering Straits.

7. ** 1947, the Britain’s railways were owned by four private companies.

8. This booklet provides information ** the movement of trains all over the country.

9. The very first railways were used ** transporting coal.

10. Russia ranks second in the world ** the US in the length of the railway network.

 

about after before by for in into of under with

 

Ex. 5. Read the sentences, replacing italicized Russian words by their English equivalents.

1. The использование of container cars is very efficient because their loading/unloading осуществляется very quickly.

2. All railroads, except the very short ones, разделены на sections.

3. The whole incident был записан on an amateur video tape.

4. After days of обсуждения, the project of reconstructing the Helsinki-St.Petersburg railroad was approved by both Russian and Finnish sides.

5. Air-conditioning system in a railway car обеспечивает a constant supply (подача) of fresh air in hot weather and heating the saloon in cold weather.

6. In Europe, there are manytourist railway lines, which работают only at summer weekends and используют steam locomotives and old carriages.

7. There is a school for diesel train drivers in Derby, Britain. Railway workers who have already received some practical experience (опыт) on different railways посещают the school to improve their навыки.

8. The railway network связывает all the крупные towns in Britain, and via the Channel Tunnel, links Britain with France and Belgium.

9. Many new electronic devices были разработаны to обеспечить the safety of high-speed traffic.

10. Electrification of the line позволила a doubling of train weights to 6,000 tonnes.

 

Ex. 6. Guess the meaning of the words and phrases below.

• academic year • choice • Computer Science • digital voice recorder • engineering student • laboratory lessons • to make notes from lectures

• post-graduate course • professional communication • professional communication skills • railway engineer • senior students • to travel around the world • unified state examinations