Men and Women in Engineering

Women are more likely than men to choose engineering because they are good at math and science, while men are more likely to say they entered the field because they thought it was interesting and offered good career opportunities and security. These are among the differences between the sexes discovered in a survey the Society of Women Engineers conducted.

Members of 22 engineering societies were surveyed in 1992 to determine gender differences in the profession. More than half (51 percent) of the men respondents said they felt a part of management, compared to only 32 percent of the women. Men also say they have fewer layers of authority between themselves and the top. Persisting across matched age groups, these differences were not a function of the older average age of the men surveyed.

Men are much more likely than women to believe that people in their company are treated equitably; women are three times as likely as men to feel that there are consistent inequities. Fewer than 20 percent of the men said they were aware of incidents where people have been “overlooked” for advancement, while 58 percent of women knew of such incidents affecting women and 28 percent were aware of incidents affecting minorities.

 

Причастные обороты

Упражнение 39 (I.) Переведите следующие предложения:

1. Electroplating was invented in Russia, its inventor being Russian scientist Yacobi.

2. The bridge having been repaired, we were able to cross the river.

3. Electrons moving through a wire, electrical energy is generated.

4. The vapour pressure of a liquid becoming equal to atmospheric pressure, the liquid boils.

5. Water has a higher specific heat than most of other common substances, the specific heat of iron being approximately one-ninth the heat of water.

6. Any moving object is able to do work, the quantity of kinetic energy depending on its mass and velocity.

7. The temperature of a wire being raised, the random motion of the electrons increases.

8. The current flow having been changed, the direction of the magnetic lines of force also changed.

9. The substance being a dielectric, no current can flow through it.

10. Gases are light substances, the lightest of them being hydrogen.

Упражнение 40 (II). Переведите текст; обратите внимание на способы перевода независимого причастного оборота:

ELECTRIC CURRENT GENERATION

The term “electric current” is used to mean electricity which flows through a conductor, a direct current being a current which flows in one direction only. There are four principal ways by which a direct current can be generated, viz.

1) chemical action;

2) thermal or heat action, the word thermal, coming from the Greek word “therme” which means “heat”;

3) light action;

4) magnetic action.

To set up a current by chemical action, an alkali or an acid is used to react with a metal. Such an apparatus is called an electric cell, a group of two or more cells connected together forming a battery.

To produce a current by thermal action, heat is applied to two unlike metals soldered together in two places, the apparatus of this kind being called a thermoelectric couple or thermocouple, for short. We get the prefix “thermo” from “thermal”, the origin of the last word having been mentioned above. The word “couple” in this term means that two unlike metals or metals and alloys are joined together so that they can be properly heated in the point of the joint.

The reason the thermocouple generates a current is due to the fact that the heat tears the electrons off of the negative inetal at the junction, just as the chemical action of an electric cell tears the electrons off of the zinc electrode. It is these electrons that form the current flowing through the circuit.

To develop a current by light action, light is made to fall on a special kind of a cell, the apparatus to be used in such a case being called a photoelectric cell.

Finally, in order to generate a current, a wire is made to cut, that is, to pass through a magnetic field, this latter being set up either by a permanent magnet or an electromagnet. Where the wire cuts through the magnetic field of a permanent magnet, the apparatus is called a magneto-electric machine or just “magneto”, for short. The wire cutting through the magnetic field of an electromagnet, the apparatus is called a dynamo electric machine, or “dynamo”, for short.

In general there are a number of ways by which electric currents can be generated by magnetic action, all of them being based on the same principle, that of cutting the magnetic lines of force with a conductor.

Упражнение 41 (III). Упражнения на все случаи употребления форм, оканчивающихся на –ing:

A

1. Having overcome the economic backwardness inherited from the tsarist Russia, the Soviet Union increased its output of means of production 83-fold, as compared to 1913.

2. The sufferings of people under German fascists were terrible.

3. In America about one million hectares of valuable farm land have been confiscated for military testing ground and camps and every day brings fresh reports of peasant farms being converted to the same purpose and of whole villages being torn down to make room for military installations.

4. The growing economic difficulties are prompting the average American to lift his voice for peace and international cooperation.

5. The disintegration of radioactive substances is a spontaneous process, no method accelerating or retarding it being known.

6. Carbon dioxide may be obtained by heating some carbonates to a high temperature.

7. In chemical changes occurring in substances atoms continue to be indivisible.

8. Water vapour can be condensed into a liquid by taking away heat or by decreasing its volume.

9. Sometimes the cooling without the increasing of pressure results in liquefying the gas.

10. While teaching mathematics Tsiolkovsky continued his self-education studying astronomy, biology, and chemistry.

11. Stanyukovich distinguished himself as a gifted writer, most of his novels being connected with the sea.

B

1. The Soviet national budget is an important medium for raising living standards of the people.

2. Peaceful cooperation among nations espousing different social system is both possible and desirable.

3. Taking advantage of the suddenness of their treacherous attack, the German-fascists strove to crush our army by powerful blows at the beginning of the war.

4. The lifting of the blockade of Leningrad was a great success of both our land and naval forces.

5. The Japanese yoke having been removed by the Soviet Army, the people of North Korea saw their way to independence, democracy, and progress.

6. The temperature having been raised, the vapour began forming again.

7. Having added an alkaline solution, we got a dark precipitate at the bottom of the vessel.

8. Having been evaporated, the solution of the mother liquid of calcium chloride gave white precipitate.

5. When testing the properties of the gas evolved while heating mercuric oxide, we find that it is pure oxygen.

10. The air being shut off the fire, combustion stops.

11. Shipbuilding and fishing industries are widely developed in this part of the country.

C

1.The USSR consistently continues its policy for the safe-guarding of security and for the promoting of peace and friendship among all nations.

2. By safeguarding respect for their sovereignty, by opposing foreign interference in the conduct of their affairs, by refusing to allow the establishing of military bases and any form of occupation by foreign troops, the peoples can guarantee their security and protection of peace.

3. Atlantic block is being torn by deep contradictions.

4. French soldiers demonstrated against being sent to North Africa for suppressing the liberation movement there.

5. At the age of 20 Tsiolkovsky began teaching; a profession at which he continued working for 40 years.

6. The splitting of atom liberates great quantities of energy.

7. Atomic energy is the foundation of all processes occurring in our universe.

8. Yellow sand having been used in manufacture, the glass had a yellowish color.

9. The atomic explosion is based on the splitting of the atom.

10. Two bodies being placed in contact with each other, the temperature of the hot body falls while the temperature of the cold body rises.

11. The current in a circuit is decreased when the resistance is increased, other factors remaining the same.

Упражнение 42 (IV). Переведите текст; выделите все формы, оканчивающиеся на –ing и определите их функции:

ELASTICITY

Pulling a rubber band increases its length. However, if you cease pulling it and release one of its ends, the rubber band will quickly return to its original shape and size.

Solids in greatly differing degrees resist being changed in shape, i.e. resist deformation. Some of them, like a rubber band or a steel spring, are called elastic because they return to their original size and shape after having been stretched or compressed. Others are known as elastic because they straighten after having been bent.

Gases and liquids are perfectly elastic. In spite of them having been compressed they return to their original volume after the removing of the applied force.

Air, for instance, is perfectly elastic. If it is compressed and then allowed to return to its original pressure and temperature, it returns exactly to its original volume.

We may define an elastic body as one tending to return to its original shape and size when the deforming force is removed. On the contrary, bodies that are not very elastic do not show the tendency of returning to their original form. Thus, elasticity is the tendency to return to the original condition after deformation.

Careful experiments made on various elastic materials show that there is a simple relationship existing between the acting force and the resistance force. This relationship must have a limit somewhere and the stretching cannot be increased indefinitely.

Elastic limit is the point beyond which one should not attempt deforming the body if it is to return to its original condition.

As we are stretching an elastic object such as a steel spring, for instance, there must come a time when the elastic limit is reached, and then the above-mentioned relationship will not hold any longer. However, stretching the steel spring repeatedly or leaving it stretched moderately has no practical effect upon it. Considering further the example of the rubber band, one finds that the more the rubber band is pulled, the longer it will become until the elastic limit is reached, at last. It is known, however, that rubber can stretch a relatively long distance before reaching the elastic limit.

Упражнение 43 (I). Переведите следующие предложения:

1. The force of gravitational attraction exerted on a body by the earth known as the weight of the body is one of the most important forces in everyday life.

2. The total quantity of pure radium obtained is quite insignificant.

3. Intermolecular space exists even in a gas which, subjected to exceedingly high pressure, ceases to contract its volume.

4. When used as an amplifier the radio-tube allows a small voltage to control a strong flow of current from a battery.

5. If a body is totally immersed in a fluid, the upthrust of the fluid on the body is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced.

6. When the water has reached the boiling point, the temperature ceases to rise, and the heat supplied is used in changing the water into steam.

7. A beaker filled with cold water and held over a flame of burning hydrogen will condense the steam to droplets of water.

8. Glass and porcelain neither lose nor gain in weight when heated.

9. Any open mass of water if left unreplenished will evaporate little by little.

10. The modern war is an allround test of the material and spiritual strength of every nation involved.

11. Under ordinary pressure a given liquid boils at a fixed temperature.

12. Nitre gives off oxygen only when raised to a brightred heat.

13. The efficiency of a machine is determined by the radio of the useful work performed to the total work expended.

14. Radioisotopes produced by our atomic industry are widely used in medicine and agriculture.

15. Capacity is the property of two electrical conductors, when separated by insulation, to receive and retain electricity.

16. Fermentation used for producing alcohol from naturally occurring substances is one of the oldest processes known to man.

17. Alloys in general consist of two or more metals melted together and then allowed to solidify.

18. The properties of matter are better learned and understood when correlated with its structure in terms of molecules, atoms, and still smaller particles.

19. When ozone decomposes, the amount of energy liberated is equivalent to that absorbed in its formation.

20. Some liquids, and to a much smaller extent some solids, if placed in contact, tend to diffuse one into the other.

Упражнение 44 (II). Переведите текст; найдите в тексте формы причастия II; определите их функции и способы перевода:

BORAX

This salt, when crystallized from solution, combines with water forming a hydrate. It is made by adding calcium borate to sodium carbonate solution. It is a white crystalline salt. It is added to the glass, used for enameling and glazing, to make it more fusible and easier to spread in a thin layer. Since it contains but a small proportion of the metallic oxide, it combines with other metallic oxides if fused with them. For this reason, the powdered salt is sometimes sprinkled on tarnished metallic surfaces being soldered or brazed. The heat of the blowpipe melts the borax and the latter removes the oxide and permits perfect running of the solder over the surface.

The borates thus formed are often colored and the colors afford a means of recognizing the metallic compound which produced them.

In chemical analyses a bead of borax, produced by fusion on a platinum wire, is heated with a particle of the unknown compound and its color then examined.

Инфинитив

Упражнение 45 (I). Определите функцию инфинитива в следующих предложениях и переведите их:

А

1. To assign a numerical value to the inertia of any given body, we choose as a standard some body whose inertia is arbitrary taken as unity.

2. Each organ of the living organism has its own work to do.

3. When cells which have similar functions become congregated together to form distinct anatomical structures, we call such structures organs.

4. Oxygen is extremely hard to liberate from a compound.

5. The disintegration of radioactive substances is known to be a spontaneous process.

6. We know the electric cell to consist of two plates of conducting material assembled together and immersed in an electrolyte.

7. Atomic energy is likely to become the main source of power-supply in the years to come. 8. Dilute solutions appear to obey laws exactly analogous to the laws of gases. 9. The difficulties to overcome in the manufacture of synthetic camphor seem to be great. 10. There was a time when lightning proved to be a dangerous problem to be solved. 11. Devices for changing a.c. into d.c. are needed to charge storage batteries. 12. The weather is unlikely to change for the better in the coming days. 13. I asked him to inform me about the results of the test.

 

B

 

1. If the field winding is in series with the armature, all of the current to be generated must pass though it. 2. With a small current there must be a greater number of turns of wire on the field magnets to produce a magnetic field of adequate strength. 3. Water to make up for evaporation and to aid in digestion is a most necessary part of our food. 4. Many substances unite with water to give compounds which are called hydrates. 5. An active element is very difficult to liberate from a compound. 6. A video-amplifier is expected to cover a very wide range of frequencies. 7. Temperature changes up to 200 C appear to have no effect on this substance. 8. The study of electricity seems to have begun about 1600 when the first book on experiments in electricity appeared. 9. We know the sun to be intensely hot. 10. It is unlikely for the oxygen to be easily liberated from this substance under such a temperature. 11. We know the storage batteries to contain chemicals generating electric current under certain conditions.

 

C

 

1. The Chinese appear to have been the first to use pieces of lodestones as compasses. 2. When two elementary substances combine, the process involves the union of the two kinds of atoms to form compound molecules. 3. The radio signal is too weak to be detected at this distance. 4. When the wire is connected in such a manner that the current can flow through it, the circuit is said to be closed. 5. We know all bodies to consist of atoms. 6. To tear away from the liquid the molecule which leaves it is to have a large amount of kinetic energy. 7. A non-ionized clean air is considered to be good insulator. 8. An important problem which is to be considered with regard to any engine is the question of its efficiency. 9. When iron and water are heated in a closed vessel, the hydrogen and the oxide of iron which are produced react with one another to give back water and iron. 10. The next step to be taken in this process involves the treatment of camphor with acetic acid. 11. This problem has to be solved as soon as possible. 12. Nakhirnov is known to have been one of the most talented Russian admirals. 13. Gallileo carried out a special experiment to prove that heavy objects fall not faster than light ones.

 

II. Переведите текст, обращая внимание на встречающиеся формы инфинитива и способы их перевода:

 

GRAVITY

 

The force of gravity is known to play an important part in many common phenomena of mechanics, as well as in everyday life.

We know the weight of a body to be nothing but the pull of gravity toward the earth. A body is said to weigh one kilogram if the mass of the earth exerts upon it a pull equal to one kilogram.

According to the universal Law of Gravitation, any two objects in the Universe are attracted to each other with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

The Law of Gravitation is universal, of course, but it is impossible to notice the force between two ordinary objects as the attraction between them is too small to be perceptible at all.

But with a body as large as the Earth or the Moon it becomes a different thing. It is this force that holds the planets in their circular orbits and due to this very force the first man-made earth satellite created by Soviet scientists began to circle around our Globe.

We know gravity to pull on every particle of a body so that its weight is actually distributed throughout the body. But a solid body seems to have one point at which it can be supported by a single upward force, this point is called the centre of gravity. In technique the centre of gravity is considered to be the location of the resultant of all gravitational pulls exerted on the body.

Now we are to consider the question of stability, interrelated with gravity.

A book lying on a table is expected to keep its position without any difficulty, as one knows it to be in a state of equilibrium. However, to make it stand on end is not so easy at all. In the same way, a pencil will lie on the table without any tendency to tip over. With some difficulty one can even make it stand on its unsharpened end, but it will not stand at all upon its sharp end.

All common objects differ in their tendency to keep a given position, their stability depending on their shape, weight, and position, and everyday experience shows us that heavy objects are harder to tip over than light ones. The stability of an object is measured by the amount of work to be required to make it take a new position. The lower the centre of gravity, the greater the stability of an object; that is why, to increase the stability of a motor-car, its designer tries to keep the centre of gravity as low as possible.