Active Words and Word-Combinations. conscious сознающий 

 

conscious               сознающий 

advantage               преимущество

expertise                знания и опыт

particularly            частично

masonry                 каменная кладка

survey                    обзор

permit                     позволять

frontier                   приграничный район

eventually              (зд.) к окончанию

reach                      достигать

bold                        смелый, отвесный

regardless               несмотря на

obstacles                препятствия

marsh                     болото

trench                     ров, траншея

longitudinal            протяженный

hallmark                 отличительный признак

employ                   привлекать

adjacent                  смежный, примыкающий

embankment           набережная

mortar                     строительный раствор

inch                        дюйм

at least                    по меньшей мере

coarse                     крупный (о песке), низкопробный

varied                      варьировалась

flank                       сторона, бок; be flanked – быть ограниченным

curb                        (зд.) бордюрный камень

lane                         (зд.) полоса движения; узкая дорога, колея

freight                     фрахт, груз, грузовой

enormous                огромный

amount                    количество

vehicle                    транспортное средство

chariot                     колесница

cart                          повозка, телега

rural                        сельский

stage coach             почтовая карета, дилижанс

cargo                       груз

haul                         перевозить

gravel                     гравий

1. Match English and Russian equivalents:

 

a) survey, cart, advantage, masonry, gravel, curb, hallmark, frontier, chariot, obstacles, at least, particularly, trench, cargo, marsh, freight.

 

b) преимущество, колесница, груз, фрахт, отличительный признак, повозка, бордюрный камень, траншея, болото, гравий, по меньшей мере, препятствия, приграничный район, обзор, каменная кладка, частично.

 

2. Answer the following questions:

 

a) Who were the greatest systematic builders of the ancient world?

b) Which people did the Romans draw their expertise from?

c) What was concrete made from?

d) How many miles of road had the Romans built by the peak of the empire?

e) What was the hallmark of Roman road engineering?

f) Describe the four layers of the Roman road.

g) When was the Appian Way adopted?

h) Into which two classes was the public transport of the Roman Empire divided?

i) What was the speed of travel in the Roman Empire?

 

Divide the text into semantic parts. Title them.

4. Give the situations, in which the following words and expressions are used:

 

Conscious, the peak of the empire, traversed, regardless, eastward, ground level, embankment, stone slabs, passenger version, the total thickness, employing material, small gravel and coarse sand, set the standard, ultimate development, speed of travel.

 

5. Retell the text according to the following plan:

 

a) The reasons, why the Romans built good road systems.

b) Peoples, from whom the Romans drew their expertise.

c)  The time of the beginning of Roman Road System construction.

d) The most famous of Roman military roads.

e)  The hallmark of Roman road engineering.

f)  The structure of Roman roads.

g) The Roman public transport.

h) The speed of Roman vehicles.

 

ROADS OF PERSIA AND BABYLON

 

The earliest long-distance road was a 1,500-mile route between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea. It came into some use about 3500 BC, but it was operated in an organized way only from about 1200 BC by the Assyrians, who used it to join Susa, near the Persian Gulf, to the Mediterranean ports of Smyrna (Izmir) and Ephesus. More a track than a constructed road, the route was duplicated between 550 and 486 BC by the great Persian kings Cyrus II and Darius I in their famous Royal Road. Like its predecessor, the Persian Royal Road began at Susa, wound northwestward to Arbela, and thence proceeded westward through Nineveh to Harran, a major road junction and caravan centre. The main road then continued to twin termini at Smyrna and Ephesus. The Greek historian Herodotus, writing in about 475 BC, put the time for the journey from Susa to Ephesus at 93 days, although royal riders traversed the route in 20 days.

In Babylon about 615 BC the Chaldeans connected the city's temples to the royal palaces with a major Processional Way, a road in which burned bricks and carefully shaped stones were laid in bituminous mortar.