II. Make up your own sentences with the vocabulary

III. Answer the questions

1. How is sand called?

2. How does sand appear?

3. How do some rock fragments undergo?

4. How may each particle look like?

5. What may be noticed if you look at sand under a magnifying glass?

6. What has splintered off more recently?

7. How is each grain of salt composed of?

8. What happens if there are iron compounds in the sand?

9. What is nearly pure gypsum?

IV. Complete the sentences

1. Sand is the result of ….

2. The fragments that are too hard or ….

3. … would be picked up by floods.

4. Many of the gravel pebbles were cracked and ….

5. If you look at sand under a magnifying glass, you will ….

6. … have either traveled a long distance.

7. … is composed of only one mineral.

8. If you pick up a handful of sand ….

9. … it may have interesting colors.

10. Some sand is so firm and hard packed that it ….

V. Agree or disagree with the following statements

1. Sand is a collection of gravel.

2. Each particle of sand may be from a tenth to a hundredth of an inch in diameter.

3. If you look at sand under a magnifying glass, you will not notice that there can be quite a collection of different particles.

4. Usually each grain of sand is composed of several mineral.

5. If there are iron compounds in the sand, it may have interesting colors.

 

VI. Write down all the properties that sand has

 

VII. Retell the text “SAND”

***

I. Read and translate the text

COPPER

Man discovered copper before any other metal except gold. Before the dawn of history, it was used by Stone Age men. Copper is found in a fairy pure stat, in lumps and grains of free metal. Probably men first picked up the lumps because they were pretty. Then they made the great discovery that these strange red stones could be beaten into any shape. This was an easier method of making weapons and knives than chipping away at flints.

Much later, other men discovered that they could melt the red stones and form the softened mass into cups and bowls. Then they started to mine for copper and to make all sorts of implements and utensils out of it.

For thousand of years, copper remained the only workable metal known, for gold was not only too scarce to be considered but also too soft to be practical. Copper tools were probably used in building the great Egyptian pyramids.

Few people ever see pure copper or would recognize it if they did. It is a shining, silvery substance delicately tinted with pink that turns a deeper red when exposed to the air. The copper we generally see has a dull reddish-brown surface. This is an oxide formed when he metal combines with the oxygen of the air. Most of the world’s copper exists in combination with other substances from which it must be separated before it can be used. Often it is found combined with sulphur in what we call a sulphide ore. This sulphide ore may be combined with such substances as iron and arsenic and this makes the separation of the copper difficult.

Copper has many other virtues besides that of outlasting most other metals. It is tough, yet soft enough to be pulled and pounded and twisted into any shape. It is an excellent conductor of heat as well as of electricity. It can be carved or etched, but is not easily broken. And it can be combined with other metals to make such alloys as bronze and brass.

Vocabulary

to discover - открывать

dawn - заря

lump - кусок

grain - зерно

to pick up - подбирать

pretty - красивый

discovery - открытие

to beat - бить

weapon - оружие

to chip away flint - откалывать

to melt - плавиться

implement - инструмент

utensil - утварь

to remain - оставаться

scarce – редкий

to consider- полагать, рассматривать

tool - орудие

to recognize - узнавать

to tint - оттенять

dull - тусклый

to exist - существовать

to separate - отделять

virtue - достоинство

to pound – толочь, отбивать

twist - изгибать

to carve - вырезать

to etch - гравировать

brass - латунь

II. Make up your own sentences with the vocabulary

III. Answer the questions

1. What metal was discovered earlier: gold or copper?

2. When was copper used?

3. Where is copper found?

4. What discovery did the people make?

5. What did people discover later?

6. For how long did copper remain the only workable metal known?

7. Where were copper tools probably used?

8. What has a dull reddish-brown surface?

9. Where does most of the world’s copper exist?

10. What may be combined with iron?

11. What virtues does copper have?

IV. Complete the sentences

1. … it was used by Stone Age men.

2. Then they made the great discovery that ….

3. Then they started to mine for copper and ….

4. … in building the great Egyptian pyramids.

5..It is a shining, silvery substance delicately tinted with pink that …

6. Most of the world’s copper exists in ….

7. This sulphide ore may be ….

8. … that of outlasting most other metals.

9. It is an excellent conductor of heat as ….

10. … to make such alloys as bronze and brass.

V. Agree or disagree with the following statements

 

1. Copper was used by Stone Age men.

2. Probably men first picked up the lumps because they were pretty.

3. Then people made the great discovery that copper could not be beaten into any shape.

4. The copper we generally see has a dull reddish-brown surface.

VI. Write down all the properties that copper has

VII. Retell the text “COPPER”

UNIT 2

LEXICAL MATERIAL: MODERN BUILDING MATERIALS

I. Read and translate the text

Modern Building Materials (part A)

Some of the most important building materials are: timber, brick, stone, concrete, metal, plastics and glass.

Timber is provided by different kinds of trees. Timber used for building purposes is divided into two groups called softwoods and hardwoods. Timber is at present not so much used in building construction, as in railway engineering, in mining and in the chemical industry where it provides a number of valuable materials.

However, timber is still employed as a building material in the form of boards. For the interior of buildings plywood and veneer serve a number of products.

A brick is best described as a “building unit”. It may be made of clay by moulding and baking is kilns, of concrete, of mortar or of a composition of sawdust and other materials. There exists a variety of bricks for different purposes: ordinary, hollow or porous, lightweight, multicolor bricks for decorative purposes. The hand of the average man is large enough to take a brick and he is able to handle more than 500 bricks in an eight-hour working day.

The brick may be securely handed by placing the hand over the surface of the upper part of a brick and by placing the thumb centrally down the face of the brick with the first joints of the fingers on the opposite face. It is better to protect the thumb and the fingers with leather pads, which also prevent the skin from rough bricks.

Sometimes natural stones such as marble, granite, basalt, limestone and sandstone are used for the construction of dams and foundations. Marble, granite, and sandstone are widely used for decorative purposes as well, especially with the public buildings.

Natural stone is used for foundations and for the construction of dams. The main varieties of building stone are granite, basalt, marble, limestone and sandstone.

Aluminium, principally in the form of various alloys is highly valued for its durability and especially for its light weight, while brass is frequently used for decorative purposes in facing. Steel finds its use in corrugated sheets for roofing, for gird e rs, frames, etc.

 

Vocabulary

timber – строительный лес

brick - кирпич

stone - камень

railway - железнодорожный

valuable - ценный

to employ - применять

interior - интерьер

veneer - шпон

kiln – печь для обжига

mortar - раствор

sawdust – опилки

purpose – цель

hollow – полый

porous – пористый

average – средний

to handle - справляться, управляться, успевать

surface – поверхность

to protect – защищать

marble – мрамор

limestone – известняк

sandstone – песчаник

dam – дамба

foundations – фундамент, основа

alloy – сплав

decorative – декоративный

II. Answer the questions

1. What is provided by different kinds of trees?

2. Where can timber be used for?

3. Where is timber still employed as a building material?

4. What is best described as a “building unit”?

5. How many bricks can the average man handle in an eight-hour working day?

6. What materials are used for the construction of dams and foundations?

7. What materials are widely used for decorative purposes?

8. What are the main varieties of building stone?

9. Why is aluminium highly valued?

10. Where can steel be used?