The Promising Field of High-Pressure Research

Subjecting materials to high pressure greatly changes their properties. When compressed under more that 500.000 pounds per square inch ordinary liquids become solids. Gases become liquids. Some rocks stretch like rubber. Insulating materials begin to conduct electricity. Water freezes at room temperature into dense heavy cubes which explode violently when the pressure is suddenly released.

The most interesting discovery in connection with high-pressure research is the artificial conversion of graphite to diamonds.

The interior of the earth itself is a high-pressure laboratory. The pressure at the centre of the earth is estimated to be 3.000 kilobars.¹ Graphite subjected to the tremendous heat and pressure generated deep below the earth's surface turns to diamond in the course of thou­sands or, perhaps, millions of years. Today total output of synthetic diamonds in the world amounts to several tons annually.

Metals become increasingly conductive under high pressures. This has led some scientists to suggest that increasingly high pressures might cause some metals to become superconductive at room tempera­ture. Superconductivity, the complete absence of electrical resistance, has numerous potential scientific applications, but can now be ob­tained only at extremely low temperatures close to absolute zero.

II. Перепишите вопросы к тексту и письменно ответьте на них. Переведите вопросы и ответы на русский язык.

1. What influence has high pressure on:

a) water;

б) rocks;

в) insulating materials?

2. What is the pressure at the centre of the earth?

3. What is superconductivity?

BAPHAHT IV

I. Перепишите и письменно переведите текст.

Lasers Help Science and Industry

The achievements of scientists in designing lasers and develop­ing laser technology are common knowledge. Lasers cut, melt and weld metals, help doctors and biologists.

Spectral analysis in our time is one of the most effective meth­ods for determining the chemical composition of substances, the method which science and industry are demanding more and more. They need more accurate and faster methods of analysis of the rapid technological processes taking place in conditions inaccessible to man. Physicists have developed a method for using optical quantum gen­erators for spectral analysis.

The research done by scientists has shown that using the new method it is possible to increase considerably accuracy and speed of analysis and even to make it automatic.

With quantum generators it is possible to carry out analyses of substances in unusual conditions, in particular, in vessels, where there is either an extremely rarefied atmosphere, or high pressure.

It seems it will be possible to carry out analyses inside indus­trial apparatus, in particular, in smelting furnaces during the smelting of metals. The method developed makes the control of technological processes more rapid than ever.

One more problem is of great interest to scientists: combining the two biggest technological discoveries of the second half of the century-the laser and thermonuclear reaction-to produce a practically limitless source of energy.

II. Перепишите вопросы к тексту и письменно ответьте на них. Переведите вопросы и ответы на русский язык.

1. What operations with metals can lasers do?

2. What is one of the most effective methods for determining the chemical composition of substances?

3. What equipment is used for spectral analysis?

4. Why is using quantum generators for carrying out analyses in smelting furnaces better than other methods?

5. What can combining discoveries of the laser and thermonu­clear reaction give to people?

ВАРИАНТ V

I. Перепишите и письменно переведите текст.

Uses of Electricity

Electricity is the power that has made possible the engineering progress of today. Wherever we look around us, we can find this power serving us in some way.

When we use a switch and have our room instantly flooded with light, we seldom think of what is happening to make it possible.

Probably the most important use of electricity in the modern home is producing4ight.

The uses of electricity in the home do not end with lighting. There are more and more electric devices helping us in our home work.

But we should not forget that electricity is the most important source of energy in industry as well. A worker in a modern manufac­turing plant uses on the average in the machines which he operates over 10.000 kilovatthours of electrical energy a year. This means that he uses enough electrical energy to supply seven or eight modern homes during a year.

Automation, which is one of the main factors of technical pro­gress today, is impossible without electricity.

Our life can't be imagined without telephone, telegraph and radio communications. But it is also electricity that gives them life. In recent years electricity has made a great contribution to radio communication between the spaceships and also between the astronauts and the earth.

Little could be done in modern research laboratory without the aid of electricity. Nearly all of the measuring devices used in develop­ing nuclear power for the use of mankind are electrically operated.

II. Перепишите вопросы к тексту и письменно ответьте на них. Переведите вопросы и ответы на русский язык.

1. Why can we say that electricity has made possible the engi­neering progress of today?

2. Where is electricity used in the modern home?

3. How much electricity is used by a worker operating plant machines?

4. What means of communication cannot work without electricity?

5. What can be said about a modern research laboratory and electricity?

ТЕКСТЫ

ДЛЯ ДОПОЛНИТЕЛЬНОГО ЧТЕНИЯ

Прочитайте и устно передайте на русском языке содержание прочитанного текста.

The Seasons

December, January and February are the winter months. In win­ter the days are short and the nights are long. English people try to spend more time indoors because out of doors it's cold. In December the sun rises about eight o'clock a.m. and sets about four o'clock p.m. Eight hours of daylight! It's so little!

Spring brings with it new life. The sky is blue. It's warm, the days become longer.

The summer moths are June, July and August. The weather in Great Britain is usually warm in summer. It is sometimes hot, but it is not often very hot. When the temperature is over eighty degrees Fahr­enheit (80° F) English people say that it is hot. When the temperature is about seventy degrees Fahrenheit (70° F), they say that it is warm. In the south of Europe the summer is usually very hot. It is always hot: in the South of Spain and in North Africa.

Oxford

No town in England, and, perhaps, no town anywhere, contains within, so small a space so much good architecture, covering so wide a period of history. Oxford owns almost all the buildings of extraordinary variety and charm to the University and its colleges.

The foreigner who visits Oxford sometimes asks "But where is University?" It is not an easy question to answer. Our visitor is thinking of the universities in his home country. Compact, square, self-contained buildings easily identified for what they are. In this case there is no “University" in Oxford. The nearest we have to it is the fine series of buildings that reaches from the eastern end of Broad Street, down Cattle Street, to the High Street. This is indeed the heart of Oxford. Thus there is no a single building as "the University". There is group of buildings.

The "University of Oxford is basically a federation of colleges. Adistinctive feature of the collegiate system is that the colleges are self-governing corporate bodies. There are thirty-four colleges. In ad­dition to the colleges there are also five Permanent Private Halls which are, like the colleges, independent societies.

The Entrance Examination consists of special subject papers, at least, one general paper and, in some subjects, translation papers. The examinations take place in late November or early December.

Great People in London

London has been the home of many famous Englishmen. Some were born there. Some lived there all their lives. Others lived in Lon­don only for a short time but all gave something to the great city.

One of the first names of importance is that of Geoffrey Chau­cer, the poet. He lived most of his life in London. His most famous work is "The Canterbury Tales". Chaucer held official posts in Lon­don and is buried in Westminster Abbey.

William Shakespeare also lived in London. He had lived there for more than twenty years. He acted at the Globe Theatre and wrote his play's in London.

But London's famous men were not only writers. Sir Christo­pher Wren, the architect, spent most of his life in London. He de­signed many beautiful churches, including St. Paul's Cathedral. He also designed palaces and fine houses.

Music is represented by a very interesting figure. This is George Frederick Handel. He came to London from Hanover in 1710. After some success and some failure he at last became famous. Lice Chaucer and many other great artists. Handel is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Another famous London figure is one of England's greatest seamen, Admiral Lord Nelson. He has a very special memorial in Tra­falgar Square. The monument consists of a very tall column. It is called the Nelson Column. On top of it the figure of Nelson stands. Equally famous is the general who led the army at the battle of Water­loo in 1815. This was the Duke of Wellington. His house stands at Hyde Park Corner. Like Admiral Nelson, the Duke of Wellington is buried in St. Paul's Cathedral.