Before you start
1. Answer the following question:
How does the industrial revolution influence human life?
Reading
2. Read the text and find answers to the questions below:
1. When does the history of mechanical engineering begin?
2. What were the earliest types of machines?
3. What are the four stages of the development of worldindustry and what are they characterized by?
4. What period of industrial revolution occurs at present?
Four Industrial Revolutions
The history of mechanical engineering goes back to the timewhen the man first tried to make machines. We can call the earlierrollers, levers and pulleys, for example, the work of mechanicalengineering.
Mechanical engineering as we understand it today starts from the first Industrial Revolution.
People have labeled as "revolutions" three episodes in theindustrial history of the world and now we are entering the fourth.
The first industrial revolution took place in England between1760 an 1840. Metal became the main material of the engineerinstead of wood, and steam gave man great reserves of power. Thispower could drive not only railway engines and ships but also themachines which built them.
In the second revolution, from 1880 to 1920, electricity was thetechnical driving force. It provided power for factories that was easierand cheaper to control than steam. It was marked also by the growingimportance of science-based industries such as chemicals andelectrical goods, and the use of scientifically-designed productionmethods such as semi-automatic assembly lines.
The third industrial revolution coincided with the advent ofautomation in its inflexible form. In this revolution, the mainfeatures were advances in the control of manufacturing processes sothat things could be made more cheaply, with greater precision and(often) with fewer people. And this change which occurred aroundthe middle of this century also featured a new machine that was togreatly influence the world, the electronic computer.
The fourth industrial revolution will be characterized byautomated machines that are versatile and programmable and canmake different things according to different sets of computerinstructions. It will be characterized by flexible, automatedmachinery, the most interesting example of which are robots.
Vocabulary
3. Match the words from the text with the meanings (1-7) below:
a. label 1.affect
b. provide 2. make a product
c. advance 3.capable of being bent
d. flexible 4.to supply with what is needed.
e. influence 5. to name
f. manufacture 6.modern
Writing and Speaking
1. Sum up the information from the text and fill in the table:
| № | Year | Main features |
| 1. | ||
2. Work with a partner. Discuss with your partner the questionsbelow:
1. Does an industrial revolution make always good for people?
2. What do you think will be expected results of using robots?
UNIT VIII
Ready for lift off
Before you start
1. Would you like to be an astronaut?
Reading
2. Read the text and check if the following statements are true (T) orfalse (F). For the statement you marked false, find the correctinformation.
1. In 1958 NASA experts believed that astronauts didn’t need specialflying experience.
2. Eisenhower insisted that pilots’ skills were essential
3. There were fewer tests for astronauts in the 1950s.
4. The sort of people NASA selects often get anxious and depressed inspace.
5. Women astronauts are usually more stable and committed thanmen.
6. Astronaut should be able to communicate well.
THE RIGHT STUFF
1. When NASANational Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration) was about to pick its first ever astronauts for ProjectMercury in 1958, it decided that the sort of men most likely tosurvive a journey into space were those involved in dangerousactivities like scuba diving, tightrope walking and mountainclimbing. But President Dwight Eisenhower disagreed and demandedthat the first astronaut should be fully-trained male pilots. Once thepilots were chosen to qualify as astronauts, they then went through anumber of gruelling physical and psychological tests.
2. Today it’s a different story. Women can be astronauts too.Trainee astronauts still have rigorous physical tests, but instead of a week of psychological tests, they have one and a half day. However, the questionnaires and interviews are much more searching. This is very important because, according to Dr Holland, a psychologist at NASA: “We know people can get depressed and anxious when theyare in space so we won’t select people – men or women – with theright personality traits to make a good astronaut. We’re not lookingfor “super” people. But they need to be emotionally stable, honest
and highly committed”. In addition to this they need to be extremelysociable. “If you meet an astronaut at a party, you will notice howgood they are at a social interaction”, says British born astronautHelen Sharman. “They get on with everyone”.
3. Are you cut out to be an astronaut? Answer Y (yes) if you agree orN (no) if you disagree with these statements
1. I find it difficult to be on time.
2. I often try new and foreign foods.
3. I often find it hard to make up my mind.
4. I don’t like to do things differently from how I normally do them.
5. I usually prefer to do things alone.
6. I enjoy sorting out problems and playing with ideas.
7. I often feel inferior to others.
8. Poetry has little or no effect on me.
9. I try to be humble.
10. Being honest is a bad way of doing business.
11. Play is more important than work.
12. I’m efficient and effective at my work.
13. I often worry that things might go wrong.
14. I like to be where the action is.
15. I’m often afraid to say what I think.
Scoring
- For questions 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14 and 15 score one point ifyou disagree and 0 if you agree.
- For the other questions score one point if you are agree and 0 if youdisagree.
If your total points are:
0-3 Forget it. You’ll oversleep, forget to do your tasks, start arguingwith the others and put the spacecraft in danger.
4-12 Borderline. You’ve got a lot of the right qualities but are yousure you like working in a team?
13-15 Send for that application form immediately. You are a strong,reliable, pleasant and hard working team player.
UNIT IX