1. One of the earliest attempts to propel a vehicle by mechanicalpower was suggested by Isaac Newton. But the first self-propelledvehicle was constructed by the French military engineer Cugnot in1763. He built a steam-driven engine which had three wheels, carriedtwo passengers and ran at maximum speed of four miles. Thecarriage was a great achievement but it was far from perfect andextremely inefficient. The supply of steam lasted only 15 minutes andthe carnage had to stop every 100 yards to make more steam.
2. In 1825 a steam engine was built in Great Britain. Thevehicle carried 18 passengers and covered 8 miles in 45 minutes.However, the progress of motor cars met with great opposition inGreat Britain. Further development of the motor car lagged becauseof the restrictions resulting from legislative acts. The most famous ofthese acts was the Red Flag Act of 1865 according to which the speedof the steam-driven vehicles was limited to 4 miles per hour and aman with a red flag had to walk in front of it.
3. In Russia there were cities where motor cars were outlawedaltogether. When the editor of the local newspaper in the city ofUralsk bought a car, the governor issued these instructions to thepolice: "When the vehicle appears in the streets, it is to be stoppedand escorted to the police station, where its driver is to be
prosecuted.”
4. From 1860 to 1900 was a period of the application ofgasoline engines tomotor cars in many countries. The first to perfectgasoline engine was N. Otto who introduced the four-stroke cycle ofoperation. By that time motor cars got a standard shape andappearance. After World War I it became possible to achieve greaterreliability of motor cars, brakes became more efficient. Constantefforts were made to standardize common components. Multi-cylinder engines came into use; most commonly used are four-cylinder engines. Like most other great human achievements, themotor car is not the product of any single inventor. Gradually thedevelopment of vehicles driven by internal combustion engine - cars,as they had come to be known, led to the abolition of earlierrestrictions. Huge capital began to flow into the automobile industry.
Vocabulary
3. Match the words from the text with the meanings (1-7) below:
1. governor a) a recurring time in which an event occursrepeatedly
2. achievement b) someone who creates something new
3. cycle c) water in the form of vapor
4. effort d) a motorized device for transporting goods orpassengers
5. inventor e) an official appointed to exercise politicalauthority
6. steam f) voluntary exertion of physical and mentalenergy
7. vehicle g) something succeeded by work or skill
Speaking
4. Arrange the following sentences according to the logic of the text:
1. Automobile industry began to develop with a help of huge capital.
2. The four-stroke cycle was introduced into operation.
3. Motorcars became more efficient and their components werestandardized.
4. The speed of the first steam-driven engine was high.
UNIT XI
Harley Davidson
Before you start
1. What associations do you have when you hear the name HarleyDavidson?
Vocabulary
2. Choose the correct meaning (a, b or c) of the words in italics:
1. recover a) resume b) restore c) revive
2. space a) room b) distance c) area
3. excitement a) trouble b) agitation c) adventure
4. rebel a) inventor b) criminal c) mutineer
Reading
3. Read the text and answer the question: Why is Harley Davidsonmotorbike considered to be a sign of a rebel?
Harley Davidson
1. Motorbikes are not just a means of getting from A to B. Ifyou ride a motorbike, it says something about you: you'reindependent, wild, a rebel; and no one is more of a rebel thansomeone who rides a Harley Davidson. Perhaps that explains whystars like Patrick Swayze and Micky Rourke would never be seen onanything else, and why pop star Billy Idol crashed one.
2. In 1903, when Bill Harley and Arthur and Walter Davidsonmade their first motorcycle in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, the newmachines were more or less what their name suggested bicycles withengines. But by the 1930s, they were beginning to look like the solidmachines we know now. By this time the look of a motorbike wasimportant to designers and customers, and Harley Davidson paid
special attention to the finished appearance of their bikes. But theywere fast and efficient too. Before the 1970s, nearly all US policebikes were Harley-Davidsons. Then the departments switched toKawasaki, as Japanese companies - with their better-built andcheaper machines - took over. But the American company recovered, improved its designs, and now again most US police departments use
Harley-Davidsons.
3. One reason that the police needed the best, fastest motorbikesthey could find was to catch that other famous group of bike-riders,the Hell's Angels. Our image of motorbikes as the sign of a rebelgoes back to the 1950s. It was then that the first motorbike gangs,including the Hell's Angels, grew up, as young people looked for
excitement. The huge open spaces and long highways of Americaseemed made for these gangs, who cruised in formation from town totown, causing terror wherever they went. Their bad reputation wasnot always justified but it quite often was. In 1969 the film EasyRider celebrated the biker lifestyle, and after that everyone wanted a'chopper' - motorbikes altered to make them look different from those
of ordinary people. In 1990 a subdivision was formed in Berlin. We'llbe hearing a lot more of the heavy, rumbling engines of HarleyDavidson from now on.
Speaking
4. Answer the following questions:
1. What qualities do you pretend to have if you ride a motorbikeHarley Davidson?
2. Why do the US police departments still prefer to use HarleyDavidson bikes?
3. How did Harley Davidson motorbikes influence the young people?
5. Discuss with your partner:
1. Would you like to own a motorbike?
2. Why do you think some people prefer driving motorbikes ratherthan cars? Can you give any reasons for that?
UNIT XII