The Brooklyn Bridge was built in the year 1883. It is still one of the most popular places of interest in New York.
The plan for the Brooklyn Bridge was made by a man named John Roebling. This was in the year 1867.
Roebling was a German. He emigrated to the United States when he was twenty-five. In 1867 Roebling was already quite famous. Years before he had invented the steel cable (трос). Using this steel cable he built several bridges, one at Niagara Falls (Ниагарский водопад) and a second across the Monogahela River at Pittsburgh. He was sure he could build this new bridge.
It was decided to give Roebling a chance. A company was organized. Roebling was head engineer. He began to work making the plans for the bridge. He sent his son Washington to Europe to study some new bridges there. Some experiments had been made with working in a large box under water. And then the accident happened. Roebling was working near the river. A boat struck the dock on which he was standing. Two weeks later he died. Before he died he asked that his son Washington should continue his work.
W. Roebling began to work with the same interest and energy as his father. The bridge was begun. There were many problems. According to the plans, there were to be two large towers (башни). One of these towers was to be on the Brooklyn side of the river and the other was to be on the I Manhattan side. From the towers hung (свешиваться) a system of steel cables. These steel cables were to hold (удерживать) the bridge.
Today engineers know how to do these things. They have had experience. They have special machines. But at that time no one knew exactly how to do this work. The Brooklyn Bridge was the first bridge of its kind in the world. They used the new box that Washington Roebling had studied in Europe. The box was made of wood and was about the size of a house. In this box men could work under water. Air was forced into the box and the water was forced out of it. It was very dangerous. No one understood the problems of this kind of work. Men became sick. There were many accidents. Roebling himself worked with the men in the box. He tried to encourage the men.
One day a worker went down into the box. He felt perfectly well. Within half an hour he began to feel strong pains (боль). Five minutes later he was dead. The same thing happened to other men. One day Roebling himself had a similar attack. He could not talk. He could not hear. He became paralysed. After a week or two he felt better. He went back again to work in the box. He had a second attack, more serious than the first. He could not work again. In feet he was unable to work again during the rest of his life. He remained a cripple (калека). Yet the work had to continue. And Washington Roebling continued to direct the construction of the bridge. His home was near the bridge. He used a telescope. He watched the work every day. His wife helped him. Each day she went to the bridge. She carried her husband's orders to the men. She worked with the men. At night she returned to her husband. She told him about the work of the day. In this way, year after year, the work continued.
In 1876 the first cable was placed from one tower to the other. In 1883 about fifteen years after it was first begun, the bridge was officially opened. Many important people, including the President of the US, took part in the ceremony. Washington Roebling watched the ceremony through his telescope. The bridge was one of the wonders of the nineteenth century. It is still today. There is more traffic on it today than ever before. The bridge remains very strong. It also remains a monument to the two men who built it, John Roebling and his son Washington.
1. Перепишите следующие предложения, вставляя данные в скобках существительные в единственном или множественном числе:
1) Ann’s father told some funny circus.... The funniest... was about a giant clown. (story, stories)
2) Many... live in an apartment house. Tom’s... lives on the fourth floor. (family, families)
3) Do you know the name of your...? The travellers will see many.... (country, countries)
4) Ben’s dog has five brown.... One little... has a flat nose. (puppy, puppies)
5) Small... laugh and play. Jack’s... has a nice toy. (baby, babies)
2. Замените существительные с предлогом of существительными в притяжательном падеже:
a meeting of students, the flat of my mother-in-law, the rays of the sun, a distance of two miles, the joys of life, the house of his parents, the theatres of Moscow, the children of my sister Mary, the rights of the women, the name of my friend.
3. Переведите следующие словосочетания па английский язык, употребляя притяжательный падеж:
письмо моего друга, рассказы этого писателя, библиотека института, дочь моей младшей сестры, младшая дочь моей сестры, стены этого старого дома, старые стены этого дома.
4. Образуйте степени сравнения следующих прилагательных и наречий с помощью суффиксов -er, -est:
short, cold, wide, early, big, near, late, fast, small, old, nice, young, large, kind, long, quick, easy.
5. Образуйте степени сравнения следующих прилагательных и наречий с помощью слов more, (the) most:
interesting, carefully, comfortable, progressive, efficient, clearly, beautiful, difficult, beautifully, regularly, prominent, brightly, especially, wonderful, realistic, remarkable, special, dependent, attentively, important.
6. Употребите прилагательные и наречия, данные в скобках, в нужной степени сравнения:
1) My brother is much... than myself. (young)
2) The opera theatre is one of... buildings in the city. (beautiful)
3) The sound grew... and.... (faint)
4) The party was not so... as I had expected. (funny)
5) I have no one... than you. (near)
6) What is the... news? (late)
7) Yesterday I came home... than usual. (late)
8) Ann sings far... than Nina. (well)
9) I like this picture... of all. (well)
7. Заполните пропуски притяжательными местоимениями, соответствующими личным местоимениям, данным в скобках:
1) (He)... composition is very interesting.
2) (We)... son goes to school.
3) (You)... sister is young.
4) (They)... knowledge of the subject is very poor.
5) (He)... name is John.
6) (I)... family lives in Kiev.
7) (She)... friends often visit her.
8. Употребите нужную форму личных местоимений:
1) I often see (they, them) in the bus.
2) She lives near (we, us).
3) (We, us) always walk to school together.
4) He teaches (we, us) English.
5) She sits near (I, me) during the lesson.
6) I always speak to (he, him) in English.
7) What is the matter with (he, him) today?
8) He explains the lesson to (we, us) each morning,
9) There are some letters here for you and (I, me).
10) I know (she, her) and her sister very well.
9. Употребите нужную форму притяжательных местоимений:
1) Would you like to see some of (her, hers) poems?
2) (Their, theirs) knowledge of the subject is not much superior to (our, ours).
3) You take care of (your, yours) things and I’ll take care of (my, mine).
4) All (our, ours) clothes were dirty, and (my, mine) especially so.
5) (Their, theirs) boat was faster than (our, ours).
6) I’m afraid they will take (your, yours) words against (her, hers).
7) (Their, theirs) home is pretty but (our, ours) is prettier.
10. Заполните пропуски указательными местоимениями this, that, these, those:
1) All... is very interesting. 2)... exercises are very easy. 3)... will do. 4)... chair is very comfortable. 5)... is my English book. 6) Try one of.... 7)... are the TV sets of the latest type. 8)... office at the end of the hall is the administration office. 9)... books are over there on the table.
11. Заполните пропуски глаголом to be, употребляя соответствующую форму настоящего времени:
1) He... a good student. 2) They... old friends. 3) I... a teacher. 4) John... absent
from class today. 5) The weather... good today. 6) The sky... clear. 7) We... both
students. 8) Mr. Smith... sick today. 9) She and I... cousins.
12. Напишите следующие предложения в вопросительной и отрицательной формах:
1) They are in Europe now. 2) She is a clever girl. 3) It is cold today. 4) He is in his office. 5) They are members of the country club. 6) Both sisters are tall. 7) John is angry with you. 8) She is a good tennis player. 9) The stamps are in my desk. 10) She is a good teacher. 11) I am her cousin.
13. Заполните пропуски глаголом to have, употребляя соответствующую форму настоящего времени:
1) She... one sister and two brothers. 2) We... a large library at school. 3) They... a new car. 4) She... green eyes. 5) Helen... a headache. 6) The secretary... a new typewriter. 7) Mr. Smith’s office... three large windows. 8) We... many friends in Moscow. 9) Both brothers... red hair. 10) Harry’s dog... a long tail. 11) He and I... many things in common.
14. Употребите оборот there is (are) в следующих предложениях. Переведите их на русский язык:
1)... a new moon tonight. 2)... someone at the door. 3)... a lot of students absent today. 4)... three lamps in the room. 5)... two large windows in the room. 6) But... only one door. 7)... a lot of English classes in our school. 8)... nobody in the room now. 9)... no one at home. 10)... twelve months in a year. 11)... a letter for you on the table. 12)... several beautiful parks in this city.
15. Напишите следующие предложения в вопросительной и отрицательной формах:
Образец: There is a flag on the top of the building.
Is there a flag on the top of the building?
There isn’t a flag on the top of the building.
1) There is a big parade today. 2) There are two lamps in the room. 3) There are ten new words in the lesson. 4) There are enough chairs for everyone. 5) There is a good restaurant near here. 6) There is a comfortable chair in each room.7) There are many pictures on the walls of our room. 8) There are more than ten sentences in each exercise.
16. Употребите глаголы, данные в скобках, в форме Present Indefinite:
1) We (read) the newspaper in class every day.
2) He always (prepare) his homework carefully.
3) We always (play) tennis on Saturdays.
4) She (speak) several foreign languages.
5) The children (play) in the park every afternoon.
6) Helen (work) very hard.
7) They (take) a lot of trips together.
8) We always (travel) by car.
9) I (eat) lunch in the cafeteria every day.
17. Напишите следующие предложения в вопросительной и отрицательной формах:
Образец: John goes there twice a week.
Does John go there twice a week?
John doesn’t go there twice a week.
1) He knows French perfectly. 2) I understand everything he says. 3) She makes mistakes in spelling. 4) They enjoy their English lessons. 5) They live in Kiev. 6) We use our books in class. 7) The plane leaves at ten o’clock. 8) She always comes to class late. 9) I always take the same bus to work.
18. Образуйте повелительное наклонение и его отрицательную форму. Переведите предложения на русский язык:
Образец: (Tell) her about it.
Tell her about it. – Скажи ей об этом.
Don’t tell her about it. – He говори ей об этом.
1) (Give) this to John. 2) (Open) the door. 3) (Close) the door. 4) (Telephone) him in the morning. 5) (Let) him talk with her. 6) (Turn) off the light. 7) (Leave) your hat on the chair. 8) (Lend) me a pencil. 9) (Help) him with his homework.
19. Заполните пропуски глаголом to be, употребляя соответствующую форму прошедшего времени:
1) Ann... absent from school yesterday.
2) The exercises in the last lesson... difficult.
3) She... in the same class as Nick last year.
4) We... tired after our long walk.
5) The weather yesterday... very warm.
6) There... a lot of students absent from class yesterday.
7) I... hungry after so many exercises.
8) I... busy all day yesterday.
9) We... good friends for many years.