TRAFFIC ON ROADS
1. Лексический минимум:
Approach – подход
Avoidance – избежание; уклонение
Collision – столкновение
Encourage – поощрять, поддерживать
Enforce – обязывать, вводить в действие
Interchange – транспортная развязка
Lane – полоса движения
License plate – номерной знак
Reduce – уменьшать, сокращать
Rush hour – час пик
Speed limit – дозволенная скорость
Ticket – квитанция за нарушение правил уличного движения
Traffic congestion (syn. traffic jam) – затор (в движении транспортного потока)
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Rush Hours
The higher the speed of a vehicle, the more difficult collision avoidance becomes and the greater the damage if a collision does occur. Therefore, many countries of the world limit the maximum speed allowed on their roads. Vehicles are not supposed to be driven at speeds which are higher than the posted maximum.
To enforce speed limits, two approaches are generally employed. In the USA, it is common for the police to patrol the streets and use special equipment to measure the speed of vehicles, and “pull over” any vehicle found to be in violation of the speed limit. In Brazil and some European countries, there are computerized speed measuring devices spread throughout the city, which will automatically defect speeding drivers and take a photograph of the license plate, which is later used for applying and mailing the ticket.
Another interesting mechanism that was developed in Germany is the Grime Welle, or green lights along that corridor. This encourages drivers to travel at the posted limit in order to minimize stopping.
During business days in most major cities, traffic congestion reaches great intensity at predictable times of the day due to the large number of vehicles using the road at the same time. This phenomenon is called rush hour, although the period of high traffic intensity may exceed one hour.
Some cities adopt policies to reduce rush-hour traffic and pollution and encourage the use of public transportation. For example, in Sao Paulo, Brazil each vehicle has a specific day of the week in which it is forbidden from traveling the roads during rush hour.
In the United States and Canada, several expressways have a special lane that can only be used by cars carrying two or more people, and several cities offer a public telephone service where citizens can arrange rides with others depending on where they live and work. The purpose of these policies is to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads and thus reduce rush-hour traffic intensity. Uncontrolled traffic occurs in the absence of lane markings and traffic control signals.
3. Письменно ответьте на вопросы:
1.What is the first approach employed in the USA?
2. What mechanism was developed in Germany to enforce speed limits?
3. How do the authorities in Sao Paulo, Brazil reduce rush-hour traffic and pollution?
4. Установите верное соответствие между словами и их значениями:
| speed limit, rush hour, congestion, collision, motorway, ticket |
1. A long, wide road, usually used by traffic travelling fast over long distances.
2. The time when a lot of people are travelling to or from work and so roads and trains are very busy.
3. The fastest speed that a vehicle is allowed to travel on a particular road
4. An accident that happens when two vehicles hit each other with force.
5. A piece of paper that orders you to pay money because you have put your car in an illegal place, driven too fast, etc.
6. The state of being full or blocked, especially with traffic.
5. Соедините слова с их переводом:
| 1. Collision avoidance 2. Speed measuring device 3. Business days 4. Traffic congestion 5. Rush-hour traffic intensity 6. Lane marking 7. Posted limit 8. Minimum speed signs | a. интенсивность движения в час пик b. разметка полос c. установленные ограничения d. устройство измерения скорости e. избежание столкновения f. пробки на дорогах g. рабочие дни h. знаки ограничения минимальной скорости |
Some Types of Interchanges
6. Ознакомьтесь с определениями некоторых типов транспортных развязок, напишите их русские эквиваленты:
Roundabout interchange – a circular place where roads meet and where cars drive around until they arrive at the road that they want to turn into.
Cloverleaf interchange – a connection between two roads consisting of four smaller, curved roads that allows vehicles to move from one road to the other without crossing the flow of traffic.
Diverging diamond interchange – is a type of diamond interchange in which the two directions of traffic on the non-freeway road cross to the opposite side on both sides of the bridge at the freeway.
Y-interchange (also known as a directional T-interchange) – is typically used when a three-way interchange is required for two or three highways interchanging in semi-parallel/perpendicular directions, but it can also be used in right-angle case as well.
Trumpet interchange – have been used where one highway terminates at another highway. These involve at least one loop ramp connecting traffic either entering or leaving the terminating expressway with the far lanes of the continuous highway.
7. Сопоставьте типы транспортных развязок с их изображениями:
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