Look through the text and give a short summary.

Stone belongs to one of the oldest building materials used byman. Almost all famous buildings of classic times, of the medieval and Renaissance (Ренессанс, эпоха Возрождения) periods and of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were erected of stone. The art of making any structure in stone is called stone masonry*. It is characterised by many properties. It has mechanical strength, compactness, porosity, sound and heat insulation and fire-resistance. Building stone ranks in importance with steel as a building material. Stone is used for the foundations, walls, and steps of buildings, for the supports of piers* and bridges, and for finishing and decorating all types of structures.

Crushed stone* is mainly used as an aggregate of concrete andin road construction. Crushed stone is quarried stone crushed into small pieces suitable for such uses as the surfacing of roads and industrial construction.

Dimension stone* is stone in natural blocks or slabs cut indefinite shapes and sizes. Builders expect good dimension stone to last at least a hundred years. The best dimension stone has the fewest pores* of air cells, making it able to resist the wearing* effects of weather. Dimension stone includes granite, limestone, sandstone, and marble.

Granite is one of the strongest of all the building stones. It isused particularly for basements, columns and steps and for entire facades. Its colour may be grey, yellow, pink or deep red. It is used extensively in the construction of public buildings.

Limestone is a hard building stone that can be cut easily andshaped with saws, and even lathes*. These dark yellow or grey stones are sometimes placed over the rough stonework of a building to make an attractive surface. Limestone is also used for sills*, floors, steps, and cladding*.

Sandstone is easy to work and is used for the same purposes aslimestone. Sandstone that is well-cemented with silica* is probably more durable and weather resistant than most other building stones. The durability of sandstones depends largely on cementing material.

Marble is the most elegant building stone. Pure marble is whitewith black, grey, green, pink, red, and yellow veins. Builders use marble to make monuments and tombstones, and to decorate stairways, fire-places, floors, and paneling.

Notes:

stone masonry – кладка из природного камня

pier – столб, опора, пилон

сrushed stone – щебень

dimension stone – штучный камень, точно-обработанный камень

pores – поры

wear – физическое изнашивание, износ

lathes – пила и токарный станок

sill – подоконник

cladding – отделка

silica – кремнезем, кварц

2. Give the written translation of the text.

TEXT 2.BRICK. TYPES OF BRICKS

Brick was known many thousands of years ago. It is anexample of artificial building material. Brick is divided into two general groups: (1) building brick (обыкновенный кирпич), and (2) refractory brick (огнеупорный кирпич). Building brick can differ in size, though individual countries set their own standard measurements. For example, the majority of building bricks in the British Isles measure 6.5 cm thick, 10.25 cm wide and 21.5 cm long. In Russia the sizes of a standard brick are: thickness – 6.5 cm, Fig.17 width – 12 cm and length – 25 cm. Refractory brick varies widely in size, but is usually slightly larger than building brick.

Building brick is subdivided into face brick (облицовочныйкирпич) and common brick. The highest quality and mostattractive building brick is called face brick. This brick is used in highly visible areas of structures, such as the interior or exterior walls of houses. Face brick comes in a variety of colours and surface textures, and it is extremely uniform in shape and size. Most of it is made from high-grade fire clay (высококачественная и огнеупорная глина). Off-colour and slightly defective brick is called common brick. Common brick is used in less visible places than face brick.

Refractory brick, also called refractories, can withstandtemperatures between 1100°С and 2200°С. It is also highly resistant to chemical damage, physical wear and thermal cycling (rapid changes in temperature). Refractories are used in a wide variety of structures, including fire-places and industrial furnaces (производственные печи). Refractories differ in composition according to their use. The main types are made from such raw materials as alumina (окись алюминия), carbon, chrome ore (хромовая руда), dolomite, fire clay, magnesite (магнезит), silica (кварц), and zircon.

Stucco (стукко,прочная цементно-известковая штукатурка)is a plaster-like material applied to outside walls. It forms a hard protective covering. Stucco usually consists of sand, water and a cementing mixture. Workers usually apply three coats, using trowels (мастерок). Stucco can be applied in many finishes and colours.