Buses were started in Paris in 1820. In 1828 they were introduced in London by George Shillibeer, a coach builder who used the French name Omnibus which was obtained from the Latin word meaning "for all". His omnibuses were driven by three horses and had seats for 22 passengers. Then in the 20th century reliable petrol engines became available, and by 1912 the new motor buses were fast replacing horse-driven buses.
Trams were introduced in the middle of the 19th century. The idea was that, as the rails were smoother than the roads, less effort was needed to pull a tram than a bus. Tlie first trams were horse-drawn but the later trams were almost all driven by electricity. The electric motor driving the tram was usually with electric current from overhead wires. Such wires are also used by trolleybuses, which run on rubber tyres and do not need rails.
Another form of transport used in London, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev and some other crowded cities is the underground railway.
London's first underground railway of the "tube" type was opened in 1863, the Moscow underground in 1935.
5. What do the longest oil pipe-lines connect?
TTie pipe-lines, which were in use by the ancient Romans for carrying water supplies to their houses, are now mainly used to transport petroleum. The first pipe-line of this kind was laid in Pennsylvania, the United States, in 1865.
Some of the longest oil pipe-lines connect oil-fields in Iraq and near the Persian Gulf with ports on the Mediterranean coast. A famous Pipe-Line Under the Ocean (PLUTO) was laid across the English Channel in 1944.
6. What are the cableways used for?
A form of transport which is quite common in some mountainous parts of the world, especially in Switzerland, is the aerial cableway. Cableways are used at nearly all winter sport centres to pull or carry skiers to the top of the slopes. Cableways are used by many Alpine villages which lie high up the mountain-sides for bringing up their supplies from the valley below.
Текст 8. THE EARLY DAYS OF THE AUTOMOBILE
1. One of the earliest attempts to propel a vehicle by mechanical power was suggested by Isaac Newton. But the first self-propelled vehicle was constructed by the French military engineer Cugnot in 1763. He built a steam-driven engine which had three wheels, carried two passengers and ran at maximum speed of four miles. The carriage was a great achievement but it was far from perfect and extremely inefficient. The supply of steam lasted only 15 minutes and the carriage had to stop every 100 yards to make more steam.
2.. In 1825 a steam engine was built in Great Britain. The vehicle carried 18 passengers and covered 8 miles in 45 minutes. However, the progress of motor cars met with great opposition in Great Britain. Further development of the motor car lagged because of the restrictions resulting from legislative acts. The most famous of these acts was the Red Flag Act of 1865, according to which the speed of the steam-driven vehicles was limited to 4 miles per hour and a man with a red flag had to walk in front of
it.
Motoring really started in the country after the abolition of this act.
3. In Russia there were cities where motor cars were outlawed altogether. When the editor of the local newspaper in the city of Uralsk bought a car, the governor issued these instructions to the police: "When the vehicle appears in the streets, it is to be stopped and escorted to the police station, where its driver is to be prosecuted."
4. From 1860 to 1900 was a period of the application of gasoline engines to motor cars in many countries. The first to perfect gasoline engine was N. Otto who introduced the four-stroke cycle of operation. By that time motor cars got a standard shape and appearance.
In 1896 a procession of me tor cars took place from London to Brighton to show how reliable the new vehicles were, hi fact, many of the cars broke, for the transmissions were still unreliable and constantly gave trouble.
The cars of that time were very small, two-seated cars with no roof, driven by an engine placed under the seat. Motorists had to carry large cans of fuel and separate spare tyres, for there were no repair or filling stations
to serve them.
After World War I it became possible to achieve greater reliability of motor cars, brakes became more efficient. Constant efforts were made to standardize common components. Multi-cylinder engines came into use, most commonly used are four-cylinder engines.
5. Like most other great human achievements, the motor car is not the product of any single inventor. Gradually the development of vehicles driven by internal combustion engine - cars, as they had come to be known, led to the abolition of earlier restrictions. Huge capital began to flow into the automobile industry
From 1908 to 1924 the number of cars in the world rose from 200 thousand to 20 million; by 1960 it had reached 60 million! No other industry had ever developed at such a rate.
6. There are about 3,000 Americans who like to collect antique cars. They have several clubs such as Antique Automobile Club and Veteran Motor Car Club, which specialize in rare models. The club? practise meetings where members can exhibit their cars. Collectors can also advertise in the magazines published by their clubs. Some magazines specialise in a single type of car such as glorious Model "T". A number of museums have exhibitions of antique automobile models whose glory rings in automobile history. But practically the best collection - 100 old cars of great rarity - is in possession of William Harrah. He is very influential in his field. The value of his collection is not only historical but also practical: photographs of his cars are used for films and advertisements.
7. In England there is the famous "Beaulieu Motor Museum" - the home for veteran cars.
The founder of the Museum is Lord Montague, the son of one of England's motoring pioneers, who opened it in 1952 in memory of his father. Lord Montague's lather was the first person in England to be fined by the police for speeding. He was fined 5 pounds for going faster than 12 miles per hour!
In the Museum's collection there is a car called the Silver Ghost which people from near and far go to see. It was built by Rolls-Royce in 1907, and called the Silver Ghost because it ran so silently and was painted silver.
Текст 9. WATER TRANSPORT
1. One of the most important things about water transport is the small effort needed to move floating craft. A heavy boat or a barge weighing several tons can be moved through the water, slowly but steadily, by one man. An aeroplane of the same weight as the barge needs engines of 1,000 horsepower or more in order to fly.
2. Hie raft made of logs of wood is supposed to be the earliest type of boat. Rafts seem to be clumsy vessels, although the Norwegian scientist Thor Heyerdahl and his five companions in 1947 made a voyage on the raft Kon-Tiki from Peru to Tuamotu Islands - a distance of 4,500 miles.
3. The water transport in ancient times developed most rapidly on great rivers. The ancient Romans used vessels to carry their armies and supplies to colonies. These ships, usually called galleys, continued to be used in the Mediterranean till 1750.
4. The introduction of the magnetic compass allowed long voyages to be made with much greater safety. At the end of the 15th century, sailing vessels are known to have carried men from Europe to America and round Africa to India. The middle of the 19th century proved to be the highest point in the development of sailing ships.
5. Steam and Motor Ships. One of the earliest steamboats is known to have been tested at the end of the 18th century. The first steamship to cross the Atlantic was the Savannah, 98-foot ship built in New York, which made the crossing in 1819. Like all the early steamships, it had sails as well as paddles1 By the middle of the 19th century it became possible to build much larger ships for iron and steel began to replace timber.
6. The rapid increase in the size and power of ships was promoted by the industrial revolution. The industrial countries produced great quantities of goods which were carried to all parts of the world by ships. On their return voyages, the ships brought either raw materials such as cotton, metals, timber for the factories, or grain and foodstuffs for the growing population. During the same period, a great deal was done to improve ports, and that permitted larger ships to use them and to make loading and unloading faster.
7. Improvements introduced in the 20th century included the smoother and more efficient type of engines called steam turbines and the use of oil fuel instead of coal. Between 1910 and 1920 the diesel engine began to be introduced in ships. These diesel-engined ships are called motor ships.2 The largest ships, however, are still generally driven by steam turbines. In the late 1950s a few ships were being built which were equipped with nuclear reactors for producing steam.
8. In 1957 the world's first atomic ice-breaker was launched in Leningrad. This atomic ice-breaker is equipped with an atomic engine owing to which her operating on negligible quantities of nuclear fuel is possible, fa spite of the capacity of her engine being 44,000 h.p. it will need only a few grams of atomic fuel a week, The atomic ice-breaker has three nuclear reactors. The operation of the nuclear reactor is accompanied by powerful radiation, Therefore, the icebreaker is equipped with reliable means of protection. The ice-breaker is designed for operation in Arctic waters.
9. Canal Transport. Sea-going ships can use some rivers, such as the Thames in England, the Rhine, and the Volga in Europe and the Mississippi in the United States Generally, however, a river has to be "canalized" before ships can use it. This means widening and deepening the channel and protecting its banks so that they do not wash away and block the river with mud.
10. We find the British canals to be quite narrow and shallow. The canals ш Europe are much larger than those in Great Britain France has a big network of canals, centred on Paris, and linking ports of the Atlantic, Mediterranean and English Channel3 coasts with each other and with other countries.
Текст 10. INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT CANALS
•I. The best examples of canals used for draining land are found in Holland, where much of the country is below sea-level Dams are used to prevent flooding and since 1932 over 300,000 acres of land have been drained. In winter the Dutch people use the frozen canais for ice-skating ' J' 2. In a hot dry country such as Egypt water is scarce, and to prevent the land from becoming dry long canals are built from dams These canals must be continually kept open, for the Egyptian farms and cotton fields cannot exist without these life lines of water.
3. Many inland waterways are used for the transport of heavy goods by barges. This method of carrying materials is not so widely used now. for although it is cheaper, it has the disadvantage of being much slower, Speed is regulated by the number of bridges and locks1 which the barges encounter.
4, Two notable canals for ships in Europe are the Corinth Canal and the Kiel Canal. The former was built in 1893 across the solid^rocks of the isthmus2 of Corinth. Bridges from the tops of the steep sides of the canal connect north and south Greece. The Kiel Canal, which also has no locks, was built two years later and it gives the countries of the Baltic Sea quicker access to the west.
5. Venice, at the Adriatic Sea, is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, for it has many canals instead of streets. Long narrow boats with curved ends, called "gondolas", carry passengers and goods from one part of the city to another. The gondolas are supplied with lanterns, which at i night make the canals very colourful and romantic. A peculiar custom of former days was that the Ruler of Venice used to throw a ring into the water each year to show that the city was wed3 to the sea.
6, One of the greatest arteries of world trade is the Suez Canal separating the two continents of Asia and Africa. As trade with India increased, the overland route across Suez became regular but very expensive. In 1859, the French engineer, Ferdinand de Lesseps, started to cut a passage through this flat desert country. Ten years later, the first seagoing ships passed through the canal, which is a hundred miles long and has no locks, thus completing a direct water route from the North Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. The journey along the canal takes about fifteen hours and shortens the distance from Britainjo the East by about 4,000 miles. The canal belongs to Egypt and is a ■yjtaj waterway serving the merchants fleets of many nations.
7. The Great Lakes which lie between Canada and the United States have become part of the world's ocean highways for it is now possible for big ships to sail up the Saint Lawrence Canal to the ports of Toronto, Cleveland and Chicago. A 218 mile canal joins the Atlantic with these Great Lakes which contain half of all the fresh water in the world. There are seven locks, five on the Canadian side and two on the United States side. Bridges needed to be raised fifty feet to allow big ship traffic to pass and, indeed, from Montreal, these ocean-going vessels are raised 246 feet above the sea-level to Lake Ontario. The Saint Lawrence Canal takes the ships 2,200 miles inland, half-way across the North American continent and deep into the heart of Canada.
Текст 11. THE FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD 1. What was the aim of Magellan's voyage?
Magellan lived from 1480 till 1521. The first voyage round the world was made by him over 400 years ago. He thought that by going west he could travel by sea round the world and come to the same place again.
In those early days many people in Europe were interested in India. They knew it was a very rich country whose culture was older than theirs. Magellan wanted to find a new way to India. His country, Portugal, did not help him, but he got money, ships, and all things necessary for the voyage (тот Spain.
2. What kind of person was Magellan?
At last the great day came and the voyage began, That was in September of 1519. Some people thought that nothing would come of it, that Magellan and his men would get lost and never come home again; others were sure that the whole thing would be a success. Who would be right, it was difficult to say at the moment. Magellan belonged to those who stop at nothing and always do their best to get what they want.
3. What did the people whom Magellan met in South America look like? One day, after a voyage of many months, Magellan's crew saw land. It turned out to be South America. As the travellers were badly in need of food 232
and water, Magellan decided to stop there. With some of his sailors he'went to see what the country was like They were soon met by a crowd of men and women, who looked quite different from them
These people were dark and had neither shoes, nor clothes They soon made friends. They could not speak, of course, but understood one another well enough. Then these people went off, but soon returned, bringing with them many different things to eat. In his turn Magellan and his men gave them things which were not dear but looked beautiful. Everyone was well pleased
4. Why was the voyage to the Philippine Islands difficult?
Magellan did not stay long in South America he was in a hurry to get to India. This voyage was long and difficult. Islands were few and far between, and the travellers were often in need of food and water. Many of them fell ill, but at last, after many months of travelling, they reached the Philippine Islands. People used to get to India going east, while Magellan wanted to get there by travelling west.
5. In what war was Magellan killed?
In the Philippine Islands Magellan and his men were well met by the people. They stayed there for some time and took part in a war between two different peoples of the islands. Magellan was killed in this war.
Of Magellan's five ships which started for India in 1519 only one returned three years later, after making the first voyage round the world
Текст 12. AIR TRANSPORT
1. Modem air transport using craft which is heavier than air requires a good deal of power merely to stay in the air It is for this reason that air transport uses more fuel to carry a ton over a distance of a mile than land or water transport. Another drawback of air transport is that whereas a ship, truck or train whose engines break down can stop until they areftencled,' an aircraft with the same trouble must land This means that an aircraft must have several engines and this increases its cost. Safety precautions for air transport also tend to make it expensive. It cannot be relied upon for regular services in places or seasons with low clouds and mist. The great advantage of airtransport being its high speed, all civilized countries try to develop it. If you want to save time, you will naturally fly by air.
2. Balloons. The earliest form of air transport was balloons, which are sometimes called "free balloons" because having no engines they are forced to drift by the wind flow This fact alone makes balloons not reliable enough for carrying people If they were safer, they would be used more for transportation, but at present the scientists use balloons mostly for obtaining information about the upper atmosphere, its density, and other scientific subjects. Weather balloons are particularly used by meteorologists. They carry instruments whose readings are automatically sent back to the ground by the radio, the position of the balloon being obtained by radar Small balloons released from air-fields are observed to obtain the direction and strength of the wind.
3. Aeroplanes The heavier-than-air machines called aeroplanes were rather slow in being adopted for transport The first aeroplane flight was made in 1884.
World War I quickened the development of aeroplanes enormously. By 8 they were no longer unreliable things capable of only short flights, but powerful machines able to carry heavy loads at high speeds for long distances. What was more, the ending of the war meant that thousands of aeroplanes and skilled pilots were available
The first aeroplanes were machines that had been used as bombers. They were quickly converted for use by passengers by fitting extra seats and windows. The first regular public air service from London to Paris was, started in August 1919.
4 During World War 11 the value of aeroplanes for carrying heavy loads was recognized This led after the war to an increase in the practice of sending goods by air. Air freight is expensive but is often thought worth while for such goods as early vegetables, fruit and flowers, as well as for things urgently needed such as spare parts for machinery, medical supplies, films and photographs. Some parts of the world are hundreds of miles from a road, railway or waterway, and air transport is the only possible kind of transport. Such places are kept supplied wholly by air.
5. After World War II, bigger and faster airliners were introduced Jet-propelled aircraft were first used in 1950. Air transport is very valuable for emergency medical work. The most important use of air transport besides carrying passengers is carrying mail If the letters are sent by air mail, they are not long in coming. Althpu^Jt^isunlikely that aircraft will ever replace ships for carrying heavy апаоиВ^ cargoes such as oil, coal minerals, grain and machinery, air transport is already proving a serious Vival to passenger ships on some routes.
6. Helicopters and Hovercraft.1 Helicopters are very useful in places where there is no room for long, flat runways.2 Modem turbo-jet airliners need a run of nearly two miles long to take off, but helicopters can use small fields, platforms mounted on ships and the flat tops of buildings. Helicopters were first introduced for regular airline service in 1947. Later, helicopters were used for carrying passengers and mail on short routes, and for taking airline passengers between the centres of cities and the main airports.
7. While helicopters gain in needing very little space for taking-off and landing, they lose because the speed at which they move forward is quite low. So the problem was to develop an aircraft combining the advantages of the helicopter with the high speed of an ordinary aircraft. If the designers could develop such a machine the problem would be solved. So for this purpose the hovercraft was designed. Hovercrafts are likely to be useful for ferry services - for example, in ferrying motor cars across the English Channel. They may also be useful for travel in roadless countries.
Текст 13. THE FIRST BALLOONS
Etjerme and Joseph Montgolfier lived in the eighteenth century in a little village in France where their father had a paper factory. The two brothers took paper bags from their father, filled them with smoke over a fire (огонь) and watched them go up into the air.
After numerous experiments they were ready to show how their balloon worked. On the day of the flight people from different places came to the little village to see the spectacle. The brothers had constructed a bag some thirty feet in diameter. Tbat big bag was held over a fire. When it was filled with hot smoke, it went high up into the air. It was in the air for ten minutes and then, as the air bag became cold, the balloon went slowly down.
The news about the experiment reached the king who wanted to see it himself So on September 19, 1783 the Montgolfier brothers repeated their experiment in the presence of the King and Queen of France. Ibis time the balloon carried a cage with a sheep, a cock, and a duck (овца, петух, утка) who were thus the first air travellers. The flight was successful. The balloon came down some distance off with the sheep, the cock and the duck completely unharmed (невредимый).
If the animals could live through this, men could risk too. A month later a balloon was sent up with a Frenchman, Rbzier by name. He stayed up in the air for twenty-five minutes at a Height of about one hundred feet above the ground, and then came down, saying that he had greatly enjoyed the view (вид) of the country.
A month later he and Arlandes made the first free balloon flight. Their friends who came to say good-bye to them were very sad because they thought the flight was very dangerous, but they went up several hundred feet, were carried by the wind over Paris and came down in safety.
hi 1785 a Frenchman and an American crossed the English Channel in a balloon, When they had covered three quarters of the way, the balloon began to go down. They threw everything they could overboard. They even undressed and threw away practically all their clothes. If they had not done it, they would have never reached the French coast safely.
Текст 14. LONDON AIRPORT SERVES THE WORLD
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