5. Air transport.

1. Read and translate the text.

Air transport.

Medical supplies, films and photographs. Some parts of the world being hundreds of miles from a road, railway or waterway, air transport is the only possible kind. Such places are kept supplied wholly by air.

1. 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

I by air mail, they are not long in coming. Although it is unlikely that aircraft will ever replace ships for carrying heavy and bulky cargoes such as oil, coal, minerals, grain and machinery, air transport is already I proving a serious rival to passenger ships on some routes.

2. Helicopters and Hovercraft.¹ Helicopters and other moving-wing types of aircraft are very useful in places where there is no room for long, flat runways. Modern turbo-jet airliners need a run of nearly two miles I 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.

3. While helicopters gain in needing very little space for taking-off and landing, they lose because the speed at which they move forward I 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 I 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.

Note to the text:

1. hovercraft — самолет с вертикальным взлетом и посадкой

2. Answer the following questions.

1. What transport uses more fuel to carry a ton over a distance of a mile than land transport? 2. What is the drawback of the air trans­port? 3. What increases the cost of an aircraft? 4. Why can't aircraft be relied upon for regular services everywhere? 5. What are the advan­tages of air transport? 6. What was the earliest form of air transport? 7. What are balloons chiefly used for? 8. By whom are weather balloons used? 9. When did airplanes become powerful machines able to carry heavy loads at high speed? 10. When was the first regular public air service from London to Paris started? 11. When did people recognize the value of airplanes for carrying heavy loads? 12. What goods are usually sent by air? 13. What places are kept supplied wholly by air? 14. When were jet-propelled aircraft first used? 15. Is it likely that air­craft will some day replace ships for carrying heavy and bulky cargoes? 16. In what places are helicopters very useful? 17. When were helicopters first introduced for regular airline service? 18. What are their ad­vantages and disadvantages? 19. What are hovercrafts used for?

3. Insert the meaning words.

available	value	fits
forward	take off	precautions
wholly	emergency	break-down
readings	unlikely	urgent
released	low	whereas
drawbacks	observed	purpose
ever	capable	trouble
bulky	combine

1. This is the kind of work which only a very skilled worker is ... to carry out. 2. There were no taxis ... at that moment. 3. We are ... to be delayed so long. 4. ... cargo was loaded with the help of cranes. 5. The newly-found picture was of great .... 6. We cannot ... these two tasks. 7. Unfortunately the performance of the apparatus is not ... suc­cessful. 8. The task was ... and we had to work fast, if we wanted to complete it in time. 9. He said they couldn't move ... unless they were supplied with enough fuel. 10. Have you ... been to Paris? 11. We ex­pected the airplane to ... at 2 p.m. 12. The key that ... this door appears to have been lost long ago. 13. Aircraft are often used to transport ... goods. 14. Some ... against bad weather should be taken. 15. The tractors of this make tend to ... in cold climate conditions, ... in hot climate conditions they are quite reliable. 16. He said that ... of the device were particularly interesting. 17. There is some ... with the instrument: its readings are no longer reliable. 18. The company expected the ope­ration of widening and deepening of the canal to be carried out at a ... cost. 19. What is the ... of weather observations? 20. He said that the news bulletin would be ... over the radio. 21. Long ago people ... that low clouds brought bad weather. 22. He settled the dispute by saying that although the work contained some ... they were quite negligible.

4. Find the antonyms of the first word in every row..

1. drawback a) purpose, b) influence, c) duration, d)advantage

2. low a) fast, b)high, c) smooth, d) wide

3. capable a) fit, b) brave, c)incapable, d) due

4. wholly a)partly, b) nearly, c) no longer, d) steadily

5. to gain a) to release, b)-to lose; c) to take off, d) to send

6. backward a) available, b) research, c) advanced, d) similar

7. unlikely a) ordinary, b) possible, c) likely, d) therefore

8. fast a) slowly', b) usually, c) often, d) enough

9. bulky a) urgent, b) warm, c) essential, d) small

10. forward a) across, b) besides, c) ever, d) backward

11. gradually a) probably, b) scarcely, c) at once! d) unfortunately

12. negligible a) internal, b)considerable, c) previous, d) permanent