1. Answer the following questions:

1. Who were the forerunners of modern mechanical, mining and metallurgical, and civil engineers?

2. How is engineering often defined?

3. What kind of information were many of the early branches of engineering based on? Give some examples.

4. What made people in the Middle Ages in Europe begin to experiment with new devices and methods of work?

5. What was the historical result of experimentation with different kinds of energy?

6. What advantages have scientific research and its applications given to the mechanical engineer?

7. What kind of activities can be fulfilled by a present-day engineer?

8. Why is it possible for a modern engineer to develop better materials and new alloys?

2. A) The following words are translator's "false friends" or pseudointernational. Write out their meanings which correspond to the context:

Occupation, civil, observation, human, contribution, direction, assembly, command

b) Find in the text as many international words as you can and translate them without using the dictionary.

3. Put the following verbs in the alphabetical order and find their meanings in the dictionary. Then write out word-combinations with them from the text and translate them into Russian.

To discover, to refine, to devise, to erect, to depend, to provide, to perform, to lead, to escalate, to calculate, to concern

4. Make up sentences out of the two parts:

Engineering is ... It is based on ... In ancient times engineering work was done ... In the Middle Ages the methods and devices of work ... In the 18th century ... Steam gave man ... Since the 19th century both scientific research and its practical application ... In the 20th century the mechanical engineer had ... Nowadays the engineer has new and ...

many new sources of power such as electricity, gasoline, atomic power, etc. the Industrial Revolution began. one of the most ancient occupations in history. much stronger materials to work with. by means of slave labor. became more efficient. theoretical sciences such as physics and mathematics. great sources of energy. have greatly progressed.

5. Give a brief summary of the text. Text 2 Engineering Specialities

Today machines have to withstand such tremendous stresses and to be able of such complex motions that complicated and specialized calculations taking hundreds of factors into account are needed in the design of even quite a simple machine like a motor-car engine.

So, as engineering progresses, engineers must become ever more scientific and specialized. Today the branches of engineering are so wide that it is impossible to classify them satisfactorily. But we may try to divide them into uses. The main divisions of engineering may be listed as follows:

1. Mechanical engineering.

Steam engines, internal combustion engines, turbines (steam, gas, water), pumps; compressors; machine-tools; mechanisms.

2. Electrical engineering:

1. power: generators; motors; transformers; transmission (power lines and so on);

2. electronics: radio, radar, television.

3. Civil engineering.

Dams; tunnels; roads, and so on.

4. Structural engineering.

The structural details of all large buildings and bridges.

5. Chemical engineering.

Any of these branches of engineering may require the special services of the following specialists: the metallurgist; the strength of materials expert; the thermodynamics of heat expert, the mechanics or machines experts; the various production engineering experts such as the engineering designer or the tool designer; the mathematician specializing in engineering problems and many more.

The engineer must also deal with the economists to assure himself that he is producing what is wanted economically.

Because of the large number of engineering fields today there are often many different kinds of engineers working on large projects such as the development of a new aircraft. In the design of a new aircraft mechanical engineers work not only on the plane’s engines but on other mechanical aspects such as the braking system. When the aircraft goes into production mechanical and industrial engineers are involved in designing machines necessary to fabricate the different parts as well as the entire system for assembling them. In both phases of such a project mechanical engineers work with specialists in the fields of aerospace and electronic engineering. Each engineer is a member of a team often headed by a systems engineer able to combine the contributions made by all the different disciplines.

Another result of the increase of scientific knowledge is that engineering has become a profession. A profession is an occupation like law or medicine that requires specialized advanced education – at least four or five years of university study leading to a Bachelor of Science degree. More and more often engineers, especially those engaged in research, get an advanced Master’s or Doctor’s degree.