Ex. 8. Read the following texts and use them as the basis for your interview. Work in pairs. Discuss telecommunications facilities, their development and advantages

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Late in the nineteenth century communications facilities were augmented by another new invention – telephone. In the USA its use slowly extended, and by 1900 the American Telephone and Telegraph Company controlled 855,000 telephones; but elsewhere the telephone made little headway until the twentieth century. After 1900, however, telephone installations extended much more rapidly in all the wealthier countries. The number of telephones in use in the world grew at almost 100 per cent decade. But long-distance telephone services gradually developed and began to compete with telegraphic business. A greater contribution to long-range communication came with the development of wireless. Before the outbreak of the First World War wireless telegraphy was established as a means of regular communication with ships at sea, and provided a valuable supplement to existing telegraph lines and cables. In the next few years the telephone systems of all the chief countries were connected with each other by radio. Far more immediate was the influence that radio had through broadcasting and by television, which followed it at an interval of about twenty-five years.

Ex. 9. Check the knowledge of the terms by rendering the following texts in English. Make use of the Vocabulary notes.

Появление железных дорог было значительным шагом в модернизации транспортной системы промышленно-развитых стран. Однако развитие новых транспортных средств привело к сокращению грузовых и пассажирских перевозок по железной дороге и к увеличению объемов перевозок автомобилями и самолетами.

Автомобиль, которому в 1986 году исполнилось 100 лет, стал самым популярным транспортным средством перевозки как пассажиров, так и грузов. Повсюду распространение частных легковых автомобилей проходило медленнее, чем в США; особенно медленными темпами внедрялось использование грузовых автомобилей для дальних рейсов. Тем не менее объем дорожного транспорта возрастал стабильно и после второй мировой войны достиг больших размеров. В целом, в мире число легковых автомобилей продолжает расти быстрыми темпами.

Text II. Transport and Environment

In recent years the environmental impact of transportation has gained increasing attention because of some negative environmental aspects associated with it. These take the form of visual unsightliness (such as waterfronts and railroad freight yards), noise disturbance, air pollution caused by vehicular emission, water and land pollution, damage to wildlife habitats and so on. All economic activity adds to pollution in some way even though we do not always notice it. Transportation, since it is so universally visible as well as universally necessary, is more noticeable as a polluter than other activity.

Street, highway, and airway congestion are facts of life and another problem. If walking is considered a mode of transportation, crowd or people congestion could also be added. The degree of congestion varies with the size of the city or town, the location of suburban area relative to the central business district, and the demographic distribution within the urban area. Traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian, varies by the time of the day, the day of the week, and the season of the year. Congestion cost time and money to all users of transportation facilities, it effects the quality of life. The frayed nerves, the indigestion, the disrupted routine caused by delay – these are costs to million of users and operators. This is part of the cost of progress.

Vocabulary notes

environmental impact –воздействие на окружающую среду

unsightliness –неприглядный вид

waterfront –район порта, береговая линия

freight yard –склад для грузов

noise disturbance –шумовое воздействие, чрезмерный шум

vehicular [vi'hikjulə] –автомобильный, относящийся к автотранспорту