Text 12A The International Space Station
Space exploration is of great importance for scientific and technological progress. Without it we wouldn’t have any telecommunication means or opportunities. It proved to be much more helpful for looking for new deposits, controlling weather changes, predicting possible disasters, controlling ecological situations, weather forecast and others. Satellites launched into space provide superlative opportunities for detecting new military objects or appearance of new zones of military threats.
Not all the countries can afford space exploration because it is very expensive and demands billions dollars.
The International Space Station is the most complex and expensive structure that has ever been launched and built in space. The project of constructing the international space station involves only the most technologically advanced countries - Russia, the United States, Canada, Japan, Brazil and 11 European nations. According to the project the ISS will consist of 36 modules and hundreds of individual elements that come from all over the world. The difficulties connected with the assembly process are as follows: all these elements should fit together properly and work exactly as planned. But even if all the parts fitted perfectly the assembly process itself in the orbit would be risky.
The project of constructing the ISS would be impossible without the previous experience in operating the Russian Mir space station. Mir was a great achievement. Russia learnt how to build and maintain such complex structure in space. It proved to be an ideal training ground for the ISS. That is why it was planned that Russia would supply and deliver 12 key modules out of 36 ones. They are: the basic power module, the control, the life support, the service modules and others. Constructing the ISS is not only scientific but also a political program. It promotes the international cooperation in science and technology and creates thousands of peaceful jobs for highly qualified workers and engineers.
Исследование космоса имеет большое значение для научно-технического прогресса. Без этого у нас не было бы никаких телекоммуникационных средств или возможностей. Это оказалось гораздо более полезным для поиска новых месторождений, контроля изменений погоды, прогнозирования возможных бедствий, контроля экологической ситуации, прогноза погоды и других. Спутники, запущенные в космос, обеспечивают превосходные возможности для обнаружения новых военных объектов или появления новых зон военных угроз.
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Не все страны могут позволить себе освоение космоса, потому что это очень дорого и требует миллиардов долларов.
Международная космическая станция - самая сложная и дорогая структура, которая когда-либо была запущена и построена в космосе. В проекте строительства международной космической станции участвуют только самые технологически развитые страны - Россия, США, Канада, Япония, Бразилия и 11 европейских стран. Согласно проекту, МКС будет состоять из 36 модулей и сотен отдельных элементов, которые поступают со всего мира. Трудности, связанные с процессом сборки, заключаются в следующем: все эти элементы должны правильно сочетаться и работать точно так, как планировалось. Но даже если бы все детали были идеально подобраны, сам процесс сборки на орбите был бы рискованным.
Проект строительства МКС был бы невозможным без предыдущего опыта эксплуатации российской космической станции «Мир». Мир был большим достижением. Россия научилась строить и поддерживать такую сложную структуру в космосе. Это оказалось идеальной площадкой для подготовки к МКС. Именно поэтому было запланировано, что Россия будет поставлять и поставлять 12 ключевых модулей из 36. Это: основной силовой модуль, контроль, жизнеобеспечение, сервисные модули и другие. Построение МКС - это не только научная, но и политическая программа. Он содействует международному сотрудничеству в области науки и техники и создает тысячи мирных рабочих мест для высококвалифицированных рабочих и инженеров.
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Topic – The Internet
The Internet is a magnificent global network with millions and millions of computers and people connected to one another. Each day people worldwide exchange a huge amount of information, electronic mail, news, and ideas.
The Internet has grown at a surprising rate. It’s one of the best resources for up-to-date information. Almost everyone use it regularly. With a few touches at a keyboard a person can get access to any material: full-text newspapers, magazines, journals, reference works, and books. There is a hypertext-based system by which you can navigate through the Internet. Hypertext is the text that contains links to other documents. A special program known as «browser» can help you find news, pictures, virtual museums, electronic magazines, etc. and print Web pages.
Internet Video conferencing programs enable users to talk to and see each other, and to exchange textual and graphical information. The next generation of Internet-enabled televisions will incorporate a smart-card for home shopping, banking and other interactive services. Internet-enabled TV means a TV set used as an Internet device.
The Internet is a good example of a wide area network (WAN). For long-distance or worldwide communications, computers are usually connected into a wide area network to form a single integrated network. Networks can be linked together by telephone lines or fiber-optic cables. Modern telecommunication systems use
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fiber-optic cables because they offer considerable advantages, such as great speed of transmitting signals and perfect quality. Fiber-optic cables, .for example, are immune to electromagnetic interference and they consume much less electric power than copper cables and wires. Computers are connected by means of a modem to ordinary telephone lines or fiber-optic cables, which are linked to a dish aerial. Communication satellites receive and send signals on a transcontinental scale.
Topic – Optical Technology
One of the most interesting developments in telecommunication is rapid progress of optical communication. It is a result of combining two great technologies of the 20th century: the laser, first demonstrated in 1960, and the fabrication of ultra-thin silicon fibers 10 years later.
Optical fibers are made from glass and are usually about 120 micrometers in diameter. Although they are so small they are much more efficient than copper cables with the same bandwidth. It means that they carry more channels of information over longer distances.
It is difficult to steal information from optical fibers and they don’t ignite, so they can be used in flammable atmospheres, for example in petrochemical plants. Optical fibers are more expensive per meter than copper cables, but optical systems can transmit pulses of light as far as 135 kilometers without any need for amplification or regeneration. It means that less expensive repeaters are required. Besides, they use much less electric power to deliver the signals.
So, we may say that optical communication promises a considerable increase in capacity, quality, performance and reliability of the global telecommunication network. Optical fibers increase the speed of telecommunication and provide new, specialized information service.
In fact, any kind of information, such as voice, computer data, even video images, can be processed and transmitted over a single digital communication network.
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Nowadays optical transmission systems are being installed between major cities of Kazakhstan at a rapid rate. It is found that optical technology is cost-effective and versatile. It finds new applications every day- from connecting computers or communication equipment within one building to long distance and space communication.
Topic – GREAT BRITAIN
The full name of the country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The United Kingdom is situated on the British Isles. The British Isles consist of two large islands, Great Britain and Ireland, and a great number of small islands. Their total area is 244 000 square kilometres.
The island of Great Britain consists of three main parts: England, Wales and Scotland.
There are no high mountains in Great Britain. There are many beautiful lakes in the mountainous parts of the country.
Most rivers flow into the North Sea and they are not very long. The Thames is the deepest and the longest of the British rivers. Great Britain is not very rich in mineral resources; it has some deposits of coal and iron ore and vast deposits of oil and gas that were discovered in the North Sea.
The warm currents of the Atlantic Ocean influence the climate of Great Britain. Winters are not severely cold and summers are rarely hot.
The population of the United Kingdom is over 58 million people. The main nationalities are English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish. In Great Britain there are a lot of immigrants from former British Asian and African colonies.
Great Britain is a highly industrialized country. It is known as one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of iron and steel products, machinery and electronics, chemicals and textile, aircraft and navigation equipment. One of the main industries of the country is shipbuilding.
The main industrial centers are London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow and Bristol.
The capital of the country is London. The United Kingdom is a parliamentary monarchy. The Queen is the head of the state, but in practice the elected government rules it with a Prime Minister at the head. The British Parliament consists of two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons.
There are three main political parties in Great Britain: the Labor, the Conservative and the Liberal. The Labor party is the ruling party nowadays.
Topic – USA
The USA is one of the largest countries in the world. It is situated in the central part of the North American continent. The area of the USA is over nine million square kilometres. It is washed by the Pacific Ocean and by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west and east coasts respectively. The most northern part of the USA is Alaska,, the largest state, separated from the rest of the country by Canada. The population of the United States is nearly 250 million people, and most of the people live in towns. People of different nationalities live in the USA. The official language of the country is English.
The capital of the country is Washington DC. It was named in honour of the first President, George Washington. As the USA is a large country, the climate is different in different regions. For example, the Pacific coast is a region of mild winters and warm, dry summers, but the eastern continental region has more rainfall.
The region around the Great Lakes has changeable weather. There are many mountains in the USA. For example, the highest peaks of the Cordilleras in the USA are 6,193 and 4,418 metres.
The main river of the country is the Mississippi. But there are many other great rivers in the USA: the Colorado in the south and the Columbia in the northwest. There are five Great Lakes between the USA and Canada.
The USA produces more than 52 per cent of the world's corn, wheat, cotton, and tobacco. There are many big cities in the country. They are Washington DC (the capital of the country), New York (the city of contrasts, financial and business centre of the USA), Boston (with many colleges and universities), Chicago (one of the biggest industrial cities in the USA), San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Detroit (one of the biggest centres of the automobile industry).
The USA has an Academy of Sciences. There are many scientific institutions, museums, libraries, theatres and other interesting places in the country. The USA is a highly developed industrial country. The USA is rich in mineral resources, such as aluminium, salt, zinc, copper, and others. The country is rich in coal, natural gas, gold and silver, too.
Topic – Holidays in the USA
There are number of holidays in the USA which are celebrated every year. Here are some of them.
The 1st of January is New Year's Day. People do not go to bed until after midnight on December 31. They like to see “the old year out and the new year in”. Many people give parties on New Year's Eve.
Memorial Day, or Decoration Day, is dedicated to those who fought in the War of Independence, in World War I or in World War II.
The 4th of July is Independence Day. It is the biggest national holiday in the USA. The Declaration of Independence was proclaimed in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, when the American colonies were fighting for independence against England.
On the 11th of November there is Veteran's Day. It is I dedicated to those who fell in the two World Wars.
Thanksgiving Day is on the fourth Thursday in November. In the autumn of 1621, the Pilgrim Fathers celebrated their first harvest festival in America and called it Thanksgiving Day. Since that time it has been celebrated every year.
Christmas is celebrated on the 25th of December. People usually stay at home in Christmas time, and spend the day with their families.
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