Look through the text again. Discuss in groups.

ü Are the transport problems in the USA similar to those in your country?

ü In your opinion what is the best solution to reduce the harmful effects of automobile use?

ü If you own a car or hope to own one, what conditions would encourage you to drive your car less and to travel to the University or work by bicycle, on foot or by carpool ( по очереди подвозить друг друга на автомобиле )?

Below are some phrases that you can use to help express opinions.

I think....

I believe....

I suppose....

I guess....

In my view....

In my opinion....

It seems to me that....

From my point of view....

As far as I’m concerned....

Personally, I think....

I’d like to point out that....

Some people say that....

It is generally accepted that....

It goes without saying that....

Work in pairs. Make a list of advantages and disadvantages of automobile use. Add your own ideas of benefits and drawbacks. Share your opinions with your partner. Follow the example.

Example:

S1 First of all, you can move quickly from one place to another and don’t have to waste your time and wait for a bus.

S2 But a lot of cars cause traffic jams and you have to spend much time in these jams. So it may not be so fast as you want.

 

Pros	Cons
1. easy transportation of goods 2. flexibility 3. reliability 4. ….	1. traffic jams 2. air pollution 3. a lack of parking spaces 4. high parking charges

UNIT 2. A BRIEF HISTORY OF CARS

1. Do you agree that….

· we live in a “world of wheels”?

· automobiles are believed to be a symbol of personal growth and development nowadays?

· cars have changed the way people live all over the world?

· cars have affected all aspects of society such as family life, the economy, and even the environment?

· “necessity is the mother of invention”?

 

Below are some phrases that you can use to help express agreement.

I agree....

Definitely....

I think so too....

That’s true....

I completely disagree....

Umm, I’m not sure about that....

Well, I don’t quite agree with...

That’s not always true....

I don’t think so....

No, I’m not sure about that because....

I’m afraid, I disagree....

 

2. The automobile as we know it today was not invented in a single day by a single inventor. Many people or teams of people are credited with inventing the car. Guess which countries these people are from: Germany, France, the USA, the UK?

 

Nicolas Joseph Cugnot

Richard Trevithick

Nicolaus August Otto

Karl Benz

Gottlieb Daimler

Wilhelm Maybach

Rudolf Diesel

Henry Ford

Make up the word combinations from columns A and B and find their equivalents in C.

A	B	C
1) gas-powered	a) time	самодвижущийся экипаж
2) mechanical	b) carriage	замена двигателя
3) engine	c) mixture	инженер-механик
4) assembly	d) Devil	затраты на производство
5) production	e) transportation	“Пыхтящий дьявол”
6) cannon	f) replacement	продолжительность сборки
7) compressed	g) carriage	сжатая смесь
8) steam	h) vehicle	автомобиль с газовым двигателем
9) horseless	i) costs	перевозка артиллерийского орудия
10) Puffing	j) engineer	тележка с паровым двигателем

Read the information about the major figures in the early history of the automotive industry.

· The first road vehicles were powered by steam. In 1769, Nicolas Joseph Cugnot, a French engineer and mechanic, built a steam carriage for transporting cannons. It travelled about 3 mph (5km/h) and had to stop every 10 minutes to build up steam.

· Before 1801, many people in the UK travelled around in carriages pulled by horses. Then Richard Trevithick found a way of making steam engines much smaller, and he put one of these engines on a carriage. His new “horseless carriage” was called the Puffing Devil.

· Nicolaus August Otto was the German inventor who, in 1876, built the first four-stroke internal combustion engine, the prototype of the hundreds of millions that have been built since then. The Otto engine ran on a compressed mixture of gas and air, and it became the first practical and successful replacement of the steam engine.

· In 1885, a German mechanical engineer Karl Benz designed and built the world's first practical automobile which was powered by an internal-combustion engine. On January 29, 1886, Benz received the first patent for a gas-powered vehicle. It was a three-wheeler; Benz built his first four-wheeled car in 1891.

· In 1885, Gottlieb Daimler, a German mechanical engineer, along with his design partner, Wilhelm Maybach, improved Nicolaus Otto’s internal combustion engine. They made it small, lightweight and fast. They also developed a carburetor that made possible the use of gasoline as fuel.

· Another type of internal-combustion engine was introduced by Rudolf Diesel, also of Germany, in the early 1890s. Named for its inventor, the diesel engine was more efficient than engines of the Otto variety and was fueled by heavy oil, which is cheaper and less volatile than gasoline.

· Henry Ford incorporated the Ford Motor Company in 1903. He is known as the father of the modern assembly line. The assembly line reduced production costs for cars by reducing assembly time. Ford's famous Model T was assembled in ninety-three minutes.