2018-02-14
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1. The pipes are made of an loyal of copper and zinc.
2. The government increased prices on several basic mmcoodities like bread and meat.
3. Credit cards are probably the most conentveni way of paying for concert tickets.
4. We’ll need to know the exact ionsdimens of the room.
5. The toy train is four nchies long.
6. His personal riches were estimdate at ₤368 million.
7. An inch is an impaleri unit of length, approximately equal to 2.54 centimeters.
8. Being able to pay bills over the Irnnteet is a real convenience.
Ex. 6. Make sure you pronounce the following numbers correctly:
| 130-pound rail | one hundred and thirty pound rail |
| 130 lb/yd | one hundred and thirty pounds per yard |
| 64.5 kg/m | sixty four point five kilograms per meter |
| 115 to 141 lb/yd | one hundred and fifteen to one hundred and forty one pounds per yard |
| 57.0 to 69.9 kg/m | fifty seven point zero to sixty nine point nine kilograms per meter |
| 40 to 60 kg/m | forty to sixty kilograms per meter |
| 80.6 to 121.0 lb/yd | eighty point six to one hundred and twenty one point zero pounds per yard |
| 155 lb/yd | one hundred and fifty five pounds per yard |
| 76.9 kg/m | seventy six point nine kilograms per meter |
| 1/299,792,458 | one two hundred and ninety nine million, seven hundred and ninety two thousand, four hundred and fifty eighth |
Ex. 7. Read the text and translate it, using a dictionary, if necessary.
RAIL CLASSIFICATION (WEIGHT)
Rail is graded by weight over a standard length. Heavier rail can support greater axle loads and higher train speeds without being damaged than lighter rail, but at a greater cost. In North America and the UK, rail is graded in pounds per yard (usually shown as pound or lb), so 130-pound rail would weigh 130 lb/yd (64.5 kg/m). The usual range is 115 to 141 lb/yd (57.0 to 69.9 kg/m). In Europe, rail is graded in kg/m and the usual range is 40 to 60 kg/m (80.6 to 121.0 lb/yd). The heaviest rail mass-produced was 155 pounds per yard (76.9 kg/m) and was rolled for the Pennsylvania Railroad. The UK is in the process of transition from the imperial to metric rating of rail.
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Additional text
Ex. 8. Practice the reading of the following words and phrases.
| · Henry VIII · Elizabeth I · Greek · France · Paris · World War II · the Saxon girth · one ten-millionth | · Imperial System, · the United Kingdom · human dimensions · the Middle Ages · Troyes in France · the standard units · the King of England | · a similar process of standardization · the Earth, platinum-iridium alloy · the United States government · the International System of Units · the Palace of Westminster · on October 16, 1834 · the North Pole · a common system of weights and measures |
Imperial System is the system of weights and measures that grew up in the United Kingdom and formerly had legal force there. It grew from units chosen for the convenience of their sizes. Units of length were initially based on human dimensions and the dimensions of mass and volume on what people ate and drank. Their origins have not been properly recorded, which has led to much dispute among historians.
In the Middle Ages the basic unit of weight was the grain, based on the weight of a wheat grain, but for a long time there was no such thing as a standard universal pound weight. The pound for common goods could vary between 6,750 and 7,680 grains. Thanks to reforms put in place by Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, these were reduced to two: the ordinary or avoirdupois, pound* at 7,000 grains for everyday commodities; and the troy pound* for precious stones and metals. The troy pound probably took its value and its name from a weight used in the town of Troyes in France.
The units of length and volume went through a similar process of standardization as trade expanded. Probably the earliest standard of length was the Saxon girth or gyrd. In 1101 Henry I, the King of England, decreed that this should equal the length of his arm. This was the basis of the yard, which was subdivided into 3 feet, each of 12 inches.
The basic unit of volume, the gallon, went through a similar process of refinement. In 1707 the standard wine gallon was set at 231 cubic inches. However, the ale gallon was 282 cubic inches.
In 1758 a new standard troy pound and two years later a new standard yard were constructed. These were destroyed on October 16, 1834, in the fire that burned down the Palace of Westminster. A scientific committee was set up to recreate the standard units, this time in platinum.
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Metric System is the decimal system of physical units based on a unit of length known as the meter (Greek metron, “measure”). The metric system was introduced and adopted by law in France in the 1790s. Later, a majority of countries adopted the metric system as a common system of weights and measures. Scientists in all countries use the metric system in their work.
The meter (m), which is approximately 39.37 in, was originally defined as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole on a line running through Paris. From 1792 to 1799, French scientists measured part of this distance. Treating the Earth as a perfect sphere, they then estimated the total distance and divided it into ten-millionths. Later, after it was discovered that the Earth is not a perfect sphere, the standard meter was defined as the distance between two fine lines marked on a bar of platinum-iridium alloy. The measurements of modern science required still greater precision, however, and in 1983 the meter was defined as the length of the path traveled by light in a vacuum during a time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a second.
American weights and measures were based on the British system, although from 1866 the United States government permitted the metric system to be used. In Britain the metric system gradually started to take over from the imperial units after World War II. The world scientific community has adopted the International System of Units for its work.
Notes: *avoirdupois [ævədə'pɔɪz] pound - фунт британской системы массы (0,453 кг);
**troy pound - аптекарский [тройский] фунт (0,373 кг).
