Read the text to find answers to the given questions

TEXT 3C

TOMORROW'S TRANSPORT

1. Will the strips move at the same or at different speeds?

What will cities of the future look like? Town planners are thinking of new methods of construction and transportation.

What will city transport be like in 20 or 30 years? The moving pavement is one possibility. It consists of several strips (полоса) moving along at different speeds These escalators are moving in both directions along all streets. On reaching his destination (место назначения) the passenger steps over the slower strip and there to terra firma (неподвиж­ная земля).

For convenience these moving pavements may be supplied with chairs, benches, vending machines selling soft drinks, ice-cream, candy and so on

2. What kind of transport will be forced out?

The first lines of such moving pavements should appear in the streets which have the heaviest traffic and are the most dangerous for pedestrians (пешеходы). In the beginning they will replace the older forms of city traffic only in certain streets, but then they will appear in a single system serving the centre of the city. Buses, trolley-buses and motor-cars will be forced out as the trams are forced out of the centre of many cities now.

3. What kind of cars shall we have in future?

What will the car of the future be like? It probably won't be red. Our response to colours isn't always the same. If you want people to stop when they see a car in front of them, yellow is probably the best. When you go for a drive in the car of tomorrow you will certainly know more about the road in front of you. Your car radio will tell you about the next comer before you can see it. It will pick this up from a wire under the road When you stop quickly, the light that tells the man behmd you to be careful will spread across the car. At the same time ц bag in front of you will fill up with air to stop you hitting your head on tire window. What will the car of the future run on? Not petrol, which is dirty and noisy. In future we'll probably have electric cars. As a rule the electric car can only make a short journey before gomg back to the garage. Or steam cars That too would be quiet and clean. But in England there is a farmer who has invented a car that runs on manure (навоз) and he drives to London in it every week

4. What are the advantages (преимущества) of a tube system?

Trains of the Future. What about long-distance travel? Consider the "tube-train" suspended (подвешенный) and propelled by compressed air. It may carry passengers on trips at 350 miles an hour. This idea is materialised in a 12-foot long model of a strange new aluminium torpedo train. The full-size train will run through an 18 foot-diameter metal tube, while big propellers pump the air from the front to the rear A tube system has many advantages: a tube tram makes little noise (шум); the tube can be suspended, buried (зд. подземный) or even run through buildings; maintenance cost of this train will be low and passengers will be protected from bad weather.

4. The following texts about air bags were published in 1983. At the moment of crashing a bag in front of the driver fills up with air and prevents the driver from hitting his head on the window. Are these bags widely used now in Russia? in the USA? You are asked to make a short report on the problem of introducing air bags in the USA. Use the following articles and present information on:

1) public opinion;

2) the attitude of the government;

3) the price of air bags;

4) the number of cars purchased;

5) the experiments which are going on.

TEXT 3D

AIR BAGS IN POLICE CARS

Police departments in six states have agreed to participate in a program that will retrofit existing police cars with driver-side air bags, reports the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Beginning this fall, some 500 restraint systems will be installed in police vehicles in Arizona, Wisconsm, Maryland, Ohio, California, and Mississippi The states will be required to furnish NHTSA with air-bag maintenance records and accident data.

"This represents the key in our effort to test the feasibility of retrofitting air bags into existing cars," says NHTSA deputy administrator Diane K. Steed. "This actual fleet usage affords us the opportunity to dispel the 1970s myths about air bags, pro and con, and to reintroduce the public to air-bag technology. We hope ultimately that this project will lead to the commercial availability of a retrofit air-bag system for every consumer who wants one."

Air-bag retrofit kits produced by Romeo-Kojyo Co. Inc. will soon be installed in state police cars.

The state of Arizona has agreed to modify and equip 130 of its fleet of late-model Ford LTDs with air bags. Arizona plans to maintain records on vehicle performance in accidents.

DOT also has entered into an agreement with the General Service Administration to purchase 5.000 compact cars equipped with driver-side air bags The goal of this project is to make available to large fleet buyers - and eventually the public - an affordable domestic car equipped with an air bag.