И. А. Курбасова Е. И. Силантьева

Moving Pavements (тротуар)

(1) For many years transport engineers thought of the ways to perfect city transport. There was time when they claimed (утверждать) that railed horse-drawn omnibuses (конка) would be more advantageous than the stage-coaches. existing at that time. Although that time has already passed, specialists are still thinking about new means of passenger transport in big cities.

(2) Indeed, what will city transport look like in 20 or 30 years? Some engineers suggest the idea of moving pavem­ents. The pavement would consist of two or three strips (полоса) cunning in both directions along the street. Propelled by electricity, these horizontal escalators would develop differ­ent speeds so that a passenger could ride on a slower or faster strip. Were it necessary, the moving pavement would be equipped with seats and other conveniences for travel­lers. The first lines of such moving pavements might first appear in the streets with the heaviest traffic. Later, they would be operated as a single system serving the city cen­tre. The designers claim that a large carrying capacity and reliability would be the chief advantages'of moving escala­tors. Were they introduced, they would make buses, trol­ley-buses and other means of surface transport in big cities unnecessary.

3. Прочтите развернутый план текста А, не поль­зуясь словарем; определите значения выделенных слов и словосочетаний, исходя из контекста; перескажите содер­жание каждого пункта плана по-русски.

(1) For many years speed has been the chief goal for railway engineers in many countries. Numerous tests of newly-designed vehicles show that the possibilities of in­creasing speeds have not yet been exhausted.

(2) The Soviet-made ER-200 train is worth mentioning in this respect. Capable of developing 200 kph, the train also meets the requirements of safety and passenger com­fort. Many latest achievements of railway technology have been incorporated in the new Soviet express train.

(3) The British Advanced Passenger Train (APT) (усо­вершенствованный пассажирский поезд) attracted the at­tention of railwaymen. The key feature of this 200 kph train was that it could go round curves (кривая) 40% faster than the existing trains. But the test results showed it needed so many modifications that the train had to be taken out of service.

(4) However, it is the contactless transportation systems which seem particularly promising as regards speeds. These systems can be divided into two principal types: the air-cushion system and the magnetic suspension system. The main drawback of the air-cushion vehicles propelled by turbo-jet engines is that they produce much noise and pol­lute the atmosphere with exhaust gases. As to the magnet­ically-suspended vehicles, they are silent in operation and do not produce air pollution, which makes them attractive for big cities and suburban areas.

(5) Another project, the so-called Corridor system, pro­posed in the USA represents another approach to the high speed passenger transportation problem. Running in under­ground tubes on conventional rails the trains could attain a top speed of 400 mph because they would not be affected by friction: the air would be pumped out of the tube. In order to accelerate or decelerate the train the air at atmos­pheric pressure would be pumped into the tube behind or before the train. Although very costly, the Corridor system offers a number of economic benefits.

4. Прочтите текст со словарем и дайте ответы на следующие вопросы.

1. What is one of the most desirable goals to perfect the existing rail transport? 2. What requirements must new high-speed transport meet? 3. What characteristic features make the ER-200 more attractive for high-speed railway service compared with conventional trains? 4. Why was the British Advanced Passenger Train taken out of service? 5. What transport systems show particularly great promise as regards speeds? 6. Are air-cushion or magnetically-sus­pended vehicles more acceptable in densely-populated areas? Give your reasons. 7. What factor reduces the economic benefit of the contactless transportation systems? 8. What makes it possible for the Corridor system trains to achieve a speed of 400 mph?