Icebergs

Icebergs are huge floating pieces of ice, and sometimes they can be as big as a ten-storied building. The main part of an iceberg is below the water and only a small part of it can be seen above. Icebergs can be not only blue and white but also green, brown and even black – depending on stones, plankton and even plants that are in them.

Icebergs can be dangerous for ships as they can move very quickly and sometimes it's not so easy to detect them in time. Waves, speed of wind, and ocean current can prevent even modern radar equipment from detecting them. Big ships can't change their direction suddenly and that can make crashing unavoidable.

Everyone knows the story of the Titanic, one of the biggest ships that crashed into a huge iceberg. The Titanic was considered to be very safe and unsinkable, but she sank in the Atlantic Ocean on her very first sea voyage in 1912. Few people, however, know about the Titanic’s sisters – the Britannic and the Olympic, another two huge ocean liners. Those three ships were very much alike. During the World War I, the youngest sister, the Britannic, became tine biggest floating hospital. She was badly damaged by a German mine and sank not far from Greece. The Olympic was launched in 1910, two years before the Titanic, and unlike her unfortunate sisters, lived a long life – almost half a century.

Задание2. Ответьте на вопросы:

1. What does the color of icebergs depend on?

2. What prevents modern radar equipment from detecting icebergs?

3. How many people knew about the Titanic's sisters?

4. Why did the Britannic sink?

5. Did the Olympic have the same fate as her sisters?

Вопросы к практическому занятию

1. Можете ли вы сказать, о чем текст, основываясь на заголовке? Выскажите предположения.

2. Какие слова и словосочетания относятся к общенаучному стилю?

3. Озаглавьте каждый абзац текста так, чтобы заголовок выражал основную идею абзаца.

4. Изложите основное содержание текста.