Egyptian pyramids

Architecture is the art which makes buildings beautiful to look at as well as useful. A man who designs (проектировать) buildings and makes the plans for them is called an architect. He has to think not only of what he wants the building to look like when it is finished, but also what it is to be used for. He must not forget the sort of material to be used in the building. This may be stone, brick, wood or steel and con­crete.

There have been many different styles or kinds of architecture in the past and there are many different styles today in different parts of the world.

The oldest monuments which are met within architecture are the colossal pyramids of Egypt most of which were constructed about 6,000 years ago.

The pyramids are large triangular (треугольный) buildings which were placed over the tombs (могила) of Egyptian kings. The best known of the pyramids are a group of three built at Giza south of Cairo. The largest of these is 482 feet high. They tell us of the advanced civilization of ancient Egypt which is much spoken about even in our days.

It was a country which had expert mathematicians and engineers, where astronomy and philosophy were known and studied.

The country was rich in hard and durable (прочный) stone, but poor in timber and metal, so that the main material used for construc­tion was granite, and this was the reason for the durability of the pyra­mids.

Large blocks of stone were transported over long distances by land and water, and placed into position with the help of the most primitive equipment. That was done by slaves (раб) working for thirty or forty years. All this great amount of work was done, masses of material and a large territory sometimes of about 52,000 square meters were used, only for protecting the body of a dead king and constructing a dwelling place for his happy life in the "other world".

Text 5

AN HONOURABLE PROFESSION (I)

In our country housing construction is being carried out on a large scale. Hundreds of factories producing prefab panels. are being constantly built. The successful fulfilment of housing plans in our country is a practicable realization of the industrialized building methods and the development of a large quantity of prefab ferroconcrete panels and parts. The work of a builder is no longer backbreaking and complicated.

Builders, as we know, assemble a house from prefabricated units which are delivered to the construction site. A welder then welds the units to hold them in place. A great variety of materials are nowadays used by builders. Students of building institutes study the existing materials. When they become full-fledged builders they develop new building materials and building methods.

A qualified building worker must now be able to read a technical drawing, he must know the scale and the specifications. If you want to contribute to the beauty of a town or city, if you want to leave a memory of yourself in the history of that town or city, come to a construction site and learn the trade of a builder. And be sure to enter a Civil Engineering Institute.

I. Find in the text the English equivalents for the following sentences:

1. Дома строят из сборных элементов. 2. Работа строителя уже не является изнурительной. 3. В строительстве используется большое разнообразие строительных материалов. 4. Он освоил работу крановщика.

II. In the blanks below insert the proper preposition:

1. The building profession attracts many numbers... young men and women. 2. Builders construct residential and industrial buildings, palaces... culture, etc. 3. Hundreds... dams, reservoirs, pump stations have been erected... our hydrotechnicians.

III. Open the brackets and use the proper tense:

1. The building profession (to attract) many numbers of young people. 2. It (to be) an honourable profession. 3. The person (to enter) this profession must (to have) a scientific attitude, imagination, initiative and good judgement. 4. A sanitary engineer (to protect) the quality of water by treating and purifying this water when it (to be) used for domestic purposes. 5. An architect (to be) a person who (to design) buildings,

AN HONOURABLE PROFESSION (II)

The building profession attracts many numbers of young men and women nowadays. It is an honourable¹ profession.

Builders construct and reconstruct residential and industrial build­ings, bridges, schools, palaces of culture, museums, theatres, kindergar­tens and hospitals. They build tunnels, canals², power stations, dams and reservoirs. They also construct aqueducts to store and transport water for populated areas and to irrigate desert lands. The distribution of water in irrigated areas is based on annual plans. Very many irrigation systems have been built and are being built and modernized. Hundreds of dams, reservoirs, locks, pumping stations have been erected on the rivers of our country by our hydrotechnicians.

The person entering this honourable profession must have a scientif­ic attitude³, imagination, initiative and good judgement, obtained by experience and serious work.

Civil engineers and architects have a common aim — to provide people with all modern conveniences, such as running water, gas, elec­tricity, central heating. While a sanitary engineer protects the quality of water by treating⁴ and purifying⁵ this water when it is used for do­mestic⁶ purposes, an architect is a person who designs buildings. An ar­chitect must receive a great deal of scientific training connected with his profession. He must know mathematics, as well as many facts con­cerning materials— for example what loads different materials may safely carry — so that there will be no danger of his building falling down. Architects must need some knowledge of sculpture, painting, design, mechanical engineering, geography, city planning, etc. The structure an architect creates should give us pleasure, a sense of beauty.

Notes

1. honourable — благородный

2. canal — канал (искусственный); channel — пролив, русло, проток: The Belomor Canal, constructed in 1933, joined Leningrad and the White Sea. The English Channel separates the United Kingdom from the mainland on the south.

3. attitude — отношение, позиция: I don't like his attitude towards his work.

4. to treat — обрабатывать: In order to make this water drink­able it has to be treated with special chemicals.

5. to purify — очищать(ся): The water used for reinforced con­crete must be purified of organic matter.

6. domestic — домашний, внутренний: Nowadays gas cookers are widely used for domestic purposes.