This is as much as listening exercise, as an engineering one. How much can you understand ?Which presenter is easier to understand, the young lady or the man from USA ?
Engineering terms
Match the term to the definition:
friction: the product of a body’s mass and its velocity
compression: not of natural origin; prepared or made artificially
momentum: the resistance when a body is moved in contact with another
synthetic: an increase in the density of something
Why is it hard to start these early cars ? Where was this car made ?
New vocabulary:
particular / original / hill-start / rapidly / brutality / you what ?
Firstly, a look at some vintage cars:
According to the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, United Kingdom, the definition for each category is the following:
Veteran– officially a car made up to and including December 1918.
Vintage– officially a car made between 1919 and 1930. Although, the term is often used to describe any car made before World War II.
Classic– generally any car that is no longer in production that is still popular. For classic car events organised by the Motor Sports Association (MSA) eligibility is set at 20 years. Generally this term is applied to cars from the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. However, no definition is universal.
There is some great new vocabulary in this article, as well as expressions and collocations (‘potentially dangerous’ / ‘do their best’).
What are the causes ? Can turbulence be predicted ? How do air-traffic controllers gather information ?
Reading exercise
Selecting important information
We want to condensethis article so we only need the main facts:
This is about the British engineer Isabard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom BrunelFRS(/ˈɪzəmbɑːrd bruːˈnɛl/; 9 April 1806– 15 September 1859), was an English mechanical and civil engineerwho is considered “one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history”,”one of the 19th-century engineering giants”,and “one of the greatest figures of the Industrial Revolution, [who] changed the face of the English landscape with his groundbreaking designs and ingenious constructions”.Brunel built dockyards, the Great Western Railway, a series of steamships including the first propeller-driven transatlanticsteamship, and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering.
Though Brunel’s projects were not always successful, they often contained innovative solutions to long-standing engineering problems. During his career, Brunel achieved many engineering firsts, including assisting in the building of the first tunnel under a navigable river and development of SS Great Britain, the first propeller-driven, ocean-going, iron ship, which, when built in 1843, was the largest ship ever built.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859), was an English engineer who is regarded as a major figure in engineering history. His designs, which were considered ground-breaking and ingenious, included bridges and tunnels, railways and ships.
Despite some engineering fails, he was an innovator and achieved many firsts in enginnering. His ship, the SS Great Britain (1843), was the largest ship of its time.
Now, your turn:
Landmark 81
How to look for important information. Read this Wikipedia entry and re-write in just 3 or 4 sentences, inclusing only the most important information.
The 461.5 metres (1,514 ft) tall, 81-storey building is built on the western banks of the Saigon River in the city’s Binh Thanh District, located just north of Ho Chi Minh City’s historic center and to the immediate south of Saigon Bridge. The tower is at the heart of the $1.5 billion high-end mixed-use urban area called Vinhomes Central Park, and was scheduled to be inaugurated in July 2018. The development comprises hotel and conference facilities, luxury apartments, high-end retail spaces, restaurants, bars, and a multi-story observation deck at the tower’s crown.
Thay Paul's Notes 