1. Read and translate the text. From the History of Transportation
Transportation used to be much slower than it is now.
For many years in desert, camels used to be the only form of transportation. Before the age of modern trains, camel trains used to carry all the goods for trading between Central Africa and Europe. Traders sometimes used to put together camel trains with 10,000 to 15,000 animals. Each animal often carried as much as 400 pounds and it could travel twenty miles a day. This form of transportation used to be so important that camels were called the "ships of the desert".
Now modern trains travel across the desert in a very short time. One engine can pull as much weight as 135,000 camels. In addition, trains use special cars for their load. Refrigerator cars carry food and tank cars carry oil.
Air travels has changed too. The earliest planes were biplanes, with two sets of wings. The
top speed of this plane was 60 miles per hour. The pilots used to sit or lie on the wings in the open air. The plane engines sometimes used to stop in the middle of a trip. It was impossible to fly in bad weather. In snow or rain, the wings frequently became icy. Then the plane might go down.
Mechanical improvements during the First World War changed airplanes. Monoplanes took the place of biplanes. Pilots flew inside of covered cabins. Still, even these planes were small. Only rich people were able to travel in airplanes.
Now modern jets make air travels possible for all people. Further improvements have lowered the cost of flying, and they have made air travel much safer than it used to be. A modern jet can carry 170 people and fly at 600 miles per hour. People never used to eat or watch movies on airplanes. Now these things are an usual part of air travel.
2. Answer the questions to the text.
What was the only form of transportation in the desert? How were camels called by people?
Why were air travels so dangerous?
Did pilots use to travel in bad weather?
Are air travels safe and comfortable now?
3. Translate the following sentences into Russian. Mind the use of the participles.
1. Cars and trucks have improved in numerous respects, becoming far more reliable, safer and less polluting.
2. Being an engine of commerce, the logistics industry is fueled by the health of the overall economy. 3. Transport companies earn money being engaged in freight transportation instead of writing the
accompanying documents.
4. Goods in lots which are too small for the traditional bulk transport can be moved using containers.
5. Indices showing cost developments for different kinds of road transport have to be published regularly. 6. The 1939 World Fair had exhibits indicating that almost everything in transport would operate automatically.
7. Vehicles travelling on the network include automobiles, bicycles, buses, trains, people and aircraft.
4. Make up sentences using the following words.
1. hunting/tomove/Thefirst/territory/which/roads/took/were/one/from/origins/ used / from / to another / trails / their.
2. encouraged/construction/better/The/vehicles/use/of/wheeled/of/roads.
3. century/roads/Road/round/many/year/development/20th /are/in/now/ accelerated / the / and / used.
4. role/in/depending/hierarchy/Roads/play/have/network/they/a/functional/the/ on / the.