The Future

 

We have all heard of famous civil engineers from the past – Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Thomas Telford and Robert Stephenson for example. They were innovators in their time and achieved some remarkable feats of civil engineering.

2. What famous Russian Civil Engineers do you know? What are they well known for? Prepare a short report about one of them. Use information from the Internet, encyclopedia or any other sources.

But civil engineering today is even more about innovation as civil engineers have ___________. Projects such as the Channel Tunnel, the Thames Barrier, the Humber Bridge, Canary Wharf and offshore oil platforms in the North Sea are just a few of the modern day achievements using methods and ideas never tried before.

Civil engineers will continue to ____________ of the civilized world – providing safe _____________ and ____________ water ____________ and developing irrigation and transport systems so communities can improve their quality of life.

And who knows what lies ahead? There are unimagined opportunities throughout the world and even beyond our own planet.

 

 

 

		Learning strategy Correct pronunciation is important for adequate understanding.
	Activity 4 Pronunciation

1. Underline the stressed syllables. Then mark whether the stresses are on the same syllables (۷;) or not (X).

 

1. chall. enge ci. vil chann. el ۷;

1. rail. way de. mand air. port X

2. har.bour treat.ment supp.ly

3. trans.port main.tain pro.vide

4. so.lu.tion pro.tec.tion re.duc.tion

5. comm.u.ni.ty fa.ci.li.ty inn.ov.at.or

6. off.shore tunn.el re.source

7. un.i.ma.gined i.rri.ga.tion en.gi.nee.ring

 

2. Put the words from the box in the correct column, according to the pronunciation of the letters in bold. Which word doesn’t belong to any column?

	society, airport, provide, maintain, environment, facility, increase, disposal, satisfy, innovation, achievement, civilized, irrigation, community, quality, idea, unimagined

 

/aΙ /

/Ι /

/Ι: /

/aΙ /

/εa/

 

 

innovation

 

Activity 5 Re-arrange these “word dominoes” in the right order so that each makes a strong word partnership. Make a list of the words pairs you create. The first and last domino are half-blank.

 

1.		move
2.	reduction	waste
3.	oil platforms	modern day
4.	safely and efficiently	natural
5.	treatment	irrigation
6.	disposal	solutions
7.	resources	pollution
8.	remarkable feats	offshore
9.	achievements	waste water
10.	to the problems	to achieve
11.	system

 

Learning strategy Expressing your opinion on the problem/ topic helps to increase your understanding of it and makes language learning more meaningful.

 

 

Activity 6 1. In the text “Our World and The Civil Engineer” it is stated that civil engineering has unimagined opportunities throughout the world and even beyond our planet. What do you think are these opportunities?

See Language Box to help you express you opinion.

 

 

Expressing your opinion
As I see it… I think… To my mind… I (personally) believe that…	In my view/ opinion… From my point of view… I must say that… It seems to me that…

 

2. Read the following statements about civil engineering and say if you agree or disagree with them. Prove your points of view referring to the texts you read in the unit.

· “Scientists explore what is; engineers create what has never been.” (Marc Isambard Brunel)

· Civil Engineering relies more than any other engineering discipline upon communication skills… and sensitivity to the needs of society.

· Civil Engineers are among the first to use the available high technologies.

· Civil Engineering is truly the profession that has shaped our past and is helping define and build our future.

· "The profession of Civil Engineering is the art of directing the great sources of the power of Nature for the use and convenience of Man." (from Wikipedia)

See Language Box to help you to agree and disagree.

 

Agreeing	Disagreeing
When you agree	When you agree but not strongly	When you disagree, but you want to be polite	When you disagree strongly
Absolutely/ Exactly I couldn’t/ can’t agree more I absolutely/ fully/ certainly/ quite agree with you Right/ That’s right/ You are right	I suppose so, but… I guess so Yes, maybe/ perhaps, but…	Yes, but … I know, but… I take/see your point but… But don’t you think…? I’m not so sure…	No, it isn’t … That’s not true I can’t accept that… I don’t think that’s right That’s not the way I see it

 

Unit 2

What sort of people are civil engineers?

	Learning strategy Deciding in advance what is most important for you helps you focus on your own purpose and priorities.