Text C. Inventors and their Inventions

Rudolf Diesel was a German engineer. He was born in 1858 and died in 1913. In 1897 he invented a new internal combustion engine. This engine is known as diesel and it began a transport revolution in cars, lorries, trains and ships. The main advantage of diesels is that they run on rather cheap fuel.

Samuel Finley Morse was born in 1791. He was a portrait painter. Then he became the inventor. For 12 years he tried to perfect the telegraph and he was a success. Later he invented the telegraphic dot-and-dash alphabet. Now it is known as Morse code. Morse code was not the only one in America of that time. There were some others. But now we use Morse code all over the world.

Charles Makintosh lived from 1766 to 1843. He lived in Scotland and was a chemist by profession. He worked in a textile industry. In 1823 he developed a rubber solution. This rubber solution was used for raincoat production. Raincoats with this rubber solution didn’t allow water to penetrate. These raincoats were called makintoshes. Now people all over the world use them in spring and in autumn.

Charles Rolls was born in 1881 in Great Britain. He died in 1910. He was an aristocrat and businessman. He was especially interested in cars. Once he met another enthusiast of cars Henry Royce. Henry Royce was a famous car engineer. They decided to design the most comfortable and reliable car. At the beginning of the 20^th century it seemed to be a fantasy. But they worked hard and at last in 1907 they created the world-famous Rolls-Royce car. It was so comfortable and reliable that one of the models of Rolls-Royce cars “Silver Ghost” hadn’t changed greatly for 20 years since 1907.

All the cars produced by the firm of Daimler were called “Mercedes”. Mercedes was a daughter’s name of one of the stockholders of the firm. This man saved the firm of Daimler from the financial crisis at the beginning of the 20^th century. But after the World War I the firm of Daimler met financial difficulties again. This time it had to join the firm of Benz. Since that time all the cars produced by the firm “Daimler-Benz” have been called “Mercedes-Benz”.

Exercise 6.Complete the abstract given below by adding one-two paragraphs of your own to give the abstract a logical ending. Then think of a title.

Nowadays people move on land much faster than the speediest horses. Powerful motors drive cars, diesel engines run trains from one country to another. Under water sportsmen swim swifter than the speediest fish.

In air people fly hundred times faster than birds. Supersonic planes fly at twice the speed of sound. People enjoy these achievements thanks to the development of science and technology.

We live in the time when highly productive machines and up-to-date devices take the place of people. They lighten man’s labour and do all the hard work in mills, factories, mines and farms.