Words and expressions to be remembered

solar energy horticulture

radiant light brooding chicks

to harness chicken manure

ever-evolving greenhouse

solar photovoltaic transparent materials

urgent row covers

contribution vehicle

to capture fuel consumption

to convert PV panels

to distribute exploration

to reference alternative

to circumnavigate

Exercise 1. Give Russian equivalents to the following words and expressions.

Solar energy technologies, passive (or active) solar technologies, thermal properties, alternative resources, urban planning, geothermal and tidal energies, productivity of plants, solar powered car, solar boat.

Exercise 2. Give English equivalents to the following words and expressions.

Солнечная энергия, солнечное отопление, искусственный фотосинтез, сталкиваться с проблемами, солнечное излучение, поглощать энергию, сельское хозяйство, садоводство, панель,технологии, распределение солнечного света, прозрачный материал, проектирование зданий, теплица.

Exercise 3. Arrange the following words into pairs of antonyms.

1) heating a) store

2) urgent b) active

3) passive c) of secondary importance

4) distribute d) principle

5) auxiliary e) cooling

Exercise 4. Read and translate the text.

Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar energy technologies include solar heating, solar photovoltaics, solar thermal electricity, solar architecture and solar photovoltaics photosynthesis, which can make considerable contribution to solving some of the most urgent energy problems the world now faces.

Solar technologies are broadly characterized as either passive solar or active solar depending on the way they capture, convert and distribute solar energy. Active solar techniques include the use of photovoltaic panels and solar thermal collectors to harness the energy. Passive solar techniques include selecting materials with favorable thermal properties.

Solar energy refers primarily to the use of solar radiation for practical ends. However, all renewable energies, other than geothermal and tidal, derive their energy from the sun.

Solar energy is highly appreciated in architecture and urban planning. Sunlight has influenced building design since the beginning of architectural history. Advanced solar architecture and urban planning methods were first employed by the Greeks and Chinese, who oriented their buildings toward the south to provide light and warmth.

Agriculture and horticulture also seek to optimize the capture of solar energy in order to optimize the productivity of plants. Applications of solar energy in agriculture aside from growing crops include pumping water, drying crops, brooding chicks and drying chicken manure.

Greenhouses convert solar light to heat, enabling year-round production and growth of special crops and plants. Primitive greenhouses were first used during Roman times to produce cucumbers year-round for the Roman emperor Tiberius. The first modern greenhouses were built in Europe in the 16th century to keep exotic plants brought back from explorations abroad. Greenhouses remain an important part of horticulture today, and plastic transparent materials have also been used to similar effect in polytunnels and row covers.

The development of a solar powered car has been an engineering goal since 1980s. The North American Solar Challenge and the planned South African Solar PV panels are competitions that reflect an international interest in the engineering and development of solar powered vehicles.

Some vehicles use solar panels for auxiliary power, such as for air conditioning, to keep the interior cool, thus reducing fuel consumption.

In 1975, the first practical solar boat was constructed in England. By 1995, passenger boats incorporating PV panels began appearing and are now used extensively. In 1996 the first solar powered crossing of the Pacific Ocean took place and in the winter of 2006-2007 the first solar powered crossing of the Atlantic Ocean took place and there are other plans to circumnavigate the globe.

Exercise 5. Answer the following questions.

1. What do solar energy technologies include?

2. How are solar technologies characterized?

3. What includes the use of photovoltaic panels?

4. What is the source of renewable energies?

5. What is the source of geothermal and tidal energies?

6. How can you define active and passive solar technologies?

7. Where is solar light used in agriculture?

8. The first greenhouses were built in India in the 17^th century, were not they?

9. Can solar energy be used in vehicles?

Exercise 6. Translate the following text from Russian into English in writing.

Земля получает 174 петаватт (PW) поступающего солнечного излучения в верхних слоях атмосферы. Примерно 30% отражается обратно в космос, а остальное поглощается облаками, океанами и сушей. На Земле поверхности суши, океанов и атмосфера поглощают солнечное излучение, и это повышает их температуру. Теплый воздух, содержащий испарившуюся из океана влагу, поднимается, в результате чего происходит циркуляция атмосферы или конвекция. Когда воздух достигает больших высот, где температура низкая, водяной пар конденсируется в облака, из-за чего идут дожди на поверхности Земли, завершая круговорот воды.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16