A.

Understanding a printed text

hi s passage wi l l gi ve you some
information about metals, alloys and
thei r uses. Noti ce how i t i s di vi ded i nto
paragraphs and secti ons. Pay attenti on to the
headi ngs or notes i n the margi n.
Nol v l ook at the fol l owi ng questi ons:
1. What i s the mai n advantage of metal s?
Can plastics be recycled?.
Which type of heat treatment makes
metal softer and less brittle?
a. Why are Concorde' s engine surrounds
made of titanium alloys?
Read the passage to find the answers.
Remember that you do not need to
understand every word in order to do so.
2.
3.
Why does man use metals still so much today when there are other
materials'
especially
pl",ti.., which are available?
A material
is generally
used because
it offer;
the'required
strength,
and other properties, at
mi ni mumcost' Appearancei sal soani mportantfactor.Themai nadvantage
of metals is their r".;;;;Jto,rghrr.rt.
Concrete
may be cheaper and is 5
often used in building,
but even concrete
depends
on its core of steel for
strength.
Pl asti csarel i ghterandmorecorrosi on-resi stant' buttheyarenotusual l y
as strong.
Another
proui.rn with plastics is what to do with them after use.
Metal objects c",, oft.n be broken
down and the metals recycled;
plastics l0
can only be dumPed
or burned'
Not all metals "r" *ottg, however'
Copper and aluminium'
for example'
are both fairly weak
-
Lui'if *'"V are mixed together'
the result is an alloy
called aluminium
bronze,
which is much stronger
than- either
pure copper
orpureal umi ni um.Al l oyrngi sani mport"nt-"thodofobtai ni ngwhatever15
,p".i"f
prope'rties
"r" '"qttit"d:
strength'
toughness'
resistance
to wear'
ti"g"",if
properties, high ilectrical
resistance
or corrosion
resistance'
The properti", oi-r'-*.or
can be further improved
by use of heat
Eeafinent.
Heat treatrnent
is the term
grven to.a number "{.If:"i:
,,
;T#;:rffih*h;;rop.rti.,
of.rnetals
and altoys are chansed.
It 20
usually consists of heating ii"t"ar
or.alloy to a selected
temperature
below
its melting
point and tien cooling
it at a certain
rate to obtain those
properties
which are required'
For example'
hardening
is used to make
metals harder.
r"*pffim"k",
them softer and less brittle. Annealing
is
carried
out to make " ,n.Lt soft so that it can be machined
more easily' In 25
,hi;^;;,
-*;aUi.
*'tt'ials
can be produced
to meet every kind of
engirieeiing
specification
and requirement'
WhenConcorde*",uuitt,amaterialwasneededwhichcouldwithstand
exEenre
aerodynamiJ"""Ji*i"",
and would have a life of at least 45,000
f i yi nghours' ro""t , i . n. -. hi , , "speci al al umi ni umal l oywasdevel oped30
which is tough ,rra figt'*"igttt
"1q is. used in over 7A/o of Concorde's
structure.
Another fOJl ir m"ade of high-strength
steel, and titadum alloys
are used in the engin" ,ur.o""ar
to wilrstand
temperatures
of 4000 degrees
centigrade.
U N
Heat treatment
Special alloys
1
V
Now read the text carefully, looking up
anything
you do not understand in a
dictionary or reierence book. While you
read, look for the answers to these questions:
1. Put T or F in the boxes to indicate if the
2'
statements below are true or false
according to the facts in the passage.
r Concrete is a cheap building'
material.
tr
o Plastics are more easily recycled than
metals.
n
o Aluminium bronze is an example of an
alloy.
n
r Pure copper is stronger than the alloys
that are made by mixing coPPer with
al umi ni um.
o Tempering is a kind of heat
treatment. n
r lt is sometimes an advantage for a
metalto be soft. n
o Concordei sbui l t mai nl yof st eel .
f 1
Answer the following questions:
o On line 3, which noun does the
pronoun
'it'
refer to?
e On line 9, which nouns does the
pronoun
'them'
refer to?
o On line 14, what does the word
'which'
refer to?
o On line 20, what does the pronoun
'it'
refer to?
o On line 22, which noun or nouns does
the word
'its'
refer to?
r On line 22, does the word
'it'
refer to
the same noun as that at the beginning
of the line?
D
C. lncrease
your vocabulary
,"fior:nt"rl.:f;:*s'
producin,
"n1
-o:"tins
meats
are beins
35
there is an enorrnnt,.:,:-T:::lfleerinB
requiremenb.
This means
rhat
ffi:;'f
:rHTousvarietv"r;;a#";;lilJill[T';1T"ffrT'-Tl
B. Check
your understandi ng
1. Properties of materials
(a) These words and phrases refer to
properties of materials:
. stren$h
. toughness
resistant
fn the passage, there are nine more words
which refer to properties of materials. List
them below.
(b) Now write the meanings of these words.
Use a dictionary if necessary.
r loosen
e ti ghten
o stiffen
o brighten
r cool
2. Nouns and adjectives
Fill in the spaces with the correct form of the
word given.
a corroslon
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
Noun Adjective
stren$h stronS
resistance
tough
hardness
V
'so{ten'
means to make something softer
What words have the following meanings?
. to make something thicker
^ , , , ., , |
.,
L^--^
o to make something weaker
J. Veros tnat oescflDe cnange
, -----rL: -- L^-r^-
o t o make somet hi ng st ronger
' narden
means to maKe sometnl ng naroer
D. Check
your grammar
I, ACTIVE AND PASSIVE
Remember
Hardening is usedto make metals harder
A special aluminium alloy was developed.
Methods of treatment are being developed all the time.
The sentences above are examples of passive sentences. The passive is frequently used in
scientific writing because the form is impersonal and ob.iective.
The passive is formed with
'to
be', followed by the past participle of the verb: e.g. to be
used, to be developed, etc.
Rewrite these sentences using the passive form instead of the active, which is underlined.
r We rarely find pure metals in nature.
r We recover metallic ores from the earth in many ways.
r We obtain lead from a mineral which we call galena.
r You need a lot of electrical energy to separate aluminium from the oxygen in aluminium
ore.
o lf we add lead to molien tin and then cool the mixture, we find that the freezing point of
the mixture is lower than the freezing point of both lead and tin.
2. COMPARATIVES'AND SUPERLATIVES
soft
brittle
Remember
a little / a lot more than : more than : the most
a
,little
/ a-lot:less' than :.leisJhan :' {fis:[ms1
' ' ' '
Using the information in the following chart, we can say:
I The USSR Droduces the mo$ iron.
o Australia produces a little more than the USA.
r Chile produces a lot less than the USSR.
Production of iron in millions of tonnes
20 40 60 B0 100 120 140
USSR
Australia
USA
-
Canada
-
Chi l e
-
V
i
t
i
i
:
-l
10 20 30 40 50 60
Malaysia
Bolivia
lndonesia
Thailand
China
-
3. ADVERBS AND AD]ECTIVES
Now write five sentences about tin production using the chart below:
Production of tin in thousands of tonnes
Adjective Adverb
A careful worker works
A weak metal breaks
A good student studies
Many adverbs end in
'-ly'
but there are exceptions, such as:
r often
r sometimes
r always c never o well r hard o fast
Some adverbs go with adjectives to modify them. For example:
Aluminium is extremely light.
Many alloys have been specially developed.
Choose either the adjective or the adverb to complete each of the sentences below:
r Alloys are general prepared by mixing molten metals.
generally
o Pure iron is a softly metal.
soft
o Platinum has exceptional resistance to corrosion.
excePtionall}/
o lron is easy to extract from iron ores.
easily
r Rolled gold consists of a thin layer of gold alloy.
thinly
o Radium is an extremely rare,metal.
rarery
r lt is also highly radioactive.
high
r Magnesium is known as a metal which burns bright.
brightly
E, Understanding
a lecture
On your tape, you will hear a lecture which contains facts referring to the different weights of
metals in automobiles and to the change in amounts over a period of time. As you listen,
complete the fwo tables below with the missing details:
carefully
easily
hard
V
g-
.,. , ...-jl