II. Form the comparative and superlative degrees from the adjectives:

a) high, rich, deep, wide, long, old, easy, good, fine, great, little, far, bad, strong.

b) interesting, effective, experienced, practical, attractive, durable, comfortable.

c) hard-working, well-educated, little-known, badly-done, well-informed.

III. Choose the right form of adjectives or adverbs.

1. The Nile is much (long, longer, longest) than the Thames.

2. He is (nearly, near, nearer) finished this difficult work.

3. The (tall, taller, tallest) trees in the world grow in California.

4. They passed all exams very (successful, successfully, more successful).

5. Who speaks English (most correctly, more correct, correctly) in your group?

6. Professionals with additional language skills are in ( great, greatest, greater) demand.

7. The last report at the conference was the ( - , more, most) interesting.

8. He was as talented in maths as his father.

9. She is (less, little, least) experienced in construction than her friend.

10. Nina was the (good, better, best) student in our group.

IV. Read the information and entitle the text. Convert feet to metres.

The highest mountain in the world is Mount Everest – 29,002 feet high. The largest ocean is the Pacific having a total area of 63,986,000 square miles. The Atlantic Ocean, the next largest, is only 31,530,000 square miles, the Indian Ocean with 28,350,000 square miles comes third. The longest river is the Nile which is more than 4,000 miles long or about twice the distance by air from London to Beirut. The biggest island is Greenland which belongs to Denmark and is about 840,000 square miles in extent. The largest lake is the Caspian Sea. Geographers consider it as a lake because it is not connected with any of the great oceans. It has an area of about 170,000 square miles. Which is the deepest sea? So far, as we know at present the greatest depth is in the Pacific Ocean near the Philippines and goes down to 37,000 feet, which is much more than the height of Everest. The biggest volcano is in Ecuador, South America. It is still active and is 19,612 feet high. There is another one between Argentina and Chile and it is more than 3,000 feet higher.

V. Learn the new words and word compositions to the topic Building materials.

Secondary materials - вторичные материалы

Timber - древесина

Tiling - облицовочная плитка

Glue - клей

Alloy - сплав

Composite – композит, составной

Fiber - волокно

Matrix - матрица

Bound =fasten - соединять

Polymer matrix Composites (PMC) –полимерные матричные композиты

Resistance – сопротивление

Tension - напряжение

Impact- удар

VI. Read and translate the topic Building materials.

All building materials are divided into three groups:

1. Main building materials such as rocks and artificial stones, timber and metals which are used as bearing structures (несущие конструкции).

2. Binding materials such as lime, gypsum and cements which are used for binding various units.

3. Secondary materials which are used for interior and exterior parts of the building such as tiling, synthetic linoleum, paints, coatings, timber, laminate… and other facing materials.

There are natural and artificial building materials.

If the materials do not require any technological changes in their chemical structure they are called natural materials. These are stone, timber, clay, sand, chalk, lime, rocks, shellac (природная смола для спиртовых лаков и политур), sandstones, limestones, natural rubber (каучук).

Artificial materials are cement, brick, clay and film products, alloys, glass, steel, concrete, reinforced concrete, precast prestressed concrete, glues.

The use of composite materials is a new trend in engineering.

The combinations of two or more materials are called composites. They have unique mechanical and physical properties as they combine the best properties of different materials. Composite materials usually consist of synthetic fibers within a matrix, a material that surrounds and is tightly bound to the fibers.

The most widely used type of composite material is polymer matrix composite (PMC). Its main disadvantage is high manufacturing cost. The properties of building materials are generally classified as physical, for example, weight, density, resistance to aggressive environmental conditions. Chemical properties of materials include their resistance to acids, alkalis and salt solutions, and mechanical properties that is the ability to resist compression, tension, impact etc.

Knowledge of materials properties is extremely important for engineers. New technologies help specialists create quite unexpected materials, But materials with universal properties are as yet a challenge of the future. The course Building Materials is an integral part of general students training. That’s why at the university students study different building materials 1) to know their properties,

2) how they are made, 3) how they are fastened together, 4) how they stand up to stress, 5) how they break, 6) how they catch fire to make building materials useful for man in structures, machines and products.

The durability of any structure depends on:

1. Professional skills of builders.

2. High – quality of building materials.

3. Good organization of construction work.

4. Timely maintenance and correct exploitation of projects.

In conclusion I would like to say that all building materials are very important for people, because no structure can be designed, built and exploited without them.