no sensational developments in the manufacture of iron and steel had, taken place; the local smiths converted the raw ore into wrought iron by means of charcoal obtained by burning timber from the forest round about and worked up this iron into the required shapes.
In the 14th century the direct extraction of wrought iron from the ore was gradually displaced by first carbonizing the metal, so turning it into cast iron. This displacement method has continued steadily up to the present day.
During the 14th and 15th centuries England continued to import iron and steel from the continent. The growing importance of the industry gave its owners a political influence that grew steadily from that day to this. Improvements in the manufacture of iron had taken place during this period, and the ironmasters succeeded in getting Parliament to make laws prohibiting the importation into England of any iron or steel goods already made there. In 1483, for example, an Act was passed prohibiting the importation of knives, tailors' shears scissors and irons, grid-irons, stock-locks, keys, hinges, spurs, bits, stittups, buckles for shoes, iron wire, iron candlesticks, grates and many other such objects.
Minor advances in the art of making iron continued up to the times of Elizabeth I and James I. Production increased, especially in Sussex. By this time the blast furnace had established itself for the smelting of iron. It continued slowly to rise higher and increase in diameter. The immediate problem confronting the iron manufacturer of the 16th century was the growing shortage of wood from which to make charcoal.
Task 2. Lexical Exercises
Exercise 1. Find the English equivalents for the words and -word-combinations given below. Use them in the sentences of your own.
большое количество железа и стали; импортировать из; источник железной руды; высоко цениться; преобразовывать; обработанное железо; древесный уголь; постоянно расти; запрещать; опись; ценные вещи; обжигать (коксовать); решетка (сетка); скоба; диаметр; непосредственные проблемы, стоящие перед.
Exercise 2. Match the English words and word-combinations given below with their Russian equivalents.
| 1. long before 2. to continue steadily up to he present 3. in the reign of 4. to displace gradually by 5. the growing importance 6. to succeed in 7. the great quantities of 8. blast furnace | 1. большое количество 2. во время правления 3. растущая важность 4. преуспеть в чем-либо 5. доменная печь 6.задолго до 7. продолжаться без изменений до настоящего времени 8. постепенно заменить чем-либо |
Exercise 3. Answer the following questions.
1. When did iron first come to Britain? 2. Was it imported from Germany? 3. What shows that iron was of great value in Medieval Britain? 4. What displaced the direct extraction of wrought iron? 5. Why did the owners of metal industry get a political influence? 6. Did Parliament play an important role in the development of metal industry?
Exercise 4. Complete the following statements by choosing the answer which you think fits best. Why are the other answers unsuitable?
1. That iron was of great importance is shown by an inventory of king's possessions because:
a) things made of iron were classed as jewels and valuables.
b) King Edward III wrote about their value himself.
c) things made of iron could be used only by the king.
2. The owners of metal industry got a political influence because:
a) they had much money.
b) the industry grew in importance.
c) people wanted so.
3. The importation into England of any iron steel goods was prohibited by Parliament because:
a) it was necessary to develop native industry.
b) the native production stopped.
c) England didn't need them.
4. The immediate problem confronting the iron manufacturer was:
a) the lack of skills in steel-making.
b) the growing shortage of wood.
c) the establishment of the blast furnaces.
Exercise 5. Give a written Russian translation of the following passages.
1. The chemical process for extracting a metal from its ore is called smelting. Iron ore is heated with limestone and coke, which is mostly made up of carbon. Coke and limestone remove the unwanted parts of the iron ore to leave almost pure iron, which still contains some carbon. Steel is made by removing more carbon and adding other metals.
2. Gold is much softer than copper, so it is easier to hammer into shape. It is not very strong. A gold knife might look very fine but would not have been much use for skinning a bear, so from early times gold became the metal for ornaments. Copper is much harder; it would have been much more difficult for early man to shape; but the finished article was more durable.
3. These metal-workers were masters of the ancient craft of gold-beating, a process by which gold is beaten between skins until it is reduced to a very thin sheet. The Egyptians could produce sheets only one five-thousandth of an inch thick, and used them for gilding wooden statues and for other decorative purposes.
Text 4
Iron-Smelting without Charcoal. The First Blast Furnaces
So far, no furnace in Europe had been hot enough to melt iron to a liquid state. All that could be produced was a ‘spongy’ mass from which impurities had to be hammered out. However, design of furnaces improved over the centuries, and about the year 1400 very efficient blast furnaces were introduced by the Germans. They had found that a blast of air from water-powered bellows increased the temperature, though the iron still did not liquefy. It became soft and spongy, worked its way down through the burning charcoal, and collected at the bottom of the furnace.
Furnaces were usually built about ten or fifteen feet high, but to economise on fuel a new one was built thirty feet high. Although the internal temperature in this was no higher, the iron arrived at the bottom in a completely liquid state. Not only could the metal be run off into moulds, but many of the impurities (which had previously to be hammered out) separated automatically from the melted iron. The reason for this tremendous stride in metallurgy was simple: the height of the furnace. The soft 'sponge' iron took so long to seep down through the charcoal that it absorbed a great deal of carbon. It became carburized, and as the melting point of carburized iron is 350°C less than 'sponge' iron, it became liquid. By about the year 1600, iron production in Britain was beginning to suffer from lack of fuel. For 3,000 years all iron-smelting, both here and abroad, had been done with charcoal. Charcoal is partly-bummed wood. In Britain, timber was running short and it was impossible for the iron-makers to equal the output of a country such as Sweden, where timber was abundant.
Fortunately for Britain a Quaker, Abraham Darby, found a way to do without charcoal altogether. In his iron factory at Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, he made many experiments using coke, and finally succeeded. There were technical difficulties to overcome, and at first Darby kept the process secret for the benefit of his family. Later his methods were adopted throughout Europe. No longer had dependant on dwindling forests, Britain remained her position as a leading iron producer.
Task 2. Lexical Exercises
Exercise 1. Find the English equivalents for the words and word-combinations given below.
примеси; доменная печь; поток воздуха; жидкое состояние; высотой в десять футов; экономить на топливе; температура внутри печи; большой прогресс в металлургии; поглощать углерод; недостаток топлива; кокс; преуспеть в чем-либо; проводить опыты; преодолевать трудности; по всей Европе; восстановить -свои позиции.
Exercise 2. Match the English words and word-combinations given below with their Russian equivalents.
1. to melt iron to a liquid state 1. удалить примеси
2. to hammer out impurities 2. отделять от
3. efficient blast furnaces 3. точка плавления
4. at the bottom of the furnace 4. сравнять результаты
5. to separate from 5. расплавить железо до жидкого
состояния
6. melting point 6. быть в изобилии
7. to equal the output 7. на благо, ради
8. to be abundant 8. на дне печи
9. for the benefit of 9. высокопроизводительные доменные
печи
Exercise 3. Answer the following questions.
1. When did the first blast furnaces appear? 2. What is the work of a blast furnace based on? 3. Does the productivity of blast furnaces depend on their height? 4. Why did iron production in Britain begin to suffer? 5. What did Abraham Darby introduce into the process of iron-making?
Exercise 4. Complete the following statements by choosing the answer which you think fits best. Are the other angers unsuitable? Why?
1. No furnace in Europe could melt iron to a liquid state because:
a) there were too many impurities in it.
b) they were not hot enough.
c) water-powered bellows didn't work properly.
2. The reason for the tremendous stride in metallurgy was:
a) the height of the furnace.
b) the shape of the furnace.
c) the internal temperature of the furnace.
3. Iron production in Britain began to suffer from:
a) the exhaustion of the deposits of iron ore.
b) political situation.
c) lack of fuel.
4. Abraham Darby succeeded in his experiments to do without charcoal I because:
a) he used coke.
b) he hammered out the impurities.
c) he mixed iron with carbon.
Exercise 5. Give a written Russian translation of the following passages.
1. In addition the rapid developments in the use of iron and steel during the Industrial Age brought with them greatly increased demand for other metals, particularly copper, tin and lead. Moreover, the demand was not only for greater tonnages but also for a far greater variety of metals. Many of these metals were one hundred years ago little known names in the periodic table, but have now come into prominence and have become marketable commodities. It is accordingly not surprising that there have been more notable advances in metallurgy during me century under review than in the whole history of this ancient art.
2. Limestone is included in the furnace because it mixes and combines with sand,
clay and stones in the ore. They form a waste material, called slag, which floats on op of the molten metal.
The Age of Steel
Text 5
The Vast Growth of the Iron and Steel Industry
When James Watt invented the steam engine in the latter part of the 18th century, the whole industrial scene changed. Steam power made possible the 'Industrial Revolution' in Britain. Vast quantities of metal were needed for the railways pioneered by the Stevensons, and the huge iron ships and bridges of Brunei. In Sheffield, the centre of the iron and steel industry, the output of metals multiplied fifty times in thirty-five years.
During this expansion, improved tools were invented for use in the factories and many steam-powered tools were invented and developed. One of the most famous of these tools was the steam-hammer designed by James Nesmith about 1830. It was used to forge the huge shafts and plates required in the ships of the time, and could be accurately controlled to give heavy blows or light taps. In fact, to impress visitors to the foundry an egg was placed on the anvil and cracked by the hammer without breaking the egg shell. Other machine-tools invented and developed included the rolling-mill which could roll metal, either hot or cold, into thin sheets.
A British metallurgist Henry Cort took out a patent in 1783 for a mill to roll iron sheets and bars. In 1784 he improved the puddling process by hollowing out the bottom of the reverberate furnace so as to contain the molten metal in this puddle. Railway lines could be made in this way, the hole in the press being suitably shaped to the section of the railway-line. Puddling played a great role in the development of iron and steel industry in Britain during the Industrial Revolution.
These tremendous advances in engineering were matched by improvements in the quality of metals, and the metallurgists were as active and successful as the engineers. Between 1750 and 1850 no less than thirty-five more metals were discovered. Many of these were unimportant but three were outstanding, nickel, cobalt, and manganese, the latter to play a vital part in steel production.
Task 2. Lexical Exercises
Exercise 1. Find the English equivalents for the words and word-combinations. Use them in the sentences of your own.
изобрести паровой двигатель; промышленная революция; увеличиться в пятьдесят раз; модернизированные орудия труда; изобретать; паровой молот; ось (шпиндель); литейный цех; прокатный стан; пудлингование; выдавливать углубление (полость); отражательная печь.
Exercise 2. Match the English words and 'word-combinations given below with their
Russian equivalents.
1. производство стали
| 1. the latter part of the century 2. vast quantities of smith 3. output of metals 4. to impress visitors 5. anvil 6. railway lines 7. advances in engineering 8. the quality of metals 9. to play a vital part in 10. steel production |
2. наковальня
3. прогресс в технике
4. качество металлов
5. играть важнейшую роль в чем-л
6. последняя часть/конец века
7. производство металлов
8. железнодорожные рельсы
9. огромное количество чего-л
10. производить большое впечатление на посетителей
Exercise 3. Answer the following questions.
1. When did James Watt invent the steam engine? 2. What was the result of his invention? 3. Where was steam-hammer first used? 4. Who invented the rolling-mill? 5. What is the purpose of the rolling-mill? 6. What is the puddling process used for? 7. Were any new metals discovered between 1750 and 1850?
Exercise 4. Choose the word or phrase which best completes each sentence.
1.... iron is a relatively soft silvery metal.
a) clean b) mixed c) pure
2. All but 20 of the over 100 elements identified to date are ...
a) metals b) gases c) non-metals
3. Only 7 metals are common in the earth's ...
a) surface b) crust c) underground
4. Copper was the first metal... by man.
a) invented b) opened c) discovered
5. The steam-hammer was … by games Nesmith.
a) elaborated b) designed c) worked out
6. Gold, silver and copper have always been ... for their qualities.
a) praised b) respected c) valued
Exercise 5. Give a written translation of the following passages.
1. Thomas, Sidney Gilchrist (1850 - 1885), a British metallurgist. Educated at Dulwich college. Served as a clerk at the Court of London and attended evening lectures at the Royal Mining School. While looking for ways and means of making steel from high-phosphorus pig iron in the Bessemer converter, he devised (with assistance from his cousin Peter Gilchrist) in 1878 what later became known as the Thomas-Gilchrist process in England or the Thomas process on the continent. Took out several patents covering the process between 1877 and 1882. Predicted that the high-phosphorus slag from his process could be used as a soil conditioner and stimulant to plant growth.
|