Unit 8

I. Reading Exercises
Ex.1.Practise the pronunciation of the following words.
Appearance,interior,alumina,violence, artificial, masonry, economi cal, availability, cost,
properties, timber, steel, concrete, engineer, lime gypsum, cement, stone, brick,
quality,resistant, mortar.
Ex.2.Practise connected reading.
Violence of the the chemical reaction, main building, materials, inert materials with a
mortar,steel and concrete, Portland cement quality, the civil engineer, physical properties of
materials, high alumina cement, a mixture of sand, sound and heat insulation, walls of houses,
structures under water, glass and plastics.

II. Read and translate the text.

Building Materials
Materials that are used for structural purposes should meet several requirements. In most
cases it is important that they should be hard, durable, fire-resistant and easily fastened
together. The most commonly used materials are wood, stone, brick, concrete, steel, glass,
plastics, etc. They differ in hardness, durability, and fire-resistance.
Wood is the most ancient structural material. In comparison with steel wood is lighter,
cheaper, easier to work with and its mechanical properties are good. On the other hand, wood
has certain disadvantages. First, it burns and is, therefore, unsuitable for fire-proof buildings.
Second, it decays.
Stone belongs to one of the oldest building materials used by man. Stone is characteristic of
many properties. They are mechanical strength, compactness, porosity, sound and heat
insulation, and fire-resistance. Stone is widely used for foundations, walls and steps of
buildings, for the supports of piers, and bridges, and for finishing and decorating all sorts of
structures.
Bricks were known many thousand years ago. Bricks are hard and easily fastened together
with the help of mortar. A brick building is strong, durable and weather resistant.
Concrete is referred to as one of the most important materials. Mass concrete was
employed by the Egyptians and the Romans but the use of steel reinforcement did not begin
until the nineteenth century of our era. We live and work in concrete structures, drink water which
is brought to our houses through concrete pipes. Concrete is a mixture of cement, sand and
crushed stone, made into a paste with water. It forms a hard, durable mass and is used largely
for the foundations and walls of houses, and for structures under water.
Steel has come into general use with the development of industry. Its manufacture requires
special equipment and skilled labour.
Glass and plastics are also widely used nowadays in the construction of different kind of
buildings. The raw materials employed in the manufacture of glass are limestone, sand, soda
ash, sodium sulfate, cullet (broken glass), and a small amount of aluminia. Glass is unaffected
by gasses and most acids. Plastics is a name for various organic derivatives of resin, cellulose,
and protein.
All building materials are divided into three main groups:

1. Main building materials such as rocks and artificial stones, timber and metals.
2. Cementing or binding materials such as lime, gypsum and cements.
3. Secondary and auxiliary materials which are used for the interior parts of the buildings.
We use the main building materials for bearing structures: cementing materials are used for
joining different planes. For the interior finish of the building we use secondary materials.
Natural building materials are: stone, sand, lime and timber.
Cement, clay products and concrete are examples of artificial buildings materials.
Vocabulary notes
Ordinary brick

fire-resistant

hardness
,
durability
,
decay
,
weather resistant

III. Lexical and Grammar Exercises

Ex.1. Translate the sentences.
1 .In respect of physical and mechanical properties, construction materials are divided
into rigid, semi-rigit and soft. 2. The colour of a brick is largely governed by the chemical
composition of the brick earth, but the temperature of burning is also important. 3. The shaping
of the brick may be done by hand or by machine. 4. The hand-made brick is shaped by means
of a wooden mould. 5. There are some kind of material which are brittle and cannot withstand
tensile stress. 6. The designer must be able to select and adapt such materials of construction
that will give the most effective result by the most economical means. 7. In this choice of
materials for any work of construction, the civil engineer must consider many factors, they are:
availability, cost, physical properties of materials and others. 8.Concrete is even less uniform
than many other materials.
Ex.2 Put as many questions as you can to the following sentences.
1. The civil engineer must consider many factors when selecting the material for
costruction.2. The designer must be able to select and adapt such materials of construction that
will give the most effective result by the most economical means. 3. In many cases bricks are
very satisfactory too for use in the construction. 4.A town should be a nice place to live, to work
and to rest in. 5. 4. In respect of phisical and mechnical properties, construction materials are
divided into rigid, semirigid and soft.
Ex. 3. Choose English equivalents of the following Ukrainian words:
, , , ,
, , , ,
, , , ,
.
Ordinary brick, construction site, mechanical properties, properties of the material, lime,
masonry, resistance to, crushed stone, hight rate of strenghth, high-alumina cement, moisture
content,aggregate, mortar.

Ex. 4. Fill in the blanks with the suitable words

Reinforced concrete ,bricks, fire-resistance, construction, crushed stone, property
,concrete pipes.
1.In many cases .are very satisfactory for use in the costruction. 2. Stones are
mechanical strengh, compactness, porosity, sound and heat insulation and. 3.Concrete
is a mixture of cement, sand and, made into a paste with water.4. Glass and plastics are
also widely used nowadays in the of different kind of buildings. 5. ..is a building
material in which the joint functions of concrete and steel are advantageously utilized. 6. We live
and work in concrete structures, drink water which is brought to our houses through. 7. If
steel is introduced into concrete it changes the .of the monolith.
Ex 5. Arrange the following words according to:
a) similar meaning: to gain,enormous,basic, excessively, various, great, erection, different,
brilliant, unit,a great deal of, splendid, extremely, building, include, involve, many, element, to
win, fundamental.
b) opposite meaning: able,different, heavy,simplicity, slowly, the same, military,
inconvenience, unable, light,non-military, complexity, rapidly, convenience.
Ex. 6. Tell what sentences are true and what are false.
1.Steel and concrete are most widely used for binding together masonry units. 2.There is
improvement in Portland cement quality. 3.The most important building materials may now be
considered to be structural steel and concrete. 4.Lime, gypsum and cement are the three
materials most widely used for making concrete. 5. Cement is most important component of
bricks.
Ex.7. The group of Perfect and Perfect Continous Tenses. Define the tense-form used
in the following sentences and translate them.
1.During recent years methods of building have changed considerably.2. We have just learned
the advantages of a reinforced-concrete elements. 3. By the end of the year the workers will
have installed all the necessary equipment. 4.They will have completed the construction of the
next block of the power station by the end of the year. 5.We have been considering the decay of
buiding timber. 6. By what time will you have erected this bridge? 7. The air around us has
always been under pressure.8. For many centuries scientists of the world have been
successfully working to uncover still unsolved secrets of nature.9.After I had finished the
inspection of the new concrete pipe I spoke to the engineer. 10. It has taken more time for
designing a new satellite. 11. Satellite television has spread all over the world.
Ex.8. Translate the following sentences paying attention to the meaning of since
1. Since time immemorial the efforts of people were aimed at obtaining shelters. 2. Since
the constructive principles did not develop much for a very long time the column and beam was
the only generally employed method of stone constraction. 3. Since the need for buildings of all
kinds is great different methods for speeding up construction are developed. 4.Since steel and
reinforced concrete began to be used new possibilities have been introduced into
construction.5.The number of chemical elements known to science has grown considerably
since Mendeleev created his periodic Table in 1871. 6. Since 1925 there were many brilliant
inventions in the building industry.

IV. Home reading

The Choice of Material
Which material can be used to the best advantage for a particular part of the building,
depends as well on the kind of load to which it is subjected and on the shape of the part. That
the development of the metallurgical and machine-building industry made possible mass
production of prefabricated large-size concrete and reinforced-concrete structural elements is a
well-known factor to influence the choice of materials. It is most advantageous to employ
reinforced concrete in such structural elements. Using prefabricated or precast elements
builders perform a considerable amount of building work not in site but at a factory where highly
organized and mechanized technological processes of production are practised.
Reinforced concrete is a building material in which the joint functions of concrete and steel
are advantageously utilized. Being brittle, concrete cannot withstand tensile stresses, and it
cannot therefore be used in structures subjected to tensile stresses underload. But if steel is
introduced into concrete it changes the property of the monolith.
Like any other stone material, concrete offers a good resistance to compressive loads. In
service two oppositely directed stresses appear in reinforced elements which can successfully
withstand bending loads.
There are two kinds of reinforced concrete: with ordinary reinforcement and concrete with
prestressed reinforcement.To reinforce ordinary concrete structures is to introduce steel rods in
stretched zones of concrete elements. Reinforced-concrete structures and elements are widely
used both for residential houses and industrial buildings. Depending on the application of
reinforced-concrete structures all kinds of concrete heavy, light and heat insulating may be
employed.
In many cases bricks too are very satisfactory for use in the construction. Bricks generally
present a pleasing appearance and can be obtained with various qualities, colours, and
textures. Being of a high volume weight and high thermal conductivity, ordinary brick is not
always satisfactory in building practice. There are other kinds of bricks which are more
effective, they are light-weight building bricks, hollow or porous bricks. Light-weight building
bricks differ from ordinary clay bricks in a lower volume weight and lower thermal conductivity,
and are therefore more economical than ordinary bricks.
One of the most significant facts about both industry and building has been research on
synthetics and plastics. Plastics have appeared comparatively recently but, owing to their
inherent valuable and diverse properties, have found a wide application in many industrial fields.
Application of plastics in the building field widens from year to year.
In respect to physical and mechanical properties at normal temperature of 20C all
plastics are divided into rigid, semirigid, soft and plastic. In respect to the number of
constituents plastics may be classified as simple and complex.
Plastics consisting of one polymer are referred to as simple. Thus, organic glass
(plexiglass) consists of one synthetic resin. But in the building field we usually deal with complex
plastics, e.g. plastics consisting of a polymer and other components.

V. Comprehension
Ex.1. State the most important facts from the text and write them down.
Ex.2. Answer the questions.
1. For what type of construction are reinforced concrete structures and elements used? 2.
What new materials have come into use both in industry and building? 3. What made possible
the mass production of prefabricated large-size concrete elements? 4. In what industrial fields
are plastics used? 5. How does steel introduced into concrete change its properties?
Ex. 3. Put all posible questions to the text. Retell it.