From the History of Water Supply

 

Introduction

 

Notes:

surface – поверхность

in the olden days – в былые времена

dig wells – рыть колодцы

 

When the Earth was being formed, two hydrogen atoms combined with one oxygen atom to form H2O, or water.

Water is all around us. Nearly 80% of the surface of the Earth is water. The water we use today is the same water the dinosaurs used millions of years ago!

In the olden days, people did not have running water in their homes. Some had to walk miles every day to find clean water. That's why lots of our towns are built beside lakes and rivers, or where people could dig wells.

 

Vocabulary

 

1. devise придумывать, изобретать

2. convenient удобный

3. plumbing водопровод, водопроводная система

4. pipe труба

5. terminate завершать(ся)

6. well колодец

7. mediaeval средневековый

8. conduit трубопровод, акведук

9. treatment works очистные сооружения

10. in response (to) в ответ (на)

11. threat угроза

12. large scale крупно масштабный

13. tower башня

14. pump насос, помпа

15. steam пар

16. available доступный

17. purification очистка (воды)

18. liquefy превращать в жидкое состояние

19. thereafter впоследствии

20. solution раствор; решение

21. linen льняной

22. desalination опреснение (воды)

23. urban городской

24. sufficient достаточный

25. quantity количество

26. keep up (with) не отставать, держаться наравне

27. demand потребность

28. prevalent преобладающий

29. viable жизнеспособный

30. harvesting собирать, накапливать

31. eventually в конечном счёте, со временем

32. tend иметь тенденцию (к чему-л),клониться (к чему-л)

 

Exercises

 

Guess the meaning of the words.

 

history, system, aqueduct, public, fountain, infrastructure, cholera, modern, reservoir, electric, diesel, technique, compressed, chlorine gas, Army Major, professor, medical, calcium hypochlorite, method, standard, basis, municipal, limit, population, centre, traditional, centralized, option, technology, decentralization, extensively, rational, decade

 

2. Translate the following word combinations:

 

throughout history, getting and using water, indoor plumbing, public wells and fountains, water supply infrastructure, over many centuries, modern large scale reservoirs, water towers, rooftop water towers, electric and diesel-powered water pumps, the technique of purification, drinking water, compressed liquefied chlorine gas, a solution of calcium hypochlorite, municipal water purification, urban and suburban population centres, traditional centralized infrastructure, a more rational use of water