Unit 1:
Engineering - what's it all about?
Task 1
List the main branches of engineering. Combine your list with others in your group. Then
read this text to find out how many of the branches listed are mentioned.
Engineering is largely a practical activity. It is about putting ideas into action. Civil
engineering is concerned with making bridges, roads, airports, etc. Mechanical
engineering deals with the design and manufacture of tools and machines. Electrical
engineering is about the generation and distribution of electricity and its many
applications. Electronic engineering is concerned with developing components and
equipment for communications, computing, and so on. Mechanical engineering includes
marine, automobile, aeronautical, heating and ventilating, and others. Electrical
engineering includes electricity generating, electrical installation, lighting, etc. Mining
and medical engineering belong partly to mechanical and partly to electrical.

Task 2
Complete the blanks in this diagram using information from the text.

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Reading Introduction
In your study and work, it is important to think about what you are going to read
before you read. This helps you to link old and new knowledge and to make guesses
about the meaning of the text. It is also important to have a clear purpose so that you
choose the best way to read. In this book, you will find tasks lo make you think before
you read and tasks to help you to have a clear purpose when you read.

Task 3
Study these illustrations. They show some of the areas in which engineers work. Can you
identify them? What kinds of engineers are concerned with these areas - electrical,

mechanical

machines

electrical

electricity

Column A lists a branch of engineering or a type of engineer. Column B lists things
they are concerned with. We can show the link between them in a number of ways:
1 Mechanical engineering deals with machines.
2 Mechanical engineers deal with machines.
3 Mechanical engineering is concerned with machines.
4 Mechanical engineers are concerned with machines.
5 Machines are the concern of mechanical engineers.

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Task 5:
Match each item in column A with an appropriate item from column B and link the
two in a sentence.
A

B

1 marine

a


ships

7 electronic

g

planes

8 electrical installation

h

cars and trucks

9 medical

i

power stations

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Task 6: Writing
Fill in the gaps in the following description of the different branches of engineering using
information from this diagram and language you have studied in this unit.

The main branches of engineering are civil, 1 ……….., 2 ……….., and electronic.
Mechanical engineering is 3…………., 4 ………….machinery of all kinds. This branch
of engineering includes 5 …………., automobile. 6……….,and heating and ventilating.

In engineering, graphs and charts are a common way of giving information. They
allow a great deal of data to be presented easily in visual form.

Task 1

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Task 2
Study the graph opposite which shows typical daily load curves for a power station,
Answer these questions about the graph for weekdays
1. When is the peak load?
2. When is there least demand?
3. When is the load 65% of capacity?
4. What is the load at 1 p.m.?
Describe changes in load for these periods:
5. Between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m.
6. Between 7 p.m. and midnight.
7. Between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Language study Describing graphs
Look at the period 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. We can describe the change in load in two ways:
1 The load rises.
2 There is a rise in load.
We can make our description more accurate like this:
3 The load rises sharply.
4 There is a sharp rise in load.
Study this table of verbs and related nouns of change. The past form of irregular verbs is



These adjectives and adverbs are used to describe the rate of change:
Adjective

Adverb

slight

slightly

gradual

gradually

steady

steadily

steep

steeply

sharp

sharply

sudden

suddenly

Word study Common verbs in engineering
Study this list of common verbs in engineering which you have studied in this book.
They all have the sense of 'make something happen'.
lower

make low

raise

make high

heat

make hot

release

make free

compress

make smaller volume

reduce

make smaller

increase

make larger

-

fill in the missing references (0, P, E, Y, U, F).

a From …………to ……….the specimen extends in direct proportion to the load
applied.
b This rapid extension continues until point…………….., the maximum load, is
reached.
c From……………..there is a rapid increase in length for each increase in load.
d At……………..the specimen finally fractures.
e

After……………..the specimen lengthens further but the load falls.
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f Soon after P the material reaches its elastic limit, marked on the graph as
point……………...

Task 7
Add this extra information to your text.
a Up to the elastic limit, the steel will regain its original length when the load is removed.
b Up to U there is no change in the cross-section of the steel.
c After the elastic limit, the steel will not regain its original length.
d After U the specimen undergoes 'waisting'.
e Y is the yield point.

Task 8
Refer to each of these figures at an appropriate place in your text. Use expressions such as these:
As shown in Figure A. See Figure A. (Figure A)


Con Edison - A bit of background on a complex field
Many players figure in New York City's electricity system. The most visible player is Con
Edison, which supplies most of the electricity the city uses and serves Westchester County, too.
Since the industry was deregulated, Con Edison delivers electricity through its immense
5 transmission and distribution system to the 3.2 million customers in its 690-square-mile service
area. (Among other statistics: Con Edison's 93,000 miles of underground cable could circle the
Earth 3.6 times; it has 36,000 miles of overhead cable.) Electricity not generated locally is
imported via transmission lines that come in from New Jersey, from Long Island, and from the
northeast and Canada through Westchester County.
10 Conceptually, Con Edison's system looks like this:

Fig.1-1. Con Edison’s system outline
As its name suggests, "Consolidated Edison" was formed through consolidation of many small
power generation companies. Today, history is reversing itself: clean "distributed generation" is
coming into favor, as the substantial benefits of a decentralized system come to be appreciated
and as new technologies facilitate it. Con Edison defines distributed generation as a facility
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producing up to 20 MW of electricity dedicated to the support of nearby associated load. Con
Edison's portfolio includes electric and natural gas delivery, as well as steam delivery through the
largest district steam system in the world.
20 Among other players are these:

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Relative clauses 1

Study these sentences:
1. The most visible player is Con Edison.
2. Con Edison supplies most of the electricity the city uses and serves Westchester County, too.
Both these sentences refer to Con Edison. We can link them by making sentence 2 a relative
clause.
1+2. The most visible player is Con Edison, WHICH supplies most of the electricity the city
uses and serves Westchester County, too.
The relative clause is in CAPITALS. Note that Con Edison in sentence 2 becomes WHICH.
Study these other pairs of sentences and note how they are linked:
3. Consumers are supplied at higher voltages than domestic consumers.
4. These consumers use large quantities of energy.
3+4. Consumers WHO USE LARGE QUANTITIES OF ENERGY are supplied at higher
voltages than domestic consumers.
5. 33kV lines are fed to intermediate substations.
6. In the intermediate substations the voltage is stepped down to 11kV.
5+6. 33kV lines are fed to intermediate substations WHERE THE VOLTAGE IS STEPPED
DOWN TO 11kV.
Now link these sentences by using a suitable relative clause:
1. Energy is vital to New Yorkers' lives and to New York City
New York City is the financial, corporate, and communications capital of the United States,
as well as a leading world destination for business and tourism.
2. The investments and improvements are necessary to meet growing energy demand
The energy demand has increased more than 20 percent during the past 10 years.
3. For the summer of 2007, the company forecasts a peak load of 13,575 megawatts for its
service area.
The peak load for its service area includes a peak of 11,780 megawatts for New York City
and 1,795 megawatts for Westchester County


Note: When there may be misunderstanding, or when the repeated noun comes a long time after
its first mention, the full noun is used.
EXAMPLES

Power system electricians install and maintain high voltage electrical power distribution
equipment, including generators and transformers in generating stations or powerhouses. They

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inspect and test installed electrical equipment at power houses and major substations. They repair
or replace faulty electrical equipment and complete test and maintenance reports.
Compare this version where the full nouns have been kept:
Power system electricians install and maintain high voltage electrical power distribution
equipment, including generators and transformers in generating stations or powerhouses. The
power system electricians inspect and test installed electrical equipment at power houses and
major substations. The power system electricians repair or replace faulty electrical equipment and
complete test and maintenance reports.
Now replace the repeated nouns in following paragraph with suitable pronouns where there is no
likelihood of confusion.
Investor-owned electric utilities are privately owned entities. The investor-owned electric utilities
represent 8 percent of the total number of electric utilities and approximately 75 percent of
electric utility generating capability, generation, sales, and revenue in the United States. Like all
private businesses, investor-owned electric utilities have the fundamental objective of producing
a return for investor-owned electric utilities’ investors. These utilities either distribute profits to
stockholders as dividends or reinvest the profits. Investor-owned electric utilities are granted
service monopolies in certain geographic areas and are obliged to serve all consumers. As
franchised monopolies, these utilities are regulated and required to charge reasonable prices, to
charge comparable prices to similar classifications of consumers, and to give consumers access to
services under similar conditions. Most investor-owned electric utilities are operating companies

R1 + R 2
V – V1
± 3dB
R = R1 + R 2
I ≈ 30 mA

∗ or ×

f × 120

MEANING IN FULL
Three point one four one five nine
R one plus R two
V minus V one
Plus or minus three decibels
R equals/ is equal to R one plus R two
I is approximately equal to thirty
miliamps
f times/ multiplied by one hundred and
twenty
V equals I times/ multiplied by R

No sign between two V = IR
quantities
One quantity over
V
I=
another

I is equal to V over/ divided by R

3

2

I R3
8-10 75

I squared; R cubed
Eight to the power minus ten; seven to the
power five
Greater than ten decibels
Less than five miliamps
Greater or equal to twenty watts
Less than or equal to one hundred and ten
volts

> 10 dB
< 5 mA
≥ 20 W
≤ 110 V

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