I

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... . Ecole de technologie superieure
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'ANGLAIS-010
ANGLAIS POUR INGENIEURS I
WORKBOOK
Document prepare par
Rosalyn Hailpern
et
Jamie Herd
Redige en aout 1996
Revise en janvier 2010
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Vocabulary list I ........................................................................ ........................... 1
Vocabulary list 11; .. .. ........................................... , .......................... : ..................... 2
Your future career .................................................. ," ................. , .......................... 3
Communication strategies ....................... , .......................................................... 4
Personal.evaluation .............................................................................................. 5
Surviving Year 1 on the job ................... ~ .......... : ... ................... ......................... 11
Chronological Resume ......................................................... ......... ... .. ......... ..... 13
Describing a technical device ..... .... ..................................................... ............. 14
Describing objects: Dimensions and measurements .................. ... ................. 15
Material and properties ........... , ......................................... ; .............................. 18
Engineering materials and properties ...................................... ..... .................... 19
The production of paper ....................................................... , ....... .................... 24
. The production of aluminum .................................................. ....... .................... 27
The Ekati Diamond Mine ................ ....................... ........ .. ......... .... ................ 31
The business meeting: the chair ............... .... ... ......... , .................. .. ; ................. 37
. Business meeting 1 : Polluting the river ..................... , ...... .................... 38 .
Business meeting 2 : Quality and personnel ..................... .................... 41
Business meeting 3: Sponsorship . ~ .......... ... ... ...................... ..... .......... : 45
Engineers Forced to Learn How to Write ....... , .. ... ..... , ...................................... 48
VIDEOS ............... ... ; .......................... : ...... ........................... ............ .. ................ 59 .
Carbon Capture and Sequestration ...................... ......... , ....................... 61
Natural Disasters ................ , .................................................................. 67
Clean Cars ................ ;: .......................................................................... 71
The Power of Water .............................. ................. ................... ........... . 80
Making, Tinkering and Innovating ..................... ; ......... ; .... : .................... 84
Engineering Disasters - Aviation .......... ; ................................................ 89
Megastructures - Suspension Bridges ............................... ...... .. ......... .. 94
The Arctic, Adapting to Change ................................................... , ........ 98
Below New York: Part I ......... ................................................... ........... 102
Below New York: Part" ................ .. ............................... ......... .... .. ...... 106
List of irregular verbs ................................................................... ....... ........ ... 113
The oral presentation ..................................................................................... 114 .
Evaluation sheets ..................................... ............................................... .. .. ... 119
ii
VOCABULARY LIST I
Learn to pronounce and spell each word correctly.
11. There are many engineering fields. Some of them are the following:
mechanical, electrical, civil, production, computer, industrial, chemical and
physical.
. 2. I am an engineer.
~ ~ . robotics, phY,sics, mathematics, acoustics, electronics
4. I am studying computer science. I am interested in software design.
5. I will graduate with a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering.
5. I hope to be an intern (a trainee) this summer. I am. looking for an internship
(a training program).
7. Both education and experience are important.
B. A computer programmer is a skilled worker. A janitor is an unskilled worker.
9. I am interested in the design and production of electronic devices . .
"10. One day I hope to be a department manager. I am interested in project
. management.
11. research and development.
1
VOCABULARY LIST II
Here are some words and expressions related to speaking about yourself at a job
interview. .
Make sure you understand each item. Learn to pronounce and spell each word
correctly.
1. I worked part-time for two years and then I decided to return to school to
become an engineer. I hope to get a full-time job after I graduate.
2 ~ I have never been fired from a job, but I was laid off when the company lost
an important contract.
~ I . , I was hired because I am an expert in wiring.
4. My friend works in this department and he told me about the new position
that is available.
~ ) . I decided to applywhen I heard about the job.
EL I sent my C.V. and an accompanying letter to the personnel department as
soon as I found out about the job.
-l. I believe I have the necessary educational background and experjence to do
a good job. ' .
B. I will be glad to supply you with several references.
B. I work best in a team situation. I prefer to work with a group.
10. I am considered a responsible worker by my colleagues, supervisors, and co-
workers .
. 111. I am willing to relocate if necessary for the job. I am interested in working in
the United States.
2
YOUR FUTURE CAREER
1. Write the name of your future profession. ___________ _
2. When do you expect to graduate from the ETS?
3. What size company w o ~ l d you like to work in : small, medium, large? _
4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the various size
companies? ____________ ----------
5. What are the job opportunities in your field of studies in Montreal?
6. Are you interested in relocating? Explain your answer. _ _____ _
7. What specifically are you doing now to prepare for your future success? _
Useful structures for this discussion:
hOpe to
intend to
plan to
would like to
expect to
might go
may go
will go
In five years ____ --.,.-___ ~ ______________ _
Five years from now ____________________ _
3
COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES
These are some questions that may be asked during an interview. Use them as
a guide when conducting a job or being interviewed.
WORK EXPERIENCE
1. What jobs have you held? How were they obtained? Why did you leave?
2. What did you like most about your jobs? . Least?
. What were your primary accomplishments?
.4. Why did you choose your field of work?
5. What has been your greatest frustration or disappointment in your current .
job?
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Ei. Why did you choose your particular place of study (university, technical
school, college,etc.)? .
7. Do you feel your grades reflect the king of work you are capable of doing?
'. 8. Howwell has your schooling prepared you for your career?
SELF-ASSESSMENT
9. Describe yourself.
10. What makes you a good investment foran employer?
11 . How do you feel about your progress so far?
GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS
12. Where would you like to be in five years? In ten years?
13. Why would you like to work for us?
14. Aside from money, what do you want most from a job?
4
. PERSONAL EVALUATION
Before going for a job interview, it is important for you.to be aware of your strong
points so that you will be able to talk about yourself and to tell why you think you
. would be good in the job that you are applying for. Rate yourself on the five-point
scale. .
1 2 3 4
What king of person are you?
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Are you cheerful and friendly?
Are you neat and orderly?
Are you ambitious?
~ r e you calm and patient?
Are you conscientious?
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Are you punctual?
Are you assertive?
Are you outspoken?
How do you work?
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Do you work fast?
Do you finish completely what you start?
Do you organize your time?
Do you prefer to work alone?
Do you volunteer to help others?
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Do you readily ask for help when needed?
Do you willingly accept to do extra work?
Do you do what should be done before doing what you want to do?
Do you get along well with other people?
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KEYWORDS MOST COMMONLY REQUESTED BY EMPLOYERS USING
RESUME SCANNING SOFTWARE*
Ability to delegate
Ability to implement
Ability to plan
Ability to train
Accurate
Adaptable
Aggressive work
Analytical ability
Assertive
Communication skills
Competitive
Creative
Customer-oriented
Detail-minded
Empowering others
Ethical
Flexible
Follow instructions
Follow through
Follow up
High-energy
Industrious
Innovative
Leadership
Multitasking ,
Open communication
, Open-minded
Oral communication
Organizational skills
Persuasive'
Problem-solving
Public-speaking
Results-oriented
Safety-conscious
Self':'accountable'
Self-managing
, Sensitive
Setting priorities
Supportive
Take initiative
Team building
Team player
Tenacious
Willing to travel
* as reported by Resumix, a leading producer of resume-scanning software.
6
Be Prepared to Answer Questions
Just as "effective interviewers need to know 'what type of quc:;tioJls get
particular responses, effective interviewees need to be aware of expected
responses to questions :md come prepared for those cxpect:ltiol1s. The
following are suggestions to intCrViewees in any type of interview:
I. Try to rel"x IIm/ b" yo/{n-d( :\ To ;1. friend
interviewees: Imagine how you feci when you are sitting in your own'
living room in a favorite chair, entertaining a guest (the interviewer),
. You arc comfortable, relaxed, warm, and friendly.
2. If a qucJ1ioll catches you off gU/l.1d, dOll't rllsb ul1prepared i1lto 1111 D11S"t.Vcr,
Think aoollt your answer first. If you feel you are taking too much
time, say something like "I'd like to make sure r completely under-
stand your question. You're asking . . .. " (then paraphrase the ques-
tion as you understand it). Repeating the question aloud often helps
stimulate thinking.
3. If YOll dOli 't know or call't re'll1embe1' info17llatioll, say so. Never lie.
Lies arc too diHicult to remember. On the oth'er hand, there are
things' you probably should avoid mentioning. There is a fine line
between disclosing' too much and saying too little. Without fnIsifying
facts, you should present as positive a picture of yourself aspossible.
4. DOIl't be pressured illto saying 7II01'e thll1l YOII W(lIIt to SIlY by such inter-
viewer techniques as silence, leading questions, or nonverbal probes.
5. Opm-ended qut!stions gir.}e YOIl tbe floor. Take this opportunity to present
the information you want the interviewee to know. "Tell me about
yourself" is one question that :\11 interviewees should be .prepared to
answer. In an employment interview, you can tel! your age, marital
statUs, spouse's occupation, and number of children (all unlawful for
the interviewer to ask about); or you can. speak of your past career
adlievements, past employment, whyyou feel you arc especially qual-
ified for this job, nnd so on. Interviewers sometimes ask ambiguous
open questions such as "Tell me a story" to see how you think on
your feet and handle the unknown. \Vhich story or experience you
t'al!-: about is not important (although we suggest you stick to job-
related stories) as long as y(iu sound confident and are fairly well
organized.
6. Listen carefully to hypothetictll open questiolls to make sure you under-
stand the situation. In some cases, the interviewer is using the h}'Po-
thetical open as a question to check the consistency of your
answers and even your commitment to all ideal. For example, you
have just expressed your opinion that the best supervisor communi-
cates in an open style. Later the interviewer asks how you would
handlc a very difficult situation with an employee to see jf you would
still select the open communicator style. Other interviewers ask hy-
pothetical open questions to check your knowledge or to determine
whether you make decisions in a rush or arc careful to look at all
angles of a problem.
7. HI'I'lmf(' dire .. , (or .'-/lCd/it") (Illestiolls rrl/llirc lwicf'tfIlS7i'('J'S or ' :l't'S" OJ'
For these intel'viewers, keep your short. However, some in- .
terviewers arc not very skiUed in asking l]l1csrions and really wm\t you
to give detailed answers. If thcy secm frustr;lted by your brief answcrs,
try to answer their specific questions in an open manner. For example:
7
QUt!stions: "How long have }'ouueen in this fjeld of
Al1r.ver: "Two ye;lr!i." (Answer most interviewers expet:t)
Am"il'er: "I've heen a certified financial planner I(,r IWO yC.lrs. After
Illy training and apprenticeship with the Smith Company. Ihegan
working for Black's Financia1.Plannersill . .. . " (Answer expected
by untrained interviewers)
II. Closed tjuestiolls, lIol7Jllllly ill SIIIi.'(jS, gin' fb,' ill1c!.:i,,:,'/' ,b,' IIIU.I'/
colltrol of (I11Y O'Pe 0Itjllestiml. Always answer the question .IS !:(i\'en. hut
if your preferred answer is not one of tht: choices in the <juestioJl.
make sure ro express it also. For example;
Question: "\Vhich of the following college courses best prcpal'ed rou
for this position: psychology, technic.ll writing', P'lsral. or mannge-
mellt theory?"
AIlJ7.i'l'r: "Of those four choices I wouldse!cct Illanagenicnt theory.
However. if I could pkk :lIly course, I would S:lY Illy husiness l'UI1l-
iuunic.ltion course best prepared me to handle people 'IS indi\'idu-
0115."
9. LOfided 'IlIestiollS lITI! designed to pm YOlllllldcl'st1'css/OI' SOIll,' I't'Il.fOIl klJlJiJ.'1l
to the intel'viewo: Avoid answering "yes" or "no" to :I loaded question.
For example:
Questio11: "Are you still difficult to get along with?"
A "yes" answer doesn't sound good.
A "no" answer is better but implies that you have had problems in
the past.
Best "I have never been difficult to.get along with. As a matter
offact, three months ago I -i\';\S voted employee of the month by
my colleagues. My leaving this conipany has nothing w do with
my communication ability;"
10. Be WfI1J of Icnding fjliestiollS. They are normally trick questions de-
signed to detennine how much of a "yes person" rou or to get
. you to agree to purchasing a product. Don't let theintef\'iewer put
words in your lilourh. Listen ro the qu{'srioll c:lrt,flllk.
Your answers should always he u1lthful, should come froll! you. and
should never sound memorized. However, getting an idea of some "good"
answers to some "tough" questions Illay help you present the real you to
the interviewer, and may help calm rour nerves. If the following "good"
responses don't fit you, at least they should stimulate your thinking: '0
c H7I;y do YOII wnllt to leove your clI/nJ/t job?
- They went out of business.
- I want to earn more money_
- Because I'm .looking for a job in which I can grow as well as
contribute; I need more challenge ..
- JY1ypresent company's growth hasn't been as fast as my personal
growth, so there are fewer chances for promotion.
o What nre yOltr greatest st1'ellgthy{
- Intelligence.
- Common sense.
-Drive.
- Marurity in establishing work priorities or in accessing not only
8
problems but also people problems.
- An ability to deal with people.
- Job knowledge.
D Ut'bllt are )'our greatest weaknesses?
(Try to give truthful "positive weaknesses") .
----:Impatience. (I get impatient with people when they don't get
their jobs done on time; impatient with myself for not growing
fast enough.) . .
- Overdrive. (I drive myself, and often others, too hard.)
- Hard to please.
- Stubbornness when right.
(One or two weaknesses is enough; be prepared to give a positive
illustration of each weakness.) .
D Doyoll mind mking a personality test prior: to joil1ing our company?
7'No, not at aU.
(Such tests are usually for research purposes and are not used to
decide between candidates.)
o What are YOll cmnmtiy 1l1okhlg?
- If you are curren tIy underpaid: State your current salary wi thout
hesitation, then add, "That's precisely the reason Tam here
today."
- If you currently have benefits beyond the base salary: State your
current salary, then add, "The total value of my current finan-
cial package is $--. This is made up of --, --, and
" --.
ci What dOY(nI want to make 071 your next job?
- If asked on the first or second interview, it's usually better to say
something such as: "I'm pretty.flexible on that score. I'd rather
talk about finances after decided together wheth.er I'm the
right person for tllis job."
- If asked on later interviews, give a positive, unapologetic answer.
(Do your research and know the salary range. Most employers
expect YQU to ask for at least a 20 percent raise.)
o do you thillk of your prese1u boss?
-Be positive even ifit hurts. (You may wish to refer to the positive
characteristics of your boss's communication style as discussed .
in Chapter 3.)
o T171;ot ncti01lS7JJould yOlt take if YOli come 011 bOllrd?
(It's best not to describe the changes you wCJUld 1l111kc.)
- The chances are I would not make many changes at all for ;l
. while, at least until I have a chance to really ev,lluate the situa-
. tion from tIle inside. '. '
It is impossible to predict exactly what is goin'g to happen during an inter-
view, but if you take rime to !:hink ilirough your answers to probable
questions, you will find your confidence and chances of success greatly
improved.
9
Which of the following activities did you do in any job in the past? Choose five
and give specific examples cfeach.
Researchs kills Technical skills Teaching skills
clarified.- assembled adapted
collected built advised
critiqued calculated clarified
diagnosed computed coached
evaluated . designed communicated
examined devised coordinated
extracted engineered -developed
identified fabricated enabled
inspected m'aintained encouraged
interpreted operated evaluated
interviewed overhauled explained
investigated programmed facilitated
organized remodeled guided
reviewed repair informed
summarized solved - initiated
surveyed trained instructed
systematized upgraded persuaded
set goals
- ,
stimulated
Financial skills Technical skills Teaching skills
administrated acted assessed
allocated -conceptualized - assisted
analyzed created clairified
appraised developed coached
audited directed counseled
balanced established demonstrated
budgeted founded diagnosed
calculated illustrated educated,
computed instituted expedited
developed integrated facilitated
forecasted introduced familiarized
managed invented guided
marketed originated referred
planned performed rehabilitated
projected revitalized . represented
researched shaped
Adapted, enlarged list inspired by Employment Development Department of Palo
.Alto, CA.
10
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6
.

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,
7
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8
.

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9
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1
6
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1
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1
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1
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1
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1
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1
9
.

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SURVIVING YEAR 1 ON THE JOB
1. FiH in the chart to make contrasts between the classroom and the workplace.
CLASSROOM WORKROOM
1. 1.
2, 2.
3. 3.
4. 4.
5. 5.
6. 6.
7. 7.
8. 8.
9. 9.
10 . 10.
. 2. Write some tips for employees who are starting their first job.
1.
,.,
t.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
~ ~ . List new vocabulary and expressions here . .
12
Chronological Resume
32 Gurnett Road
Montreal, Qc H3X 3G7
Includes detailed
objective in
response to
advertisement:
OBJECTIVE
-r--
Uses present-tense r--
verbs for current job:
Chronological
format arranges _
jobs and
education by dates:
Creates open look
with white space
around headings:
EXPERIENCE
EDUCATION
SPECIAL SKILLS
HONOURS AND
ACTIVITIES
SIMONE AYOTTE
Voice (514) 445-2101
E-mail: sayotte@aol.com
Position with financial services organization installing accounting
software and providing user support, Where computer experience
and proven communication and interpersonal skills can be used to
improve operations. .
Accounting software consultant, financial SpeCialists,
Hamilton, Ontario
June 1998 to present . .
Design and install accounting systems for businesses like 21 $I
Century Real Estate, Healthco Insurance, Aurora Lumber
Company, and others.
Provide ongoing techniCal support and consultation for regular
clients ..
;, Help write proposals, such as recent one that won $250,000
contract.
Office manager (part-time), Post Premium, Toronto, Ontario
June 1997 to May 1998
Conceived and implemented improved order processing and
filling' system .
.. Managed computerized accounting system; trained new
employees to use it.
Worked with team to develop local area network. Was
complimented by Vice President Rogers as a team player and
one who takes initiative. .
Bookkeper (part time), Sunset Avionics, Hamilton, Ontario
August 1996 to May 1997
Kept books for small airplane rental and repair service.
Performed all bookkeeping functions including quarterly internal
audit. .
Mohawk College, Hamilton, Ontario
Working toward a diploma in accounting; 25 out of 40 . credits
completed.
Humber College, Toronto, Ontario. Certificate in bookkeeping,
1996
GPA3.6/4.0
Computer Associates training seminars, summer and fall 1997
of completion
Seminars in consulting ethics, marketing, and ACCPAC
accounting software
Proficient in WordPerfect, PageMaker, Lotus 1-2-3, and Excel. .
Skilled in ACCPAC Plus, MAS90, and Solomon IV accounting
software.
Trained in technical writing, including proposals and
documentation.
Experiences in using Internet and Web resources in problem
solving.
Fluent in French.
Dean's list, 3 semesters
Member, Beta Alpha Gamma (business student honorary)
Member, Academic Affairs Advisory Committee, Mohawk College,
1999-2000
13
DESCRIBING A TECHNICAL DEVICE
Brand name
Category
Weight
Size
Colors
Cost
Materials
Features
Advantages
Disadvantages
. .
Other comments
New vocabulary 1
2
3 ,
4
5
6
7
,
8
14
Describing objects: Dimensions and measurements
1. Review vocabulary used to describe dimensions of objects by filting in the
chart below. Be sure to use objects that are common in your own field of
~ d ~ ! '
a long highway a short bridge the length of the highway
a wide
a high
atal!
a thick
a deep
a big
a heavy
2. Draw a simple sketch of an object related to your field of studies and include
the approximate dimensions. Write sentences that describe the dimensions.
3. Briefly describe the object to your partner using the correct structures to
describe dimensions.
15
DESCRIBING A TECHNICAL DEVICE
Fill in the following worksheet to help you organize your presentation of an object
such as a machine or tool that is used in your profession.
A. DIMENSIONS AND MEASUREMENTS
a) How much does is weigh?
It weighs _____________ _
b) How long is it? What is its length?
It is _____ -'--_______ cm long.
c) How wide is it? What is its width?
It is _____________ cm wide.
d) How high is it? What is its height?
It is _____________ cm high.
e) How thick is it? What is its thickness?
It is ---,-__ --_-------cm thick ..
B. SHAPE AND COLOUR
1. What shape does it have?
It's (rectangular) in shape.
It's a (cylinder) .
. . 2. What color is it?
It's black. It's transparent.
C. MATERIALS
What's it made of?
It's (plastic).
The outer case is made of _______ . The interior is _____ _
D. FUNCTION/PURPOSE
What is the function of the object? What is it used for? What is its use?
It's used for making _. ______________ _
16
It's used for measuring ______________ _
E. COST
. How much does it cost? Is it expensive?
It costs approximately ______ _
F. INSTRUCTIONS
How does it operate?
Do you need any special skill to operate it?
17
MATERIALS AND PROPERTIES
Fill in the blanks with the vocabulary that you find in the information.
MATERIAL PROPERTY (ADJECTIVE) PROPERTY (NOUN)
Rubber Elastic Elasticity
. 18
ENGINEERINQ MATERIALS AND PROPERTIES
\ .
An eraser is made of rubber. Rubber is an engineering
material. If you bend it between your fingers it changes
. shape. When you release it, it regains its original shape.
Rubber is very elastic. Elasticity is a property of some
engineering materials.
If you hit a piece of glass it breaks. Glass is very brittle.
Brittleness is a property of glass.
Nails are made of a tough material. If you hit one with a
hammer it doesn't break.
Electrical wires are covered with plastic. Plastic is a bad
. conductor of electricity. If you touch the plastic you don't get
an electric shock. The wire is made of copper. Copper is a
good conductor of electricity. Plastic, however, is an
. insulator. Copper is also a good conductor of heat.
You cannot scratch glass easily. However, if you scratch an
aluminum saucepan with a nail it leaves a mark. Glass is a
hard material but aluminum is quite soft.
Exercise1 Are these statements true or false? Correct the false ones.
1. Rubber is a very brittle material.
2. If you strike a brittle material, it doesn't break.
3. Plastic is a good conductor of electricity.
4. When you hit a tough material with a hammer, it breaks easily.
5. A spring is elastic.
6. Glass is soft and brittle .
. 7. Some pots are made of copper because it is a good conductor of electricity.
8. An elastic material changes its shape easily.
19
-Material Property Examples of uses
Compressive Machine. beds
Cast iron
strength
Machine frames
(strong in
iron
compression) .
component
Wrought iron Tensile Crane hooks .
strength
Railway couplings
(strong in
tension)
Mild steel
t ~
Shear Rivets
. .. mild steel
strength
Bolts
component
(strong in
. J
shear)
medium carbon steel component
/
Medium carbon
~
Impact Axles
steel .....
Strength
Hammer heads
(tough)
20
FOUR PROPERTIES
It is important to know the properties of engineering materials. For example,
steel is used for making girders because it is an elastic metal. Cast iron is never
used for making girders because it is brittle. The properties of a material
determine its use.
Malleability: It is easy to roll a malleable material
into a new shape. A malleable material does' not
fracture easily LInder pressure. Gols is extremely
malleable. It is possible to roll gold into very thin
sheets. Copper is very malleable and so is lead.
Glass is not at all malleable and nor is cast iron. It
is very easy to fracture glass with a hammer. Cast
iron also fractures easily.
Ductility: It is easy to draw a ductile material. It
does not fracture and it retains its new shape.
Copper is extremely duetile. Tin is very ductile and
so is aluminum. Steel is not very ductile and nor is
lead. It is very difficult to draw lead into thin wire
because it fractures easily.
Elastici'ty: An elastic material stretches easily .
under stress. However, remove the stress and. it
does not retain its new shape. Rubber is extremely
elastic. Some steels are quite elastic. Glass is not
at all elastic . .
Durability: A durable material does not corrode
easily. Under normal conditions, glass is very
durable and so are plastics. Among the metals,
chromium is extremely durable and so is platinum.
Gold is quite durable and so is aluminum.
21
::1)::' =z
(I) 2 :
PROCESS AND .PROCEDURES
FIRES
There are different types of fires, and there are different instructions for puttiQg
them out. .
ry", A
Wood. 1)Q1)4!'.
ore MOm,"o.blt
Type a
Oil. I)4!trol etc
gIl' rlcrnmcble liQuids
TYPE A - FLAMMABLE MATERIALS
'1. First, remove all dangerous materials near the fire.
2. Next, close all windows and ventilators.
. Then, throw water over the fire.
TYPE B - FLAMMABLE LIQUIDS
'I. First, remove all containers to a safe place.
2. Next, close all windows and ventilators.
Ty" C
Elecrlicol Equipment
3. Then, use the correct fire extinguisher. Do not throw water over this type of .
fire. Extinguish it with CO2 or foam.
TYPE C - ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT
1. First, switch off the equipment at the main switch.
Then, use the correct fire extinguisher. Do not use water on an electrical
fire. Do not use foam on it. Extinguish it with CO2. '
22
WHAT HAPPENS INSIDE A WATER FILTRATION PLANT

Clear well,: /':,
Sourc.: CoorJIa o.p.nn-.c
I\oooorc ..
PAIGE aMOOOCK' Sujf
.

Number the sentences below in the correct order to represent the process of
water filtration . .
WHAT HAPPENS INSIDE A WATER FILTRATION PLANT
. More chemicals are added during coagulation to help start the process of
flocculation. . '
After passing through the sedimentation tank, the water is filtered throughsand,
gravel and hard coal before being chlorinated.
Water is then held in the clear well at the plant to give the chlorine time to, kill any
remaining bacteria before the water enters the distribution system.
Once withdrawn from the river, the water enters a mixer, where chemicals
such as activated carbon, fluoride, ' lime chlorine and alum are rapidly mixed into
the water.
Particles in the water congeal into a mass heavy enough to settle during the
sedimentation process. .
23
THE PRODUCTION OF PAPER
Notice the use of the passive in the following example.
Paper is a common material that is used throughout the world. It has been made from various
plants, such as rice and papyrus, and used to be made by hand. Today wood is the chief .
source of paper, and most of the work is done by machines. Paper can be made from wood
pulp by either a mechanical or a chemical process.
In the mechanical process, the wood is ground into small chips. During the grinding, it is
sprayed with water to keep it from burning from the friction of the grinder. Then the chips are
soaked in water.
In the chemical process, first the wood is washed, and then it is cut into small pieces by a
chipping machine. Thewood is then cooked in certain chemicals. After cooking, the wood is
washed to get rid of the chemicals.
the pulp that results from either the mechanical or chemical process is then drained to form a
thick mass. Next it is bleached in chlorine and then thoroughly washed again . . Then the pulp
is put through a machine that squeezes the water out and forms the pulp into long sheets. Next
the pulp sheets pass through a drier and a press. Then they are wound into rolls.
24
'THE PASSIVE VOICE '
Describing a process
Put the verbs in brackets into the qppropriate form, using the passive when necessary.
The Production of Paper
From trees to pulp,
The trees _____________ (transport) to the paper mill by truck, train or ship.
First the bark (remove). ' This _____ - ___ _
(burn) at a later stage so that energy can (generate) for the paper-making
process. Then the logs (cut) into chips and
----'---'-____ ----(cook) under high pressure for four hours to make paper pulp. Next
the "pulp (bleach) to
(remove) dirt spots and its aging properties .
. From pulp to paper
The manufacturing process also _________ ___,_ (require) chemicals to strengthen
the paper. The fibres (mix) with . additives . and
_______ --'-___ (dilute) with water. This mixture __________ _
(spray) onto the paper machine where it (press), then
_______ (dry) and _____________ (wind) onto one large
reel which weighs up to 20 tons. Each part of the process ____________ _
(control) by computers which automatically correct any errors.
25
CHANGE TO THE PASSIVE VO'ICE
Example: Someone built that house ten years ago. ACTIVE.
Response: That house was built ten years ago. PASSIVE.
1. Someone invited you to go to a party.
2. Someone wrote that book in 1980.
3. John Smith wrote that book in 1980.
4. People grow rice in many countries.
5. Columbus discovered the New World.
6. The secretary is typing a letter. ,
7. Teachers teach reading in the first grade.
8. Someone told you to be here at ten o'clock.
9. Someone pliblished that book in 1981 .
10. People produce coffee in Brazil.
11. The mailman delivered the mail at noon.
12. Someone made that hat in Mexico.
13. , Someone will serve dinner at six.
14. Someone is going to serve dinner at six.
15. Someone will announce the news tomorrow.
16. Someone will give the examination next week.
17 . Someone has paid the bill.
18. Someone has made a mistake.
19. Someone has watered the plants.
20. The teacher is giving a test in the next room right now.
21. The teacher is asking you to use the passive.
Write these sentences in the passive voice. Do you need "by" or not?
1. Some men studied the equipment and lay-out of the hot-water system.
2. He used a section diagram to ' show the construction arid operation of the industrial
installations.
3. The doctor will use a thermometer to take your temperature.
4. To perform the experiment, you connect two rods through an external electrical circuit, and
this will induce a chemical reaction.
5. We use this type of cell for generating intermittent currents of low voltage, espeCially in
electric bell circuits.
6. Writers have described the experiment in much simpler language.
7. Students require a fair amount of knowledge and skill before they attempt technical
description (2 passives). .
8. Twelve of the students need more practice.
9; When you connect the two rods, they will transmit power (2 passives).
10. The pressure of the float-borne lever closed the valve.
26
THE PRODUCTION OF ALUMINUM
Here are some words and expressions related to the mining industry ' and
aluminum. Make sure that you understand each item. Learn to pronounce and
spell each word correctly.
1. Bauxite is mined in tropical countries and shipped by freighters to Quebec for processing.
Bauxite ore'is mined and delivered to smelters.
, 3. The crushed bauxite is processed to dissolve alumina from the ore.
4. Aluminum and oxygen are separated by electricity in the smelting process.
5. This reaction takes place in large pots through which a direct current is passed.
, ,
6. Then the aluminum settles to the bottom of the pot.
7.. Next, the molten aluminum is treated to ensure
8. The molten metal passes through troughs and filters.
9. At this time alloys are added to increase strength or provide special properties.
10 . . After this, the metal is cast into ingots, of various shapes.
11. Some of the final shapes are sheet, plate or foil products, or extrusions.
12. The world headquarters of Alcan are in Montreal.
13.' Aluminum has many uses: beverage cans, siding, construction frame systems, automotive
parts; aircraft parts, electrical cable, and many more.
Aluminum is found in nature in combination with other minerals, so a process is required to
retrieve it. First bauxite is mined and the ore is crushed. Then in a chemical process, aluminum
and oxygen, or alumina, are separated' form the ore. Following this, there is an electrolytic
process in which the alumina is dissolved and the aluminum settles. At this time other
ingredients are added to increase strength and provide other needed properties. Then the
molten aluminum is cast into Ingots for fabricating. Finally the ingots are processed into various
forms including sheets, foil and plate products.
27
. THI; WOR.LD OF ALCAN
1. Read the section of the text according to your number in group. As you read,
fill in the worksheet for your section. (15 minutes)
2. Prlesent the information using the completed worksheet. (40 minutes)
3. As you listen to the speakers in your group, fill hi the worksheet.
1-5
Student 1---pages 6-9
. Student 2--pages 10-15
Student 3---pages 16-19
Student 4---pages 20-23
Worksheet 1 : Alean : A GlobalNetwork
1. AI in nature
2. . TranspOitation of AI
3. Location of Alcan facilities
4. Process of smelting AI
5. Alcan and hydroelectricity
6. Other Alea", activities
Worksheet 2 : Containers and Packaging, Byilding and Construction
1. Four main uses of AI :
28
2. Use of AI in beverage industry
3. Use of AI for packaging
4, Use of AI in construction
5. Use of AI in France
6. Use of AI in Malaysia
7. Use of AI offshore
Worksheet 3 : Transportation, Electrical, New Directions
1. Use of AI in car parts
2. Use of ASvr
3. Use of AI in Jaguars
4. Use of AI in aerospace
5 ~ Use of AI in rail industry
6. .Use of AI in boats
7. Use of AI in electrical industry
8. Future uses of AI and research
Worksheet 4 : Alcan in the Community
1. Alcan's smelters
-------------------------------------------
2. Alcan's protection of environment
3. Recycling of beverage cans _____________ ---'-________________ _
4. Alcan scholarships ___________________________ ~ ~ ____ _
5. Alcan support of cultural activities
. 6. Alcan in India ____ - , - - - _ ~ ________________________ ___
29
ALCAN VOCABULARY
headquarters freighters
. lids
hulls
skilled supplies
due to
alloys
amounts .
rigs
inroads .
leading
forefront
challenges
raw
foil
1. Alcan aluminum to many end-use markets including the
transportation, packaging and electrical.industries . .
2. Aluminum is used for beverage cans __ .;........; __ the metal's recyclability.
3. Alcan is making __________ in the rail industry.
4. Alcan'sare located in Montreal.
5. The annual production ___________ t6 more than 1.6 million tonnes.
6. Bauxite is the ______ material from which aluminum is made.
7. Alcan is a self-sufficient company with assets in ___ "'--___ , mines and fabricating
plants.
8. Alcan is a ________ manufacturer of aluminum-base.d products.
9. Alcan is at the _---,-_--,-_---,-__ of its industry.
10. Aluminum __ ____ are used to make __________ and masts for
boats.
11. Some new containers have peelable aluminum _----,-_______ _
12. Aluminum ________ is found in most residential kitchens.
13. Alcan employs many talented and _____ .,---___ people.
14. Bauxite is shipped to Quebec in huge .,--_-'--____ _
15. Many homes in Quebec are covered with aluminum ________ _
16. Alcan faces the
markets.
30
of global competition and ' shifting world
Ekati Diamond Mine.
Ynu
at the Ekati
Dia1110lHI
J'vlinc
D
.
1
, 300
kilometres north-
east of Yellowknife,
Northwest Territories
and 200 kilometres
south of the . Circle.
BHP Billiton's mine im
. block covers 344,000 hectares and is
Iwme to Canada's first diamond mine.
The Ekari Diamond Mine was the largest
construction project completed North of the
. Canadian treeline. ktook an incredible amount
of dedication and hard work [0 get the mine up
. and running in the harsh sl,lb-arctic environment.
During the construction phase, more than 40' '
million kilograms of building materials, trucks,
diesel fuel and food were moved by
truck over the 475 ice road
from Yellowknife to the mine . .
Tlte pwkcr ,O$t ;\!m<)st $')00 million CDN. It took
nearly ;1 decade of planning, approv;ds and work .
to build. The Ekari Diamond Mine opened for
business on October 14, 1998 - on time'
anJ on budger.
This is a land ofaxtr:emes. The mine operates
in ol1eof the harshest climates on earth. A
solid layer of snow and ICe cOvers the land for
more than eight months of the year. .
Temperatures drop to a frigid -400 Celsius for
long periods during winter. Exposed skin
freezes in seconds at this temperature. The
sun barely rises abOve the horizon from
mid-December to the end of January.
What's in a name? '
The area around the Ekati Diamond MinerM was
traditionally known as "s'kati" by tile Dogrib and
Dene peoples of the Northwest Territories. Ekati
means "fat lake . .. and refers to the white quartz
rock which is found in abundance in the area.
white qlk"'lrtz veins that run through the rock lie
s.aid to look iike caribou fat. Which is seen as
svmbol of great value 10 Ihe Aboriginal .'
peoples in northern Canada.
31
Dis;covery
i\iillillg (pre is a c()l1lbin:Hiol1
olgrl'at iinds, hugeho;)xcs
and who ,lren't afr;lid
to <lrl::';1111. F:or ye;us, In()sr mining
inliusrryillSidcrs helieved that
f finding :ino, ..v,hafl ill rhe Sclhara
: J
Desertwoutd bccasier, and more
.likely, than discovering diamonds 'in
rhe Canadian Arctic. However, two
Illen were determined to turn this
mining myth into a reality.
Charles a ,
getilogist from
British Colurnbi;,
began his search for
, diamonds in 1981.
In 1983 Fipke
formed Dia Met
Minerals Ltd. to
fund exploration for
northern diamonds; Charles Apke
Fipke followed the trail of Ice Age glacier!) across
the tundra to the Lac de Gras region of the
Northwes! Territories. Along the, way he and his
crewsco).Jred rocky olltcrops for traces of indicato.r
minerals slIch as garnets, olivines and chrome
diopsides. These are caiied indicaror minerals
becau:>e they signal the presence of potentially
diamond-bearing kimberlite nearby.
It would be 10 more years of prospecting, drilling
;'tnd before Fipke, and fellow geologist
Dr. Stewart Blusson, were to find diamonds in the
tundra. The year before diamonds were discovered
in the Lac de Gras area, 13HP BiIliton (then BHP)
joined the Fipke-Blusson team. In September 1990,
m-IP Billiron and Dia Met Minerals Ltd. signed an
32
0,: Sfp.warl .
Blusson
exploration ;lgrcenlelH to fund
;1 larger ,mel mure .tggressive
di;'tl11ond exploration program.
The I\llll11ClltOllS day of
dis.:ovcricarnc in 1-991, when
Fipke, his crew a group of
BHP Hilliton geophysicists hi
by Ray Ashley. discovered the
first under Point Lake, near the
present mi.ne site. A core bole was drilled under
the lake. After drilling throCgh 400 feet of rock,
Ihe hole pcncrr;'ttcd the first kimberlire pipe, Tbe
crew extracred <l tot:11 of 81 diamonds from a 59
kilogram core
sample. Fipke and
Blusson's dream
became a reality
thut .started oue of
the largest staking
r,ushes in Canadian
mining hist.ory. Drilling under a lake.
Every diamonQ mined at the Ekati Diamond
Mine"" carries a legacy of determination and
strength.
BHP Hilliton cStill1iHt'S
th;H Ekati
Diamond Nlinel'\1
wiil operate for the
next 16 yea rs or
more. Every year
the mille produces four to five
millioll carats
Ji;11110nds. That amounts to nearly
four percent of current world
diamond. production by weight
and six percent by value.
Blasting the gems out of the gmnite <\Od
is expensive. There is nbout $140-
million worth of equipment on sire. A lor of it
doesn't last very lorig in the tough tundra
environment; For example, the 10 5/8-inch,drill
bits that are to blnst holes in
the pit are worth several
thousand dollars each,
and they're for :j.hout
100 hotes.
You may noticethata lot of
the equipment at the mine is
enormous in size. A fleet of 13
CAT 79.3C (240 ton) trucks
and I2 CAT 777D (90 ton) trucks
haul thousands of tonnes of rock
out of the pit every day. The tires
on the CAT 793C trucks stand .3,6
metres high and cost around $30,000.
each.
If YOll get;} look at rhe Fox Pit, YOll
will sec the largest piece of machinery
at the Ekati Diam(md MineI'M - the
$12.6 milliilll DEM,\(;
II ydraulic Shovel. This
weighs
640 [onncs ;ll1d rno.ves
with 4,onO horsepower.
Irs Illas5ive bucker holds
3.1 cuhic metres ()f
. ki Illberlite ore iIi one
just two
minutesro fill a..!li!!!L
trllck with an aver.\ge of
four scoops of waste
rock or kimberlite ore.
33
Frozen Core Dams
and Thermosyphons
You may notice a number of frozen core dams
and Ihermosyphons around the minesite. They
.have been developed for a numb!r of reasons,
but basically to stop water from flowing where
.. we don't want it 10 be.
Each dam contains many thefmosyphons which
help to keep the [J[QJ.JDc:J-.fro:Z'en. A thermosyphon
is a long pipe that iscfoslild on both ends. One
end of the pipe IS buried in the ground along the
frozen core dam. The top stioks out of the
ground. The pipe is filled with liquid carbOn
dioxide (CD?) which is very cold and flows up
and down /he pipe. During Ihis process heat is
transferred ;rom below the ground to the air
above.
As the cold C02 liquid flows down the pipe it
keeps the ground frozen. Below ground some of
the CO, heats lip (the ground is waimer than the
aif) and rums into a vapour. The vapour rises to
the top of the pipe carrying heat from the grQund
wirh it. Once above ground, the CO. turns into a
cold liquid and th.e whole process starts again. If
there are enough thermosyphons spaced closa
together, the ground will be frozen year round and
will {arm a frozen core dam.
Logistics
Operating the Ekati Di'lmond iYline'\'
in a remote ttlndl:a environment takes a
lot of plan.ning. Everything YOll see :It
the mine - from the food in the cafeteria
to the huge.dump in the pits -
has been brought to the li1ine either by
plane or via seasonal. xoad.
Most goods <lre trucked here via a 475 kilometre
winter road that winds oyer frozen lakes and
streams from YeUo";;knife to the mine. The road
is open for eight to twelve weeks each winter
before the begins. Materials that arc
moved by truck iIiclude diesel fuel, tires' and
ammonium nitrate and f-;:;ight. Employees,
:11
-
Ekati Minew
.111e! ll1aterials as food ;lnd'(,lI"h
IIIlt ers ;11'(, fl.)"1.'11 ro the mine.
Here is what it takes to
make Ekati run:
Accommociation
There arc 683 hedrooms in seven thrce.storcy
dotmitory blocks.
Dining .Room and Kitchen
The dining room seats 250 persons at any on;
time. Food arrives twice weekly yia chartered 737
and DC4 aircraft.
Here are some of the items on
the weekly .Ekati shopping list:
Flour . ...... .. ...... . . 1.400 kilOS
Rice . ....... . ....... . . . 240 kilos
Coffee . .. ... ...... . .... 211 kilos
Chicken ............... .400 kffos
Mifk ................... 1,900 kilos
Juice .... : . . . . . . . . . . . . '130 cases
Oranges ...... . ...... . .40 cases
Bananas ........ . ... . . . 24 cases
Apples ................ 30 cases.
Communications
. With 48 tnink lines and 1100 telephone lines
reaching the rest of the world via satellite, the
mine site has the ninth largest exchange in
NorthwesTel's operating area, which includes
the Norrhwest Territories, Yukon and nonhern
British Columbia. A privati: cellular network
allows wireless communication anywhere on the i
. property. A microwayc communications system !!
is utilized at Misery.
34
Processing Diamonds
The Process Plant is the 'heart' of
is one of the
largest buildings in the Northwest
Territories. It is here that about
12,000 tannes of kirnberlite ore
per da y is processed. ---.. ----
Out of (his large ;:unollnt of ore, Ekati
produces, on J 5,000 carats of diamonds
;\ Jay. This would be enough rouglu!iam.J.?!]ds
to fill a one litre can of coffee.
Sorting and Valuation
Facility
The BHP Billiron Sorting and Valuation Facility
(SVf) is the first one of its kind in North America,
The SVF is located in Yellowknife near the air-
port. Rough diamonds are flown from the Ekari
BHP Bilfiton Sorling.and'
Valuation Facility
' Diamond
Mine to the
SVE every five
weeks. Trained.
employees sort
the diamonds
according to
their value. The
government of
Canada values
the diamonds
for taxation
purposes before
the diamonds
are sent to Antwerp, Belgium to be sold. A
Cariada Customs agent inspects the rough dia-
monds at the SVF which means that the heat-
sealed packages of rough diamonds sent to BHP
I>illiton's Antwerp sales office, are not re-opened
until they arrive in Europe, ensuring their
protection and security.
'!lI
Here is how it works:
a
High Pressure
Grinding
Crushing. Scrubblng
ilod Screening
35
e
,Diamond

Ol.mond
Recovory .
1 . Crushing and Scrubbing
The ora CfIJShed tJNJ mOiled /0 rotamg du1lS caJIOO
andrhM SCtlJbbed lMIh wtIter /0 breaIc cbwn the soli
kiIrlbetfta. ora and days. The oro is rhM fed onto a vibiallng SCreen,
lhis step IW1OVOS walflf and va-)' /fn& rock and separatastfltl 019
into diffoiiinfSiros. '
2. Grinding .
JI.\W. hifIJ presstI8 gind'lg rolls MJ USDd toft.rIh6t breakcbNn the
wasJ:oad and saubbed om ilIa smaIfer sires. /hi$, I1HJ
material is ago;' wilhwater. F'trIfJ s8nd and gP/ fXO(i.x;:ed
dtmg!FOOng is removed by vibrotng Screens. '
Diarnond Separation
The ora is SM/ to '/li,avy medium ..p,."tkn C)'Cb'Ies' Which ar ..
fiI/OO with water and fetrosiIcon, Thehoovy malollals; SUCh as
rJiamond!J, CJiNtI9 and c./IronHJ dlQp,sida sk* 10 the bottom.
. The matOOals. such asgrnnife and /drnbeitIQ 'l7Oae' on the .
soooca as rejects. The diaTnoncI$ and hOOvy lTlirKr.l/$.are collected
and transpotted 10 too /iiTalIeCov<l/)l soctlon.
4. Diamond. Recovery
Tnls is the last sl"fJ in 100 diBmonds.. Nere. too he<Ny
""",,!lis are passed tflrovgh x-my mschines. Diamonds are easily
spotled in tIli$ tHtlC6SS beCause lhey Mit tight ...oon /hey are
exposed 10 X-tays, The diamonds am cleaned. wei9hOO. padQ1ged
.and sent to 100 Sorting and Valva/jon FaciKty h 'ttiIoWlmif",
Koala
In ./ uly 200 I wt: rhe Ktlah
Pit, :1I1d tlwn (:.t:': hegan in ".lri y 20tH.
The iVlining Process
A small lake nm:e covered the Koal'l Pit .II','; \'
Bdore mini1lg, we fished out rhe hke ming tCllli-
ri<mal knowledge ,of the local Aboriginal people
;1I1d then Once lake was <it.: -
watered, we removed thc rcmaining lake botrum
sediments, tills, and ovcrburden from within rhc
footprint of the pi! design. Some portions, which
contained precious nutrients, have becn kept ior
reclanl'!!ion purposes. Then we were ready to
begin mining waste rock and kimberlitc,
Waste rock (granitc), which surrounds the kim-
berlite ore, is drilled and blasted to reduce it to a
manageable material. Once blasted the granite is
hauled to the waste rock piles or to the Crusher
where it is crushed and used for building roads
and other construction activities.
The kimberlite ore, blasted, is haulc:dto the
Plant to begin the process of liberating the
diam.onds from the ore.
Waste Rock Pile

'-' ;,,-.J '-'
Over 250 employees
work in Mine
npcr;)rinm. There .11'1:
nver -I') L'quipment
operators. including
IO;IJel', and haul
"r;:;llJS . on -Z';d,"
Totatio!l. Each rorarion
.llso h3Sabol1t 20 drill
and blast team members
;lnt! 20 Mine Services
tca m tnem bers.
There are 28 people in the Engineering Department
- including surveyors, tcchnicl<ms, geol{)gists and
short and long planning engineers_
36
Koala underground development (future)
Key Statistics for
Cunent diameter
depth
,:!"d of mine lifa
' 900 metres
. 230 metres
____ ______ _
THE BUSINESS MEETING: THE CHAIR
1. The role of the chair is to
Start and end on time
Introduce objective and agenda
Introduce speakers
Define time limits for contributions
Control discussion, hear all views
Summarize discussion at key points
Ensure that key decisions are written
down by the secretary
Ensure that decisions and conclusions
are clear and understood
Define action to be taken and individual
responsibilities
2. Useful expressions for the chair
a. Opening the meeting
Thank you for coming ... Let's start: ..
Any comments on our previous
meeting?
b. Introducing the agenda
c.
d.
On the agenda, you'll see there are
three items.
There is one main item to discuss.
Stating objectives ..
We're here today to hear about plans
for ...
Our objective is to discuss different
ideas.
What we wantto do today is to reach
a decision .. .
Introducing discussion
The background to the problem is ...
The point (the issue) we have to
understand is ...
e. Calling on a speaker
I'd like to ask Marie to tell us about...
Can we hear from Mr. Stuart on
this?
. f. Controlling the meeting
Sorry, Bob, can we let Marie finish?
g. Summarizing
So, what you're saying is .. .
h. Moving the discussion on
Let's move on to the next point.
i. ClOSing the meeting
I think we can close the meeting
now.
That's it The next meeting will be .. .
Opt-n
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37
BUSINESS, MEETING 1: POLLUTING THE RIVER
Introduction
1. You are the managing director of a factory. You discover that your
manufacturing process pollutes the environment. Do you:
a. try to hide the facts?
b. do everything you can to stop the pollution?
c. prepare an emergency plan forwhen the news leaks out?
d. invite the press to visit you "environment-friendly" factory?
2. The news of the pollution gets out and is published in the press. Do you:
a. deny the facts?
b. admit everything?
c. cover up? .
. d. explain that it can't be helped?
3. The local authorities say you will be prosecuted if the pollution is notstopped
immediately. Do you:
a. ask for money from them to cover the cost of changing the production process?
b. threaten to close the factory?
c. pretend to accept their orders and do nothing?
d. move to another area?
4. You agree to stop polluting, but this will c,ldd 50% to production costs. Do
you:
, .
a. ask the unions for permission to cut wages by 50%?
b. sack half the workforce?
c. increase prices by 50%?
d. save money by using cheaper parts?
5. You are fined for pollution. Do you:
a. pay the fine and carry on polluting? .'
b. refuse to pay because the firm will go bankrupt if you do?
c. appeal?
d. make a generous donation to the local ecology party?
6, You are sacked by the parent company because of the pollution scandal. Do
you:
a. publish proof that the president knew all about the pollution before you did?
b. retire and write you memoirs?
c. apply for a job with the firm's main competitor?
d. do a university course in environmental studies?
38
POLLUTING THE RIVER
Situation
Your company, Coldpoint, makes refrigerators at a factory in Bismarck, the capital city .
of North Dakota, USA. It is the subsidiary of a Canadian firm whose headquarters are
in Hamilton, Ontario. The head office of this US subsidiary is at a modem factory in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the company's freezers are made. The Canadian parent
. firm is the market leader in North America, and your company is the number one on the
US market, selling up-market refrigerators and freezers. All your products sell under the
brand name "Coldpoint", which is very well-known and has an excellent image. '
The Bismarck factory was built some 33 years ago, and employs 600 of the 48,000
people living in the town. This makes it the second 'largest employer in the town, and a
major contributor to the local economy, not least because North Dakota is sparselY
populated and Bismarck is over 150 kilometres away from any other large town.
Coldpoint is regarded as a reasonable employer; pay, working conditions and job
security there are good. .
It is common knowledge in the factory that chemical waste from the manufacturing
. process drains into the stream which. flows through the factory site and on into the
Missouri River. This has been happening for as long as the factory has been there.
The pollution it causes is low-level, but the damaging effects on the stream and its
. animal and plant life seem to have got worse as production has increased. No
complaints have been made about this, but a journalist from a local paper has now
asked to visit the factory as part of a report that they are preparing on pollution' in the
area.
The Canadian parent company doesn't know about this problem at all, and the US
managers have been very careful to keep the information from it. Fortunately for the
subsidiary, Canadian policy is not to interfere with US affairs, provided business is
good, but the company is very sensitive about problems of pollution.
You are meeting today to decide if your company should do anything about the
pollution.
You must decide with your colleagues:
how serious the problem is
,
what, if any, action should be taken
39
LOCATION OF COLDPOINT FACTORY AND
SURROUNDING AREA
Location of Coldpoint factory and
surrounding area
40
BUSINESS MEETING 2: QUALITY AND PERSONNEL
. Introduction .
The aim of your company is total quality: the best possible quality for every product, service,
action, communication, department and level. What do you do in these situations and why?
1. Your latest sales brochure contains a spelling mistake. Do you:
a. hope nobody notices?
. b. have it reprinted? .
c. correct the mistake by hand?
d. sack the person responsible?
2. One of your factories has consistently more faulty products than the others. Do
you:
a. . close it down?
b. invest heavily in more machinery?
c. appoint a new quality manager?
d. consult the trade unions about the problem?
3. Customers complain that your switchboard operator is always rude. Do you:
. a. send his on the training course?
b. replace him with an automatic switchboard with music?
c. . do nothing, because he acts as a filter for unimportant calls?
d. hire someone else to do the job? .
4. The budget for washing your fleet of vans has gone up again. Do you:
a. decide it is worth it because of the good image it gives of the company?
b. stop washing your vans?
c. get the drivers to wash them themselves?
d. repaint the vans a colour which does not show the dirt?
5. Your workers are demanding company help for sports activities. Do you. choose:
a. football, to develop team spirit in the firm?
b.judo, to develop a competitive spirit in the firm?
c. jogging, because it won't cost much?
d. cycling, because nearly everyone will be able to join in?
6. To improve worker involvement do you:
a. install "ideas boxes" in which employees can insert their ideas written on pieces of
paper?
b. set up "quality circles"?
c. change working methods so employees participate in the complete production
process?
d. inform workers otall impo'rtant decisions in a monthly letter?
41
Quality and Personnel
Situation
Your company makes video cassette recorders (VCRs). The name of the company and
the products is Nagoya, the same as the city where the head office and Japanese
factory are based. You also have a factory in Newport, Wales.
You are in a highly competitive market. You compete with the Japanese giants, with
competitively-priced South Korean products and with European VCRs. Your market
share in Europe is small, but growing slowly.
There is one problem: quality at the Newportfactory. It's a very modern factory, opened
only five years ago. It's actually more modern than the Japanese factory, and
productivity is just as good as in Japan. However, quality is not as good; although the
factory in Newport makes your up-market multi-standard VCRs, there are far fewer
problems withthelower.,.priced, simpler products importedfrom Japan.
Latest figures for the total number of recorders sent back by users, or rejected after
. random checks at the end of the production line are:
Newport 1.02%
Nagoya 0 . ~ 6 %
Today you are meeting .at the factory in Newport to find out why there are nearly three
times as many defective products in Wales as in Japan ..
You must deciae:
why there is such difference in quality between the two factories' products: just what
is the problem?
what can be done to bring the Newport factory up to Japanese standards
42
Fact sheet
Total number of defective products in last 12 months
1,148
1:
o
0..
~
;z:
Reasons work hours lost last year in Newport .
Total work hours. lost
at Newport last year: 12,100
Total number of employees: 120
43
Returned for repair/replacement
under guarantee. .
Defects detected before dispatch
Travel problems 250 .'
Unjustified absence 260
'AMH+Hbla
Business Roles
Qualityan.d
personnel
I:> Cambridge
Univenity Press
;997 .


Changing the times
'- i.W-t. 1 \ ' ,
BASI(
;;. :"('KAIZEN TIPS
"' I ,"
Discard conventional fixed
,), ideas.
DON MACOOl<AlO
TH( CAI ( TIE
I
I's hot surprising ttmt Gorrlon Silver-
man believes sl.eellllRker haeo Inc.
.weds to change to survive in an in
creasingly 'tough North American
economy
f U's n Japanese management technique
caUed Kalzen that first came tp tbe atten
tion of Noi'lh American companies in the
1980s, .
to '
technique involves bringin(: smaU
teams of employees together to examine
work process'es in an effort to find wasle
and improve operations,
II The idea is not to hit home runs, but to
achieveincrementa1 inlprovements in em,
ciency that iogether. add up to big gains In
quality. productivity and safety withoul
spending iarge amounts of money.
2. Think of how to do it, not
it cannot be done:
:So 00 not make excuses, Start
by questioning current prac-
Tough times make the time right for
deep said Silverman, Gl, vicepres
ident and genentl ,manager oJ lvaco
Rolling Milis. which produces about
!l(X),OOO tons or steel a year.
, tices.
4. Do not seek perfection, Do j
right away even if fOf only 500'
oftarget.-
Ivaco is being hammered by the impacl
Vof the strong Canadian dollar on its'ex.
ports. higher scrapmetal prices and an ti
dumping dulies,
t The com, pany posted a loss in the first
7 quartet'. suspended dividends on preferred
shares and has watched its share p'rice
plununet more than BO pl',!" cent since last
surruner.
1- "1 said: 'We can' t go on like this. Wc've
got to do something that enables us to
make a very significant change here'.' " he
said in an interview.
"People are receptive to it because of
the need. They see it There's no surviv-
ing these economic I iriles un'less ,you
change:"
tlA-ll"st. senior management determines an
overall target for improvement - for exam
pie, a,specific reduction in the amount of
waste produced by a factory, a percentage
reduction in the cost of producing a tonne
of steel or a decrease in the time it takes to
5. Corred it right away. ,if you
make mistake.
6. -00 not spend money, use
,. " . your wisdom.
7, Wisdomis brought out
with hardship.
8, Ask WHY? and
seek root causes;.
produce a Wlit on an assembly line. '
, i Whal is surprising is the 1001 tllat Silver
'\ man, a l:T1!yhaired. 32,year Ivacoveteran,
has chosen to create change at the compa'
ny's giant steel mill in L'Orignal, Ont.,
near Hawkesbw-y.
Kaizen is a Japanese word usually trails
lated as Continuous improvement. It Is a
key component or the much,vilunted Toy
ota Production,System, developed by the
Car company in the 1950s.
rz; Then. middle managers take responsi
bility for delivering a piece of the target
and a series of specific projects are iden t i
fled toexamine production bottlenecks.
,9, Seek the wisdom 01 10 peo-
, pie rather than the knowledge
of one.
rJ 10. Kaizen ideas are infinite.
Kaizen teams, typically COll
;isting of eight to 12 employees,
tackle fhe mandates during five'
:0 IO,day workshops during
I>hich they are freed from their ,
:-egular duties. '
The teams are designed to rep
-esen! a crosssection or the
:ompany with both shopfloor
.vorkers and managers. Typical
',y, half will come from Ule area
where the production process is
llnder the microscope with the
rest coming from other parts of
, , the company. Everyone's voice
:mthe team has the same weight
and each pers1)n's ideas are
equally valued. All decisions are
made by consensus.
f For the first part of the Kaizen
workshop; the team looks deeply
into the problem. going to the
shop floor where production con
lin1JE's apace, The team. in
fl;1r1:lnr"p OI whv"
five times to find the true root
calise of the problem.
11- "If we want a quality solution,
we need a quality investigation,"
said Pierre Leblanc, president of
Scnto Consultants. a Valleyfieid
flrm that provides Kaizen train
ing to1 vaco and other companies,
'fi. Then, the team brainstorms SQ-
, 1utiOllS. going back to the floor to
try different possibilities, 1m
provements are implemented im
mediately during the workshop,
ID! Leblanc said the use of
In Quebec is growing steadily.
Some of the largest and most re-
spected names in Quebec busi
ness - including Domtar Inc_.
Alcan Inc. and Prevost Car
Inc. - are using Kaizen or
Kaizenlike techniques. often
withstartJing results.
"j..::> Domtar. for example. credits
Kaizen for delivering the lion's
, share of $?.30 million in perma
nent cost ,savings the company
nr hirVP(1 hplwppn 1'.l7 2001 ,
The forest products giant now has
Rauen coordinators in each of
Its mills and an executive at head
office,responsible for Kail.en
,.\ Domtar conducts about 100
Kaizen workshops a year
throughout itS operations, which
employ 12,ooJ,
"One of the reasons that we've
been so successful is that we are
giving our employees a vehicle
10 communicate their ideas."
said Domter representative
William George,
'1)Prevost Car, a large manufac,
turer of intcrcity buses in SI.
Claire near Quebec City. has also
achieved outstan(j.ing results us
ing a Kaizenbased quality sys
tern tha,1 the company calls the
Prevost Production System, Pre-
vost is introducing a sinlilar pro-
gram at its NovaBus division.
'2:2. Executive vice president Gat',
tfln Bolduc ,said his company
was sllrprisedby Ihe sizl! of tlle
the Cl'ner,
ated in such areas as production
capacity, inventory management
and floorspace utilization.
Z1 "With this tYPe of approach, if
you're below 30 to 40 per cent im
provement '" you haven't done
the right job, because this is tile
size of results that you can
have," he said.
For example, Prevost used
Kaizen methods to increase its
coach production to five units a
day from 2,1 umts a day between
1995 and 2000. That's a 138per-
cent hike with minimal capital
spending and no increase in
flpor sPace,
ri ImprOVing processes in one
area of the factory creates a
domino effect thai is extremely
pow.erful. especially because it
draws,on workers' knowledge
and creativity, Bolducsaid.
2(. Business professor Sandra
Dow said Kaizcn has to be adapt.
ed to North American socioo-
nomic and tnni ll ta inrlj

,
SOURCE: THE KAIHN INSTllUH
it will nofprovidea miracle cure lRC
for an industry that is beset by
deteriorating conditions.
l').Dow. a finance professor visit-
ing at the John Molson School of
Business at Concordia, gave, the
example of the travelagency
business, which might tie able to
,inlprove quaJityand efficiency.
but can't change the fact that
more people are using the Inter
net to book travel.
2i'She also cautioned that compa
nles shouldn't be turning to
for a quick cost-cutting fix.
The Japanese have a longer term
outlook on pr06tability that
grows from improving quality,
said Dow, who is co-<:hair of the
annual convention of the A'>SOCi
alion of Japanese Business Stud,
ies in Montreal this weekend.
Raizen also must not be used
to eliminate jobs, becaUse work-
ers will not participate in brain
, storming themselves out 01
wnrk CRVPt-'l I I"'YTV'riC;;
BUSINESS MEETING'3: SPONSORSHIP
Introduction
sponsorship awareness
a household name image-building
1. Match the terms above with the correct definition below:
a. the degree of public knowledge or recognition of a name, a product, or a company
. .'
b. a firm paying or giving financial help to an individual or organization to promote its
products or services .
c . . taking action to improve customers' knowledge or appreciation of goods, services or a
firm .
d. a brand that is very widely known, bought or used
2. Here are examples of use of the words above in context. Which word goes with
which sentence?
a. "I was very lucky to get ! from Nike when I ran in
the New York Marathon last year. I wore a Nike t-shirt and they gave money to a charity
of my choice."
b. ' "Wherever y ~ u go in the world you can drink Coca-Cola:
it's a ---'-______________ "
C. "You will never see one of our company's vans dirty or damaged; they are always clean
and smart. This is part of our policy of _______ -'--_
d. Since Widget Motors started their television advertising campaign, the public's
_____________ of their product has increased by 30%.
3. Can you think of examples of companies or products that are household names?
Are they household names everywhere, or just in your country?
4. Which activities depend heavily on sponsorship?
5. Do you know of sports or cultural activities for which players or artists earn more
from sponsorship than from'their fees?
45
SPONSORSHIP
Situation
Your company produces water pumps for cars at a factory in Blackburn, England. You
manufacture pumps for all the makes of cars on sale in Europe. You are major supplier
of Rover and Nissan in England, and of Volkswagen in Spain, who fit your pumps to the
engines of their new cars - this is known as the "original equipment" market. You are
also strong in the j'renewal" market in Europe, which is sales of pumps in garClgesand
car shops for cars which need a replacement. Original equipment sales and renewal
sales each account for about half of your turnover. The company and the product are
both called "Freeman's".
Freeman's is a profitable firm making a good quality product. You are, however
Qverdependant on Rover, Nissan and Volkswagen, and it would be wise for you to find
more customers amongst other car manufacturers. Furthermore, your product is not a
household name: few car owners demand a Freeman's when they need a new water
pump, and few garages specifically recommend a Freeman's, although many stock
them.
At the moment, your image-building and sales effort .are based on the quality of your
products, on the efforts of your sales force,' on displays in shops and at trade
exhibitions,and on advertising in car magazines.
The subject of today's meeting is this problem of public awareness of your company, its
name, and most important of all, your products. You need to find a strategy for getting
big orders from other car manufacturers,and for encouraging car shops, garages and
car owners specifically to recommend or demand a Freeman's water pump when their
pump needs changing. . .
You must decide:
what the best 'ways of achieving these aims would be (television advertiSing,
sponsorship, or no change in present policy?)
if sponsorship in particular is effective, and good value for money
and, if it is, exactly who you should sponsor and how much you should invest in
sponsorship
46
Fact sheet
Major car manufacturers in Europe
Britain: Germany: France: Italy:
Ford Audy Citroen Alfa Romeo
. Honda BMW Peugeot Fiat
Jaguar Ford Renault Lancia
Nissan Mercedes
Rover Opel
Toyota . Volkswagen
. Vauxhall
100%
- --
50%
0%
0
:iii
Q.
,5
III
0
:iii
III
.c
"E w
VI .c
g
u
':E
Awareness of Freeman's pumps compared to other firms'
products for the car.
47
5l
E
'3
u.
Spain: Sweden:
Ford Saab
Opel Volvo
. Seat
Volkswagen
c C
0
Qj
'Eo
~
E
III
.c
u
Erlgineers Forced to Learn How to Write
POOR COMMUNICATORS
"We get complaints from industry all the time" _
By HEATHER SOKOLOFF
1. Undergraduate engineering faculties, home to
SOmE! of Canada's cleverest technical minds, are
finalllf forcing students to learn how to write.
2. Canadian engineering schools, which remain
almost 70% male, are among the toughest faculties
on campus to gain admission to, yet engineering
graduates are notoriously poor communicators.
3. "We get complaints from industry all the time,"
said Bruce Dunwoody, associate dean of
engineering at the University of British Columbia.
"Engineers don't know how to write."
4. As a result, last year UBC unveiled the
Technical Communications Centre to drill students
on the . commWlication skills' engineers _ use on the
job, such as how to write a project proposal or an
environmental impact statement.
S. Dr. Dunwoody said he tells his students that
professional - engineers spend more t i m ~ writing
compared to any other skill they learn in school.
"You are always _ writing," he said. "An engineer has
to convince people what they've done is the correct
thing, or why they want to do something new."
6. When T.as Venetsanopoulos became dean of
Univl3rsity of- Toronto's faculty of engineering and
applied science two 'years ago, he announced that
improving students' writing ability was his top
priority, along with bolstering the faculty's research
capabilities.
7. U of T is designing a new course on the
implications of technology on society, in an effort to
hone engineering students' communication skills.
-- 8. Dr. Venetsanopoulos said he would eventually
like prospective engineering students to write an
essay as part of their application to the faculty,
something prospective medical - -students are
required to do.
9. The accreditation arm of the Canadian Council _
of Professional Engineers has always required that -
students pass a handful of English and humanities
courses during their four-year university career, but,
acknowledges Dr. Dunwoody, students typically see
48
the courses as a break from their gruelling
technical courses and do not take them seriously.
10. By keeping the new technical writing courses
within the faculty of engineering, Dr. Dunwoody
hopes students will be more inclined to appreciate
their value.
11. Dr. Dunwoody said not only must engineering
schools produce better writers, the must also-
teach students leadership skills. Junior engineers
are no longer required to do lengthy calculations
that can _ be done by computers or college-
educated technical specialists, and instead are
being called on early in their careers to manage
projects.
12. Amit Chakma, vice-president academic at thE!-
University of Waterloo, . said 10% t6 20% of
incoming engineering students at the elite
southern Ontario school fail a basic writing exam
and are forced to take a remedial English class,
even though students accepted into the -
engineering program have high school averages
of more than 90%;
13. "We don't expect engineering students to write
novels or poems, but we do expect them to
communicate," he said.
14. Gabriel Desjardins, a computer engineer who
graduated at the top of his class at Que(:m's
University in 1999, said he honed.his writing skills
on his own time, writing articles for Internet news
groups on technical subjects.
1S: "Every time I come up with agood idea, I have
to write it down and explain it. If I couldn't write, it
would be very difficult to convince people to
implement my ideas," said Mr. Desjardins, 26, who
works at RadiaCommunications in California's
Silicon Valley. .
16. "Engineers with excellent writing skills are
ofter promoted over people with superior technical
skills."
National Post, May 28, 2003.
hsokoloff@natiorialpost.com
Working for an Engineering or Technical Firm
1. If you are employed by a technical firm, you may still provide services to clients
and customers. You may be a technical service representative who installs,
repairs, modifies, and maintains electronic, computer, or mechanical equipment
leased or sold by your company. As such you will be expected to be an expert not
only on the technical aspects but also in interpersonal relations. A service
representative is both a technical specialist and a s'alesperson.
2. As a technical service representative you will write reports describing both routine
maintenance and special conditions. After . e ~ c h service visit you will have to
describe what you observed about the equipment, what repairs or adjustments you
made, and what components you installed or replaces. Generally, much of this '
information will be written onto a preprinted,form that has appropriate spaces for
filling in details. But' when special visits are made or problems occur, you will more
likely have to write a short investigation report in which you describe a problem
and how you resolved it, or an inspection report 'in which you , describe the
condition of equipment or a system.
3. Alternatively, you may be employed by a contractor to direct, coordinate, and
supervise the work of installation teams; . and to provide engineering assistance
when problems occur. Much of the time you will work at the job site, and will keep
management at head office informed 'Of progress by submitting reports describing
the teams' progress and problems you encountered. (In this capacity, you may be
on the payroll of one of the contractors providing services to the consultants
described earlier.) ,
4. Or you may even be employed by a design company or a manufacturer,for whom
you will provide engineering or technical services that may include
designing new products or processes, new computer software, or modifications
to existing systems,
investigating manufacturing problems or assembly line "glitches,"
proposing improved manufacturing methods,
installing and testing prototype equipment and components,
instructing operators and users of new or modified equipment, and
inspecting work performed by assemblers and junior technicians.
In such a capacity your reporting will have to be comprehensive, for you will be
expected to describe what you have seen, present management with an analysis
or justification, and sometimes recommend corrective action.
49
A L'ERE DE LA MONDIALISATION ET DE L'ELECTRONIQUE
Savoir rediger
en anglais
Gomme bil'.m des professionnels, les ing(mieurs ont troque Ie telephone pour Ie courriel. lis
ecrivent donc plus souvent qu'avant puisqu'i/s ,continuent de produire des rapports, des
soumissions et des notes de service. Mondialisation oblige, i/s doivent de plus en plus souvent
communiquer en anglais. La qualite des documents qu'i/s signent fait souvent la difference
entm un dossier qui progresse et un dossier qui stagne. par JEANNE MORAZAIN '
Conscients de ces realites, la section
montrealaise de I'lnstitute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE) et Ie Centre '
de recherche ' informatique de, Montreal
(CRIM) ont invite 8 Montreal Lisa Moretto et
Ron Blicq" deux experts en redaction '
technique, de I'IEEE Professional
Communication SoCiety (PCS). ,L'initiative
de 'cette collaboration revient a' Eric
Holdrinet, un informaticien membre depuis
longtemps de I'IEEE, section de Montreal.
J'avais entendu plusieurs personnes'
au' sein de I'IEEE vanter Ie cours Writing
, Effective Letters" , Reports, ,Proposals and
Email, explique-:t-il. Le contenu m'a semble
different par I'accent mis sur la structuration
de lapensee et parce que Ie cours
s'adresse specifiquement aux personnes
qui font de la redaction J'ai tout
naturellement pense au CRIM etant donne ,
que c'est 18 ,que se trouve mon bureau,
dans Ie cadre , du programme PARI du
Conseil national de recherche du Canada.
Lucie Roireau, conseillere en
de I'information au' CRIM, n'a
pas hesite longtemps. Le cours , avait fait
, ses preuves un peu partout dans Ie monde.,
De plus, iI jouit d'une excellente reputation:
I'IEEE, fonde en 1884, est, avec ses
,320 000 membres repartis dans 152 pays,
la plus importante association au monde de
professionnels oeuvrant dans, les domaines
technique et scientifique.
De plus, precise-t-elle, nous avions
deja identifie au sein de notre clientele des
besoins clu cote de I'amelioration des
50
competences 'en anglais. La ' formation
offerte par la PCS no us permettait d'y
repondre, du moins en partie. Elle nous
fournissait egalement une occasion d'elargir
notre gamme de produits et de montrer que
Ie CRIM ne se limite pas aux cours de
programmatibn, mais peut aussi offrir des
outils de gestion aux professionnels en
technologie.
La communication efficace
. Ce qui se conyoit bien s'enonce
clairement et les mots pour Ie dire arrivent
aisement, disait deja Boileau. Cette
celebre maxime, les deux concepteurs du
cours ,Writing Effective Letters, 'Reports,
Proposals and Email I'appliquent. Lisa
Moretto et Ron Blicqont elabore une
methode originale, qu'ils quali'fient de
pyramidale , dans laquelle ils insistent
avant tout sur la structuration de la pensee
et I'organisation de I'informati"on." lis
s'assurent , ensuite que Ie contenu
redactionnel soit adapte aux personnes
auxquelles Ie document est destine ainsi
qu'au media utilise.
La communication electronique
impose une fayon directe, rapide et efficace ,
de communiquer, constate Lorraine
Marsolais, ingenieure en automatisation au
Centre de conduite du reseau d'Hydro-
Quebec. L'approche classique - une
introduction, un developpement, ' une
conclusion - est en quelque sorte inversee :
Ie but recherche est precise des Ie debut,
les justfications suivent, breves et claires.
Bien ecrir'e un courriel est aussi important
que de bien ecrire une note de service ou
un rapport. Le courriel est devenu une
signature electronique qui revele en
quelques lignes lei personnalite de
I'expediteur.
Les imperatifs de la communication' .
electronique influencent de plus en plus les,
autres formes de redaction. Fini les'
longues explications techniques. L'heure
est a la precision et a la concision. II est
aussi important d'lHre efficace en allant droit
. au but, en utilisant une langue correcte,
exacte et un style dynamique.
En une journee bien remplie de 9 h a
17 h, Ie cours Writing Effective Letters,
s'adresser a des personnes pour . qui
I'anglais est la seconde langue.
Les personnes pourvues d'une
connaissance superieure de I'anglais
peuvent tout autant en profiter, croit pour sa
part Lorraine Marsolais :. Plusieurs
profession nels francophones sont comme
moi, ils lisent sans probleme I'anglais et
maltrisent bien la langue parlee, mais ne
sont pas tout a fait a I'aise' avec I'ecrit. Le
cours m'a appris a abreger Ie texte sans
nuire a la clarte ou a la precision, a etre
directe sans etre irrespeCtueuse, a utiliser
correctement les formules de politesse.
Cette formation, qui a' I'avantage de
Mes notes de service et courriels se sont ameliores au point que mon patron,
qui est anglophone, Jla remarque. Le texte est-mieux organise et plus concis.
Reports,Proposa/s and Email enseigne aux
professionnelsdes domaines techniques, a
rediger en anglais des textes qui les
aideront a faire progresser leurs dossiers.
Les participants travaillent a partir
d'exemples concrets portant sur des sujets .
. techniques. lis com parent des formulations,
identifient les plus efficaces, celles qui
inciteront Ie destinataire a repondre ou a
agirrapidement. lis peaufinent leur style de
fayon a eliminer les detours inutiles etle
verbiage, a privilegier la forme active et
ainsi eviter la forme passive.
Eric Marchand, ing.,superviseur de
systemes d'information chez Stelvio, une
entreprise de developpement de logiciels a
apprecie que les deux formateurs' optent
pour cette formule tres pratique. Je
n'aurais peut-etre pas fait une semaine sur
ce mode, mais c'est une approche ires
efficace en format d'une journee.
Le cours se donne en anglais. Je me
suis assure qu'un francophone ayant une .
connaissance moyenne de I'anglais pouvait
Ie suivre , indique Eric Holdrinet. De son
cote, Lucie Roireau rappelle que les deux
formateurs donnent ces cours partout a
travers Ie monde et sont habitues a
51
jumeler redaction technique et anglais, a ete
tres appreciee des 17 participants qui ont
tous conclu que c'etait un 300 $ bien place.
Leur evaluation a ete tres positive, les
deux formateurs ayant repondu a leurs
attentes et meme au-dela, no us dit Eric
Holdrinet.
Ce que d'ailleurs confirment Eric
Marchand et Lorraine Marsolais: Les
retomMes ont ete immediates, constate Ie
premier; Mes notes de service et courriels
se sont amelior,es au point que mon patron,
qui est anglophone, I'a remarque. Le texte
est mieux organise; plus ' concis; les
elements importants sont mentionnes en
premier. J'apprecie particulierement
I'abondante documentation que I'on m'a'
remise. 'Je m'en sers regulierement.
Lorraine Marsolais Ie conseille sans
reserve: Le cours conyu par I'IEEE est
particulierement bien ada pte a I'ere
electronique. De plus, iI est utile, quelle que
soit la langue dans laquelle on redige. Les .
principes de la communication efficace sont
les memes, aussi bien en franyalS qu'en
anglais. .
Developpement professionnel, Octobre2001.
Summary of Article-.-MemoFormat
Introduces report.
Summarizes primary .
. ideas and conclwiions:-+-+
Omits examples,
illustrations, and
references.
Provides evaluation --I-.....
. of article.
Asummalry
condenses the
primary ideas,
conclusions, and
recommendations of a
longer publication.
MEMO TO : Professor Valery Evans DATE: November 18, 200x
FROM: Edwin Huong .
SUBJECT: ANALYSIS OF COMPUTER MAINTENANCE ARTICLE
In response to your request, here is an analysis of "Taking the Sting Out of
Computer Repair: which appeared in the July 1999 issue of Office Administration
and Automation.
Major Points
The author, Michael B. Chamberlain, discusses three alternatives available to
computer users seeking service. Each has advantages and disadvantages.
Factorv service. The user sends the equipment back to the factory for repairs.
Expert service is provided, but generally the time required is impossibly long.
Customer self-service. Large companies may maintain in-house repair
departments, but their technicians find it difficult to keep abreast of changing
hardware and software.
Third-party service. Independent computer maintenance organizations offer
convenience, but they can't always handle multivendor systems.
The author favours the third. option and provides many tips on how to work ~ i t h
third-party maintenance companies.' Before choosing such an organization, he
warns, make sure that it has experts who can work with your particular
configuration.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The strength of this article lies in the discussion of how to choose a service
organization. The author also provides helpful preventive maintenance tips . .
This article has two weaknesses.' First, the author failed to support his choice of
third-party maintenance companies effectively. Second, the article was poorly
organized. It was difficult to read because it was not developed around major
ideas. Better headings would have helped readers recognize significant data.
A summary compresses essential information from a longer publication.
Employees are sometimes asked to write summaries that condense technical
reports, periodical articles, or books so that their staffs or superiors may grasp the
main ideas quickly. Studentl,) are often asked to write summaries of articles,
chapters, or books to sharpen their writing skills and to. confirm their knowledge of
reading aSSignments. A summary includes primary ideas, conclusions, and
recommendations. It usually omits examples, illustrations, and references.
Organized for readability, a summary often includel,) headings and bulleted or
enumerated lists. It may include the reactions of the reader.
52
Fill in the blanks below with the correct form of the verb.
Architects, builders and sculptors in Europe 1 (be) once content to protect their
buildings and monuments from wind and rain by rubbing them with oil and waxes. That
2 (be) 300 years ago, long before the atmosphere over European capitals 3:(become)
polluted. Nowadays there 4 (be) few public works of art and architecture that 5 (can)
6 (save) by such simple methods.
In London, most major historic buildings 7 (suffer) the ill effects of acid rain. At St.
Paul's Cathedral, 8 (starl) by Christopher Wren in 1675, up to an inch of limestone
9 (wear away) in some places. One section of the tower 10 (clean) recently at a cost of .
$590,000. In. Holland, acid rain-related destruction to historic Dutch monuments
11 (total) an estimated $10 million each year. In Rome, pollution from automobiles
12 (blame) for the marble relief of Trajan's column. Stockholm's 13
th
century
Riddarholm Church's spire 13 (suffer) so much corrosion from acid rain that it 14 (have)
to 15 (replace) in the 1960's.
A team of experts in London 16 (monitor) the amount of pollutants in local
raihfall. The preservation specialists also 17 (experiment) with several preventive
treatments. The simplest 18 (involve) 19 (wash) the stone with clean water. However,
the specialists 20 (agree) that the content of air pollution must change.
1 6 11 16
2 7 12 17
3 8 13 18
4
9 14 19
5 10
-
15 20
53
OBITUARY
Sony founder Akio Morita personified Japan's rise
AkioMorita, the co-founder of the Sony Corp. who 1 (personify) Japan's rise from the postwar
rubble to industrial riches and 2 (become) the unofficial ambassador of its business community
to the world, 3 (die) in Tokyo on October 6, 1999. He4 (be) 78. He had been in poor health
since a stroke in 1993 .
. More than anyone else, .it was Morita and his Sony colleagues who 5 (change) the world's
image of the term "Made in Japan" from one of paper parasols and shoddy imitations to one of
high technology and high reliability in miniature packages.
Founded in a bombed-out Tokyo department store after World War II, Sony became one ofthe
world's most innovative companies, famous . for products like pocket-sized transistor radios,
videocassette recorders, the Walkman and compact disks. And Morita, whose contribution was
greater in marketing than in technology, 6 (make) the Sony brand into one of the best known
and respected in the world. A Harris poll last year 7 (show) Sony as the No. 1 brand name
among U.S. companies, ahead of U.S. companies like General Electric and Coca-Cola.
A tireless traveler who moved his family to New York in 1963 for a year to learn U.S. ways,
Morita alsol 8 (spearhead) the internationalization of Japanese business. Sony was the first
Japanese company to sell its stock on the New York Stock Exchange, in 1970, and one of the
first to build a factory in the United States, in 1972.
Tothe day of his death, nearly six years after the stroke that 9 (remove) him from an active role
in business, he was still no doubt Japan's most . famous business executive, and the only one
many Americans 10 (can) name or recognize in a photograph. Time m a ~ a z i n e 11 (choose) him
in December as one of 20 "most influential business geniuses" of the 20
1
century; the only non-
U.S. chosen. .
In his own country, where executives 12 (tend) to be self-effacing, Morita was viewed as a bit
. -arrogant. He was the first who 13 (f/y) around in a corporate business jet and helicopter.
He 14 (appear) in a television commercial for the American Express card. He 15 (sit) on the
boards of three foreign companies. He16 (take) up sports like skiing, scuba diving, and wind
surfing in his 60s.
Shortly before his stroke, Morita 17 (make) waves in Japan by saying that Japan was like a
"fortress" and that its unique business practices 18 (alienate) its trading partners. "Although
there 19 (be) much to commend in Japan's economic system, it is simply too far out of sync
with the West on certain essential points," he 20 (write) in June 1993. He 21 (advocate) shorter
working hours, more dividends for stockholders of Japanese companies and a sharp cutback in
government regulations. .
1 7 13 19
2 8 14 20
3 9 15 21
4 10 16
5 11 17
6 12 18
54
REVIEW OF TENSES
Directions: Complete the sentences with the verbs in parentheses. Use
any appropriate tense.
I. A: Alex, (1. you, know) ____ ---'-_____ where Ms. Rodriguez is?
I (2. look) for her for the past hour.
B: She (3. see) __ ~ _ . . . , . - - __ ---'- Mr. Frost at the moment about the
shipment of parts which we (4. receive) _ ~ _________ earlier
today. Some of the parts are missing.
A: Oh, oh. That (5. sound) _____ ---'-___ like trouble. Please tell Ms.
Rodriguez to phone me when she (6. have) _________ some
free time. I (7. work) in my office all afternoon.
II. A: What (1. seem) _____ to be the trouble, Ms. Jones?
B: I (2. send) in my money for a subscription to your
magazine, Computer Data, two months ago, but to date I (3. receive, not)
______ -'-________ any issues.
A: I'm terribly sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, one of our main computers
(4.func!ion, not) at the
moment. However, our engineers ( 5 ~ work) ___ --:-_____ very
hard to fix it at the present time. We (6. start) __________ _
your new subscription as soon as possible.
B: Thank you.
III. A: Where's Sonia? I (1. see,not), __ - - ~ - - - - - - - her lately. '
B: She (2.recuperate, at home) __ ---'-__________ _
A: Oh? What's she recuperating from?
55
B: She (3. hurt) __________ her back while she (4. play} __ _
__ ---______ volleyball last week in the game against South
City College.
A: . What happened? How (5. she, hurt) _____________ -
her back?
B: She (6. try) _____________ to spike a ball when she
(7. collide) with another player and (8. fall)
________ to the floor. She (9. land) _______ . . . . . . , . . . . . . - ' - - - ~ __ _
hard and (10. twist) _____ ...,--____ her back .
. A: ,Gosh, that's too bad. I'm sorry to hear that. How's she doing?
B: Well, she's pretty uncomfortable. She (11. wear) ___ -----a
special brace on h ~ r back for the last five days. Needless to say, she
. (12. be, not) able to play volleyball since her
injury. She probably (13. be, not) able to play
again for at least amonth.
A: (14. allow, her doctor) __ -------------her national
tournament at the end of the summer?
B: She (15. have) _---'-_____ the brace on herback for more than five
weeks by then, so I think he will.
A: I hope so. I know how much she likes to compete in volleyball games. And
the team needs her.
56
SENTENCE STRUCTURE AND JOINING WORDS ' ..
There are three sentence types that are the basis of English writing.
. .
. .
I Simple sentences: one subject and one verb: two subjects and one verb; one subject
and two verbs.
1. All computers are connected on the network.
2. Our largest department store will be having ~ sale.
3. Lawyers and their assistants will attend the meeting tomorrow.
4. The judge listened to the testimony and gave the judgment from the bench
II Compound sentences: two subjects and two verbs
and, but, so, or, nor
1. Our Travel Services Department planned 1he sales trip, but some salespeople also
. made private arrangements. .
2. The bank will notify you, or you will see the amount on your bank statement.
3. You should analyze all your possible propertY risks, and you should corisult an
.insurance agent.
moreover
in addition
furthermore .
also
how.ever
nevertheless
nonetheless
still
in contrast
on the other band
. therefore
conseq nently
as a reslllt
accordingly
thus
hence
meanwhile
afterwards
4. The. client disagreed with the judgment; therefore, he went to appeal.
5, We wanted to meet at noon; however, some people were notfree at that time.
6. Competition among computer manufacturers is intensive; hence, prices may
decrease sharply, ' .
7. The secretary is very efficient; moreover, he has excellent communication skills.
57
lIlA Complex sentences: two subjects and two verbs
so that ,After
When
Uefore
Until
because
since
although
though in order that
as even though
whereas
1. When you finish tomorrow, please back up your files.
2. Please backup your files when youfirush tomorrow.
3. Although it was late, we continued to work.
4. ' We continued to work although it was late. '
5. We held the meeting at noon so that everyone would be able to attend.
6. He cancelled the meeting since no one was available.
JIIB Complex verbs: two subjects and two verbs
'Wbo whom which that 'where when
L I answered the letter tbat arrived yesterday.
2. The reporter who interviewed the director works at the Gazette.
3. Mr. who will introduce the speaker, called to confirm his arrival date.
4. Montreal, which is a bilingual city, will host our next annual conference.
5. Please describe the building where the accident occurred.
6. Hegt:ewup at a time when no one used computers.
7. I client whom I met is extremely upset.
Punctuation
Let's review three' common sentence paite.ms and p,unctuation.
, .
Indepmdent daltSe 0 +
Independent 0 +
{
and,}
or '
. ' nor
b1.lt
{
- }
thereiore,
consequently.
however,
nevenheless, )
, Depmdmt clause 0 {
Since}
When
58
.. Indtptrt.dmc ,(allle.:
+ Indtpmdmt (Jaust.
+ frtdr;mldmt clause.
(Col)lma wed when
a co:ordinating
.. conjunction
, loins independent
clauses,)
(Semicolon used
when'a conjunc-
tive adverb joins
inde?endent
Clauses,)
(Comma used
when a dependent
clause precedes an
independent

VIDEOS
Page
1. Carbon Capture and Sequestration ... ... ..... .. ......... ... ..... ...... ... .............. ... .. 61
2. Natural Disasters ... ...... .... ... .. ........ ... .. .. ... ......... ... ... ... ........ ... ........ .. ....... .... 67
3. Clean Cars ........... .... ... .... ........................ .......... .... : .................. .. ...... .. ... .... . 71
4. The Power of Water ...... ..... ......... .............. ............. , ..... .. .. .. : ... ...... ...... .. .... 80
5. Making, Tinkering and Innovating .. .... ..... : .... .. .......... . ; ........ . , .. . ~ ... ............ .. 84
6. . Engineering Disasters - Aviation ... .. .... .... .......... ....... ..... ... .... ... ..... .. ... ... ..... 89
7. Megastructures - Suspension Bridges ...... .. .... ...... ........... ............ .. ...... ; .. . 94
8. The Arctic, Adapting to Change .... .. ......................... .... ... ......... ..... ~ ........... 98
9. Below New York: Part J .. .... .... ............. .. ..... .... ... ....... ..... .. .... .. ..... ........ ...... 102
10. .Below New York: Part II ..... ........ ... ... ............ ..... ; .... ..... .. ..... ......... ......... .. .. 106
60
VIDEO 1: CARBON CAPTURE AND SEQUESTRATION
. I. DISCUSSION
1. List five ways to reduce carbon emissions. Which method do you think is the most
effective?
2. In your opinion, can new technologies solve the carbon emissions problem?How?
. II. VOCABULARY
Capture
plant
C02 lignite fossil fuels
impervious sequestration
1. An abbreviation for carbon dioxide
2. To seize; to absorb particles
3. A soft, brown coal
4. Natural fuels formed from the remains of living organisms
5. A factory
6. Does not let liquid pass through
7. A layer of hard, impervious rock
8. Isolation
9. . A system that distributes electrical power through a region
III. COMPREHENSION
VIDEO 1
grid . cap rock
1. Climate change is a reality, and as caretakers of the planet, it is our duty to do something
aboutit. Carbon and will playa major role.
2. It is now accepted that greenhouse gas emissions from __________ are the
major to climate change.
3. We're _____ carbon out of the ground as coal, oil and gas; and it's going into the
_ ~ ___ after weburn it. It turns out that the carbon dioxide that is being adding to
61
the atmosphere is changing the climate. We are actually _____ our own lives by our
own actions.
4. What is the biggest producer of manmade carbon dioxide emissions?
5. What are some things we can do to reduce C02 emissions according to Dr. Julio
Friedmann?
6. Solar energy is very, very expensive. Wind energy, though , and not so
expensive, we are just learning today how to integrate these intermittent energy supplies
into our
-----
7. At a , you have millions oftons of carbon dioxide being emitted
in a single year in large pipes at high , and you can capture that carbon
dioxide at much lower cost than in the 60% of carbon dioxide emissions that are
_____ uses.
8. Estimates of global C02 ___ ~ capacity are up to 10,000 billion tons.
9. We have hundreds to many hundreds of _____ worth of C02 storage capacity if we
took all the emissions from fossil fuel fired power plants and injected them underground
into these storage ____ _
10. Let's look at the technology in a bit more detail. The captured carbon dioxide will be
_----'-__ ',_ and transported via pipeline to a suitable ___________ ,. For
sequestration, the C02 is injected more than a half a mile down where the subsurface
pressure maintains it as liquid. When injected into reservoir rock formation, the C02
tends to rise within the rock as it is lighter than the surrounding fluids., Over time, several
trapping mechanisms maintain the C02 within the rock. During its migration through the
reservoir, some residual C02 is between the grains in the rock. Eventually,
the C02 will rise to the top of the formation where it is physiCally prevented from rising
any further by the , a naturally occurring impervious barrier.
Gradually, much of the C02 will dissolve into the host fluids, whether they be
_____ or __________ . This dissolution causes the fluid with the C02
62
to sink lower in the rock formation where over millions of years it will react with
naturally occurring minerals to form stable minerals such a ~ calcium carbonate. Once in
-this form, C02 can never reenter the carbon cycle, making sure that C02 sequestration is
___ ,-----_ and ecologically ____ ~
11. All pipelines transporting the C02 are also stringently monitored. Safety measures
include automatic,emergency shut down at regular intervals so that in the
unlikely event of a sections of the pipeline can be rapidly isolated.
12. CCS should not bea to water. C02 is normally emitted from the
roots and leaves oftrees and plants so it's present in the soil zone in quite high
concentrations.
,13. By the time my daughter graduates from high school in just 15 years, she will be 'living in
a world where climate change is real. [ ... ] It may mean write offlarge __ -----'-_
like New Orleans and Miami.
-----
14. While there is no single answer to solving the problem of climate change, carbon capture
and sequestration is a part of the solution. [ ... ] CCS could provide us with a
_____ of the solution in combating climate change, and the technology is available
now.
VIDEO 2
1. What does the plant in this video produce?
2. What is the price to pay for carbon capture according to scientists?
VIDEO LINKS:
Video 1: http://www.ccs-education.netlmedialccs _video _ 01.html
Video 2: http://www;ccs-education.netlmedialsalah.wmv
63
IV. READING
1. Below is a list of words that occur in the article. Read the article and match the vocabulary
with the correct definition.
1. dump a. to protect oneself against an
2. bury attack
3. boom b. a place to put garbage
4. tout c. not to be relied upon
5. open-pit mine d. to cause
6. decarbonise e. to promote
. 7.
leach f . a place where minerals are
8. contaminant . taken directly from the earth's
9. induce surface
10. fend off g. to put underground '
11. dubious h. a rise
i. polluting substance
j. .to leak
k. to remove carbon from
3. According to Lawrence Solomon, what are some of the potential dangers of carbon
capture technology? .
4. Do you think Lawrence Solomon supports carbon capture technology?
Coal is still king
By Lawrence Solomon
,Financial Post
Saturday, August 29, 2009
We can't continue to use the atmosphere as a dump for carbon dioxide emissions, say governments
concerned about global warming. Rather than storing this colourless, odourless, tasteless gas way up there,
they reason, let's store the carbon dioxide way down here, buried under ground or in the oceans.
And since burial solves the carbon dioxide problem, they then conclude, we can with a clear conscience
crank up our use of coal.
64
This is the case in Canada, where the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy proposes
a continuation of the boom that we've seen in coal mining this decade. This is the case in the U.S., where
coal production has been steadily growing and where President Barack Obama touts coal above other
, energy options. And this is especially the case in the United Kingdom, perhaps the world's most earnest
warner of global warming catastrophe. The U.K. is today so bullish on burial that it has resuscitated the
coal mining industry that Maggie Thatcher tried to kill off in the 1980s. ' '
In the last four years, the U.K. has approved 54 coal mines, most of them open-pit, while simultaneously
pointirigto the aggressive reductions in C02 emissions to which it's committed -- 34% by 2020. Scotland,
which boasts the world's very toughest C02 reduction targets (42% by 2020), has approved 25 new open-
pit mines, helping them along by relaxing planning regulations that aRply to open-pit mines. Because all
this isn't enough, the U.K is considering the approval of another 19 open-pit mines as well as upping its
coal imports too.
"We don't see this as counter to our ,climate change message," cheerily states the government's Department
for Energy and Climate Change. "The U.K. is at the forefront of global efforts to decarbonise fossil fuels."
The decarbonisation that the U.K government refers to involves burial on land and -especially attractive '
for an island nation -at sea.' A recently released Scottish government report determined thai the Scottish
area of the North Sea alone could store all the carbon dioxide that all the coal-fired plants in the U.K.
would produce over the next two centuries, leading the Scottish First Minister to speculate that a high-tech
carbon capture and storage industry could create 10,000 Scottish jobs. " '
But ocean storage raises a tide of objections from environmentalists, Greenpeace among them. Carbon
dioxide in water,could seriously acidify the oceans -- already a concern -- removing nutrients for plankton
in areas like the U.K's North Sea as well as in shallow ocean waters, and affecting the food source for
marine life. Some ocean storage technologies kill marine life directly. Plus, many scientists believe the
oceans will fail to effectively contain carbon dioxide, which will be pumped into waters in either liquid or
gaseous foml. No one, not even the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, considers ocean
storage to be much more than a concept, let alone a proven technology.
The potential for havoc to humans is much greater with carbon storage facilities under land. Carbon
dioxide could adversely acidify groundwater, leadingto leaching of contaminants into the water supply
and rendering aquifers unusable. For this reason and others -- an unplanned release of the gas could
suffocate humans or animals, and carbon storage can induce earthquakes -- governments on both sides of
the, Atlantic have proposed carbon storage facilities and communities have opposed them.
How will this all end? We can be confident that coal use will keep on growing for decades to come, in line
with official projections that show worldwide demand soon doubling --without coal for electricity
production, most jurisdictions will be unable to keep the lights on. We can also be confident that
communities will successfully fend off many if not most of the carbon storage schemes that threaten them
and their environments. Finally, we can be confident that govenunents, after spending tens of billions on
carbon storage schemes of dubious benefit, will conclude that the safest place to store today's relatively
high levels of carbon dioxide is in the atmosphere, where it now resides.
65
I. VOCABULARY ON THE ENVIRONMENT
Match column A to column B.
1. to warn a) no longer in existence
2. to bury b) throwaway
3. a drought c) occurring in many places
4. extinct d) to put into the ground
5. widespread e) dump site
6. global warming f) a type of plastic
7. styrofoam g) a long period of dry weather
8. . disposable h) increase in the planet's
9: trash, waste
temperature
10. hazardous
i) dangerous
11. landfill
j) garbage
k) to give notice
II. COMPL.ETE THE CHART.
NOUN VERB ADJECTIVE
erosion to erode erosive
to consume
emission
extinct
I to produce
to generate
subsidy
depletion
toxic
to incinerate
to dispose
efficient
66
VIDEO 2: NATURAL DISASTERS
t DISCUSSION
,
1. Does the weather affect the economy of a country? If so, in what way?
2. If you were the mayor of a city, and yOLJ knew that a hurricane was about to hit the city,
how would you prepare the town and the people for this disaster? Make a list of things
you would need.
II. COMPREHENSJON
1. For the commodity traders at Chicago's Board of Trade, fortunes materialize and
vanish with the of a hand.
2. prices will ride on the changes of global weather: at the
moment, EI Nino weather.
3. The markets move to the mantra of ________ ~ _ ____,_:. wheat,
_-'--______ , meal.
4. In the coastal ________ of Peru, life seems to follow its normal course,
but everyone lives in the of this year's EI Nino.
5. A once rich ______ is dying, a way of life is _______ in EI Nino's
pool of abnormally warm water.
6. Thunderstorms drowned the desert in a hundred inches of
----------
rain. Every ravine became for a lethal torrent of -'--___ _
rocks and water flowing like cold lava through the towns.
7. The floods washed away the region's infrastructure and destroyed __ ----' __
8. depended on queuing up days at a time hoping for a slim
_______ from an international relief organization.
9. This time the coastal people of Peru are hoping to the flood waters
by building small . The storms may sweep aside these barriers.
10. Off shore scientific work stations provide ________ with some real global
data.
67
11. By simultaneously measuring the basic of ocean data, scientists are hopeful that they
will provide a dependable _________ system for the next EI Nino.
12. In Canada, Ei Nino has pushed ________ weather north.
13. As the mid Atlantic states enjoy a ______ winter, the northland is encased in
ice.
14. Along with ice, there is fire. Severed _.....,-____ _ ______ dance
dangerously in the night setting blazes.
15. As the power grid ________ , the people isolation.
16. At emergency control centers, experts do what they can to keep the disaster
17. Eastern Canada's electrical power grid took half a _-----to develop, the
EI Nino ice storm destroyed it in a few hours.
18. Some miles of power lines and telephone cables are down along
with 1 transmission and 30,000 wooden utility ____ _
19. Legions of _________ do their dangerous work.
20. In the Canadian ______ --' ___ of 1998, many were without
power for over a month.
21. The storms plunge into Florida. The search for _______ continues into the .
morning light.
22. These stroms came thousands of miles to wreak their horrible _____ _
23. In Australia, EI Nino brings _______ , wind and fire.
24. Australia's bush lands explosively desiccated ,a _______ is a" it takes and
there is fire . .
25. In Australia, residents try to ________ their homes against the rising
threat.
68
Is Canada Prepared?
Montreal:
City vulnerable to a seismic catastrophe
ST. LAWRENCE FAULT
SYSTEM
By Graeme Hamilton
Charlevoix region to Comwall, holdi'ng more than 20,000
Ont., Montreal last experienced a people, which Mr. Guindon said
major earthquake - estimated to should be more than adequate.
have been 5.8 on the Richter scale' He .said housing refugees in the
1. MONTREAL Civic - in 1732. east-end Olympid Stadium, as
officials knew it would come one "Montreal is particularly vulnerable New Orleans did with its
day. They just wish it had not to seismic events . since a Superdome. is unimaginable.
been so A devastating significant portion of its 8. "If We are left 'putting
earthquake, 6,5 on the Richter infrastructure is old and disaster victims in huge spaces,
scale, has left Montreal a deteriora,ted or has been designed it means we are in very bad
crumbled, chaotic mess, according to standards that predate shape and no other resources
Centuries-old landmarks in Old the' development of modem are available," he said. "The
Montreal are in ruins, and a seismic design standards," a bigger the shelter, the more
section of the Jacques-Cartier research team led by McGill difficult it is to manage and
bridge across the SI. Lawrence University's Luc Chouinard wrote in control, and the more sanitary
River has collapsed, leading t d Itt bl 'II h It
authorities to close all other a paper presen e as year a a pro ems you WI ave.
conference on earthquake becomes a big mess, and it
bridges until their safety can be engineering, requires unbelievable co-
assured. Cut off from the rest of . .
the province, thousands of 5. Mr. Guindon said that in the ordination and I prefer
homeless are being herded to event of a major earthquake, smaller shelters, because people
emergency shelters on the Montreal, like New Orleans after being sheltered are already
Katrl
'na, c'ould descend, at least suffering a psychological shock."
island, and the injured are being
taken to . hospital that have briefly, into disorder. "In the case of 9. . One reason Mr. Guindon
withstood the quake. an earthquake, like in New hopes an earthquake does not
OrleanS, it would take several days strike soon is that officials are
2. It sounds like the script of a to be able to get our act ,together," missing key data that would
bad disaster movie, but it is a he said, . allow them to better prepare a
scenario that Montreal
"I often say an em. ergency- response, Researchers are
emergency officials take very . th '1 b th
measures plan is never a magic . mapping e SOl enea
seriously, 'We know that one M tit h' h rt f
solution to the chaos tliat a disaster on rea 0 see w IC pa s 0
day it will happen," Jean-Bernard th 'ty I'd ck d
. creates, It's J'ust a way of trying to e CI are on so I ro an
Guindon, the city's director of h' h ' I bl
. get organl'zed as ' .qulckly. a's w IC are on more vu nera e
civil security, said of .a major . d fi
P
ossible to reduce the duration of clay, san and land II, Already it
earthquake. "The only thing we . I th t I th
the chaos. If the chaos lasts six IS c ear a areas c oser to e .
don't know is when, so we work t . I d' Old M t I
days instead of 12, we've ga,ined wa er, inC u Ing . on rea
as if it could happen any time." d th d t ' I' th'
six days." .an e own own, Ie WI In
3. Hurricane Katrina's what engineers call soft soil
decimation of New Orleans, and 6. One of the biggest challenges' zones,
the criticism of the ensuing in the immediate aftermath of a
disaster would be rounding up 10. "Some people think it is just
rescue efforts, has provided a ., t f h I'd b 'Id'
. emergency workers. 'We can a ques Ion 0 ow so I UI Ings
spur to officials in Montreal . to "M G ' d "B
imagine the. first-responders would are, r, Ulndon sai. ut if
assess their own preparedness, . h b 'Id' th t .
be victims as well if they live in the you ave a UI Ing a IS very
Mr. Guindon said detailed plans . t t t rt'h k
area, and most of them live in the resls an 0 ea qua es on
are in place for heavy flooding - s a d 'I I dfill th
area," Mr. Guindon said. "Others n y SOl or an I, ere can
right down to a catalogue of be I' < ct' f th 'I wh"h
might not be able to get around I'f Ique,a Ion 0 e SOl, IC
addresses deemed most at risk f . I
roads are not clear. The roads . means instead 0 crumb ing the
- for a crippling heat wave and, could be fu . II of debris." building might lean and fall."
for a major epidemic. But it
was after seeing what was going He wants the city's earthquake Once the soil-mapping is
on .in New Orleans that he told contingency plan, which he hopes complete, officials will conduct
someone in his office this week to have in hand before the end of potential damage assessments
to get to work on a detailed the year, to .include procedures in of . crucial buildings and
Contingency plan for Montreal's the event the communication infrastructures, including
worst-case scenario: an network collapses. He suggested hospitals, emergency shelters,
earthquake. creating pre-arranged schedules so bridges and overpasses, water
emergency workers know exactly supply and electriCity and natural
4. After Vancouver, Montreal where to go without being called. gas networks.
is considered the Canadian city
most at risk of suffering an 7. The city has identified a 11. "If the majority of our
earthquake. Sitting in . the heart network of possible shelters across shelters are not resistant, we
of the. SI. Lawrence fault system the island _ schools, town halls, need to be able to find alternate
that stretches from Quebec's recreation centres '- capable of shelters without evacuating
beyond the island, because after
69
an earthquake, we will not be sure
of the solidity of the bridges," Mr.
Guindon said. People could be
housed in large tents pitched in
parks if there were a lack of secure
shelter space.
In the event of amajor 'catastrophe,
the Mayor would likely requast an
intervention by the Armed Forces
to maintain order and help with the
recovery. But mobilization,
especially following an earthquake
that,unlike a hurricane, strikes
without warning would take at least
.24 hours. .
12 .. Mr. Guindon shudders at the
thought of such a disaster
occurring in the dead of winter: . "If
we lose electriCity and heating for a
long time, we have a very seriou's
problem on our hand during the
winter. Evacuations off the island
would be necessary," he said.
It was the 1998 ice storm when
Montrealers were left without
power for days, that first got city
officials thinking about how to cope
with an earthquake. Subsequent
disasters, s.uchas last year's Asian
tsunami and Hurricane Katrina,
helped sharpen the fOCUS', Mr.
Guindon said.
13. "Alii hope is that we can have
the time before [an earthquake)
occurs to complete our detailed
planning . . I can assure you it is an
immense. challenge . . It stops the
entire economy, it stops 'daily life
as we know it."
Montrealers, who are accustomed
to hearing dishes rattle every few
years following a distant small
quake, tend not to take the threat
of a major earthquake very
seriously. But there is no reason to
be complacent. Jane Drysdale, a
seismologist with Earthquakes
Canada, a federal govemment
agency, said a magnitude 7
earthquake is . not out of the
question for Montreal. "It is about
every 300 years that we would
expect a large, magnitude 6 or 7
event," she said. "That could cause
a lot of damage if it was centred
close to a populated centre."
National Post
ghamilton@mon.nationalpost.com
READING: IS CANADA PREPARED?
A. R E ~ a d the article and answer the questions below.
1. Is Montreal at risk for an earthquake? How do you know?
2. According to the article, what would be the greatest challenge Montreal
would face after a d.isaster?
3. The city has several large buildings it can use as shelters, What does Mr.
Guindon think about using these buildings?
4. Why aren't earthquake-proof buildings always a good choice?
B. Find words in the text that have a similar meaning to the words below.
1. destructive (1)
2. an important monument (1) _. _ ~ ______ ~ _
3. to tumble down or fall (1)
4. separated (1) ____ ---""----...,....----.-,--
5. an incentive, an encouragement (3) ________ _
6. . a plan designed to take account of a possible" future event (3)
7. a place of refuge (7) ~ ___ ~ _______ _
8. a road that crosses over another road (10) _____ --,-____ _
9. to alert (11) _____ -------'-----
10. to shiver (12) ________ --'-__ _
11. to manage successfully (12) --'-_________ _
12. content; self-satisfied (13) ____ - - - ~ - - ~
70
VIDEO 3: CLEAN CARS
I. DISCUSSION
1. Car manufacturers should be forced to develop cars that are almost
pollution free. All other models should be discontinued by 2020.
a) Do you agree with this statement? Explain. .
b) Who would be the key players if a law like this were passed? (Who
would be involved and who would be affected?)
2. . What are the advantages and the drawbacks of the electric car, the
hybrid car, and the fuel cell engine?
3. How have cars changed since they were first invented?
II. COMPREHENSION . .
1. Forty years ago there were ______ ----'- cars in the World.
Twenty years later, there were . Now we're up to 600 million.
2. What is coming out of all these ________ is affecting our health
and it's changing the _________ '
3. Three quarters otall our air pollution comes from -'--______ and
one half of that comes from cars and
----------
4. Even a new car produces its own _______ in carbon every year.
5. We're on the of a major ____ ,--__ ill the
technology that makes the wheels go around.
6. It was the ~ _____ ~ of California that first started turning the
_ " - - - _ ~ _ of change.
7. By 2003, to% of cars sold in California have to meet zero level
71
8. . Auto makers are taking several approaches to the clean car:
from
- - - - - - - ~ - - - - ~ - - - - - ~ - - ~ - - - - - - -
to ______ ~ - - _________ ____ ~ ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9. Everyone thought the electric cars was the obvious choice because it has no
10. General Motors: first auto maker in North America to come out with the EVI.
What are the limitations of the EVI?
a)
b)
c)
11. Toyota: the Hybrid Car
What are the features of the Prius? .
12,. Fuel cells are _______ and six times _____ than gasoline.
13. The fuel cell is made up of two __________ : one to feed in
____________ , the other to feed in the __________ _
Between them there is a _----' _______ _
Whenthe hydrogen from one side meets the oxygen from the other side,
they combine and form . At the same time they produce
__________ which can just be tapped off.
14. What is the advantage of the fuel cell over the battery?
15. Fuel cells can be _____ in different ways and ____ _
together to meet the power needs.
72
16. It takes _______ . of fuel cells to run an average city bus.
'17. One of the problems in building these buses !s the high cost. How can the
costs be lowered?
______ - ____ ________________________________ _
b)
c}
'18. VVhat is the major concern of fuel cell technology? Why?
19. Buses running with fuel cell engines don't send any pollution into the air,
only ________ _
20. Major breakthrough: We can also get hydrogen from.gasoline; We can do
this by existing fuel: this creates powerful ______ for
the oil companies, and reduces the _________ of the auto
makers.
73
A QUESTION OF ENERGY
(Rene Bruemmer: The Gazette/August 13, 2005)
There's nothing like a 60-per-cent hike in gas prices to encourage interest in alternative
fuels.
In May 2003, prices at the
pump in Montreal
averaged 69.8 cents a
litre. Two years later,
they've shot to$1.12, and
the combination of .
dwindling global supplies
and growing demand
from developing nations
. indicates the days of
relatively cheap fuel are
coming to an end.
A household that spent
$50 a week on gas in
2003 has seen its tab
jump from $2,500 a year
then to $4000 now. Does
that mean it's time to rus.h
out and pick out a hybrid
car, or invest in ethanol
stock? Here's a look at
the main alternatives.
1. HYBRID VEHICLES
What are they? By far the most
popular altemative-fuel option because
they're as convenient as normal cars,
hybrids have a standard gasoline engine
supplemented by a battery-powered
electrical motor. The car saves energy
by turning .itself off when it comes to a
stop, and by having the electric motor
kick in when extra power is needed.
The Toyota Prius was the first
commercially mass-produced hybrid car
in 1997. Sales of the approximately 12
models of hybrids on the market have
. increased steadily, and are predicted to
more than double this year to 200,000 in
the United States, compared with 88,000
last year.
Analysts, however, predict the higher
cost of hybrid vehicles will cause sales
to plateau at 500,OOOvehicies by 2011
which represents just three per cent of
the 15 million cars sold annually in the
U.S.
Pros: The look and drive like their non-
hybrid counterparts, and with reduced
fueJ intake, are less harmful to the
environment and pocketbook.
Cons: They cost thousands more than
their non-hybrid twins, and while .
carmakers advertise vastly improved
mileage, some drivers have noted actual
fuel consumption is not always that
much better. The Honda Accord Hybrid,
for example, boasts milleage of 7.9litres
per 100 km in the city (29 mpg) and 6
litres per 100 km highway (37 mpg)
compared with 21 mpg city and 30 mpg
highway for a standard Accord.
Independent drivers, however, recorded
average mileage of closer to 21 mpg,
which the carmaker blamed on winter
conditions and.improper driving
techniques. At $39,000 for the hybrid
against $35;000 for the non-hybrid, it's
doubtful. fuel savings will make up the
$4,000 price differential.
74
2. ETHANOL
What is it? An alcohol-based
alternative fuel made frorn starch crops
such as com, barley and wheat, as well
as grasses and trees. It's ofienmixed
with gasolinel0 increase octane, which
improves emissions quality.
It's available in Canada at many gas
stations, and most cars can use it
(owners should check with their dealers
to make sure it won't void warranties),
but because it has a tendency to freeze,
it is generally only available in a blend
of 10 per cent ethanol, 90 per cent
gasoline, called E10. In the U.S., where
ethanol production is heavily
subsidized, more than 4 million cars can
run on blends as high as 85 per cent
ethanol, although most owners aren't
aware of that: Canada's federal
government has more thant 1 ,400
ethanol-powered flexible-fuel vehicles
that run on the 85-per-cent blend.
Prices are currently about the same as
regular gasoline.
In Brazil, which has used its sugar cane
resources to become the world leader in
ethanol production, more than 20 per
cent of new cars run on ethanol-, which
is almost halfthe price of gasoline
there.
Pros: A renewable resource, ethanol
burns cleaner than gasoline, reducing .
the amount of carbon monoxide and
ozone-depleting substances. Despite
considerable grain resources, Canada
ranks 14th in ethanol production, but has
pledged to triple its output by 2010, to
conform with the Kyoto protocol on
greenhouse gas emissions, creating a
new marketfor grain growers.
Cons: Slightly more expensive than
regular gasoline, it is not widely
available in Canada. One study out of
California has contended it takes 30 per
cent more energy to turn corn into
ethanol than the amount of fuel the
process produces, but proponents
dispute those findings.
3. BIODIESEL
What is it? A fuel made from
vegetable oils like, canola or soybean oil,
or animal fats, which are combined with
an alcohol such as methanol or ethanol ,
and can be used in diesel vehicles.
It's not as strange, as it sounds: diesel
engine inventor Rudolf Diesel used
peanut oil in 1890 to power his engines,
but switched to diesel because it was
cheaper and mom abundant.
Blends of up to 20-per-cent biodiesel
(mixed with standard petroleum diesel
fuels) can be used in most vehicles
(check the warranty) without any engine
modifications. It's used mostly by .
government agencies, but pressure from
'. Kyoto Accord restrictions. have
increased the popularity of this fuel
source that emits fewer greenhouse
gasses, but slightly more smog
. producing byproducts, than straight
diesel. .
Some drivers also use straight, used
filtered cooking oil in their cars, picking
up the vegetable oil for free from
restaurants. It's thicker than regular fuel,
so the engine must be heated first.
Pros: Cleaner burning, fewer ozone-
depleting emissions than regular diesel,
about the same price per litre; or free, if
it's used cooking oil. And another
potential cash crop for farmers -
Canada is the world's largest producer
of canola. A one-year "Biobus" project
using a blodiesel blend on 155 buses in
Montrea.1 in 2002 reduced-greenhouse
gas emissions by about 1,500 tonnes.
Cons: It is land intensive. In, a interview
with the Victoria Times Colonist, Murray
Love, a research associate at UviC's
Institute for Integrated Energy Systems,
said: "You would have to convert
virtually all the agricultural land of
America, plus some, to feed the
demand." Canadl:1 is the only G8 country
not to offer biodiesel at gas stations.
4. HYDROGEN-POWERED FUEL
CELLS
. What is it? Thegread clean hope of
the alternative fuel world, it uses a
hydrog.en fuel cell that reacts with
oxygen to provide power to a battery
turn provides current to the
car's electric motor - and produces zero
toxic emissions. The hydrogen tank sits
in the trunk and functions much like a
regular fuel tank.
Pros: Absolutely clean, a cheap and
endless supply, and Vancouver's
Ballard Power System is a world leader
in the technology. .
Cons: Still very much in the production
stages, a saleable version isn't
expected before 2015 or later. British
Columbia is currently trying out five
Ford Focus vehicles in a three-year test
run. Because its waste products is
water, freezing temperatures are a
major hindrance. A distribution network
of hydrogen fuelling stations would have
to be put in place. Gas stations would
be the likely locations, but oil companies
have proven reluctant in the past to
welcome alternative-fuel competition on
their premises. Visions of the
Hindenburg have many concerned
about hydrogen's explosive properties,
but proponents claim it's safer than
gasoline.
75
OTHER ALTERNATIVES
Electric vehicles: Run on batteries
Evs have no emissions, but are
inconvenient because charging times
can be as long as eight hours, and
range is short between recharges -
typically about 100 kilometres. The
price of charging the battery
generally works out to less than the
price of gas.
Natural gas: A mixture of
hydrocarbons - mainly methane -
and is produced either from gas
wells or in conjunction with crude oil
production. It creates far fewer
harmful emissions than gasoline or
diesel, is about half the price, and
can be stored onboard as
compressed gas or in liquid form.
Outlets are not widely available, but
has future potential because it could
be used in fuel-cell vehicles to make
. hydrogen. Like electric cars,
production of natural gas ears is
petering out as inconvenience
hampers sales.
Propane: Popular because of the
wide distribution network already iii
place, it is a cleaner-burning fuel
produced as a by-product of natural
gas processing and crude oil
refining.
Online Extra: Many fear the financial hit
of gas prices. Read the results of a new
poll, at our Web site:
www.montrealgazette.com.
Photos from Gazette Files
SOURCES: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF
ENERGY ALTERNATIVE FUELS DATA
. CENTRE, CANADIAN RENEWABLE
FUELS ASSOCIATION; WINNIPED
FREE PRESS, TIMES COLONIST,
CANWEST NEWS SERVICE, GAZETTE,
CBC NEWS, WASHINGTON POST, THE
ECONOMIST, ASSOCIATED PRESS
A.
Vancouver took delivery of the first factory-produced fuel cell cars as part of a three-year test
to determine feasibility of the technology
Hydrogen power debuts
1. Vancouver - To a
world still getting used to
the concept of buying
hybrid-powered vehicles,
the understanding of the
whole hydrogen fuel cell
thing lies somewhere
between quasars and
quantum physics for most
of us. There simply isn't a
lot of that familiar internal
. combustion process going
on under the hood - 'none
at all, in fact.
2. ThiS' consumer
learning curve took a
$ignificant step forward
this month, when the first
factory-produced hydrogen
fuel cell vehicles for public
use were . delivered to
. Vancouver. The . five Ford
Focus FCVs took their
place on . a stage at
Vancouver's Plaza of
Nations and were feted by
federal, provincial and
municipal representatives.
. They were then delivered
to various corporate,'
institutionl:ll and public
service customers, each of
whom will log hundreds of
driving hours in the
unique cars over the next .
three years.
3. All the while, they will
be adding precisely zero to
the atmospheric emissions
count. The only emissions
to be . discharged from the
Focus FCV exhaust
system will be a drop of
water every few seconds,
according to Ford.
To perform this
apparent miracle requires
the mysterious functions of
a .hydrogen fuei cell, which
provides power to the
battery, which in turn
supplies current to the
car's electric motor. The
Focus FCY thus runs,
sounds and behaves like
TED DAVIS
CANWEST NEWS SERVICE
the electric car that it is, but it
does so without any
cumbersome battery packs
or the necessity to recharge
the vehicle overnight.
4. Instead, it has a fuel cell
stack under the h.ood, in
which the energy exchange
is processed. And it has a
bulky hydrogen fuel cell tank
in the trunk that eats up
about 75 per cent of the
space there.
''The next generation of
FCVs will address ttiat," said
Greg Frenette, manager of
the fuel cell vehicle fleet and
engineering at Ford.
5. For now, the focus is on
testing the FCVs for
driveability and reliability. To
that end, these cars strive to
mimic the performance of
combustion-driven vehicles
in eve(ything but their
emiSSions characteristics
and fuel usage.
"Ultimately, these cars have
to be designed 'to have no
compromises," Frentte said.
6. So far, so good with the
FCV Focus. It starts instantly
and happily hums along with
almost no sound. A light on
the . dashboard confirms the
motor is running, and the
automatic transmission
engages with nodrama. That
also is the best way to
describe the car's
performance, which is
acceptable for achieving
highway on-ramp and
cruising speeds. The brakes
work well enough, too, and
perform the dual duty of both
stopping the car' and
regenerating
energy for storage in the
advanced nickel metal-
hydride battery.
7. A couple of brief laps on
the roads around B.C. Place
.Stadium is all I get to .glean
76
these simple impressions,
but it is enough for me to
claim I am one of the first
Canadian journalists to dFive
a hydrogen fuel cell car.
Customers, such as B.C.
Hydro, B.C. Transit, the City
of Vancouver and the
National Resear.ch Council, .
have started using the cars
for day-to-day driving tasks.
"To date, the durability and
robustness of the vehicle has
been extraordinary." said
Frenette, referring to Ford's
inhouse testing of the cars ..
"The durability
and robustness of
the vehicle has
been.
extraordinary. "
Greg Frenette
8. But issues remain,
including that pesky trunk
intrusion by the hydrogen
fuel tank and a weight
problem. Both will be closely
considered and, hopefully,
solved in the neXt 12 to 24
months, the fleet manager
said.
A greater puzzle will be
how Ford and Vancouver's
Ballard Power Systems deal
with the dilemma of cold
weather operation for the
FCVs. Below-freezing
temperatures pose a major
snag when the by-product of
the motor is water.
In any case, it will be
some time before the Focus
FCV will achieve a level of
general marketability.
9. There's no cost attached
to the car at present, and if it
were for sale, it would list
somewhere in the six-
figure range, Frenette
said.
Even after the FCV is
thoroughly prepared for
consumers, it will remain
an abstract scientific
in<;lulgence without one
essential element .- a
fuelling infrastructure. The
big job of setting design
parameters for hydrogen
fuelling stations and then
building a network that will
serve FCVs in North
America is very much in its
early stages.
10. Three stations have
been built to <;late - in
Vancouver and Victoria .;...
and these are the
beginnings of the so-called
"hydrogen highway" in
Canada. A few stations
also exist in Los Angeles
and Sacramento, Calif.,
Orlando, Fla., southeast
Michigan and Berlin.
These are the places that
will also take deliveries of
small batches of FCVs
over this coming spring,
summer and fall .
VANCOUVER SUN
April 18; 2005.
REA[)ING A: HYDROGEN POWER DEBUTS
Match column A to column" B
1. hood (1)
2. emissions (2)
3. to behave (3)
4. a stack(4)
5. to strive (5)
6. bulky (4)
7. a fleet (4)
8. a dashboard (6)
9. rel iability (5)
10. " a ramp (6)
11. the brakes (6)
77
a pile
what comes out of the tailpipe of "
a car
to act
a group of similar vehicles
a device used to stop the
movement of a vehicle
large
a cover for the engine ofa
vehicle
to make ali effort
area in a vehicle that contains
instruments and controls
consistent quality or character
sloping road leading on or off a
highway
B.
What about ethanol?
O
ttawa - How is it possible
that Kyoto planners could be
. so impossibly blind to . the
huge potential of ethanol?
Last month, when the time came to
unveil a national greenhouse gas opus,
Canada's Kyoto planners 'saw the
potential of this ground-breaking
technology as' deserving of nothing
more than an offhand, two-word
mention buried in the description of
. Botential partnership projects.
2. Does this disregard possibly .find
its roots in the same view that allowed
Climate Change 2005 authors to refer
to the federal government's fleet of
vehicles as "among the greenest in the
country" and give extensive credit to
hybrid cars, but just one honourable
mention to a mysterious fuel called E-
85? .
3. Left to find out on their own,
Canadians will be pleased to note that
E-85 is an 85-per-cent blend of ethanol
and gasoline, and that the federal
government now has more than 1,400
ethanol-powered flexible-fuel vehicles,
the largest by far of any vehicle type in
its fleet. All those in the capital region .
operate on the "super green" cellulose
ethanol. .
4. In a flex-fuel vehicle, this wheat
straw-based fuel produces 45 per cent
fewer greenhouse gas emissions than
even the best gas-electric hybrid.
That's part of the reason why there are
barely more than 200 of the expensive
little hybrids in the federal fleet.
. .
Meanwhile, a flex-fuel package is a free
or low-cost option on several North
American and European cars, pickup
trucks, sport-utilities and vans. This
could explain why there are more than '
four million flex-fuel vehicles on North
American and European roads, and
why the Canadian government buys .
more than 400 of them a year.
DOUG NIXON
CANWEST NEW SERVICE
The Gazette, May 2, 2005
5. The climate plan offers no
acknowledgment of this technology,
and . certainly no . analysis of the
opportunity it provides Canada - even
though some of these vehicles are
manufactured here,including the E-85
Chrysler minivans built in Windsor.
How is it possible for the federal
Liberal government to announce, in
late 2003, more than $80 million in
ethanol plant cqnstruction incentives
and hand out the money all over the
country, yet come the 2004 election,
take little or no credit for it?
A study found that
. Saskatchewan alone
could produce 50
billion litres of ethanol
a year.
6. This federal ethanol incentive
program is helping with the
construction of some seven ethanol
distilleries across Canada and is one
of the single biggest federal
greenhouse amelioration programs
underway - yet it receives not one
specific mention in Climate Change
2005.
Three provinces - Ontario, Manitoba
and Saskatchewan - have mandated
ethanol in gasoline, a market-
. transforming action that receives no
direct acknowledgment in the report.
7. The federal government has
never done a comprehensive study on
Canada's ethanol production
potential. But a 2000 Saskatchewan
Research Council study by chemist
Dr. Keith Hutchence concluded that a
mature industry in that province alone
could reach 50 billion litres a year -
which is pretty good, considering that
Canada's entire annual gasoline
78
consumption stands at about 38
billion litres.
8. Canada has the largest bio-fuel
advantage of any country, yet gives
this technology not even lukewarm
support at a pivotal time when it
deserves, -the same chest-thumping
approach that accompanied the
launch of the CANDU nuclear
reactor: .
Meanwhile, in the Kyoto badlands to
the south in 2004, nearly 15 billion
litres of ethanol flowed from some 81
distilleries in the United States, with
another 15 plants under construction.
The U.S. also has legislation before
its Congress to more than double its
ethanol production capacity, and bi-
partisan support to pass it.
9. How is it possible that the U.S.,
which has not passed Kyoto, is so
many light-years ahead on ethanol
than a country that has ratified the
accord and economically has even
more to gain in the long run from the
fuel's commercialization?
Moderate. success has come in the
United States because of a modicum
of common sense, and a farm vote
that is bigger than the oil vote. In
Canada, unreasoned fear still roams
the political landscape. Not accepting
any limit on how much carbon dioxide
and other greenhouse gas we stuff
into the atmosphere, while
simultaneously polluting the air of all
life here on Earth, is not an easy
business to get into, it seems, and an
even more difficult one to exit.
Doug Nixon is the founder of the
Ottawa-based Canadian Renewable
Fuels Association and editor of
Canadian Renewable Energy News.
OTTAWA CITIZEN
READING B: WHAT ABOUT ETHANOL?
Match column A to column B
1. blind (1)
2. to unveil (1)
3. ground-breaking (1)
4. ethanol (3)
5. years (9)
6. wheat (4)
7. incentive (5)
8. . to be underway (8
9. lukewarm (8)
10. pivotal ( 8)
a) innovating
b) unenthusiastic, indifferent
c) payments or concessions to stimulate work
d) vital, very important
e) great amount oftime (figurative)
f) cannot see
g) alcohol
h) to reveal, to make publicly known
i) a grain used to make flour
j) in progress
Write 5 sentences using words or expressions from articles A and B.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
79
VIDEO 4: THE POWER OF WATER
Land of Little Rain
I. . DISCUSSION
1. List' five w ~ y s to conserve water ona personal level. Which, if any, of
these practices do you use now or intend to use?
2. Has there been any flooding in your country in recent years? Discuss.
II. VOCABULARY
Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words from the box.
tap
runs
floods
water
pipe
smoke
sprinkler
wells
1. In summer I _______ ~ - - - - ' _ my lawn every day.
2. A leaky _____ can lose hundreds of gallons of water every day.
3. All commerCial buildings must have a _______ detector and a
__ ---:-_----'-______ system in case of a fire.
4. When people wash their cars in the driveway, the water _____ _
down the street.
5. Do you drink ___ ..,--___ water or bottled water?
6. A long period without rain is called a _________ _
7. In some countries people are still getting their drinking water from __ '
8: can occur if it rains too much.
9. Can you ___ ____ me a glass of water?
80
/
III. COMPREHENSION
1. At the end of the 13
th
century there was a _____ '-----'-_
drought.
2. In the ____ -----West, water has always controlled the
population: the people lived, _______ _
could live there, and it was time to move on. But
now that has changed. are grown in the _------
3. California alone produces more __ ---than anywhere else in
the country.
4. The parched West is a _____ and _____ ~ _ garden.
5,,' Since the turn of the century, moving water from where it was to where
it wasn't has been a obsession. Where it
------------
was, was the Colorado River - the only water in the South
. West.
6. It was unusable by man until they built the Hoover _______ . It
divides the water evenly.
7 .. ' California gets __ -'--__ water and Nevada ____ ,__---
8. Upstream there's a battle going on - more people want what there is
of.
----'----
9 ..
______________ '---___ ' are raging in the West.
10. _________ people a month are moving to Las Vegas that
gets only
___________ of rain a year.
11. By ________ the water will be used up. They'll have to take
their water from two other areas: or .
--------------
81
12. Las Vegas has filed claims on pockets of __________ _
to the north. The proposed plan would _________ ' ground
water and send it south through hundreds of miles of
______ --:. But rural residents are not pleased.
13. Who will fight Las Vegas in getting water from other areas?
14. In the state of Nevada, water is ____ - ___ --. The population
keeps growing.
15. Name different ways water is wasted in Las Vegas:
16. The fountains at the Mirage use _______ water and not fresh
water.
17. Name the different ways that the Mirage saves water:
18. What percentage of water is u s ~ d for agriculture? __ --'-____ _
19. Tucson is one of the most progressive cities in the West.
Tucson has a who patrols the streets
looking for water waste.
20. Much damage has been done to our ___ ---,-___ ---,. ___ _
and . ~ We have seriously ________ our
non-renewable water supplies
82
Severe shortages might spark "water wars," report says
1. Severe water shortages loom
in many regions of the world,
including the Canadian Prairies, say
scientists who warn one-sixth of
Earth's population relies on water
'from glaciers and! snowpacks that
are disappearing.
2. The Prairies are in line for
more frequent and prolonged
droughts iri coming decades that
could put agriculture at risk, a report
by leading climate and water
researchers 'says. They also say
Canadians will face "heightened
competition" for the dwindling water
supply, Wetlands and lakes need
water, and commitments to thirsty,
energy-hungry Americans will have
to be met.
3. Under a 1969 agreement,
Alberta must allow 50 per cent of,
stream flow to cross the border, the
report says, .one of three. climate-
related papers published . in the
journal Nature today, two of them
dealing with water and one with
human health.
4. The deaths of an estimated
150,000 people a year can already
be attributed to the extreme
weather and medical problems
associated with climate change, the
health report says.
Heat waves and the ' spread of
disease-causing microbes and
insects are forecast to take a much
bigger toll in coming decades.
5. The reports are depressing but
important, said climate scientist
John Smol of Queen's University.
"People don't want to hear bad
news. Well, get used to it."
There will be no replacing the water
that is pouring off the world's
mountains as glaciers melt and
snowpacks shrink, . he said in
discussing "the coming water wars." I
MARGARET MUNRO
CANWEST NEWS SERVICE
6. "These are nature's water
towers we are losing," Smol said.
"People are fighting over things like
oil now. Just imagine when they
start fighting over something that
there is no substitute for."
7. The new reports say glaciers
are in retreat over most of the
world, and once the ice is gone,
"there will be no replacemenf for
the meltwater now used by
hundreds of millions of people.
Loss of
glaciers is
irreversible
The, most critical vanishing glaciers
are in the Himalaya-Hindu Kush
region, home of the third-largest ice
mass on Earth, exceeded only by
the glaciers in Antarctic and
Greenland/Arctic,
S. "There is little doubt that the
glaCiers of the (Himalaya-Hindu
Kush) region are melting," the
report notes, pointing to a reCent
inventory of the glaciers that supply
much of Asia, India and China with
water, in the summer moriths.
It warns parts of these most
populated regions on Earth are
likely to run out of water during the
dry season if current warming
trends continue.
Those changes could occur very
abruptly, the reports warn - in just a
few decades or less.
9. The thre'ats in Europe and
North America relate more to snow.
In the warming world, the scientists
say, snowpacks and spring runoff
could become a thing of the past in
83
much of the region feeding
Europe's Rhine River, dramatically
altering the seasonal flow of water
for agriculture; industry and
domestic use.
10. The forecast for western North
American calls for a decrease in
snowpack and earlier snowmelt that
could increase the frequency and
severity of droughts on the
Canadian Prairies.
In the western United States, the
report predicts spring runoff could
be about a month earlier by 2050,
which could pose huge problems
for power producers and fisheries
managers.
11. The vast Columbia River,
which has it headwaters in the
Canadian Rockies and flows into
Washington state, is the largest
hydroelectric power-producting river
in NbrthAmerica. It also supports
celebrated and protected salmon
runs.
12. "Less winter snowfall and
earlier melting will force residents
and industries to, face, by 2050 or
before, a choice of water releases
for summer ,and autumn
hydroelectric power or spring or
summer releases for salmon runs."
"I'm basically an optimist, because
human inventiveness is very
powerful," said Smol, who was
named Canada's top scientist Il:ist
year. "I don't think it's too late to
make decisions and take action, but
it is getting very, very late." ' ,
13. He is frustrated with politicians'
and society's fixation on short-term
interests and problems and their
reluctance to take meaningful steps
to deal with climate change.
"It's like people worrying about the
colour of the carpet in their living
room when the house is burning
down," Smol said.
VIDEO 5: MAKING, TINKERING AND INNOVATING
I. DISCUSSION
1. Do you like to invent things? Do you like to make things with your hands? If so, what
kind of things?
2. What is the importance of inventing and making things to you? Why?
3. Once an object or device has been made, it often needs to be perfected. What are some of
the steps and ways to improve upon an invention?
II. COMPREHENSION
VIDEO 1 - A High Tech DIY Renaissance
1. A new kind of assembly line of printers that are just starting to
-'-____________ . They're letting everyday people make everyday things.
2. It's momentum that lets people _________ how to make drawing musical.
3. Bre Pettis co-founded a New York City called NYCResistor, a
cauldron for innovation.
4. One guy hacks this miniature audio amplifier designed to let grandparents amp up volume
on their phones. He uses it so he can' _____ problems in his electronic _----
5. His bears a floral symbol, the mark of a company
founded by an MIT and engineer whose products encourage
84
6. She gives away her _________ instructions, codes and _.,.--__ -'- on how
to build products she comes up with, like say, this clock.
7. MakerBot makes _____ .3D printers. _____ of them have sold so far.
8. MakerBot's founder wants people to look back on his invention and see that it
them to be creative and _____ them do things that they wouldn't have
been able to do otherwise.
VIDEO 2 -- Hacker spaces
1. NYC Resistor's goal is to ___ ----, _____ and _____ things to see how.
they work.
2. You're not limited to doing with them what Apple tells you you can do with them. This is
a ______ computer just like anything else. This thing is probably
_______ the computers that Were used for the Apollo Moon mission.
3. What can you do with the MakerBot?
4. What did the MakerBot make?

5. How many members are there in NYCResistor? ______________ _
6. How can members share their knowledge?

VIDEO 3 -- NYC Resistor Hacker Space
1. How long have hacker spaces existed? ---, ___________________ -
2. Where were the first hacker spaces? _________________ ----' __
3. What is hacking, according to Pettis? .---'-_____ _______ ___.: ___ _
85
4. What is the coolest tool at NYC Resister? ________ --'-_______ _
5. What can you learn at the classes offered at NYC Resistor? __________ _
VIDEO LINKS:
Video 1: http://online.wsj.comlvideo/a-high-tech-diy-renaissanceID9B78132-9FOA-4206-
8582-C3 nCA9A5EE7 .html
Video 2: http://www.youtube.comlwatch?V=3UlFi021mM
Video 3: http://www.youtube.comlwatch?v=58rbVFAroW4
III. READING
Tinkering Makes Comeback Amid Crisis
WALL STREET JOURNAL, NOVEMBER 13,2009
By JUSTIN LAHART .
The American tradition oftirikering -- the spark for inventions from the telephone to the Apple computer -- is
making a comeback, boosted by renewed interest in hands-on work amid the economic crisis and falling prices of
high-tech tools and materials. . . . .
The modem milling machine, able to shape metal with hairbreadth precision, revolutionized industry. Blake Sessions
has one in his dorm room, tucked under the shelf with the peanut butter on it.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology junior has been using the mill to make prototypes for a bicycle-sprocket
business' he's planning. He bolts down a piece of aluminum plate, steps to his desk and, from his computer, sets the
machine in motion. [ ... ]
Engineering schools llCross the country report students are showing an enthusiasm for hands-on work that hasri't been
seen in years. Workshops for people to share tools and ideas -- called "hackerspaces" -- are popping up all over the
country; there are 124 hackerspaces in the U.S., according to a m e m b e r ~ r u n group that keeps track, up from a handful
at the start of last year. SparkFun Electronics Inc., 'which sells electronic parts to tinkerers, expects sales of about $10
million this year, up from $6 million in 2008. "Make" magazine, with articles on building items such as solar hot
tubs and autopilots for robots, has grown from 22,000 subscribers in 2005 to more than 100,000 now. Its annual
"Maker Faire" in San Mateo, Calif., attracted 75,000 people this year. [ ... J
The financial crisis played a role in taking a nascent trend and giving it increased urgency, says Michael Cima, an
MIT engineering professor. "I've been here 23 years and I definitely see this trend back to hands-on," he says. "A lot
of people are pretty disappointed with an image of a career in fmance and they're looking for a career that's real. '!
Access to the tools to tinker is getting easier. "Computer numerical controlled," or CNC; tools -- which cut metal and
other materials into whatever design is plugged into the computer attached to them -- now cost as little ll$ a tenth of
what they did a decade ago. Mr. Sessions, the MIT student, says he fIrst looked at such mills on a lark, assuming the
priCe would be well out of his reach. But his mill cost about $7,000 to buy and set up.
. .
86
He sees the bike-sprocket business as a springboard for developing more complex products, such as a device to
increase mobility for arthritis sufferers or an energy-efficient car transmission. He thinks his interest in tinkering will
give him an advantage in a global marketplace. [ ~ .. ]
Through much ofthe past century, [ ... ] developing new products required increasingly complex and expensive tools
that were out of reach of most individuals -- the Wright brothers built an airplane in their bicycle shop, but the fIrst
jet-powered aircraft,were built at well-funded corporate and government labs. Asa result, large fIrms came to
dominate innovation.
That trend was disrupted in the 1990s when low-cost computers allowed Internet and software start-ups to compete
with giants. But when it came to developing innovative physical products, high prices kept high-tech machine tools
and materials out of most tinkerers' reach. [ .. . ]
At engineering schools, the drop in costs is putting tools once accessible only to senior researchers into the hands of
undergraduates. The Hobby Shop at MIT, once mainly a wood shop, has been accumulating advanced equipment,
some castoffs from MIT laboratories, some bought.f ... ]
Hands-on is catching on at other schools. There were 27% more undergraduates who earned mechanical-engineering
. degrees in 2008 than in 2003, according to the American Association of Engineering Societies. Over the same
period, the number of computer-engineering graduates slipped by 31 %.
Students at Carnegie Mellon University asked to stay at school for a week after exams last spring so they could hang .
out and build things. Ed Schlesinger, a professor there, says that after a long period where theoretical work
dominated at engineering schools, "when students talk to each other now, it's 'So, what cool project are you working
on?' It's not elilough to say I took these classes and got an A." Stanford University's Product Realization Laboratory,
where students learn machining, welding and other hands-on skills, has seen membership jump to 750 from 450 over
the past fIve years. [ ... J
Until the 1950s, economists thought how fast the economy grew was mostly a matter of how much money was spent
and how much work was getting done. But in a 1957 paper that helped him later earn a Nobel ~ r i z e , MIT economist
Robert Solow showed capital and labor only accounted for about half of growth. The remaining half he attributed to
innovation -- an area where the U.S. has long had an advantage.
In recent years, however, U.S. spending on research and development has led some economists to worry that
innovation will no longer provide the boost it once did. Corporate R&D spending grew an average of2.6% annually
from 2000 to 2007, down from an average of 6% in the 1980s and 1990s, according to the most recent fIgures from
the National Science Foundation. Chief fInancial offIcers surveyed in September by Duke University's Fuqua School
.. of Business and CFO Magazine said they expected their companies' R&D spending to grow by just 0.4% over the
next year.
Tinkering represents innovation outside such fIgures. TechShop in Menlo Park, Calif., for example, is a for-profIt
workshop and operates like a gym, except that 'the members who pay $100 a month are milling iron rather than
pumping it.
Full article available at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB 125798004542744219 .htrlill
87
Questions on the reading
Answer the questions.
1. What are some of the factors causing tinkering to make a comeback?
2. Describe changes taking place at engineering schools.
Vocabulary
Match definitions a- h with words in 1 - 8.
5. springboard __
1. milling machine _ . _. _
6. castoff
2. hairbreadth precision __
7. hands-on
3. set in motion
8. welding __ .
4. tinkerers .
a. machine tool on which work usually of metal secured to a carriage is shaped by rotating
. milling cutters
b. something that has been: discarded or thrown away
c. to unite two materials (metal or plastic) by heating them and letting them flow together
d. high accuracy
e. someone who works with or repairs things in an experimental manner
. f. to start
g. direct, practical experience
h. a point of departure
88
VIDEO 6: ENGINEERING DISASTERS - AVIATION
I. DISCUSSION
1. Name 3 recent engineering disasters. Could they have been prevented?
2. When there is an engineering disaster, who should be held responsible for the damage?
II. COMPREHENSION
1. The aviation industry as we know it today has been shaped by ____ -' ____ _
and
-----
2. One of the most influential disasters occurred the morning of----:-__ -,--__ _
3. In . and very low cloud cover, Flight 599 suddenly took a
_____ and crashed near Bazaar, K a n s a s ~
4. Why was Knute Rockne famous and well loved in the U.S.A.?
5. It wasn't investigated in the most _--- manner because, let's face it, there wasn't a
lot of experience investigating commercial aircrafts. So, . there has been a huge amount of
_____ about what happened in that crash.
6. When commercial aviation was becoming more and passengers were flying
and particularly because of the celebrity status of Knute Rockne, they started to look into
why it so that we can prevent this from happening again.
89
7. The predominant use of aircraft was for U.S. , and these planes
frequently crashed. By the late 1920s, new airplanes had been developed that had more
powerful __ ~ __ and could _____ ---,_ passengers.
8. What was Charles Lindberg's flight path? In what year?
9. One of the most widely used planes in the commercial airline industry was the Fokker F-
lOA trimotor. It had:
- A ----' ___ body
- An 80-foot
-----
- Three 420 _ ~ _____ engmes
10. Anthony Fokker designed a wooden wing knowing it would be and
_____ to _____ . A metal wing needed special _____ and _____ '
not so with wood.
11. Sifting through the , in the empty Kansas field, experts in the investigation
proposed a number of different theories for what happened:
12. The government passengers from flying in Fokker F-10s, all the while
claiming that there was nothing ________ wrong with the Fokker aircraft. Finally, the
investigators identified the probable cause of the crash. Part of the wooden ' wing had
broken off in mid-flight.
13. The Fokker wing was comprised of wooden joints that were ___ together.
14. It doesn't have to to come apart, it just has to in a way that the
glue cannot tolerate and you break up the wing and you still lose the structural integrity.
90
15. The decision to make a wooden wing was a practical one, but iIi reality, such thorough
maintenance for the growing fleet of planes and routes was ____ _
16. Disaster tends to technological innoyation.
17. In the of the Rockne crash, Jack Fry, the owner bfTWA, contracted Donald
Douglas to build a new, bigger and better plane.
III. READING
Investigators Find Design Flaw in Collapsed Bridge
August 9, 2007
Investigators have raised roncerns about the safety of bridges all over the country after fmding a design flaw while
probing the deadly collapse of a Minneapolis bridge.
Federal transportation officials are calling on states to be aware of the stress placed on bridges after National
Transportation Safety Board mvestigators discovered problems with the steel plates that connected the steel beams
of the Interstate 35 West bridge.
An I8-person crew was working on the I-35W bridge when it collapsed last week during evening rush hour, killing
at least five people and injuring about toO.
Helicopter observations found .several "tensile fractures" in the superstructure on the north side of the bridge, but
nothing that appeared to show where the collapse began. Irivestigators were verifying loads and stresses on the
beams, as well as materials in the plates; the NTSBsaid.
NTSB investigators are also looking into reports ofthat the bridge was wobbling before the Aug. I collapse.
The cOinpany that was doing the construction work, Progressive Contractors Inc., rejected a report that a worker
noticed unusual swaying of the bridge in the days before its collapse. The company said it did not believe any of its
work contributed to the bridge failure but hadn't responded directly to claims of wobbling.
Officials of the Minnesota Department of Transportation wouldn't comment on the significance of the gussets in the
bridge's collapse.
Even as the federal warning was issued, Navy divers continued probing the wreckage of the collapsed bridge for
bodies, and officials said they expected removal of heavy debris to begin later than expected to give the divers more
time.
At least eight people are missing and presumed dead. At least eight more were still hospitalized, one in critical
condition.
91
At the dive site, twO. large cranes were ready to' go.. But they sat idle as divers returned to. the water do.ing "a very
meticulo.us, search o.fthe scene," said their spo.kesman, Senio.r Chief Dave Nagle.
Navy and FBI dive teams are trying to' go. deeper into' the debris o.f the bridge than the lo.cal dive teams that have
been wo.rking since the Aug. 1 co.lIapse, po.lice Capt. Mike Martin said. He expects it to' be at least a week befo.re
cranes start regularly hauling o.ut large pieces o.f debris.
The FBI team had to' abandon using the larger o.f its two. unmanned submarines. The remo.te co.ntro.lled vehicle -
equipped with a camera, so.nar, lights and a grabbing arm -- was to.o. big to' maneuver amid the unstable, twisted
bridge wreckage and vehicles in the clo.udy water, agent Paul McCabe said Wednesday.
Instead, FBI divers will try their smaller sub, asho.e-bo.x-size vehicle equipped o.nly with lights and a camera. It is
mo.re difficultfo.r the sub to' navigate the Mississippi River's stiff river currents because o.fthe sub's smaller thrusters.
The water where the divers are wo.rking ranges fro.m 2 to' 14 feet deep.
Debris remo.val had been expected to. begin this week. The State Patro.l said 88' vehicles have been lo.cated at the
co.llapse site, including tho.se in the Mississippi River
NPR reports and the Associated Press
VOCABULARY EXERCISE I
Match the word on the right (in bold in the text above) with the definition on the left.
1. pro.be
2. flaw
3. beam
4. crew
5. rush ho.ur
, 6. Io.ad
7. ' wo.bble
8. sway
9. ' gusset
10. presume
11. crane
12. debris
13. haul
92
a. to. drag
b. to. explo.re tho.ro.ughly
c. to. o.scillate
d. to. expect
e. the remains o.f so.mething that has been
bro.ken o.r destro.yed
f. a defect
g. the mass o.r weight supPo.rted by
so.mething
h. a perio.d o.f peak demand
1. a team o.f wo.rkers
j. a Io.ng piece o.f Wo.o.d o.r metal used in
co.nstructio.n
k. a large machine used fo.r raising and'
Io.wering heavy o.bjects
1. a bracket
m. to. mo.ve in' an irregular o.r unsteady way
VOCBULARY EXERCISE II
The expressions listed below can be found in the text in italics. Explain each one. Use each one in
a sentence.
1. to raise concern
Explanation:
Sentence:
2. to sit idle
Explanation:
Sentence:
93 .
VIDEO 7: MEGASTRUCTURES
Suspension Bridges
I. DISCUSSION
Every year the city spends millions of dollars repairing roads, overpasses and
bridges. How can we increase the lifespan of these infrastructures so that they
become more cost efficient?
II. VOCABULARY
Match the definitions tothe words in the box.
stay
buckle
caisson
bolt
1. a part of a bridge between supports or piers
2. a slanted wire or cable, a support
3. a nail or bolt for holding together metal plates
mud
s an
4. a metal pin with a head used With a nut to hold things together
5. a large iron or steel beam for holding loads
6. watertight chamber in which underwater construction can be done
7. . a small powerful boat for towing larger boats and ships
8. fine sand, clay or other soil carried by moving water
9. to bend under pressure, to lose shape
10. soft, wet soil
III. COMPREHENSION
History
silt
rivet
1. Before the turn of the century, New York was already big and ______ _
2. Its islands begged for bridges to help ---' ______ with the traffic and keep
the big city economy growing.
3. Brooklyn Bridge: Its span is _________ feet.
4. Before computers and sophisticated machinery, it was sheer ingenuity,
_____ and that got the job done.
94
5. Engineer John Roebling relied on new techniques that made it possible to bridge
greater distances. As ________ to support the massive granite towers,
he used caissons - two airtight timber boxes were sunk to the
river bed and filled with _______ '
6,. Traveling wheels were used to _________ wires from one end to the
other and connect them to the anchorage.
7. Slanted _______ . called "stays" were needed for:
8. Why was there a problem with long, narrow two-lane suspension bridges?
9. How did engineers-resolve the problem of swaying?
10. Describe the Akahashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan.
Building at Akahashi Kaikyo Bridge
11. A grab bucket on floating barges prepared the seabed by removing hundreds of
thousands of yards o ~ and Hollow steel
shells were assembled in a nearby shipyard and dragged into place by tugboats.
These caissons served as foundation for the bridge towers.
12. Tons of rock and _____ ~ - - w e r e added aroun,d each base to prevent
13. These cables were pulled into place strand by ________ _
14. Each strand was _____ ---' __ to ground inside massive concrete
anchorages.
95
Maintaining the bridge
15. How many feet above the deck do the maintenance workers climb? --'-__ --'-__
16. What do they look for? '
17. How often are bridges inspected? ""'"---_______________ _
18. What are most modern bridges made of? __ ~ ___________ _
19. What do divers look for under water? ___ --'-___________ _
20. Why are wooden decks built under older bridges?
21. About 1/3 of bridges in the U.S. need ______ and ______ . The
total cost for repair is over _______ dollars.
22. By not maintaining bridges, we reduce their life by about _____ years.
IV. READING
New South Shore Bridge
A. Read the article
B.Find words in the text that have the same meaning as the words of expressions
below.
1. . to join
2. a highway that goes around a city
3. a short sloping road that leads on or off a highway
4. acompahy whose controlling interest is owned by a parent company
5. a pOint at which an expressway connects with another main traffic route
6. a highway for fast-moving traffic
7. an opinion poll
Expressions
8. a profit made on an investment
9. the spread of a city
10. to take the profits yourself
11. to approve
96
New South' Shore bridge requires
enough land for approach ramps
1. The prospect of the 'Quebec cabinet
allowing private companies to build and
operate new private toll bridges and
roads has produced talk of three specific
potential projects for Montreal in the short
term,
2. If the cabinet gives the green light,
four or five consortiums would be
expected to compete for the right to
complete two road projects,
DAVID JOHNSTON
The Gazette
electronic tolls on the highway and
pocket the revenue from it.
9. At present, Highway 25 runs north
on Montreal Island from the Lafontaine
Tunnel to the Anjou interchange with
Highway 40.
10. SNC-Lavalin and CHIC want to
extend Highway 40 north to Riviere
des Prairies, build a bridge across the
river, and construct a new section of
transportation experts
say: Highway 25 in
east-end Montreal and
Laval, and Highway 30
on the South Shore.
3. Private completion
of Highway 25 would
result in a new private
"For Highway 25, there's
no doubt that there'd be
sufficient traffic over a
private bridge to cover
capital and operating
costs."
Highway 25 linking up
to Highway 440 . in
Laval. .
11. Finishing Highway
30, meanwhile, would
give Montreal a
southern ring road that
bridge linking Montreal and Laval, say
the experts, while finishing Highway 30
would finally give the metropolitan area a
southern ring road.
4. ' A third potential project is another'
bridge linking Montreal to the South
Shore. ,
would allow
transprovincial traffic to bypass
Montreal Island altogether, said Pierre
Asselin, president of Autoroutes
,Quebec.
12. The longest of two completed
sections of Hghway 30 runs southwest
from Sorel to Candiac. The shorter
section runs from Sainte-Catherine to
Chateauguay.
13. But there's no finished link yet
between Sainte-
capital cost of building private Highway
A-104, which opened in November
1997.
16. The 45-kilometre highway has both
electronic and manual tolls. Prices
range from $1 .50 to $4, depending on
the type of vehicle.
"Other projects are possible in the
Montreal area, but you have to keep in
mind the ongoing debate over urban
sprawl,"said Philippe Lamarre, a
senior vice-president of SNC-Lavalin.
"But for sure there's room for
something to be done 'vis-a-vis another
South Shore bridge:
17. Dessau-Soprinlnc., a Montreal
engineering firm, recently produced a
proposal to build a private bridge that
would run from an area just west of the
Jacques Cartier Bridge over Tie Notre-
Dame to TIe Ste. Helene.
18. On Tie Ste. Helene, it would hook
!ill to the eXisting Concorde Bridge that
. links to Montreallslant near Habitat 67,
just east of the Bonaventure
Expressway. .
19.0ttavio Galella, president of Traffix
Inc" a Montreal traffic-survey firm, said
5. A new bridge is urgently needed in
view of the federal government's plans to
begin a complete renovation' of the
Jacques-Cartier bridge platform, now 7.0
years old, some time in the next three
years, said Michel Fournier, president of
the federal corporation responsible for
the Champlain and Jacques-Cartier
bridges.
Catherine and
Other projects are
the relative' shortage of
available land for a new
South Shore bridge
means it is possible a
new link could take the
form of a tunnel under
6. Last month, Fournier urged the
provincial government to allow a private
consortium to build and operate a new
South Shore bridge on a toll basis. The
toll would cover construction costs and
give the consortium a return on its
investment.
7. The provincial government needs to
act quickly,. Fournier said, because there
might not be enough available land 10
years from now to accommodate new
bridge ramps on-the south tip of Montreal
Island near downtown and the north tip of
the South Shore oppOSite.
8. SNC-Lavalin Group, a Montreal
engineering firm, and Autoroutes
Quebec, a subsidiary of Canadian
Highways' International Corp. (CHIC),
The Toronto consortium that built plivate
Highway 407 in Toronto, have already
told the government they'd be interested
in financing the completion of Highway
401 in return for the right to install
Candiac, and the
proposed section
from Chateauguay to
the Valleyfield area
hasn't been built,
either.
possible , in the Montreal '
area, but 'you have to
keep in mind the ongoing
debate over urban
sprawl.
Asselin said the creation of a
southern ring road would be achieved
by building a new bridge from the
South Shore near Beauharnois, just
east of Valleyfield, over the St.
Lawrence River and seaway. to the
intersection of Highways 20 and 40 in
Dorion.
14. "In the case of Highway 25, there's
no doubt that there'd be sufficient
traffic over a private bridge to cover
capital and operating ' costs," Asselin
said.
"But in the case of Highway 30,
there probably wouldn't be enough
traffic to finance construction through
tolls alone.
"You'd need part of the capital
cost to be financed by government."
15.ln Nova Scotia, the Toronto CHIC
consortium and the Nova Scotia
government split the $113-million
97
the St. Lawrence,
connecting with the Ville
Marie Expressway tunnel.
20. There is also a possible market for
a private tunnel under Metropolitan
Blvd., he said.
"One-third of our labour force is
situated within two kilometres both
sides of the Met." Galella said. "If
congestion continues, we could see
many enterprises just leave the i,sland,
and that will mean more urban sprawl '
and more congestion on
21. "Galella said a French multinational
firm approached the city of Montreal in '
the early 1990s about building a
publicly financed tunnel under the Met.
Then-mayor Jean Dore said he liked
the idea, but the transport minister of
the time, Marc-Yvan Cote, said
Quebec taxpayers couldn't afford it.
22. Estimates of the cost of a tunnel
under the Met range' between $500
million and $800 million.
VI])EO 8: THE ARCTIC, ADAPTING TQ CHANGE
I. DISCUSSION
1. As the global climate changes, what changes have occurred in the Arctic?
2. Can natural resources be exploited while protecting the environment? If you think so, explain
how. If you think not, explain why.
II. VOCABULARY
Match the vocabulary in the box with terms a.throughj.
underlying
peat
consortium
sealant
dam
moratorium
a. an association or group _______
b. manmade
-----------
withstand
forestry
c .. to be left in a natural or peaceful state __ ----,-__ -'--__ _
d. resist

e. to block the flow of water
----------
manmade
undisturbed
f. a (chemical) product that makes an object impermeable ________
g. below, beneath'----____
h. developing, caring for or cultivating forests __ --------
1. partially carbonized plants formed by decomposition in
_______ __
j. the suspension of an, _______ __
III. COMPRENSION
98
1.. The Mackenzie River is the site of a battle. between the First environmentalists
and the . At , the construction ofthe Mackenzie gas
pipeline
2 . . What three elements make the Northwest Territories a high interest area?
3. The seismic lines that _____ the north signal the arrival of oil industry engineers.
Using ___ __ -'--_--:-_ the engineers probe the area for new oil and gas
,. and there is a lot of it.
-----,
4. are many _-'-_______________ of natural gas as well as many
_____ barrels of oil, some of which has been discovered, but the fields have not yet
been developed.
(
5. The potential for gas production is huge, __________ the amount produced
by Canada today .
. 6. How long would Imperial Oil's pipeline be? _____ _
7. To bury the pipelines, crews have to dig into the frozen ____ layer, whiCh is then
removed so the exposed melts. To keep the permafrost frozen,
the oil has to be cooled as it's pumped out of the ground.
8. Flexible 'pipelines are used to ____ - pressure and avoid cracks from changing
temperatures.
9. The pipes are covered in a _____ to minimize the risk of leaks.
99
10. Frank T'Seleie is asking for an __ ~ ________ on all the consequences of the
project.
11. Norman Wells is a site that hnperial Oil as a model of environmentally
responsible development. In the middle of the Mackenzie, artificial islands ____ _
the pumping units. Underwater pipelines pump oil to reservoirs along the __ --..,._'
, 12. Accordipg to Frank T'Seleie, the islands slow the flow of the river. Blocks of
---- i
ice now form in the river and make it impossible for snowmobile travel.
. 13. They want to Inake sure the environment will be protected before ____ ~ t h e
construction ofa new pipeline.
14. It won't be one little pipeline like some people think. Soon there will be a little
--, ___ over here and another one over there. Then they'll say, "Oh, but we need
_________ ~ _ to power the pumpS on it" So, they'll some
rivers, and then there will be a road to service thing. There'll be things that happen off the
road, some ____ and some mineral mining. Pretty soon, it's a huge network.
15. I think the combination of climate warming and the increasing industrialization is what
we call in science a where you can apply things
one at a time and you see no effect. You apply two or three or ten of them at the same
time and the system _ ___ _
16. In the 1970s, !udge Berger recommended a _____ on pipeline developments to
allow First Nations time to negotiate their land claim . Today, a new project
and another round of pubiic hearings. This time, a of First Nations is present
at the table. They're demanding that selected territories be protected and that they receive
_____ on the gas flowing through the pipeline.
100
17. How much is the Mackenzie pipeline p r o j ~ c t wort4? _------'-__ _
18. In Siberia; the Russians have an alternative to building pipelines. What we are seeing on
the Russian side is a greater attention to the construction of oil
and liquid natural gas . The South Koreans have invested heavily in the
building of an ice-strengthened oil that is just as efficient in ____ _
waters as it is in __ ~ ___ ~ waters. These new shifts are means of going around
building _____ and _____ pipelines. ..
19. If the Mackenzie project is abandoned, First Nations wouid see their territories remain
undisturbed, but they would have to the revenues that the pipeline would
generate. It's only by -,-____ environmental and economic issues that Canada will
be able to provide a viable future to the people of the north.
101
VIDEO 9: BELOW NEW YORK: Part 1
I. DISCUSSION
1. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of living in a big city.
2. Imagine there is one large piece of undeveloped property close to
downtown Montreal. How would you develop it? .
II. VOCABULARY
Match each word with its definition
1. bedrock
2. skyscraper
3. concrete .
4. water mains
5. gravel
6. sewers
. 7. utilities
8. day
. 9. pavement
10. to dismantle
III. COMPREHENSION
__ ----,-_ large pipes thatcarry water
small rocks
----
-----'-
the solid rock beneath the soil
underground pipes that carry off waste
water and refuse
----
----
a very tall building
road surface
----
----
to take apart
----
a fine-grained soil used for making bricks
a building material made from a mixture of
____ crushed stone, sand, cement and water
electricity, natural gas, etc.
----
1. A vast life-sustaining network lies beAeaththe streets of New York City.
Here a thriving _____ ~ ___ supports the metropolis above.
2. It's a maze of tunnels and tubes carved through solid _____ _
3. The roots that hold up New York lie deep _______ -'--_the
surface. There is a city belowthe city reaching as far down as a
______ ..:.....-__ reaches up.
4. Towering 102 ________ high, the Empire State Building is a
New York icon .
. 5. Its --.:' ___ _______ is anchored in the ancient bedrock that
supports midtown Manhattan.
102 .
6. . What lies under Manhattan (geological landscape)?
A mixture of and ___ ----,--____ '
Most of New York's underground infrastructure lies within the varying
levels of this soft ________ _
7. No NewYorker ______ a light, a meal,
______ a phone call without tapping into these life lines.
8. What lies under the streets of New Yor City?
9. Below these layers is the _________ _
10. Six hundred feet below the city, Dr. C. searches for
evidence of aCtive ____ -'--___ Iines.
11. In Los Angeles, buildings are designed to tolerate ______ _
12. While skyscrapers may not _______ , glass from shattered
windows would rain down on

. 13. The aging pipes have grown vulnerable; cracking and ______ _
as the elements the outer casings.
14.
_____ and ______ all run dry when a water main bursts.
15. Water ___ from a 48 inch main. The _____ collapses.
16. Emergency ____ ----face a new danger.
17. To avoid a complete ____ ___,.----, NY needs an alternative.
103
18. Project to build a third tunnel:
a) When did the project begin? _____________ _
b) What are the workers called? __ ---,. __ ---------
c) How much water will the tunnel be able to supply? _____ _
d) Why are they building a third tunnel? __________ _
e) Howdeep below t h ~ ground is the job site? ________ _
19. How was tunneling done in the past?
20. Helping the sandhogs _____ faster is a _____ machine
called a TBM-a tunnel boring machine. It's a breakthrough ___ _
that reduces the dangers of tunneling while increaSing _____ _
21. The TBM works like a giant electric ________ _
22. Fifty cutters are strategically arranged on a ___ head 23 feet wide.
23. Once the boring is done, the TBM will be dismantled, the ____ _
lining will be installed and by the year 2020, water will _____ _
24. Each work gang is made up of 30 men under the supervision of a
25. Valve chambers 40 feet below the street will control the water __ _
104
. Ironworker shows nerves of steel'
.1. Spiderman. has nothing on
Alex Mayo.
Mayo was a 37 -year-old
ironworker in New York when a
picture of him shirtless and
without a hard hat, balancing atop
a girder 28 storeys above the
Manhattan skyline, was taken 31
years ago . .
2. The dramatic photograph is
making a big splash in the Big
Apple.
It was
. ALAN HUSTAK
The Gazette, July 14, 2002
photograph taken by Martin
Cohen.
6. He never forgot how the
picture was snapped.
. "It was a dare," he
chuckled. "I was dating the
photographer's sister. He was
an amateur photographer, so
up we went.
, "I wasn't nervous. I had a
lot of practice. There's no place
I can't climb. The girder was
such photos from being
published.
"They were concerned because
it looked as if we were ignoring
safety regulations. The pictures
didn't do anything for the
company image."
9. Mayo said the suggestion
that Mohawk ironworkers are
, fearless, intrepid and not afraid
of scaling heights is a myth.
Mohawks started doing
included . in an
exhibition that
opened last
week at the
Mohawks build
construction work
in the 1880s
because the pay
was good. The
trade, he added,
has . been passed
on from father to
. George Gustav
Heye Centre at
image of courage
. the Museum of
the American Indian in New York,
Booming Out: Mohawk
Ironworkers Build New York.
3. The exhibition is a tribute to
Mohawk steelworkers and ' their
ancestors who traveled from
Canada and upstate New Y o ~ k to
work on Manhattan skyscrapers
and bridges.
4. Because of the show, the Ne
York Times printed Mayo's
picture last Sunday. The retired
Kahnawake ironworker has
become a local celebrity.
5 .. Ten members of his family,
includingl his daughter who lives
in New York, have driven in from
different areas of the United
States for the 1 ih annual Echoes
of a Pr()ud Nation Pow-Wow on
the South Shore Kahnawake
reserve.
The annual powwow was
started ' after the Oka crisis to
bring communities together
through traditional song and
dance. Yesterday, with friends
. and family looking on, Mayo, 67,
was given , a copy of the
shaky. I had just raised it and
. there were only four bolts
holding it. I just grabbed it and
climbed up."
Mayo denies he was
showing off.
"There was no one there to
see me," he said.
7. . "No one but the
photographer was watching. I
knew what it is to be up there.
You gotta be fast. If you and
your mind can get together,
you can do almost anything.
Climbing is easy. Getting down,
though, that took some doing."
. Mayo wasn't' paid for the
picture, and not very many
people saw it. It was
disc()vered about a year ago by
a researcher from the Heye
Centre who came to
Kahnawake to interview
ironworkers.
8. The photo wasn't the first
of Mayo taken on sky-high
beams. But as he explained,
the construction companies he
worked ' for often prevented
105
son.
10. He learned from his father,
who was also an ironworker,
and from his four older brothers.
He's had his share . of bronken
limbs and injuries on the job. He
. lost a finger in 1962 working ont
the Verrazano Narrows Bridge
in New York. Because of the
accident, members of his family
refer to the bridge as "The
Finger Bridge."
. "Mohawks aren't better up
there on' girders. We're just
better trained," Mayo said.
11. "There's always someone
in the family to give you a
. boost. My family taught me and
gave me confidence.
"When . you're trained by
your dad, you want to do the
best. You ' don't want to
disa'ppoint your peers . . Not all
Mohawks can do this. Those of
us who can, we're motivated."
.A..Alan Hustak's E-mail address is
ahustak@thegazette.southam,ca.
VIDEO 10: BELOW. NEW YORK (Part II)
The New York City Subway System
I. VOCABULARY
Write a paragraph on how to use the metro in Montreal. Use the vocabulary
below.
Bus/metro schedule
a bus pass
bus fare
to get on/get off
peak hours
ticket booth ,
to have exact change
a platform
to use the escalator/stairs
turnstile
to transfer
commuters
tracks to swipe the metro card
II. COMPREHENSION
'\ Today'sfastest moving trains use computers to control ______ ,
"
. and
- ~ - - ~ - - - - -
2. Number of passengers that take the NY subway everyday: ____ _
3. When riders _-'--_____ a train, they expect to go from point A
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
to point B without ____ -'---__ _
Learning how to use this system is an essential __ for New Yorkers.
The trip starts at the ____ --,. ___ _
The admission _____ is about the price ofa good cup of coffee.
AUhe trains come by every 10..,15 minutes during ___ _
Station attendants help direct the of traffic on and off the trains.
The motorman guides the train through the dark tunnels using simple
106
10. The signals are turned on and off not by computers but by ____ _
in throughout the system.
11. ___________ are located along the tracks and are
triggered by the _________ train. There is no room for
12. What was the cause of the accident in August 1991?
13. If the motorman fails to slow at a switch, the train _______ _
14. The history ofthe New York subway:
a) Date of the first part of the subway: ___ ___ _
b) The subway was completed by ----' ________ _
c) The number of passengers that rode the subway on opening day:
15. The number of people that ride the subway every year: _____ _
16.
17.
18.
19.
20 .
There are stations.
--------
The subway joins the ____
. and The Bronx.
make sure the trains run on time.
The riders can buy ____ ----cards at stations and stores. A
_______ and you're in the system. simple
The _"--_______ of New York above the ground is directly
. tied to the transportation system below.
The NY Telephone.System
1. - Why didn't the telephone system fait during NY's blackout?
2 . . Give details of the NY blackout on July 13,1977.
107
3.
________ phone lines serve ________ people.
4. How far underground are the cables? _....,-....,-_________ _
5. What do the. workers do before descending into a manhole?
6. How many connections can a dime-size fiber optic cable handle at one
time? ________ -'---____ _
7. Before fiber optics, a worker would spend eight hours _____ _
the copper trunk cables to ________ or repair phone lines.
8. . Is it easy for the workers to find the cables underground? Explain.
9. Describe the largest cable vault in New York City .
. 10. Write notes on the Empire State Building.
108
'METRO MAKE OVER
Some dramatic changes behind the scenes
Upgrades
$311-million plan
will see transit technology updated
BRENDA BRANSWELL
1.. Most Montrealers will never
catch a glimpse of a dramatic
transformation taking place in the
city's metro system.
But you should notice a market
improvement in service in the not too
distant future if things pan out as the
Montreal Transit Corp. expects.
2. Imagine shorter interruptions in
service. when a breakdown occurs
and helpful explanations that actually
tell you when service will resume.
Or how about electronic display
boards in stations that tell you the.
waiting time until the next train slides
into the platform?
3. The promise of these
improvement lies in a new state-of-
the-art control room - the metro's
nerve centre - being built for the 66-
kilometre network.
It is part of the MTC's ambitious
three-phase Reno-Systemes plan to
essentially rebuild' the . aging metro
network. ' .
A large portion of the $311-million
Phase 1 renovations involve
telecommunications equipment,
including replacing the control room,
the telephone system and radios.
.4. "We're replacing them because
. they are the heart of the metro. You
should change that first," said ' Carl
DesrosierS, the head of the' MTC
metro network.
The new control room will replace
the existing one, where a computer
system monitors key functions ' like
communications and the ' flow of
trains. Among other things, the staff at
the centre watch and regulate train
operations. (For security reasons, the
MTC does not want either" location
made public.) .
. THE GAZETTE, SEPT. 11, 2005
5. With its orange metal
cabinets, hulking cOmputer
terminals, and original central
telephone system from 1966. the
current control room harks back to
another technological - and decor -
era.
"Totally obsolete" is how Robert
Delage characterizes the
equipment. the computing power of
the computer room downstairs "is
probably less than what I have in
my cellphone today,"said Delage, a
transport customer director at
Alstom, which is providing the
. overall software for the new control
room.
6. In fact, MTC officials say they
wouldn't have been able to extend
metro service to the new stations
being built in Laval with their current
technology.
The nerve centre slated to open
late next year will enable staff to
react more quickly, Delage said. It
will make the MTC ~ ' e v e n better
equipped" to rapidly respond toa
terrorist attack, he said.
. At present, staff in the control
room have to rely on people telling
them what is happening in a station,
Delage said. "The control centre
today. is basically blind in terms of
looking at pretty much what is going
on in the networl<."
7. By year's end, 1,200 'security
cameras are scheduled to be
installed in the metro as part of a
closed-circuit television system.
Delage said they will ' provide the
control room with the information it
needs to assess a situation and
keep commuters informed.
There aren't a lot of cameras
linked to the current control room in
real time, Desrosiers said. "With the
new (control room), it will be one of
109
.the best system in the world. We'll
be able to IQok at 50 very high
quality images at the same time.
8. "So we're going ~ not from the
Stone Age - but from the 1960s,
'70s, to probably the most integrated
control room in the world."
In June, half the metro system was
shut down for six hours after an old
cable caught fire at the Sherbrooke
station and spread to other ones.
9. In such ' incidents, it isn't easy
to figure out where the fire started
when .you arrive at the ' scene,
Desrosiers said. At the moment, to
glean more information from the
security cameras in the metro, they
would have to fetCh the VHS tape
from the station and bring it back to
the control room - something they
don't have time to do when an event
is unfolding, he said.
10. But with the instant playback
capability in the new control room,
they could immediately check the
images to see where the smoke
. started and alert people. Desrosiers
said. He contends the new
technology will shorten the time the
metro is shut ' down when a
breakdown occurs. Service
interruptions that are now 40 to 50
minutes will often shrink to five to 10
minutes,he said.
11. As for anxious commuters
wanting to know when the next train
is coming down the tracks, Delage
said that with the nfilw technology,
metro staff will be able to pass on
real-time information.
"Right now. if YOll have a (service)
disruption, at best they will tell you
something," Delage said. "At worst
you'll .be kept in the dark" about
when service will resume.
bbranswell@the
gazette.canwest:com
Report card: How does
Montreal measure up?
Metro lines: 4
Average age of fleet:
About 32 years old
----------...- ..
Number of stations: 65
Wheelchair accessible
stations: 0
Kilometres of track: 66
. (underground)
Hours of operation: Service
starts at 5:30 a.m.; the last
departure varies between 12:15
a.m. and 1 :30 a.m., depending on
the metro line and whether ifs a
weekday or weekend.
Train Frequency: Peak time:
During part of rush hour, trains run
at three - and four - minutes
intervals; otherwise, every five to
seven minutes. Off-peak train
frequency varies between six and
12 minutes.
Reliability: In 2004, there were
862 service disruptions of five
minutes and more, down from
882 in 2003. (The disruptions
stemmed from different factors
like problems
with rolling stock and train
operation.)
Worst accident: In December
1971, a train driver dies when
his train rams into a stationary
one and catches fire in a
switching area north of the
Henri Bourassa station. Fire
destroys 27 cars and a metro
garage. The damages total $7
million. Safety improvements
are later made, including the
introduction of an.automatic
train control system.
Maintenance spending: in
2004, the MTC spent
$71,256,737 on metro
maintenance. (That includes
$35.3 million on rolling stock;
$30.8 million on fixed
equipment like signalling.)
Fares: Monthly pass for adults,
$61 .
Who pays for the public
transit system? Fares. cover
about 45 per Cent of the annual
operating budget; 35 per cent
. comes from the city of
Montreal, about 10 per cent
from the Metropolitan Transit
Agency and another 10 per
cent from the Quebec .
government.
110
TORONTO
Subway lines: 3
--:_----------_ .. ---------------
Average age offleet: About
14 years old
.. ---
Number of stations: 69
----------------------------
Wheelchair accessible
stations: 22
--------.... _ .. _-.----:-.. _---------.. -.. _-
Kilometres of track: 68.3
(above and below ground)
---... .. -.. ----------....... -.. -.. --.. -
Hours of operation:
Approximately 6 a.m. to 1 :30
a.m. on weekdays and
Saturdays; about 9 a.m. to
1 :30 a.m. on Sundays.
---------.. ---.. -.. -.. ......---.. -...
Train frequenc:y: Every two
to threEl minutes during rush
hour on the Bloor-Danforth
and Yonge-Universily-
Spadina subway lines. At all
other times,trains on those
lines run every four or five
" minutes. Trains on the
Sheppard subway line run
five to six minutes apart
throughout the day.
Reliability: The TIC
calculates delays of three
, minutes or more. Service
interruptions because of
breakdowns of TIC
eqUipment or operator-
caused delays total about .
" 8;000 minutes a year.
Worst accident: In 1995, three
people were killed and
36 injured after a train driver
ran three red signals, then
rammed into a train hi a "
SUbway tunnel. The trip arm
that was supposed to brake the
train failed to trigger the train's
trip valve. "It was a wake-up
call," said the TIC's Rick
Cornacchia. "We did a lot of
things to get the operation in a
much safer state."
Maintenance spending:
Not avai!able.
Fares: Monthly pass for adult,
$98.75.
" Who pays for the public
transit system? Fares cover
80 per cent; the other 20 per
cent comes from government
subsidies.
BOSTON
Subway lines: 5 (Subway
system includes trolley car and
" rapid transit bus system.)
Average age of fleet: 22 (The
subway system is the oldest in
the United States.)
Number of stations: 60 (A
handful are shared facilities.)
Wheelchair accessible
stations: 73 of the 80 key
subway and commuter rail
stations.
Kilometres of track: 103
" (including 31.3 underground)
Hours of operation: 5 a.m. to
1 a.m.
Train frequency: During
weekday rush hour, it varies
from four to eight minutes,
depending on the subway line;
train intervals range
from six to 15 minutes.
Reliability: Records of service
disruptions are not available.
Worst accident: Not
available.
Maintenance spending: In
fiscal year 2005, the MBTA
spent $43.7 million on
maintenance, including
labour, materials and
services. If station cleaning
and vehicle cleaning is
added in, the amount rises
by $10 million.
Fares: Monthly subway pass
$44 U.S. a combo pass,
which includes tranafers to
buses, is $71 U.S.
" Who pays for the public
transit system? Fares cover
about one-third of operating
budget; MBTA a"lro receives
" funding from state and local
governments.
" *The MBTA also has an Elevator
Update Line. Commuters can
call the number to find out Which
elevator and escalators are out
of service at its stations.
Sources: Montreal Transit Corp., Toronto Transit Commission, Massachusetts By Transportation Authority
111
112
, ALPHABETICAL LIST OF IRREGULAR VERBS
INFINITIVE PAST TENSE PAST PART. INFINITIVE ' PAST TENSE PAST PART.
arise arose arisen hide' hid hidden
awake awoke awoken hit hit hit
be was been hold held held
bear bore borne hurt hurt hurt
beat beat b e a t ~ n keep kept kept
become became become kneel knelt knelt
begin' began begun know knew known
bend bent bent lay laid laid
bet bet bet { lead led led
blind bound bound leave left left
bite bit bitten lend lent ' lent
bleed bled bled let let let
blow blew blown lie lay lain
break broke broken light lit ' lit
breed bred bred lose lost lost
bring brought brought make made , ' made
broadcast broadcast broadcast ' mean meant meant
build built built meet met met ,
burst burst , burst mistake mistook mistaken
buy bought bought mow mowed mown
cast cast cast pay paid paid
catch caught caught put put put
choose chose chosen ride rode ridden
cling clung clung ring rang rung
come came - come rise rose risen
cost cost cost run ran run
creep crept crept say said said
cut cut cut see saw seen
deal dealt dealt 'seek sought sought
dig dug dug sell sold sold
do did done . send sent sent
draw drew drawn set set set
drink drank drunk shake shook shaken
drive drove driven shine shone shone
eat ate eaten shoot shot shot
fall fell , fallen steal stole stolen
feed fed fed stick stuck stuck
feel felt felt sting stung stung
fight fbught fought ' string strung strung
find found found swear swore sworn
flee fled fled sweep swept swept
fly flew flown , swim swam swum
forbid forbade forbidden swing swung swung
forecast forecast forecast take took taken -
forget forgot forgotten teach taught taught
forgive forgave forgiven
f
tear tore torn
Jreeze froze frozen tell told told
get got got think thought thought
give gave given throw threw thrown
go went gone ' wear wore worn
grind ground ground weave wove woven
grow grew grown win won won
hang hung hung wind wound wound
have had had write wrote written
hear heard heard
113
INFORMATION ABOUT ORAL PRESENTATIONS
1. Purpose: Why should students give oral presentation in English?
The purpose of the oral presentations is to give students ~ chance to gain confidence in
giving information and explaining ideas to a group of people. This is an activity that
engineers do regularly in their professional life.
2. Activity: What is the presentation activity?
Students prepare their presentation carefully and practice at home. In class, students sit .
in groups of four and one student speaks while the others listen and take notes about
the important details. The speaker talks without interruption for about 10-12 minutes.
(The longer, the better!). After the speaker finishes, students in the group may ask
questions or make comments. This is the time for discussion of any ideas related to
each presentation.
Speakers can use notes, but they cannot read a presentation. Students should not try to
memorize their talk. .
On the day of the presentation, th.e students hand in a written, typed summary in
paragraph form (125 words approximately).
The presentation must have a clear structure:
1 . a short introduction
2. a logical development of ideas
3. a short conclusion
3. Evaluation: How will the presentation be evaluated?
Students will remove the evaluation feedback sheets from the workbook and the
instructor will fill in the evaluation as the students speak. The instructor will move from
. speaker to speaker and listen briefly to each one. The purpose of the evaluation is to
give students general, global feedback, not to find small errors in grammar. The
evaluation feedback sheets are returned in the following class.
4. Topics: What are the subjects of the presentations?
Oral Presentation 1: Description of a Technical. Object using the worksheet in the
workbook. .
Oral Presentation 2: (to be announced in class)
PEER EVALUATION SHEET
After each speaker finishes presenting, the group will use this checklist to give feedback.
PEER EVALUATION FOR ORAL PRESENTATION I
The student prepared well for the presentation.
The student had an appropriate introduction.
The presentation was organized logically.
The visuals were effectively integrated into the presentation.
The student established a connection with the listeners.
The presentation was pleasant to listen to.
The presentation was interesting. The group learned something new.
The speaker spoke clearly.
114
GIVING A PRESENT AllON
A good presentation consists of three main parts - an introduction, a body and a .
conclusion. Here are some tips on how to organize the introduction and the
conclusion.
I. INTRODUCTION
Use these beginnings to help you build a typical correct introduction.
1. Greet the group and introduce yourself if necessary:
Hello, my name is ________ .......,.. ______ _
2. Explain your purpose:
Today I would like to describe, explain, show, teach, etc. ______ -:--_
3. Explain the main idea: .
My main point is _____________________ _
4. Present the subdivisions of your talk: .
In the first part of my talk, I will _____ --,-____ ~ _____ _
After that, I will ----, ____ - , - - ~ ___ _...,_---------__,_-
Finally, I will show ____________________ _
Here is an example of an introduction: .
Good Morning, I'm Carla Smith from CAN Electronics. This morning I'm going to
. describe sales forecasts for the European computer market over the next five years.
Our data shows that the market will continue to grow in Southern Europe but may
level off in Northern Europe. I'll start by looking at overall figures and then look at the
four areas of Europe in turn. Finally, I'll make recommendations for our marketing
. strategy based on these figures. At the end of the presentation there will be time for
any questions. .
II. CONCLUSION
Use these beginnings to help you build a typical conclusion.
1. In summary, I've talked about ______ _
2. I've also shown that _________ ~ _
3. My main point was ___________ _
4. Thank you for your attention. Are there any questions?
115
TIPS FOR DELIVERING ORAL REPORTS '
BEFORE YOU SPEAK
1. Prepare thoroughly.
2. Rehearse repeatedly.
3. Time yourself ..
4. . Request a lectern.
5. Check the room.
6. . Practice stress reduction.
DURING YOUR PRESENTATION
1. Begin with a pause.
2. Present your first sentence from memory.
3. Maintain eye contact.
4. Control your voice and vocabulary .
. 5. Put the brakes on.
6. Move naturally.
7. Use visuals effectively.
8. Avoid digressions ..
9. Summarize you main points.
AFTER YOUR PRESENTATION
1. Distribute handouts
2. Encourage questions.
3. . Repeat questions.
4. - An'swer questions directly.
5. Keep control.
. 6. End gracefully.
116 .
117
118
ORAL PRESENTATION READING PROJECT
NAME ________________ ~ __ _
GRADE _____________ _
This project is your last practice in class in explaining a topic to a group of people in a
situation that is not a dialog. You have practiced speaking every week. As you speak,
try to focus, as usual, on communicating your ideas clearly .. Focus on speaking
without hesitation. Use your notes to help you.
SUGGESTION: While you are presenting the information, look at the people in your
group. Make sure that they understand the information you are trying to explain. Use
the following expressions:
- Are you following?
~ Is that clear?
- Do you have any questions?
**FOCUS ON YOUR MESSAGE!!**
GRADE PRONUNCIATION FLUENCY
VERY GOOD slight accent does natural speed, good
not affect . use of vocabulary,
communication good preparation
ACCEPTABLE some effort needed average fluency;
to understand; some hesitation but
typical errors effective
communication
NEEDS WORK difficulty in lots of hesitation,
communicating repetition, use of
because of serious French words,
pronunciation asking for help;. not
problems - get enough preparation
tapes!
Comments
121
ACCURACY
very few grammar
errors; good control
of verb tense,
structure
average number of
mistakes, good
self-corre9tion
lots of errors which
block
communication;
focus on grammar
improvement!

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