English for Students of Technical Sciences

УДК 811.111(075.8) ББК 
81.432.1-923 Л88 
 
Рецензент 

Болсуновская Л.М., зав. кафедрой ИЯГН ИГНД ТПУ, канд. филол. наук, доцент, проф. РАЕ 
 
 
 
 

Лычковская Л.Е. 
Л88        English for Students of Technical Sciences : учеб. пособие / Л.Е. Лычковская, Е.Р. 
Менгардт. - Томск : Томск. гос. ун-т систем упр. и радиоэлектроники, 2015. - 464с. 
ISBN 978-5-86889-440-4 
Учебное пособие составлено в соответствии с программой по английскому 
языку для технических вузов. Оно предоставляет возможность студентам овладеть главными видами коммуникативной деятельности: говорением, чтением и 
пониманием, письмом и переводом. 
Первый раздел (Part I) содержит обязательные вузовские темы, рекомендуемые к изучению в первом и втором семестрах обучения. В каждый урок включён грамматический блок с правилами в рамках-таблицах и упражнениями. Второй раздел (Part II) содержит адаптированные научно-популярные тексты и 
упражнения коммуникативного характера. Пояснения к грамматическим таблицам уроков даны в разделе "Grammar Reference". Раздел "Reader" включает тексты, несущие информацию об инновациях в современных коммуникационных 
технологиях. Пособие содержит дополнительный материал "Additional Exercises", 
включающий упражнения повышенной сложности для самостоятельной работы, а 
также приложения ("Appendices"), в которых даны краткие сведения по фонетике 
и таблицы основных способов словообразования. 
Для студентов вечернего и заочного отделений технических вузов. 

УДК 811.111(075.8) ББК 
81.432.1-923 
 
 
 
 
 
 

© Лычковская Л.Е. Менгардт Е.Р., 
2015 

©Томский гос. ун-т систем упр. 
ISBN 978-5-86889-440-4 
и радиоэлектроники, 2015 
 
 
 

Contents                                                 

Introduction (От авторов) ............................................................................. 4 

Part I  ............................................................................................................. 5 
Unit 1. About Myself ................................................................................ 6 
Unit 2. One Day in My Life .................................................................... 29 
Unit 3. The Value of Education ............................................................... 47 
Unit 4. My Future Job ............................................................................. 63 
Unit 5. My Home Town .......................................................................... 82 
Unit 6. The Russian Federation ............................................................... 99 
Unit 7. The United Kingdom ................................................................. 114 
Unit 8. The United States of America .................................................... 130 

Part II ......................................................................................................... 153 
Unit 9. Communications........................................................................ 154 
Unit 10. Computers ................................................................................. 176 
Unit 11. The Laser Technology Today and Tomorrow ............................ 192 
Unit 12. Management .............................................................................. 211 
Unit 13. Economics ................................................................................. 229 
Unit 14. Social Work............................................................................... 242 
Unit 15. Ecological Problems of the World ............................................. 254 

Reader ........................................................................................................ 274 
Text 1. The Evolution of Technology – The History of Computers ........ 275 
Text 2. What is USB? ............................................................................ 277 
Text 3. What is 64-bit Computing? ........................................................ 280  
Text 4. Intel® Dual Core Processors ...................................................... 281 
Text 5. Smartphone ............................................................................... 282 
Text 6. High-definition Television ......................................................... 283 
Text 7. Wi-Fi ......................................................................................... 286 
Text 8. Ecology and Human Rights in Russia ........................................ 293 
Text 9. Our Health ................................................................................. 294 
Text 10. Challenges of Leadership in Teams ........................................... 295 

Grammar Reference .................................................................................. 297 
Unit 1. Pronouns, the verb to be, the verb to have (got),  
Articles, Plurals, Possessive Case .............................................. 298 
Unit 2. Numbers, There + to be, Present Simple Tense, Indefinite  
Pronouns ................................................................................... 323 
Unit 3. Present Progressive Tense, Adjectives and Adverbs ................... 332 
Unit 4. Past Simple Tense, Present Perfect Tense, Present Perfect  
Progressive Tense ...................................................................... 339 
Unit 5. Talking about Future ................................................................. 348 
Unit 6. Passive Voice, Degrees of Comparisons, Relative Pronouns ...... 353 

Unit 7. Modal Verbs, Conditionals II .................................................... 363 
Unit 8. Past Progressive Tense, Past Perfect Tense, Direct  
and Reported Speech ................................................................. 370 
Unit 9. Revising Tenses ........................................................................ 387 
Unit 10. Participle ................................................................................... 394 
Unit 11. Gerund, Multifunctional Words ................................................. 402 
Unit 12. Infinitive ................................................................................... 411 
Unit 13. Subjunctive Mood ..................................................................... 419 
Unit 14. Modal Verbs .............................................................................. 423 
Unit 15. Simple and Complex Sentences ................................................. 429 

Additional exercises ................................................................................... 442 

Appendices ................................................................................................. 456 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Introduction (Oт авторов)               

Данное учебное пособие предназначено для студентов технических 
высших учебных заведений и составлено в соответствии с «Программой 
по иностранным языкам для вузов неязыковых специальностей». 
Раздел I (Part I) содержит обязательные вузовские темы, рекомендованные к изучению на первом этапе обучения. В каждом уроке имеется 
блок грамматики с правилами в рамках-таблицах и упражнениями.  
Раздел II (Part II), предназначенный для второго этапа обучения, 
включает в себя уроки, тематически связанные с профилем технических 
вузов. Данный раздел содержит адаптированные научно-популярные тексты и упражнения коммуникативного характера. Как и в первом разделе,  
имеется блок грамматики. После каждого правила даются упражнения на 
закрепление материала, которые по своему содержанию имеют общенаучный характер и будут понятны слушателям любой специальности. Эти 
упражнения рекомендуется делать в аудитории под контролем преподавателя после введения нового материала.  
Пояснения к грамматическим таблицам  уроков разделов I и II даны 
в разделе “Grammar Reference”. Авторы считают наличие этого раздела 
оправданным, поскольку данное учебное пособие предназначено для студентов вечерней и заочной форм обучения.  
Раздел “Reader” – тексты, несущие информацию об инновациях  
в современных коммуникационных технологиях, рекомендован для индивидуального перевода. 
В разделе “Additional Exercises” содержатся упражнения повышенной сложности для самостоятельной работы.   
И, наконец, приложения (“Appendices”) включают в себя краткие 
сведения по фонетике и таблицы основных способов словообразования. 
Условные обозначения: 
 
                       –   тексты и диалоги для чтения 

 
–   устные упражнения 

   
–   письменные упражнения 

–   грамматические правила 

 

  
 
 
Л.Е. Лычковская, Е.Р. Менгардт 

 

PART  I 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unit 1. ABOUT MYSELF 
 
1.1. Read the following words and expressions and pay attention to the 
examples.     

to introduce 
представлять, знакомить 
Let me introduce my friend to you. 

for short                                  
для краткости; сокращённо 
We called him Dick for short. 

to be born 
родиться 
Shakespeare was born in the 16th  
century. 

an appearance 
внешность 
The appearance is very important for 
actresses. 

to be good (bad) at smth. 
преуспевать (не преуспевать)  
в чем-л. 

My brother is very good at physics but 
he is bad at English. 

to be married to smb. 
быть женатым на ком-л., 
быть замужем за кем-л. 

Kate is married to a businessman. 

quite 
довольно 
Nick is quite tall and intelligent. 

character 
характер 
By character my boyfriend is very  
nervous. 

to play the piano 
играть на фортепиано  
Veronica can play the piano very well. 

to have a lot of work 
иметь много работы    
Unfortunately, my mother has a lot of 
work to do about the house. 

to listen to 
слушать 
We often listen to pop music. 

to agree with smb., to smth.
соглашаться с кем-л.  
или с чем-л. 

I don’t agree with you!
I agree to your suggestion. 

to prefer 
предпочитать 
I like green tea, but my wife prefers 
coffee. 

to be in poor health  
болеть 
My great-grandmother is in poor health 
now and we are taking care of her. 

 

1.2. Read the text. 

MY FAMILY 

Hello! Let me introduce myself. My name is Alexander, Sasha for short. Alexander 
is my first name and Sokolov is my surname. I am Russian. I am eighteen. I was born 
on  5th April  in  Tomsk,  an  ancient  Siberian  town.  Now  I  am  a  first-year  student  of  
Tomsk University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics. In five years’ time I will 
become a programmer.  

Now  let  me  describe  my  appearance. I am quite tall and slim, with dark hair and 
brown eyes. I love playing the guitar and I think I am good at it. I am not married 
yet, but I have got a girlfriend. Her name is Irina. She is seventeen and she is a student 
too. She is not tall, quite fair and very pretty. 

Our family is not very large. I have got a father, a mother and two sisters. We live  
together in a new flat. My father’s name is Igor and he is forty-five years old. He is 
tall and well-built, with short black hair and grey eyes. He works at a big automobile 
plant  as  an  engineer.  He  likes  his  job  and  spends  most  of  the  time  there.  By  
character my father is a quiet man, while my mother is energetic and talkative. Her 
name is Olga. She is short and plump, with curly hair. She is quite good-looking. She 
is a teacher of music and plays the piano well. My mother always has a lot of work 
to do about the house and at school. She is a busy woman and we all help her. My elder  sister,  Anna,  is  twenty-five  years  old.  She  is  married.  She  is  a  doctor.  Her   
husband, Nikolay, is an electrician. They have got two children: a daughter and a son. 
Their daughter, Diana, is four and their son, Oleg, is two. My younger sister’s name is 
Alla. She has got blue eyes and lovely fair hair. She is a pupil of the ninth form and 
gets only good and excellent marks. Literature is her favourite subject and she wants 
to become a teacher. 

Our family is very friendly. In the evenings we watch TV, read books and newspapers, 
listen to music or simply talk about the events of the day. Our parents do not always 
agree to what we say, but they listen to our opinion. We like to spend our weekends 
out of town. We often go to the village where our grandparents live. They are  
pensioners now, but prefer to live in the country. My great-grandmother is still alive. 
She lives with my grandmother’s family and is always glad to see us. She is in poor 
health and asks us to come and see her more often. I have also got a lot of relatives: 
uncles, aunts and cousins. We are happy when we are together.  
 
 
1.3. Match the following words and expressions with their equivalents. 

1. ancient 
a) хорошенькая (только о женщинах) 
2. a first-year student 
b) подруга (молодого человека) 
3. in five years’ time 
c) получать отметки 
4. tall 
d) симпатичный (-ая) 
5. dark hair 
e) карие глаза 

6. brown eyes 
f) темные волосы 
7. a girlfriend 
g) старшая сестра 
8. pretty 
h) старый, старинный 
9. well-built 
i) ученик девятого класса 
10. a quiet man 
j) поехать в деревню 
11. good-looking 
k) двоюродный брат или сестра 
12. plump  
l) высокого роста 
13. an elder sister 
m) прабабушка 
14. a pupil of the ninth form 
n) студент первого курса 
15. to get marks 
o) через пять лет 
16. to become a teacher 
p) проводить выходные дни за городом 
17. to spend weekends out of 
town 
q) стать учителем 

18. to go to the village 
r) тихий человек 
19. a great-grandmother 
s) крепкий; хорошо сложённый  
20. a cousin 
t) полный, пухлый 
 
 
1.4. Read the following words and notice their pronunciation.  

introduce 
[`Intrq`dju:s] 
character
[`kxrqktq] 
quite 
[kwaIt]

appearance [q`pIqrqns] 
ancient 
[`eInS(q)nt] 
cousin 
[`kAz(q)n]  
automobile [`Ltqmq(u)bJl] 
eighteen 
[`eI`tJn]    
guitar 
[ gI`tR] 
electrician 
[I`lek`trIS(q)n] 
daughter 
[`dLtq] 
event 
[I`vent] 
 
 
 
  
                                 
 
 
                          Table 1.1 
                               Personal Pronouns 

Number 
Person 
Subject  form 
Object form 

 
Singular 
1 
2 
3 

I 
you 
he,  she,   it 

me 
you 
him, her, it 

 
Plural 
1 
2 
3 

we 
you 
they 

us 
you 
them 

 

1.5. Replace the words in bold with the correct personal pronoun, as in 
the model. 
 
Model: – My friend is a student. 
                – He is a student. 
 
1. Clara is a housewife.  
2. My mother and I are dark.  
3. Walter and Augusta are married. 
4. Is your son a photographer?  
5. Your sister and you are very pretty! 
 
6. Silvia’s son is very short. 
7. The calendar is on the table.  
8. Is Kate your daughter?  
9. My uncle is from the USA.  
10. Is the cat under the chair? 
 
                                                                                
Table 1.2 
         Possessive Adjectives and Possessive Pronouns 

Number 
Person 
Possessive adjectives 
Possessive 
pronouns 

 
Singular 
1 
2 
3 

my 
your 
his, her, its 

mine 
yours 
his, hers, its 

 
Plural 
1 
2 
3 

our 
your 
their 

ours 
yours 
theirs 

 
This is my book. 
This book is mine. 

 
 
1.6. Choose the Russian pronouns corresponding to the English ones.   

1. Him  
– он   
она   
ему          их 
2. Us  
–  наш  
нам, нас 
вам, вас       мы 
3. Them  
– им, их 
они   
нам          его 
4. Your, yours  – ты, вы 
наш  
тебя, вас      твой, ваш 
5. They  
– они  
ты, вы  
твой, ваш    им, их  
6. Me  
–  мой  
мне, меня 
ее 
         нам 
7. Our, ours 
– твой  
нам, нас 
наш          ваш 
 

8. We 
– ты, вы 
мы 
вам, вас       
ваш 
9. Their, theirs –  их  
они 
его          ее 
10. Her, hers 
– она  
его 
ее 
         он 
 
 
1.7. Replace the Russian pronouns with the English ones, as in the model. 
 
Model:  – This is (моя) pen. 
                         – This is my pen. 
 
                         – This pen is not (твоя). 
                         – This pen is not yours.  
  

1. Helen has got a cat; the cat is (ее).   
2. You have got two English books; they are (твои). 
3. Those were (еe) words. Those words weren’t (его).  
4. ‘Are you (ее) friend?’ ‘Yes, I’m a friend of (ее).’ 
5. ‘Is it (твоя) idea?’ ‘Yes, this idea is (моя).’ 
6. We have got two dogs in the house. They are (наши).  
7. Is (твой) cat bigger than (мой)?
  
8. I think (наша) flat is a bit smaller than (ваша).
  
9. ‘Whose is that big house?’ ‘It’s (их).’ 
10. ‘Where is (моя) book?’  ‘(Твоя) is on the table.’ 
 
 
1.8. Complete the following sentences with the correct variant. 

1. Mу boyfriend and … brother are architects.  
 
a) her 
b) its 
c) his 
 d)  me   

2. … husband’s parents are sixty years old. 
 
a) His   
 
b) Her  
c) Their  
d) Our 

3. We’ve got two cousins. … are very good-looking. 
 
a) They 
 
b) Their 
c)  Us   
d) Her 

4. My wife and I are fair, but … children are quite dark. 
 
a) their 
 
b) your  
c)  our   
d) his 

5. They are from Spain. … language is Spanish. 
 a) Your
   
b) Our  
c)  Her  
d) Their 

6. ‘What are your names?’ ‘… names are Dick and John.’ 
 
a) Our 
b) My 
c) Your 
d) Ours 

7. Helen is from England, but … husband is from Canada. 
 
a) his 
b) her 
c) hers 
d) him