Pitanja i odgovori za usmeni ispit iz engleskog III i IV 2010.

/2011

1.What do transport and communications reflect? Transport and communications are essential elements of all advanced economies and they closely reflect changes in economy and social organization. 2.What does transport have to cope with nowadays? Transport systems now have to cope with demand for more frequent movements usually in smaller shipment sizes, over greater geographical distances with shorter lead times, and in which a very high premium is placed upon quality of service and reliability. 3.What were the key discoveries in the history of transport? The key discoveries in the history of transport have been the invention of the steam-engine which sparked off the development of railways and steamships. The internal combustion engine which made automobile and air travel possible, and the electric motor which allowed the development of city metro systems. 4.Who invented the first car and how? The first workable four-stroke internal combustion engine was invented in 1876 by. N. Otto in Germany, after many years of experimental work with gas engines. Following Ottos work, Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler working independently, produced the worlds first cars with internal combustion engines. 5.What did the Benz of 1885 look like? The Benz of 1885, was a three-wheeled vehicle with a tubular steel chassis and an open wooden two-seater body. The single front wheel was steered by a tiller, and the two large wheels were driven by chains. The single-cylinder petrol engine operated on the four-stroke principle, with electric ignition and water cooling, and was mounted horizontally over the rear axle. 6.Describe Daimler's car! Daimlers car, the first four-wheeled design was a converted carriage fitted with a vertical single-cylinder engine developing 1 1/2 hp and running at up to 900 revs/min. It was produced in 1886. 7.What do you know about the development in braking and transmission system? The improvements in engine design, which led to high road speeds, forced the pace of development in braking and transmission systems. The first brakes were based on those used on horse-drawn vehicles or bicycles. The disc brake was invented in 1902 by F. Lanchester, then the following year the Mercedes company (formerly Daimler) produced braking system with internally-expanding shoes inside a brake drum. Fourwheel braking was first employed by the Italian company of Isotta-Franchini in 1911. The early 1900s saw the growth of the American automobile industry and the stream of innovations that originated in the USA during this period included automatic transmission (1904), coil and distributor ignition (1908), the electric starter, the dynamo, a car telephone and hydraulic braking (1920).

8.How did the World War I affect the production of automobiles? World War I was the first mechanised war and there was a great demand for massproduced, standardised engines and components. This led not only to improved production techniques but also to more reliable and efficient vehicles. 9.What did the new interest in safety and pollution contro l bring about? Car design in the 1960s was greatly influenced by the new interest in safety and pollution control. Mechanical improvements brought higher speeds, better road-holding, braking and acceleration, but many countries began to introduce laws restricting the maximum speed of vehicles. Cars had to be built to comply with the strict new safety and antipollution laws of the United States, which were gradually adopted by many other countries. 10. What made possible the mass production of automobiles and who was responsible? World War I was the first mechanised war and there was a great demand for massproduced, standardised engines and components. This led not only to improved production techniques but also to more reliable and efficient vehicles. 11. Why do we say that automobile is 'mixed blessing'? Explain! Traffic accidents are increasing steadily, and large cities are plagued by traffic congestion. Worst of all perhaps, is the air pollution caused by the internal-combustion engine. While wheels have brought better and more convenient transportation they have also brought new and unforeseen problems. 12. What solutions did the experts try to give in order to decrease traffic congestion and air pollution? One answer to the problem of air pollution is to build a car that does not pollute. Another solution is to eliminate car fumes altogether by getting rid of the internal-combustion engine. Inventors are now working on turbine-powered cars, as well as on cars powered by steam and electricity. But most of us wont be driving cars run on batteries or boiling water for a while yet. Americans may for example have to cut down on the number of privately owned cars and depend more on public mass transit systems. Certainly the extensive use of new transit systems could cut down on traffic congestion and air pollution. 13. What are the three elements that are essential to a successful trafic engineering? 14. What are the three keys to advancing traffic engineering improvements to the implementation stage? 15.Why have professional engineers of traffic been lulled into false sense of security? 16.What is BART, and what is the network of BART composed of? The Bay Area Rapid Transit popularly called BART is such a promising preview of what mass transit can be that it is likely to be copied by other traffic-choked cities. Composed of one-third subway, one-third elevated, and one-third ground-level track, the network will serve 2.5 million people. 17.What is the advantage of travelling by BART? It used to take Royal forty-five minutes to drive the 27 miles from Hayward to downtown San Francisco; BARTs time is twenty-eight minutes. This means that Royal can start for work almost twenty minutes later. But BART is not only quicker, it is also cheaper.

By car, Royals daily round-trip expense, including parking and bridge tolls, was roughly $ 4.50. BART costs him less than half as much. 18.What were the problems in operation of BART, including the most alarming problem? There have been managerial and financial problems, and there have also been problems with the automated control system. Sometimes doors opened when the trains were in motion, and they sometimes opened on the wrong side, away from the passenger platforms. Even more alarming was the discovery that the detection system failed to detect the trains that were not in motion. 19. Why has there always been a problem in using radio relay in overseas communications? Although high-frequency waves can travel almost unlimited distances, they travel only in straight lines. Since the curvature of the earth limits a microwaves line-of-sight path to about 30 miles, good reception requires a series of relay towers spaced every 30 miles or so.Obviously it isnt possible to build these towers across the ocean. 20.What is COMSAT and INTELSAT? Shortly before Telstar I was launched, the United States Congress established the Communications Satellite Corporation Comsat to develop a commercial satellite system as part of an improved global communications network. Comsat, which is owned partly by public investors and partly by communications carriers, represents the United States in the International Telecommunications Satellite Consortium Intelsat and acts as manager for that body. Since its inception in 1962, the corporation, in collaboration with Intelsat, has inaugurated commercial satellite transmission of telephone, television, and other telecommunications traffic between North America and Europe and North America and the Far East. 21. What do problems of modern transportation include? Problems of modern transportation include traffic safety, declining fuel reserves, environmental problems, and inadequate public transportation facilities. These problems are most severe in countries that depend heavily on automobile transportation. 22.How do petroleum prices affect transport? Energy experts warn that the worlds supply of inexpensive petroleum is being used up rapidly. At the current rate of use, the supply may be exhausted by the mid-2000s. Developed countries face therefore a difficult problem. They must ensure that their major transportation systems have enough fuel to function normally, but must do all they can to conserve fuel. Fuel conservation is necessary not only because of the threat of a serious fuel shortage, but also because of the high price of petroleum. Higher petroleum prices result in higher transportation costs, which drive up the prices of transported goods. 23.What kind of guideways does the movement typically occur along? The movement typically occurs along a specific facility or pathway that can be called a guideway. 24. Describe the dual objectives of traffic control!

Safety, the management of traffic to reduce or eliminate accidents, is the other critical reason for traffic control. An airline pilot needs to be warned of high winds at the destination airport just as an automobile driver needs to be warned of a dangerous curve or intersection ahead. Efficiency can be thought of as a measure of movement levels relative to the objectives for a particular transportation system and the finances required for its operation. For example, a railroad can be thought of as efficient if it can accommodate the travel requirements of its customers at the least cost. It will be thought of as inefficient if an alternative (e.g. a trucking service) can also meet customer needs but at a lower cost. 25.What is traffic? Traffic is the movement of people and goods from one location to another.Where does the movement typically occur? 26.What kind of guideways can we talk about in traffic? It may be a physical guideway, as in the case of a railroad, or it may be an agreed-upon or designated route, marked either electronically (as in aviation) or geographically (as in the maritime industry). 27.Why is the movement (of people and goods) initiated? The movement is initiated because of decisions made by people to transport themselves or others from one location to another to participate in activities at that second location or to move goods to a location where they have higher value. 28.In what case is a railroad thought of as efficient and as inefficient? railroad can be thought of as efficient if it can accommodate the travel requirements of its customers at the least cost. It will be thought of as inefficient if an alternative (e.g. a trucking service) can also meet customer needs but at a lower cost. 29.When was the first-ever mobile phone call in the UK made, who made it, and who did it call? In the early hours of New Years Day, 1985, Michael Harrison phoned his father, Sir Ernest, to wish him a happy new year. There may appear to be nothing remarkable about this but Sir Ernest was chairman of Racal Electronics, the owner of Vodafone, and his son was making the first-ever mobile phone call in the UK. 30.Which two factors brought about a significant boom in the sales of mobile phones? The boom was a consequence of increased competition which pushed prices lower and created innovations in the way that mobiles were sold, which helped put them within the reach of the mass market and the move to digital technology. 31.According to the chief technology officer at Ericsson, what will be an important future developement in mobile telephony? John Cunliffe, chief technology officer at Ericsson in north-west Europe, believes the next wave of growth for mobile telephony will come not from persuading more people to get a phone because many already have one but connecting machines to wireless networks. Everything from vehicle fleets and smart electric and water meters to peoples fridge freezers will one day be able to communicate. 32.What human characteristics does WALL-E have?

This unit has developed sentience and a sense of emotion, particularly curiosity, as shown by his quirky habits. 33. Does the movie have an optimistic or pesimistic ending? Movie have an optimistic ending because humans and robots place the plant in the ground, and begin working together to restore their home world. 34. Describe humans living on the Axiom! Humans have suffered severe bone loss, and have become extremely obese and unable to walk, reclining on hovering chairs and communicating only through video messaging. 35. What is the XD? The DOK-ING XD is a small three-seat electric city concept car created by DOK-ING. The name XD comes from oddly shaped rear lights ("X" shaped) and "D" beginning letter of the company's name. 36. Describe an XD and say something about its performances! XD can travel over 250 km on a single charge with lithium iron phosphate batteries. Other features include 360 degree airbags, butterfly doors, an integrated safety system for electric stability, ABS brakes and power steering. The 'XD' combines the most attractive features of a city car in an attractive package, the small lenght (2.8 meters), comfortable interior (width 1.7 meters, height 1.6 meters), and performance of a compact sports vehicle (0-100 km/hr in 7,7 seconds). 37. What kinds of biomass are there? Biomass has a variety of forms, and the two important ones are woody material like willow and miscanthus, which grow fast and can be easily burnt, and oil like sunflower oil, soy and palm oil, which has a high calorific value when burnt. Other forms of biomass are cow-dung, chicken litter and bedding, olive oil cake and methane from agricultural waste like manure, used cooking oil wood and pellets, which are now proving cheaper energy alternatives. 38. What are the disadvantages of using biomass energy? The main one is that both the transport system and the whole energy infrastructure are organized around the use of fossil fuel. And, biomass oils like palm oil and wood from biomass materials can cause unpleasants smells and smoke. Bio-fuels can be difficult to use outside industry, as the supply of biomass and development of the necessary specialist equipment are in their infancy. And a shift in people's perception is required if using of biomass is to take off. 39. What is ethanol? An instance is ethanol, which can easily be fermented from grain or sugar and can be mixed with petrol in the ratio of one part ethanol and nine parts petrol. Also, ethanol doesnt need the vehicle to be changed when it is used in cars.