ENGINEERING IN ROME

The Romans constructed many impressive buildings besides the Circus Maximus and the Colosseum. Between A.D. 118 and 128, Hadrian rebuilt the Pantheon, a temple for all the gods and goddesses, with a soaring dome and a huge skylight. To build the Pantheon, the Romans mixed concrete a new building material with various kinds of stone.

As they constructed public buildings and a vast network of roads, the Romans engineered aqueducts, or artificial channels for carrying water. These lofty arches built out of stone enabled water to flow into Rome from as far away as 30 miles (about 48 kilometers). One Roman-built aqueduct in Segovia, Spain, was so well constructed that it is still used today nearly 1.900 years after it was completed.

The Romans excelled at taking discoveries made by others, combining them, refining them, and using them in new and often more practical ways. They adapted the Etruscan arch and dome to construct aqueducts and the Pantheon, and borrowed the design for columns from the Greek temple to support porches they built around Roman city squares.

Roman scientists also relied upon foreign resources information that had been collected and organized from other cultures.

Соотнесите русские и английские словосочетания.

1. huge skylight	a) парящий купол
2. vast network	b) позаимствовать конструкцию
3. to borrow the design	c) искусственные каналы
4. artificial channels	d) обширная сеть
5. soaring dome	e) огромное потолочное окно

Найдите в каждом ряду слово, противоположное по значению первому слову ряда.

1. artificial	a) man-made	b) natural	c) humane	d) practical
2. enable	a) let	b) allow	c) afford	d) prevent
3. rely upon	a) question	b) trust	c)believe	d) credit
4. refine	a) separate	b) mix	c) process	d) distil
5. various	a) similar	b) different	c) many-sided	d) diverse

Вставьте пропущенное слово согласно информации, данной в тексте.

1. The Pantheon is a ______ for all the gods and goddesses.

2. The Romans constructed public buildings and a ___________ of roads.

3. The aqueducts ____________ water to flow form far away.

4. The Romans built the ___________ in Spain which is still used today.

5. Roman scientists often _________ upon foreign resources.

 

Напишите, соответствуют ли предложения содержанию текста. Отметьте данное утверждение как T (True), если предложение верно передает содержание текста, и как F (False), если оно не соответствует его содержанию.

	Statement	True	False
1.	The Romans adapted the Etruscan aqueducts.
2.	The Romans constructed many beautiful buildings.
3.	Some structures can work in our days.
4.	Ancient Romans mixed concrete with metal.
5.	The Romans didn’t study information from other cultures.

Найдите в тексте необходимую информацию и дайте ответы на следующие вопросы.

1. What is an aqueduct?

2. What did the Romans do between 118 and 128 A.D.?

3. How did the Romans use discoveries made by others?

4. What did they borrow the design of Greek columns for?

5. What are the Romans famous for?