Communication

in Technical English

Unit 1

METALS
A. Understanding a printed text
This passage will give you some Information about metals, alloys and their uses. Notice how it is divided
into paragraphs and sections.

Now look at the following questions:

1. What is the main advantage of metals?
2. Can plastics be recycled?
3. Which type of heat treatment makes metal softer and less brittle?
4. Why are Concorde's engine surrounds made of titanium alloys?
Read the passage to find the answers.
Remember that you do not need to understand every word in order to do so.

Why does man use metals still so much today when there are other materials, especially plastics, which are
available? A material is generally used because it1 offers the required strength, and other properties, at
minimum cost. Appearance is also an important factor. The main advantage of metals is their strength and
toughness. Concrete may be cheaper and is often used in building, but even concrete depends on its core of
steel for strength.
Plastics are lighter and more corrosion-resistant, but they are not usually as strong. Another problem with plastics
is what to do with them2 after use. Metal objects can often be broken down and the metals recycled; plastics
can only be dumped or burned.

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15

20

25

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Not all metals are strong, however. Copper and aluminium, for example, are both fairly weak - but if they are
mixed together, the result is an alloy called aluminium bronze, which3 is much stronger than either pure copper
or pure aluminium. Alloying is an important method of obtaining whatever special properties are required:
strength, toughness, resistance to wear, magnetic properties, high electrical resistance or corrosion resistance
The properties of a metal can be further improved by use of heat treatment. Heat treatment is the term
given to a number of different procedures in which the properties of metals and alloys are changed. It4
usually consists of heating the metal or alloy to a selected temperature below its5 melting point and then cooling
it6 at a certain rate to obtain those properties which are required. For example, hardening is used to make
metals harder. Tempering makes them softer and less brittle. Annealing is carried out to make a metal soft so
that it can be machined more easily. In this way, metallic materials can be produced to meet every kind of
engineering specification and requirement.
When Concorde was built, a material was needed which could withstand extreme aerodynamic conditions and
would have a life of at least 45,000 flying hours. To achieve this, a special aluminium alloy was developed
which is tough and lightweight and is used in over 70% of Concordes structure. Another 16% is made of
high-strength steel, and titanium alloys are used in the engine surrounds to withstand temperatures of 4000
degrees centigrade.
Methods of extracting, producing and treating metals are being developed all the time to meet requirements. This
means that there is an enormous variety of metals and metallic materials available from which to choose.

B. Check your understanding

Now read the text carefully, looking up anything you do not understand in a dictionary or
reference book. While you read, look for the answers to these questions:

Communication in Technical English

Unit 1

1. Circle the correct thumb ( = True; = False) to indicate if the statements below are true
or false according to the facts in the passage.
/ Concrete is a cheap building material.
/ Plastics are more easily recycled than metals.
/ Aluminium bronze is an example of an alloy.
/ Pure copper is stronger than the alloys that are made by mixing copper with aluminium.
/ Tempering is a kind of heat treatment.
/ It is sometimes an advantage for a metal to be soft.
/ Concorde is built mainly of steel.
2. Answer the following questions:
Which noun does the pronoun it1 refer to?
Which nouns does the pronoun them2 refer to?
What does the word which3 refer to?
What does the pronoun It4 refer to?
Which noun or nouns does the word its5 refer to?
Does the word it6 refer to the same noun or nouns as its5?

C. Increase your vocabulary

1. Properties of materials
(a) These words and phrases refer to properties of materials:
strength

toughness

corrosion

resistant

In the passage, there are nine more words which refer to properties of materials. List them
below.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
(b) Now write the meanings of these words in English (definition) and Catalan or Spanish
(translation). Use a dictionary if necessary.
loosen: _____________________________________________________________
tighten: ____________________________________________________________
stiffen: _____________________________________________________________
brighten: ___________________________________________________________
cool: _______________________________________________________________

Communication in Technical English

Unit 1

2. Nouns and adjectives

Fill in the spaces with the correct form of the word given.
NOUN

ADJECTIVE

NOUN

strength

strong

hardness

ADJECTIVE

resistance

soft
tough

brittle

3. Verbs that describe change

Harden means to make something harder.
Soften means to make something softer.
What words have the following meanings?

To make something thicker

To make something weaker
To make something stronger

_________________________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________

D. Check your grammar

1. ACTIVE OR PASSIVE
Remember:
Hardening is used to make metals harder.
A special aluminium alloy was developed.
Methods of treatment are being developed all the time.

The sentences above are examples of passive sentences. The passive is frequently used in
scientific and technical writing because the form is impersonal and objective.
The passive is formed with to be, followed by the past participle of the verb: e.g. to be used,
to be developed, etc

Rewrite these sentences using the passive form instead of the active, which is underlined.
We rarely find pure metals in nature.

We recover metallic ores from the earth in many ways.

We obtain lead from a mineral which we call galena.

You need a lot of electrical energy to separate aluminium from the oxygen in aluminium ore.

Communication in Technical English

Unit 1

If we add lead to molten tin and then cool the mixture, we find that the freezing point of the mixture is
lower than the freezing point of both lead and tin.

2. COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES

Remember
a little / a lot more than : more than : the most
a little / a lot less than : less than : the least

Using the information in the following table, we can say:

Estimated iron ore production
in million of metric tons for 2011
according to U.S. Geological Survey

China produces the most iron.

Australia produces a little more than Brazil
Russia produces a lot less than China or Australia

Country Production
China

1,200

Australia

480

Brazil

390

India

240

Russia

100

Now write five sentences about tin production using the table below.
World Tin Producers
(in metric tons)

Country

2012

China

100,000

Indonesia

41,000

Peru

29,000

Australia

20,000

Brazil

11,500

United States

6,000

Congo

5,700

Vietnam

5,400

Rwanda

3,600

Malaysia

3,300

____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

Communication in Technical English

Unit 1

3. ADVERBS AND ADJECTIVES

A
A
A

Adjective
careful
weak
good

worker works
metal breaks
student studies

Adverb
carefully
easily
hard

Many adverbs end in -ly but there are exceptions, such as:
often
always
well
sometimes
never
hard

fast

Some adverbs go with adjectives to modify them. For example:

Aluminium is extremely light.
Many alloys have been specially developed.
Choose either the adjective or the adverb to complete each of the sentences below:
Alloys are ____________ prepared by mixing molten metals.
Pure iron is a ____________ metal.
Platinum has ____________ resistance to corrosion.
Iron is ____________ to extract from iron ores.
Rolled gold consists of a ____________ layer of gold alloy.
Radium is an extremely ____________ metal.
It is also ____________ radioactive.
Magnesium is known as a metal which burns ____________.

general / generally
soft / softly
exceptional / exceptionally
easy / easily
thin / thinly
rare / rarely
high / highly
bright / brightly

E. Understanding a lecture
Now you will hear a lecture which contains facts referring to the different weights of metals in
automobiles and to the change in amounts over a period of time.

As you listen, complete the two tables below with the missing details:

Table 1. Typical metal content of European automobiles

Weight
Metal
Uses
cast iron
cylinder block, gearbox
15 kg
,
carburettor
radiator pipes, electrics
aluminium
5 kg
battery
vehicle body

Communication in Technical English

Table 2. Typical distribution of materials in US automobiles

1979
1985
Weight, lb
%
Weight, lb
2000
1500
515
300
Cast iron
100
3
170
65
2
50
Other metals
190
5
250
Other
380
12
300
materials
3,250
100
2,600
F. Further Reading 1
Resistor values

Fill in the missing colours in this table with the help of the text.

Unit 1

%
13
2
10
100

Communication in Technical English

Unit 1

Find the values and tolerances of resistors banded as follows.

Read this additional text. Answer the questions below, which refer to both texts.

1.- Why are resistors coded with coloured bands rather than some other form of marking?
2.- What would be the effect of making resistors with a much higher tolerance?
3.- Between which values might a resistor marked green, blue, orange, and silver vary?
4.- Why manufacturers make resistors in the preferred values shown rather than in equally stepped
values?

Communication in Technical English

Unit 1

G. Further Reading 2
Mechanisms
Read the following text quickly and find out which of these mechanisms are mentioned.
1
2
3

cam
tap
pendulum

4
5

foot pump
escalator

Now find the answers to these questions.

1.- What does a cam do?
2.- What does oscillating mean?
3.- How are plastic pipes formed?
4.- What simple mechanisms in the home are mentioned directly or indirectly?
5.- What is the function of the crankshaft?
6.- Give an example of a device which can produce a linear movement.
7.- How are car body panels formed?
8.- What do mechanisms provide in industry?
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Communication in Technical English

The economist Asha Badlani describes how chaos theory influences her work in this
excerpt from an interview.
Listen and check your understanding with these questions.

Match each part of these phrases, then listen again to check your answers

Listen to the conversation with Asha again and complete these sentences.
1. Asha is responsible for financial _______________ in many parts of the world.
2. Her work consists of predicting _______________.
3. According to Asha, a growing number of _______________ are becoming interested in
chaos theory.
4. Asha suggests that making accurate _______________ is not impossible, but challenging.
5. Economics is not a typical _______________.
6. An important part of chaos theory is accepting _______________.

Unit 1

Communication in Technical English

CHAOS THEORY
Chaos, uncertainty, butterflies, mathematics, meteorology - what do they have in common?
Read about the basics of chaos theory and find out the connections.

It is said that the movement of a butterflys wings in a jungle in South America can cause a
tornado in Asia. This idea is the basis of what is now called chaos theory.
But what exactly is chaos theory, and what relevance does it have for anyone who is not an
analytical physicist?
The mathematician Henri Poincar first described chaos theory at the beginning of the 20th
century, noting how differences in the initial conditions produce very great ones in the final
phenomena. Its modern form was first described by the meteorologist Edward Lorenz in 1960.
Lorenz was working on the problem of weather prediction. He set up a computer, not to predict
the weather, but to look at how a system to predict cycles and changes in weather conditions
could be developed. He noticed that even though he sometimes put in the same data, the results
would come out differently. At first he thought it was a mistake, but after trying again and
again, he reached a different conclusion. This was no mistake. He had set up his computer so
accurately that it was in fact accurately replicating the complex systems of the earths
atmosphere and its influence on weather. Given such a system, the same input could have many
different results.
Then, in the late 1960s, another mathematician, Ernst Mandelbrot, did a similar experiment. He
put 100 years of New York stock exchange cotton prices into a large, old-fashioned computer
and noted that every change in price appeared to be random and unpredictable.
Hence the so-called butterfly effect. The flapping movement of a butterfly's wings creates tiny
changes in the atmosphere which, over the course of time, cause it to diverge from what would
have happened without the flapping. This can eventually cause something as dramatic as a
tornado. The small change in the initial condition of the system causes a chain of events which
can lead to large-scale phenomena. If the butterfly hadnt flapped its wings, the trajectory of the
system might have been very different.
But chaos theory isnt only about butterflies and tornadoes. Aspects of chaos theory show up in
all areas of our lives, from the smallest to the biggest: from the currents of the ocean to the flow
of blood through our bodies, from how tree branches grow to the effects of turbulence on an
aeroplane, from how the planets in the solar system move to how exactly milk mixes with your
morning coffee. Chaos models can be used to plan traffic flow and thus avoid jams, to make
long-range economic forecasts and predict the effects of population growth.
It now seems that alongside relativity and quantum mechanics, chaos theory will be one of the
great discoveries of 20th century science, a theory that fundamentally changes the way people
think about the universe.
Personally, if chaos theory can help to make sure my morning cappuccino is still warm by the
time I get through the usual traffic jam on my way to work, I think its a vital addition to
modern science.

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Unit 1

Communication in Technical English

Complete each of the following sentences with the best ending.

Write the name of the person who works in each of these fields.
Geology
Anthropology
History
Archaeology
Mathematics
Astronomy
Meteorology
Biotechnology
Palaeontology
Botany
Pharmacy
Economics
Physics
Engineering
Psychology
Genetics

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Unit 1

Communication in Technical English

Write the missing words

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Unit 1

Communication in Technical English

Unit 1

NAME: ________________________________________________________
Initial Time:_______________

Total Time spent: __________Minutes

Final Time:_______________

UNIT 1
H. Task (Listening)
In the recording for this task, you will hear instructions for conducting three
simple experiments to demonstrate the effect of heat treatment on steel.
Below are incomplete notes about the materials required and the steps in each
experiment. As you listen, try to complete the notes. One blank = one word.
Materials
two thin and _______________ steel rods a pair of _______________, a _______________of
sandpaper, water and a _______________ source.
Experiment 1
Bend a rod to measure toughness and spring. Hold rod_______________

_______________

_______________

_______________

making

sure

_______________

_______________

_______________ _______________

_______________ near. Heat the rod until the

_______________

_______________

_______________

_______________

and

dip

_______________ _______________ into water. Known as _______________. The rod has

become _______________ and will break _______________.
Experiment 2
Take the _______________ rod and heat until it is _______________ _______________. Keep the
rod in the heat for about _______________ _______________ after it turns red. Remove from the
heat _______________ _______________ and allow them _______________ gradually. This is
annealing. The rod can bend _______________ ________________.
Experiment 3
Heat the _______________ rod again to bright red. Quench it and _______________ it with
sandpaper. Hold it in the heat again until it is

_______________. The rod must not become

_______________. Remove the rod, allow it to _______________. This Tempered rod is

_______________ but less _______________.

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