Study the information about engine types. Summarize this information.

The blocks in most internal-combustion engines are in-line designs or V designs. In-line designs are arranged so that the cylinders stand upright in a single line over the crankshaft. In a V design, two rows of cylinders are set at an angle to form a V. At the bottom of the V is the crankshaft. In-line configurations of six or eight cylinders require long engine compartments found more often in trucks

 

 

than in cars. The V design allows the same number of cylinders to fit into a shorter, although wider, space. Another engine design that fits into shorter,

 

 

allower spaces is a horizontally opposed, or flat, arrangement in which the crankshafst lies between two rows of cylinders.

Engines become more powerful, and use more fuel, as the size and number of cylinders increase. Most modern vehicles in the United States have 4-, 6-, or 8-cylinder engines, but car engines have been designed with 1, 2, 3, 5, 12, and more cylinders.

Diesel engines, common in large trucks or buses, are similar to gasoline internal-combustion engines, but they have a different ignition system. Diesels compress air inside the cylinders with greater force than a gasoline engine does, producing temperatures hot enough to ignite the diesel fuel on contact.

Some cars have rotary engines, also known as Wankel engines, which have one or more elliptical chambers in which triangular-shaped rotors, instead of pistons, rotate.

Electric motors have been used to power automobiles since the late 1800s. Electric power supplied by batteries runs the motor, which rotates a driveshaft, the shaft that transmits engine power to the axles. Commercial electric car models for specialized purposes were available in the 1980s. General Motors Corporation introduced a mass-production all-electric car in the mid-1990s.

Automobiles that combine two or more types of engines are called hybrids. A typical hybrid is an electric motor with batteries that are recharged by a generator run by a small gas- or diesel-powered engine. These hybrids are known as hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). By relying more on electricity and less on

fuel combustion, HEVs have higher fuel efficiency and emit fewer pollutants. Several automakers have experimented with hybrids. In 1997 Toyota Motor Corporation became the first to mass-produce a hybrid vehicle, the Prius. It became available in Japan in 1997 and in North America in 2000. The first hybrid

available for sale in North America, the Honda Insight, was offered by Honda Motor Co., Ltd., in 1999.

 

C. Fuel Supply

Vocabulary to be remembered.

Study the new words and word combinations.

precise –точный, определенный

liquefied fuel -превращенное в жидкость топливо

intake manifold - впускной коллектор

pump – (зд) поступать

tank - бак

mix - смешивать

downward strokes – движения (ход) вниз

fine mist – густой пар,(очищенная смесь)

to be equipped – оснащены

fuel injection system – система впрыска топлива

calibrated bursts of fuel mist – дозированное количество горючей смеси

opening- клапан

exact quantity of gas needed – необходимое количество газа

adjust - приспособить

gas mileage – экономия топлива

engine responsiveness - сохранение активного состояния двигателя

High-performance automobiles – автомобили высокого класса

engine’s output – мощность двигателя

Supercharger – нагнетатель, компрессор наддува

Turbocharger – турбокомпенсатор

 

Read and translate the text

 

The internal-combustion engine is powered by the burning of a precise mixture of liquefied fuel and air in the cylinders’ combustion chambers. Fuel is stored in a tank until it is needed, then pumped to a carburetor or, in newer cars, to a fuel-injection system.

The carburetor controls the mixture of gas and air that travels to the engine. It mixes fuel with air at the head of a pipe, called the intake manifold, leading to the cylinders. A vacuum created by the downward strokes of pistons draws air through the carburetor and intake manifold. Inside the carburetor, the airflow transforms drops of fuel into a fine mist, or vapor. The intake manifold delivers the fuel vapor to the cylinders, where it is ignited.

All new cars produced today are equipped with fuel injection systems instead of carburetors. Fuel injectors spray carefully calibrated bursts of fuel mist into cylinders either at or near openings to the combustion chambers. Since the exact quantity of gas needed is injected into the cylinders, fuel injection is more precise, easier to adjust, and more consistent than a carburetor, delivering better efficiency, gas mileage, engine responsiveness, and pollution control.

Fuel-injection systems vary widely, but most are operated or managed electronically. High-performance automobiles are often fitted with air-compressing equipment that increases an engine’s output. By increasing the air and fuel flow to the engine, these features produce greater horsepower.

 

Superchargers are compressors powered by the crankshaft. Turbochargers are turbine-powered compressors run by pressurized exhaust gas.