Изобретения и изобретатели. Учебно-справочное пособие для изучающих английский язык - страница 3
In 1861, Eberhard Faber built the first pencil factory in the United States in New York City.
The mechanical pencil, patented in 1877, consists of a cylindrical piece of pencil lead inserted into a metal or plastic barrel against a movable rod that can be adjusted by a screwing motion to expose part of the lead. The basic design of the mechanical pencil changed little until a modification of a mechanical drafting pencil was introduced in 1976. Originally marketed as a trade tool for engineers, drafters, and artists, the thin-lead mechanical pencil is now used by the general population.
Pencil sharpener
A pencil sharpener is a device for sharpening a pencil‘s point by shaving one end. Pencil sharpeners are available in both electric and hand-powered forms.
It was John Lee Love of Fall River, MA who designed the “Love Sharpener”. Love’s invention was the very simple, portable pencil sharpener. The pencil is put into the opening of the sharpener and rotated by hand, and the shavings stay inside the sharpener. A blade inside the sharpener shaves the wood of the pencil, thus sharpening the tip. Such sharpeners can be bare or they are enclosed in a container to collect the shavings. A mechanical pencil sharpener is hand-powered. Love’s sharpener was patented on November 23, 1897 (U.S.)
Words
carbon углерод
cedar кедр
clay глина
graphite графит
lead свинец
plastics пластмасса
wood дерево
hardness твердость
softness мягкость
cylinder-shaped tool инструмент цилиндрической формы
stick палочка
wooden holders деревянная ручка, держатель
pencil lead грифель карандаша
pencil’s point кончик карандаша
blade лезвие
device прибор, устройство
electric pencil sharpener электрическая точилка для карандашей
pencil sharpener точилка для карандаша
cut (cut, cut) резать
enclose вкладывать, вставлять
fire поджигать
glue клеить
insert вставлять
kiln обжигать (в печи)
power приводить в действие
rotate вращать(ся)
saw (sawed, sawn) пилить
Exercises
Complete the table using information from the text
a. Write a few paragraphs (one or three) about the inventions you have read about. Use the table above as a support.
b. Answer (in written) the question: “How could we live without a pencil?”