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The Cabbies Are Smarter Than Google Maps
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London has the most informed cab drivers in the world – and they’ve got diplomas to prove it. To become a certified taxi operator in London, a driver must first pass “the Knowledge”, an extraordinarily difficult exam that involves the detailed recall of 25,000 streets within a six-mile radius of London’s Charing Cross railway station. But that’s just the beginning. Cabbies must also memorize the ‘points of interest’ along the routes including streets, squares, clubs, hospitals, hotels, theatres, embassies, government and public buildings, railway stations, police stations, courts, diplomatic buildings, important places of worship, cemeteries, parks and open spaces, sports and leisure centres, places of learning, restaurants and historic building. Plus they have to be fluent in English.
Most drivers take three years to master the Knowledge, and much practice by tracing the routes on a bicycle. It’s not uncommon to see future cabbies pedaling through the city in the early morning with plastic-covered maps clipped to their handlebars. Drivers must know their directions backwards and forwards, which is a complicated task in the maze of London’s one-way streets and blocked-off pedestrian zones.
The testing process isn’t quick, either. The exam comprises a six-month series of evaluations that includes written, oral and practical tests, and only one-quarter of the candidates make it through.
Taxi-driver applicants must be ‘of good character’, meeting strict requirements1 regarding any criminal record2. During testing Knowledge boys and girls must, without looking at a map, identify the quickest and most sensible route between any two points in metropolitan London that their examiner chooses.
But there is an additional benefit for those who pass the exam. In 2000, researchers at the Welcome Trust in London scanned the brains of 16 London taxi drivers and found that each cabby’s hippocampus – the area of the brain associated with memory – was larger than that of control subjects. Scientists believe that the hippocampus grew larger as the drivers spent more time on the job. Storing and retaining that much information could actually be a prescription for avoiding dementia.
Notes
1 meeting strict requirements - отвечая строгим требованиям
2 criminal record - судимость
Words
cabby - таксист
map - карта
prove - доказывать
involve - включать
route - маршрут
embassy - посольство
court - суд
worship - поклонение
cemetery - кладбище
handlebar - руль
maze - лабиринт
pedestrian - пешеход
include - включать
oral - устный
applicant - кандидат, претендент
sensible - разумный
benefit - польза, выгода
researcher - исследователь
brain - мозг
retain - удерживать, сохранять
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prescription - рецепт
avoid - избегать
dementia - слабоумие
Переведите следующие предложения, учитывая значения модальных глаголов и их эквивалентов
1. I can give you my book for a couple of days.
2. You must work hard at your English.
3. The children cannot carry that box: it is too heavy.
4. May I take this book for a little while? - I'm sorry, but I must return it to the library at once.
5. The lecture is to begin at three.
6. She had to stay at home yesterday because she did not feel well.
7. Nobody could tell me the way to the post office.
8. I think, she will not be able to solve this problem.
9. May I ask you a question?
10. The chief must be in his office now.
11. The mixture is to be heated before the experiment.
12. I think, you will not have to wait for them long.
13. You should consult the doctor before using this medicine.
14. Will you be able to send him e-mail tonight?
Переведите следующие сложноподчиненные предложения
1. When the Roman Empire collapsed the roads gradually got into a very bad state.
2. Rapid spread of railways in the United Kingdom was due to George Stephenson who was an enthusiast and a brilliant engineer.
3. The House of Lords can ask the House of Commons to rewrite certain parts of a bill before it becomes a new law.
4. The Anglo-Saxons, who invaded England in AD 350, came from Germany, Denmark and Holland.
5. The Anglo-Saxons spoke the Germanic language which became the basis of Old English.
6. London taxies are often called cabs, from the French word 'cabriolet', which is a nineteenth-century word for a coach drawn by a horse.
7. In Britain there are many different types of music and groups that you can enjoy.
8. British people who want to make films often go to America because British film industry is not so big.
Unit 8
Прочтите и переведите следующий текст
Text 8
WALES
Wales has a very strong Celtic culture. Other Celtic languages have mainly disappeared, but Welsh has been in daily use for centuries. It is estimated that 80 per cent of the population spoke Welsh during the first quarter of the nineteenth century. Various factors then reduced the number of Welsh speakers: many English and Irish workers moved to South Wales during the nineteenth century; people moved to the cities where less Welsh was spoken; children were punished if they spoke Welsh at school.
In recent years, however, there has been a revival of interest in Welsh. It is now spoken as a first language by more than 20 per cent of the population. It is used as a first language in an increasing number of schools and it is studied as a second language in all other schools in Wales.
Welsh is recognized as a minority language by the EU1. There are television and radio stations with Welsh-language programmes, even soaps.
The Welsh have been famous for their singing for centuries. On his travels around Wales in the twelfth century, Giraldus Cambrensis wrote “in a crowd of singers … you will hear as many melodies as you see mouths”. This tradition carries on today. If you go to any Welsh rugby match, you will hear supporters singing in harmony. Male-voice choirs are found throughout Wales and many Welsh people have become famous opera singers.
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The reputation of Wales as a centre for music attracts musicians from all over the world to its various festivals: 40 countries take part in the International Music Eisteddfod each year, while Wales’ largest music festival, the National Eisteddfod, has performers from every Celtic country, including Scotland, Ireland, France and Spain.
Wales has not always been a part of Great Britain. Between the ninth and the eleventh centuries, Wales was divided into small states. In the thirteenth century, Llevelyn ap Iorwerth united the country and his son was crowned the first Prince of Wales. Welsh independence didn’t last long. Later that century, the English king, Edward I, decided to conquer Wales. The Welsh surrendered and Edward I of England gave the title of Prince of Wales to his own heir, Edward II. Since then the eldest son of the English king or queen has always been given the title “the Prince of Wales” and this is why Wales is called “Principality”.
Wales is famous for its castles. They were built by the Romans and the English to dominate the Welsh. There are so many of these medieval castles that they stretch like an iron chain across Wales. Perhaps the most impressive castle in Wales is Caerphilly. This immense fortress dating from 1268 is one of the greatest surviving castles of the medieval Western world. Caernarfon Castle in North Wales is the place where Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, became Prince of Wales in 1969.
Many people go to Wales on holiday. It is famous for its mountains, which stretch from North to South Wales, its beautiful valleys and its national parks. You can go canal boating on the beautiful Llangollen Canal in the North; pony-trekking in the Snowdonia National Park; canoeing in the fast-flowing rivers and hiking in the hills. Most of its coastline is protected and has not been spoilt by tourism or industry.
Note
1EU, European Union Евросоюз
Words
disappear исчезать
reduce уменьшать
punish наказывать
revival возрождение
increase увеличивать, повышать
recognize признавать
minority меньшинство
crowd толпа
choir хор
attract привлекать
performer исполнитель
divide делить
unite объединять
independence независимость
last длиться
conquer покорять, завоевывать
surrender сдаваться, капитулировать
heir наследник
castle замок
medieval средневековый
iron железный
chain цепь
immense огромный
fortress крепость
survive выживать
stretch простираться
valley долина
protect защищать
spoil (spoilt) портить
Сравните причастия
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