I. Choose the best title of the text

(A) Creation of Mercedes Benz

(B) Patenting the first gasoline engines

(D) The creators of modern automobile

II. Sentences are removed from the extract. choose from the sentences (A – H) the one that fits each gap (1-7). there is one extra sentence which you don’t need to use.

(A)During the last years of the nineteenth century, Benz was the largest automobile company in the world with 572 units produced in 1899 and, because of its size, Benz & Cie., became a joint-stock company.

(B)Benz, Maybach and the Daimler team seem to have been unaware of each others' early work.

(C)It was an integral design, without the adaptation of other existing components, and included several new technological elements to create a new concept.

(D)This motor proved highly successful and is used even now on many Mercedes Benz models.

(E)Although several other German engineers (including Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach, and Siegfried Marcus) were working on the problem at about the same time, Karl Benz generally is acknowledged as the inventor of the modern automobile.

(F)They also were powered with four-stroke engines of his own design.

(G)It was a horse-drawn stagecoach built by another manufacturer that they retrofitted with an engine of their design.

(H)Many of his other inventions made the use of the internal combustion engine feasible for powering a vehicle.

In November 1881, French inventor Gustave Trouvé demonstrated a working three-wheeled automobile powered by electricity at the International Exposition of Electricity, Paris. 1. [___________]

An automobile powered by its own four-stroke cycle gasoline engine was built in Mannheim, Germany by Karl Benz in 1885, and granted a patent in January of the following year under the auspices of his major company, Benz&Cie., which was founded in 1883. 2. [___________]

He began to sell his production vehicles in 1888. In 1879, Benz was granted a patent for his first engine, which had been designed in 1878. 3. [___________]

His first Motorwagen was built in 1885, and he was awarded the patent for its invention as of his application on January 29, 1886. Benz began promotion of the vehicle on July 3, 1886, and about 25 Benz vehicles were sold between 1888 and 1893, when his first four-wheeler was introduced along with a model intended for affordability. 4. [___________]Emile Roger of France, already producing Benz engines under license, now added the Benz automobile to his line of products. Because France was more open to the early automobiles, initially more were built and sold in France through Roger than Benz sold in Germany.

In August 1888 Bertha Benz, the wife of Karl Benz, undertook the first road trip by car, to prove the road-worthiness of her husband's invention. In 1896, Benz designed and patented the first internal-combustion flat engine (горизонтальный двигатель), called boxermotor. 5. [___________]

Daimler and Maybach founded Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG) in Cannstatt in 1890, and sold their first automobile in 1892 under the brand name, Daimler. 6. [_______]By 1895 about 30 vehicles had been built by Daimler and Maybach, either at the Daimler works or in the Hotel Hermann, where they set up shop after disputes with their backers. 7. [_________]They never worked together; by the time of the merger of the two companies, Daimler and Maybach were no longer part of DMG.

Source: http://www.emercedesbenz.com, http://www.mbusa.com

Georgano, G. N. Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886-1930. (London: Grange-Universal, 1985)

Symbols: 2 602

Text 5. Volkswagen Passat

Though the Volkswagen Passat was first released in 1973, it was not until a year later that the Passat Wagon made its debut. The five-door wagon quickly became the standard for family station wagons in both America and Europe; however, Americans knew the Passat Wagon as the Dasher that was powered by a 1.5 l inline-four that reached about 75 horsepower. It was not until 1979 that Volkswagen introduced a 1.5 l diesel engine and, in 1981, Volkswagen only produced diesel-powered Passat Wagons in the United States.

The Volkswagen Passat B2 variant came around in 1981 and featured elongated windows, squared headlamps and ample interior space. The third generation of the Passat brought about a new wagon name and style. The Passat CL station wagon featured a contrasting black bumper, the addition of side accents and more rounded edges. It was not until the third generation that the United States’ model dropped the Dasher title and adopted the European name, Passat. Gasoline engines were also brought back in the third generation.

In 1998, the Volkswagen Passat wagon's design dramatically changed in the United States. Instead of the original, plainly styled wagon, the 1998 version featured curvy lines, a cargo rack and available four-wheel drive. Volkswagen also offered buyers a choice of either a 5-speed automatic or 5-speed manual transmission during this period. The 2000 model year brought about a more luxurious and classy Passat wagon. New headlamps and taillights along with shiny chrome trim effectively put it in the luxury class of wagons. Later in 2004, the Passat wagon received a 2.0L turbocharged diesel engine upgrade as well.

Over the years, the Volkswagen Passat wagon has been awarded many prestigious titles from Best Family Car to Best Diesel Car to Most Sensible Car. The Volkswagen Passat wagon has also been featured in several feature films like National Lampoon's "Vacation" and "Swimfan." Television shows like Ghost Whisperer and Monk feature the wagon on several episodes as well. The Volkswagen Passat wagon has also long been considered one of the most fuel-efficient wagons available in America. Rumour has it that Volkswagen might be giving the Passat wagon an old-school facelift in the next few years, harkening (обращать внимание) back to its boxy roots. However, others claim that the Jetta wagon could possibly take over the Passat wagon's slot in the Volkswagen line-up. Volkswagen's representatives have yet to comment on the rumour.

Source: http://www.carseek.com/reviews/volkswagen/passat/, http://www.autoevolution.com/volkswagen/passat/

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Assignments:

I. Answer the questions

1.Why did Passat become so popular in the US?

2.How did the first generations of Passats look like?

3.When did Volkswagen drop the name Dasher for Passats in the US?

4.What types of engines were used in the first three generations of Passats in Europe and the US?

5.When did Volkswagen drastically change Passat’s exterior?

6.What awards did Passat win over the years? Why?

7.Can Passat be substituted by another make of Volkswagen in the near future? Why?

8.Has Passat long been considered one of the most fuel-efficient wagons available in America?