Упр.31 Unit 3 ГДЗ Enjoy English 11 класс
- Read through the text about one of Brunei’s important accomplishments and say what it adds to your understanding of his life and character.
In 1852 Brunei turned to a third ship, even larger than two previous ones, and intended for voyages to India and Australia. The Great Eastern was cutting-edge technology for her time: almost 700 ft (213 m) long, fitted out with the most luxurious apartments and capable of carrying over 4,000 passengers. She was designed to be able to cruise under her own power non-stop from London to Sydney and back since engineers of the time thought that Australia had no coal reserves, and she remained the largest ship built until the turn of the century. Like many of Brunei’s ambitious projects, the ship soon ran over budget and behind schedule in the face of a series of technical problems. The ship had been portrayed as a white elephant, but it could be argued that in that case Brunei’s failure was principally one of economics — his ships were simply years ahead of their time. His vision and engineering innovations made the building of large-scale, screw-driven, all-metal steamships a practical reality. The Great Eastern was built at John Scott Russell’s Napier Yard in London, and after two trial trips in 1859, set forth the following year on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York on 17 June 1860. Though a failure at its original purpose of passenger travel, she eventually found a role as an oceanic telegraph cable-layer, and the Great Eastern remains one of the most important vessels in the history of shipbuilding — the Trans-Atlantic cable had been laid, which meant that Europe and America now had a telecommunications link.
The text shows that Brunel was a very ambitious and visionary engineer. He was not afraid to work on huge, risky projects, and his ideas were often ahead of their time. Even when the Great Eastern failed as a passenger ship, it still became important because it was later used to lay the trans-Atlantic cable. This adds to our understanding of his life and character: he was creative, determined, and ready to take on challenges, even if success came only later.
