Professional English
Cambridge English for
Engineering
UNIT 10
TEACHER’S NOTES
Roller coaster engineering
Part 1
a Invite students to discuss the question in pairs, or as a group. b Ask students to complete the definition, either working in pairs or individually. The words in the box may also be useful for understanding the reading text in Part 2 and the discussion task in Part 3.
Compare students’ definitions with the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary definition below. You could write it up on the board. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary definition of ‘roller coaster’: an exciting entertainment in an amusement park, which is like a fast train that goes up and down very steep slopes and around very sudden bends
Extension activity: defining roller coaster
Ask students to discuss the meaning of the two verbs from which roller coaster stems: ‘to roll’ and ‘to coast’. Then compare them with the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary definitions below. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary definition of ‘roll’ and ‘coast’ (in this context): roll /rəʊl/ to (cause to) move somewhere by turning over and over or from side to side
coast /kəʊst/ to move forward in a vehicle without using the engine, usually down a hill
Part 2
Students complete both tasks in pairs. Answers a 2 a 3 c 4 h 5 g 6 d 7 i 8 j 9 f 10 e b 1 potential energy 2 kinetic energy 3 accelerate 4 velocity 5 inertia 6 decelerate 7 friction 8 heat energy 9 centrifugal force 10 G-force
Part 3
Ask students to read the article extract in Part 2 again. Focus on the meaning of the following terms in the text: axle /ˈæk.sƖ/ a shaft (bar) connected to the centre of a wheel or connecting a pair of wheels, and also connected to the chassis of a vehicle (a short axle for just one wheel is sometimes called a stub axle) bearing /ˈbeə.rɪŋ/ a part fixed around a shaft at the point where the shaft is connected to a machine or chassis, allowing the axle or shaft to spin with a minimum of frictional resistance and wear (bearings often contain metal balls, called ball bearings, which are designed to roll)
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Cambridge English for Engineering Cambridge University Press 2011 www.cambridge.org/elt/englishforengineering
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