Przeczytaj
The picture below shows the moment of collecting a parcel delivered by a drone. Do you think it is science fiction or a remote future? You will be surprised to learn that it is already a reality in many parts of the world. You are going to read an article outlining applications of drones on a commercial scale. Pay attention as you will soon be a part of this reality.
Na poniższym zdjęciu widzisz moment odebrania przesyłki dostarczonej przez drona. Myślisz, że to kadr z filmu science fiction lub wciąż odległa przyszłość? Może cię to zaskoczy, ale to już rzeczywistość w wielu miejscach na świecie. Przeczytasz artykuł, z którego dowiesz się, do jakich celów drony są wykorzystywane na skalę komercyjną. Czytaj uważnie, bo to wkrótce będzie również twoja rzeczywistość.

a) mail delivery
b) kids to play
c) military purposes
d) weather observation
2. The acronym UAV stands for:
a) Unbelievably Accelerating Vehicle
b) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
c) Uncontrollable Aerial Vehicle
d) Unmanned Aeroplane Velocipede
3. Since December 2020, if you want to fly a drone heavier than 250g or one that is fitted with a camera in Poland, you have to
a) register it.
b) do a special course.
c) pass an online test.
d) all of the above.
4. If you want to fly a hobbyist drone in Poland in the open category, you
a) can’t fly it higher than 120 metres above the ground.
b) have to inform the appropriate authorities about it.
c) have to wear a high-visibility vest.
d) can’t fly it any closer than 2 metres from other people.
5. How old do you have to be in Poland to register as a drone pilot?
a) 12
b) 13
c) 16
d) 18
6. What is the most common cause of drone accidents?
a) Drone’s defect
b) Bad weather
c) Battery failure
d) Human error
7. What’s the maximum payload an xFold Dragon H drone can carry?
a) 250kg
b) 375kg
c) 454kg
d) 585kg
Read the text and do the exercise(s) below.
The Future Is UnmannedI have recently visited my friends who have two sons aged 6 and 8. As it was the Christmas season, it behoved meit behoved me to bring some presents. The moment I entered their flat and an aircraftaircraft of indefinite colour and shape first whizzed past and hoveredhovered above my head – “A drone” – as I was swiftly informed by the younger of the brothers, I realised how poor my choice of a gift was (giant colouring books – boring).
It starts early these days. If a 6‑year old can master the secrets of navigationnavigation and become a drone pilotdrone pilot, saying that the sky's the limit, is a well-hackneyedhackneyed cliché. Anyway, preschoolers playing with cutting‑edge technologycutting‑edge technology really got my attention so I started digging deeper to explore the topic of drones.
What I found out was a real eye‑openereye‑opener. Many start‑ups strongly believe that the future of shippingshipping is unmannedunmanned. With the global shortage of truck drivers (in the US 71% of transported goods are moved by trucks, which causes huge delays) and recent incidents of the main sea roads being blocked (the case of the Suez Canal blocked for almost a week by a container ship in March 2021) resulting in multi‑week delaysmulti‑week delays in deliveries, it is more and more often stated that it’s the air that should take over the burdenburden of transporting commoditiescommodities. Those who subscribe to the ideasubscribe to the idea point out innumerableinnumerable advantages of this solution.
Apparently, this kind of service has been in high demandin high demand for quite a while. Drone operating companies specialised in on demand deliveryon demand delivery have been mushroomingmushrooming up around the world. They team up with well‑established companies to do home deliveries of their products. To give just a few examples, in New Zealand, a drone will deliver a Domino’s pizza right to your doorstep and in the United States, 7‑Eleven will send a drone if you need any over‑the‑counter medicinesover‑the‑counter medicines. UPS, one of the delivery giants, is working with a drone start‑up called Matternet to carry medicine and samples for testing there and backthere and back between hospitals and labs in North Carolina. I think it’s brilliant that they can get things done quickly and at the same time reduce terrestrial vehicle trafficreduce terrestrial vehicle traffic.
Drones can travel at speeds of 40 to 60 mph, so companies operating locally promise to make a delivery within 10 minutes of you placing an order. You may not have enough time to walk to your front door if you started clicking in the back garden! As we have grown increasingly impatienthave grown increasingly impatient and want things right away, I believe this commercial industrycommercial industry is going placesis going places soon! But it’s the delivery to remote areasremote areas that will make many people’s lives so much easier. Not only is it a matter of convenience, but often a question of life and death when far‑flung villagesfar‑flung villages are cut off from civilisation by severe weather conditions, such as floods or avalanches. The logisticslogistics of reaching such places in traditional ways would take days and might put many people’s lives at risk.
So much for time. I was astounded to learn that autonomous drone deliveryautonomous drone delivery ticks a few more boxesticks a few more boxes. Drone delivery companies pride themselves on the factpride themselves on the fact that they use electrically powered devices. Although I’m not easily convinced that something is green and I always ask where the original source of energy is, there is no denying that this means of delivery cuts emissionscuts emissions and environmental costsenvironmental costs. Completing a flight by drone has a significantly smaller carbon footprint than driving the same parcel by truck.
Yet another aspect of this new industry is jobs. You may think it will lead to many people losing their jobs and being replaced by machines. It will probably happen as every progress brings reorganisations in the labour marketlabour market. However, there is the second, much more promising side of this medal. The rapid development of the drone delivery network will require a whole new workforceworkforce of highly specialised professionals being able to operate the devices and manage the network. That makes me feel a bit less sad about my friends’ kids being more keen on their toy drones than my colouring books. After all they might be making their first steps in their careers in an emerging industryemerging industry!
Źródło: Anna Posyniak-Dutka, dostępny w internecie: https://megadron.pl/pl/blog/nowe-przepisy-dronowe-2021-1601909309.html [dostęp 1.02.2022], https://www.pcmag.com/news/consumers-dont-have-privacy-concerns-over-drone-deliveries [dostęp 1.02.2022], https://whatnext.pl/modularny-dron-xfold/ [dostęp 1.02.2022], https://www.huffpost.com/archive/au/entry/why-being-a-drone-pilot-is-the-job-of-the-future_a_21463335 [dostęp 1.02.2022], licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.
a) she liked her friend’s kids.
b) it was a proper thing to do in that situation.
c) she knew the children liked books.
d) she wanted the children to spend more time colouring than playing with technology.
2. The author wanted to find out more about drones because
a) it’s a fast growing industry.
b) she was jealous of the children’s skills using them.
c) the toy she saw sparked her interest.
d) she wanted to become a drone pilot.
3. More drones should be used to transport cargo because
a) there are many start-ups already operating in this industry.
b) both road and sea transport face many problems nowadays.
c) there are many people who support the idea.
d) there are not enough container ships.
4. Drone operating companies
a) are being created in large numbers in many parts of the globe.
b) are being created as a result of the cooperation with companies which are popular on the market.
c) deliver their services mostly in the medical industry.
d) are especially popular in New Zealand because it’s hard to deliver pizza by road transport in this country.
5. The author believes that drone delivery companies will be very successful because
a) there are more and more cases of severe weather phenomena around the world.
b) drones don’t put people’s lives in danger.
c) more and more people move to places far away from cities.
d) people don’t want to wait long for their orders to be delivered.
6. How does the author feel at the end of the text?
a) less disappointed because she sees the potential of high-tech toys
b) hopeful that the children will get jobs in the tech industry
c) happy that the children will soon join the workforce
d) terrified that so many people will be substituted by machines
Study to the description of a street survey in which people were asked about their concerns connected with autonomous drone delivery. Drag the types of concerns people mentioned and match them with the percentage of people who expressed them.
Nagranie dostępne pod adresem https://zpe.gov.pl/a/DUAyBiMHD
Nagranie dźwiękowe.
Answer each question in 6‑7 sentences.
Have you ever heard of drones being used for anything else than taking photos or recording videos? What for? What do you think about this technology?
Would you like to learn how to pilot a drone? Why?/Why not?
What concerns would you have if drones were to be used for home delivery on a daily basis?
Słownik
/ ˈeəkrɑːft /
statek powietrzny, samolot
/ ɔːˈtɒnəməs drəʊn dɪˈlɪvəri /
dostawa dronem autonomicznym
/ ˈbɜːdn̩ /
ciężar, brzemię
/ kəˈmɜːʃl̩ ˈɪndəstri /
branża komercyjna
/ kəˈmɒdɪtɪz / / kəˈmɒdɪti /
towary [towar]
/ kʌts ɪˈmɪʃn̩z / / kʌt ɪˈmɪʃn̩z /
obniża emisję [obniżać emisję]
/ kʌtɪŋ edʒ tekˈnɒlədʒi /
nowatorska technologia
/ drəʊn ˈpaɪlət /
pilot/pilotka drona
/ ɪmˈbreɪs /
zgodzić się na coś entuzjastycznie
/ ɪˈmɜːdʒɪŋ ˈɪndəstri /
wschodząca branża
/ ɪnˌvaɪərənˈmentl̩ kɒsts / / ɪnˌvaɪərənˈmentl̩ kɒst /
koszty ponoszone przez środowisko [koszt ponoszony przez środowisko]
/ ˈerəndz / / ˈerənd /
sprawy do załatwienia [sprawa do załatwienia]
/ ˈaɪ əʊpənə /
objawienie, rewelacja
/ fɑː ˈflʌŋ ˈvɪlɪdʒɪz / / fɑː ˈflʌŋ ˈvɪlɪdʒ /
oddalone wioski [oddalona wioska]
/ ˈɡlɪtʃəz / / ˈɡlɪtʃ /
usterki [usterka]
/ ˈhæknɪd /
oklepany/oklepana
/ həv grəʊn ɪnˈkriːsɪŋli ɪmˈpeɪʃnt / / ɡrəʊ ɪmˈpeɪʃnt /
stali/stały się coraz bardziej niecierpliwi/niecierpliwe [stawać się niecierpliwym]
/ ˈhɒvəd / / ˈhɒvə /
unosił/unosiła się w powietrzu [unosić się w powietrzu]
/ ɪn ˌhaɪ dɪˈmɑːnd /
duży popyt na
/ ɪˈnjuːmərəbl̩ /
niezliczone
/ ˌɪntəˈseptɪd / / ˌɪntəˈsept /
przejęty/przejęta [przejąć]
/ ˈɪt bɪˈhəʊvd miː tuː / / ˈɪt bɪˈhəʊvz ˈsʌmbədi tuː /
wypadało, żebym [wypada, żeby]
/ ˈɪt ɪz ˌgəʊɪŋ ˈpleɪsɪz / / ˈɡəʊ ˈpleɪsɪz /
odniesie wkrótce sukces [odnieść sukces]
/ ˈdʒʌstɪfaɪd / / ˈdʒʌstɪfaɪ /
uzasadniony/uzasadniona [uzasadniać]
/ ˈleɪbə ˈmɑːkɪt /
rynek pracy
/ ləˈdʒɪstɪks /
logistyka
/ ˌmælˈfʌŋkʃn̩z / / ˌmælˈfʌŋkʃn̩ /
awarie [awaria]
/ ˈmʌlti wiːk dɪˈleɪz / / ˈmʌlti wiːk dɪˈleɪ /
wielotygodniowe opóźnienia [wielotygodniowe opóźnienie]
/ ˈmʌʃrʊmɪŋ / / ˈmʌʃrʊm /
wyrastają jak grzyby po deszczu [wyrastać jak grzyby po deszczu]
/ ˌnævɪˈɡeɪʃn̩ /
nawigacja
/ ˈɒn dɪˈmɑːnd dɪˈlɪvəri /
dostawa na żądanie
/ ˈəʊvəðəˈkaʊntə ˈmedsn̩z / / ˈəʊvəðəˈkaʊntə ˈmedsn̩ /
leki wydawane bez recepty [lek wydawany bez recepty]
/ praɪd ðəmˈselvz ˈɒn ðə fækt / / praɪd wʌnˈself ˈɒn ðə fækt /
szczycą się faktem [szczycić się faktem]
/ rɪˈdjuːs tɪˈrestrɪəl ˈviːɪkl̩ ˈtræfɪk /
zredukować ruch naziemny
/ rɪˈməʊt ˈeəriəz / / rɪˈməʊt ˈeəriə /
odległe tereny
/ ˈrʌn ˈerəndz / / ˈrʌn ən ˈerənd /
załatwiać sprawy, wykonywać zlecenia [załatwić sprawę, wykonywać zlecenie]
/ ˈʃɪpɪŋ /
przewożenie, transport
/ ˈʃɔːtɪdʒ /
niedobór
/ skaɪ ɪz ðə ˈlɪmɪt /
nie ma ograniczeń, wszystko jest możliwe (idiom)
/ ˌsɒlɪd ˈevɪdəns /
solidne dowody
/ ˈstɑːˈtəp /
początkujące przedsiębiorstwo, start‑up
/ səbˈskraɪb tu ði aɪˈdɪə /
zgadzać się z pomysłem
/ ðər ənd ˈbæk /
tam i z powrotem
/ tɪks ə fjuː mɔː ˈbɒksɪz / / ˈtɪk ˈbɒksɪz /
spełnia kilka wymogów więcej [spełniać wymogi]
/ ˌʌnˈmænd /
bezzałogowy/bezzałogowa
/ ˈwelkəm ˈsʌmthetaɪŋ wɪð ˈəʊpən ɑːmz /
powitać coś z otwartymi ramionami
/ ˈwɪzɪŋ / / wɪz /
przelatujący/przelatująca ze świstem [przelecieć ze świstem]
/ ˈwɪlɪŋ /
chętny/chętna
/ ˈwɜːkfɔːs /
siła robocza
Źródło: GroMar Sp. z o.o., licencja: CC BY‑SA 3.0