Файл: Л.С. Пасынков Россия - независимое государство (английский язык).pdf

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PART II

EDUCATION IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Russians have always shown a great concern for education. The right to education is stated in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. It is ensured by compulsory secondary schools, vocational schools, and higher educational establishments. It is also ensured by the development of extramural and evening courses and the system of state scholarships and grants.

Education in Russia is compulsory to the 9th form inclusive. The stages of compulsory schooling in Russia are: primary education for ages 6-7 to 9- 10 inclusive; secondary education including intermediate school for ages 10-11 to 12-13 inclusive, and senior high school for ages 13-14 to 14-15 inclusive. If a pupil of a secondary school wishes to go on in higher education, he or she must stay at school for two more years. Primary and secondary school together comprise 11 years of study. Every school has a «core curriculum» of academic subjects, such as Russian, Literature, Mathematics, History, a foreign language and others. Lyceums and gymnasiums offer programme giving a profound knowledge in some field of study.

After finishing the 9th form one can go on to a vocational school which offers programmes of academic subjects and a programme of training in a technical field, or a profession.

After finishing the 11th form of a secondary school, a lyceum or a gymnasium one can go on in higher education. All applicants must take competitive examinations. Higher educational institutions, that is, institutes or universities, offer a 5 - year programme of academic subjects for undergraduates in a variety of fields, as well as a post graduate course. If one finishes a graduate course and writes a thesis, he or she receives the candidate degree, corresponding to the master's degree, or the doctoral degree.

Higher educational establishments are headed by Rectors. Prorectors are in charge of academic and scientific work. An institute or a university has a number of faculties, each specializing in a field of study. Faculties have specialized councils which confer candidate and doctoral degrees.

The system of secondary and higher education in Russia is going through a transitional period. The main objectives of the reform are: to decentralize the higher education system, to develop a new financial mechanism, to give more academic freedoms to faculties and students. All secondary schools, in-

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stitutes and universities until recently have been funded by the state. Now there is quite a number of private fee-paying primary and secondary schools; some universities have fee-paying departments.

1. Practise the reading of the following words and phrases and try to remember their meanings.

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2.Pre-reading task.

a)Speak about the education in the Russian Federation, using the following questions for conversation.

If you can answer the question, mark it with symbol «V»; if you can’t answer, mark with symbol «X».

1.What is the right to education in Russia ensured by?

2.What are the stages of compulsory schooling in Russia?

3.What is a vocational school?

4.What is necessary for entering a higher educational establishment?

5.What degrees can one get at a higher educational establishment?

6.What is the structure of an institute or a university?

b)What do you want to know from the text? Make some notes or ques-

tions.

3.Reading task.

Read the text properly. Check whether you were right or wrong and try to find answers to your questions.

4. Grammar review.

Read the following words and phrases. They are in the Passive Voice. Transform them into the Active Voice and translate.

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5.Give your own examples of the Passive Voice. Translate them.

6.Make a back translation, consulting the text in the case of great necessity.

1. Конституция предоставляет право на образование, которому в России придается большое значение.

2.Существуют два этапа обязательного школьного образования в России: начальное и среднее.

3.Обязательное среднее образование в России состоит из двух этапов: средние классы и старшие классы.

4.Во всех школах есть основная программа, лицеи и гимназии предлагают академические программы и программы, дающие углубленные знания в одной из областей.

5.Поступающие в вуз должны закончить 11 классов средней школы и пройти через конкурсные вступительные экзамены.

6.После окончания курса аспирантуры и написания диссертации аспирант получает степень кандидата наук.

7.Во время переходного периода меняется финансовый механизм образования: появляются частные школы и платные отделения института.

CULTURE AND SCIENCE

Russia is famous for its rich and interesting culture and history. It is impossible to describe all famous Russian people and all important events, that took place in Russia. We offer you to read two texts about Russian painters and scientists.

Text A. RUSSIAN PAINTERS

Russian painting is known for its glorious and realistic traditions. Russian painters of the 19th century reflected the real life of common people, everyday scenes with great warmth and poetic feeling. There are many outstanding Russian masters of painting such as Levitan, Shishkin, Aivazovsky, Surikov, Repin and others.

Repin was born in 1844 in the family of a military settler. He liked drawing from his early childhood, so his parents sent him to the Art school. At the Academy of Art in St.Petersburg he met Kramskoi, who influenced Repin greatly.

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«Volga boatmen» and «Arrest of a Propagandist» are among Repin’s best paintings. Repin is also famous for his self-portraits and portraits of Leo Tolstoy, Rubenstein and others, which can be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Vasili Surikov was born in 1848 in Siberia. In 1868 he set out for St. Petersburg on horseback to join the academy. The journey took him a year. On his journey to St. Petersburg V. Surikov made frequent stops in ancient towns of Russia. He was greatly impressed by Moscow and it determined Surikov’s way of life and work.

Surikov was the first Russian painter to turn to the past of Russia for the subjects of his works. V. Surikov expressed the past against the background of ordinary people.

Surikov’s masterpiece «Boyarinja Morozova» (1884) is set in the streets of medieval Moscow. Enormous in size and scale the canvas depicts the persecution of the «old believers» by patriarch Nicon. The painting is very vivid and full of movement. The dynamism of the painting can be traced to the ancient Russian art. Surikov used a colourful palette. The colours and the surface rhythm make the painting alive.

V. Surikov exerted a great influence on all the Russian artists of his time. He died in 1916.

1. Practise the reading of the following words looking at their translations for understanding.

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Student B: Here are some ways of expressing your disappointment when someone/something was not what you had expected.

1. Creative work.

Find the information about the painter you like. Make a report to your groupmates. Show the pictures to them and give short comments upon them. Ask your groupmates whether they like or dislike them. Write the words on the blackboard to help your groupmates to express their opinions:

Russian nature, spirit and genious come together in the greatest people of our land. Let’s pay tribute to a few of them.

M. Lomonosov was one of them. He was a great thinker, leader of Russian science, a well-know enlightener, an inventor of many technologies, a poet, a translator, a historian. The first Russian University in Moscow was founded according to the project of M. Lomonosov. In 1940 the University was named in honour of him. «Lomonosov was the first university for us» (A. Pushkin).

V. Vernadsky developed the greatest theory of the XX century – biosphere of the environment which created us and which we represent.