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making good progress get state grants. The course of study at the universities lasts about six years. The students take three or four years of general engineering and fundamental courses, then one or two years of specialized training in some fields of science and tech­ nology. In the first and second years a good foundation for profes­ sional knowledge is provided. At present there are many modern laboratories at institutes. Most higher schools have their own com­ puter centers. This means that the state must spend a lot of money to improve higher education.

CONVERSATION

Exercise 1. Answer the questions.

1. How old are you now? 2. Where were you born? 3. What city did you come from? 4. Where did you go to school? 5. What foreign language did you study at school? 6. How long did you study at school? 7. Why did you enter this institute? 8. What are your fa­ vourite subjects at the institute? 9. Where do you live? 10. Do you live with your family? 11. How do you usually spend your Satur­ day and Sunday? 12. What did you do last weekend? 13. What are you going to do next weekend? 14. What is your favourite sport? 15. What is your hobby? 16. Where do you usually spend your summer vacation? 17. When do you usually get up in the morn­ ing? 18. At what time do you usually leave home? 19. How do you usually get to the institute?

Exercise 2. Read and learn.

Ted's instructor: Hello Ted. Vm glad I saw you before lectures. Did

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Ted: I'm nearly there. I think I'll give it to you on Tuesday. Ted's ins.: That's good. I can't let you have another extension

Ted's ins.: Well, I'll expect it next week. Now, would you like to hear

Ted's ins.: You'll have four examinations. General mechanics is in the morning of January 8th, physics is on the afternoon of January 13th, maths is on the morning of January 18th, and information technology in the afternoon of January

Exercise 3. Speak about:

1.My University.

2.Academic Year at My University.

3.I am a first-year student.

Use text «My University» and text lA for your topic.

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Exercise 4, Read and smile:

He was a Rising Star

Max Bom, who later became an outstanding German physicist, took an exam in astronomy. He was examined by a professor. Here is their conversation:

Professor: What do you do when you see a falling star?

The professor asked no more questions. He was satisfied (быть удовлетворенным).

Text IB

Прочитайте текст. Расскажите об особенностях обучения в Кембридж­ ском университете.

Cambridge

Cambridge is one of the two main universities of England which is located at the Cam River. It was founded at the beginning

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of the 12th century. The University consists of (состоит из) 24 different colleges including 4 colleges for women. Each college is self-governing (самоуправляется).

The head of the University is the chancelor who is elected for life. The teachers are commonly called «dons» and «tutors». Part of the teaching is by means of lectures organized by the University. Besides lectures teaching is carried out by tutorial system for which Cambridge University is famous all over the world. This is a system of individual tuition (обучения) organized by the colleges.

Each student has a tutor who practically guides him through the whole course of studies. The tutor plans the student's work and once a week the student goes to his tutor to discuss his work with him. The training course lasts 4 years. The academic year is divided into 3 terms. The students study natural and technical sciences, law, history, languages, geography and many other subjects.

After three years of study a student may proceed (получить ученую степень) to a Bachelor's degree, and later to the degrees of Master and Doctor. Students are required to wear gowns (мантия) at lectures, in the University library, in the street in the evening, for dinners in the colleges and for official visits. All the students must pay for their education, examinations, books, laboratories, univer­ sity hostel, the use of libraries, etc. Very few students get grants. Not many children from the working class families are able to get higher education, as the cost is high. The cost of education depends on the college and speciality.

A number of great men, well-known scientists and writers stud­ ied at Cambridge. Among them are: Erasmus, the great Dutch scholar. Bacon, the philosopher, Milton and Byron, the poets, Cromwell, the soldier, Newton and Darwin, the scientists.

Text 1С

Прочитайте текст. Расскажите об особенностях системы высшего образования в нашей стране и в США.

Higher Education in the USA

There is no national system of higher education in the United States. Higher education is given in colleges and universities. There are over 2100 various higher educational institutions, including colleges, technological institutes and universities. The average col­ lege course of study is 4 years. The academic year is usually 9 months or 2 terms (semesters) of four and a half months each. Classes usually begin in September and end in June. The first-year students are called freshmen.

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Students choose a major subject (профилирующий предмет, дисциплина) and take many courses in this subject. After four years, they get a traditional Bachelor's degree. Then the students may go on to graduate school (старшие курсы) and with a year or two of further study get a Master's degree.

After another year or two of study and research, they may get a still higher degree as Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D.). The student's progress is evaluated by means of tests, term works andfinalexami­ nations in each course. The student's work is given a mark, usually on a five point scale (5-балльная система). Letters indicate the level of achievement. «A» is the highest mark. «F» denotes a failure.

Most American colleges and universities charge for tuition. The methods of instruction in the universities are lectures, discussions, laboratory and course works and seminars.

Most cities have colleges or universities that hold classes at night as well as in daytime. In this way people may work for a de­ gree or just take a course in the subject that interests them.

Text ID

Прочитайте письмо и напишите ответ.

А Letter

Dear Sergei,

How are you? I have received your letter of 10-th June for which I thank you very much. I am sorry I haven't written to you sooner, but I have had many things to do. You know it was a very hard year for me. I spent my time getting ready for my exams and I was doing well in many subjects. After passing the exams I was enroled into the University. The whole course of study is four years. My major subject is mathematics. It is my favourite and my hobby. I am good at it and do maths whenever I have a chance. I take many courses in this subject. I like to take part in mathemati­ cal competitions organized at our department and at the Univer­ sity. I think that mathematics is «the language of science» and plays an important part in many sciences. We are lucky to have a brilliant lecturer in mathematics this term. He has a talent to take a difficult subject and make it simple. You leave the lecture hall with a feeling that mathematics is the most interesting subject under the sun. Next term I'll do research in the field of computer engineering.

And how do you feel about maths? Please, write to me, I am es­ pecially interested in your life in students' hostel.

Good-bye for the present, your friend Mike

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ДОПОЛНИТЕЛЬНЫЕ ЗАДАНИЯ

Упражнение 1. А. Прочитайте текст и постарайтесь догадаться о значе­ нии выделенных слов.

Computers are now essential in many areas of life — modem banking, information technology and many others. However, this is not true for education.

There are some subjects which may be better taught using com­ puters. Elementary mathematics, elementary language learning, any subject that requires a student to memorize basic facts through repetition (повторение) is good to computer learning. The com­ puter can be programmed to provide an endless number of simple questions, and as the student answers these questions the facts are learned.

However, in the learning and practice of more complex ideas, the computer is not adequate. A computer can evaluate (оценить) an answer as right or wrong, but it cannot determine why. It cannot find out why a student is making mistakes, and then explain impor­ tant concepts in a different way so the student will understand. Task connected with explanation cannot be taught by computers as there are too many variables for a computer to deal with successfully.

Thus, while computers may be useful for practising simple skills, they are not an essential feature of modern education. Until further developments in computers are made, the human teacher will remain indispensable.

B. Подберите к каждому слову или словосочетанию в колонке А соответ­ ствующее из колонки В.

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Упражнение 2. Составьте возможные словосочетания глаголов из колонки А с существительными из колонки В,

Упражнение 3. Замените в каждом предложении выделенный глагол на другой глагол с тем же значением.

1. Did you receive а grant? 2. How many exams did you pass be­ fore you entered university? 3. Do you take notes in lectures?

4.Who gives the lecture in history? 5. My friend studies physics.

6.What research did you conduct last semester?

Упражнение 4. Заполните таблицы на словообразование.

тему «Higher Education».

В. Speak about:

Computers in education.

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