Read and translate the text. Decide if the statements after the text are true or false.

A Student in Economics

(After George Milburn)

Charlie Wintage ran up the steps of the Administrative Building, hurried through the revolving doors and walked down the long hall to the Dean of Men's office. He was ten minutes late. Before he opened the frosted-glass door he took out a pair of amber-coloured spectacles and put them on. Then he went in and handed his summons to the secretary.

"The Dean will see you in a moment", she said. "Please take a chair".

Charlie sat down and gave a glance about the office. Three freshmen were waiting with him. He recognized none of them, so he picked up a week-old copy of a newspaper and started reading it. But the room was warm and he immediately went to sleep. The newspaper slipped down on the floor. His amber-coloured spectacles hid his eyes and no one could see that they were closed. He was awakened by a secretary shaking him.

"Wake up and pay for your bed, old man!" one of the freshmen called and everyone laughed heartily.

"I sort of drowsed off. It's so nice and warm here." Charlie said apologizing to the secretary.

The Dean of Men got up as he entered and said: "Ah, this is Charlie Wintage, isn't it? How do you like the university by now, Wintage? Eyes troubling you?"

"Pretty well, sir. Yes, sir, a little. I wear these spectacles."

The secretary brought his folder and the Dean looked through it briefly.

"Well, Wintage, I suppose you're anxious to know why I sent for you. The unpleasant truth is, Wintage, you don't seem to be doing well in your studies. Now, to be quite frank, Wintage, you're on the verge of flunking out. Less than a third of the semester remains, and you have an F grade in English and D gradesin Psychology and Military Training. On the other hand, you have an A average in Spanish and В in Economics. Wintage, how do you account for your falling English when you are an A student in Spanish?"

"To tell you the truth, sir, I got behind in my written works in English, and I've never been able to catch up. And I don't really have to study Spanish. My father is a railway section foreman in my hometown and he's always has a gang of Mexicans working for him. I've been speaking Spanish ever since I was a kid."

"How about this В in Economics? That's a fairly high grade."

"Yes, sir. Our economics professor doesn't give exams. Instead he gives everyone а В until he calls for our term papers. And the grade you get on your term paper is your semester grade. We have to do a lot of outside reading for the term paper. But I'm counting on keeping that В in Economics".

"That's fine, Wintage. But it appears to me that it's high time you were getting busy on some of the other grades too. You made an unusually high grade in your entrance exams. Graduated from high school with honours. What's the trouble, Wintage?"

"I don't know, sir, except I work at night at a cafe".

"How many hours do you work?"

"Ten hours, sir. From nine till seven. The cafe stays open all night."

'Very interesting, Wintage. But don't you suppose that it would be advisable to cut down a bit on this outside work and attend a little more closely to your studies?"

"I couldn't work fewer hours and stay in school, sir. I pay my room rent and I've been paying out on a suit of clothes."

"Can you arrange for a little financial support from home?"

"No, sir. I'm afraid not. I have two brothers and two sisters at home younger than I am. It wouldn't be right for me to ask my father to send money out of what he makes."

"I see, but all this is beside the point. We're here to discuss the state of your grades, Wintage. As you must know, any student who turns in less than half his work is automatically suspended from the university and must return to his home. Now one more bad mark and out you'll go, Wintage."

"I'd hate to have to go back home like that. You know, there not many jobs nowadays, sir."

"Well, unless you can alter your circumstances, I suggest that you withdraw from the university at once".

"I believe I'll try to stick it through, sir. I'll try to remove the F and D grades and maybe I can luck through on my finals".

1. Charlie Wintage is a high school student.

2. The Dean of Men and Charlie are discussing the state of Charlie’s grades.

3. The Dean of Men thinks that Charlie is doing well in his studies.

4. Charlie has been able to catch up with his written works in English.

5. Charlie has only good marks.

6. Charlie hopes to get an A or a B grade for his Economics term paper.

7. Charlie finished high school with very good marks.

8. Charlie works part-time at a café because he needs some extra money for

entertainment.

9. Charlie speaks fluent Spanish because his father is a Mexican.

10. Charlie’s father works on the railway.

11. Charlie has two elder sisters and two younger brothers.

12. His father sends him money to support him.

13. Charlie may be suspended from the university because he has missed half

of his classes.

14. Charlie wants to come back home.

15. Charlie hopes to pass his final exams successfully.

Vocabulary Notes:

1. Dean of Men - преподаватель-воспитатель, ведущий работу среди

студентов-мужчин.

2. summons - повестка

3 on the verge of flunking out- на грани отчисления

4. A grade - самая высокая оценка в колледже, университете.

F grade - самая низкая оценка

5. get behind - отстать, не сделать что-то вовремя

6. catch up - догнать

7. high school (амер.) - средняя школа

8. with honours - с отличием

9. turn in - сдавать

10. be suspended - быть исключенным

11. I can luck through on my finals - я как-нибудь сдам свои выпускные
экзамены

Agree or disagree with these statements. Give true information about yourself.

1. I'm a second-year part-time student of Far Eastern State Transportation

University,

2. Our university is 100 years old.

3. Our university is a large modern higher education institution.

4. Our university trains specialists in medicine and pharmacology.

5. I study at the Institute of Economics; I'm going to become a specialist in

finance.

6. I've passed my entrance exams successfully.

7. I don’t miss lectures and practical classes.

8. I'm good at humanities and social sciences.

9. I don't pay tuition fee; I study free of charge.

10. I live on the campus.

11. My schedule is very busy and leaves almost no time for fun.

12. The university curriculum is not very complicated.

13. I find it very easy to study at the university.

Read and reproduce these dialogues. Make up your own ones.

1. – What do you think of the exams?

– I think they were deadly easy.

– Maybe they were easy enough for you, but they were much too hard for

me.

– Oh, come on. You've probably done better than you think.

1. – Carol, I can see from your face that the results of the exams weren’t exactly what you wanted – am I right?

– Yeah. You know I want to study medicine at Cambridge, and they won’t give me a place unless I’ll get three As and a B.

– And what did you get?

– A in chemistry and biology but only a B in physics and a C in maths.

– What are you going to do now?

– Well, first I’ll get in touch with the university. Perhaps they’ll still accept

me – but I don’t think they will, so … I’ll probably take my A levels again next year.

2. – Vicky, what language do you study?

– English.

– What's the most difficult aspect of learning it?

– Well, I'm very embarrassed when we have to speak English in front of the class. Terrible pronunciation and things like that. Also I think listening comprehension is very difficult, because it's always difficult to keep up.

– Yes, studying languages is much harder than studying math or history or something. Especially, if you are not gifted.

4. – How did you do in your informatics test?
– Oh, don't ask!

– Oh, dear. What did you get?

– Twenty percent. I came last. I thought I was going to do really well.

5. – Can you help me with my math homework? We're doing algebra.

– Believe me, I would if I could, but I don't know the first thing about

algebra. Sorry.

Translate the text about British universities into English.

1. Сегодня в Британии имеются 90 университетов. Их можно разделить на 4 категории: старинные (ancient) университеты; «краснокирпичные» («redbrick”) университеты; новые (modern) университеты и Открытый университет (Open University).

2. Термин «старинные университеты» обычно относится к высшим учебным заведениям, основанным в Великобритании и Ирландии до 19 века. Это Оксфорд (основан до 1167 г.), Кембридж (1209), университет

St. Andrews (1413), университет Глазго (1451), Эдинбургский университет (1583), университет Дублина (1592 – единственный старинный университет за пределами Объединенного Королевства).

3. Все старинные университеты имеют очень высокую репутацию благодаря своим учебным и научным достижениям. Но Оксфорд и Кембридж (их часто называют Oxbridge) – самые знаменитые университеты, постоянно занимающие первое и второе место в списке самых лучших университетов Британии.

4. Эти университеты состоят из колледжей, каждый из которых предлагает студентам широкий ряд учебных предметов. Сам «университет» является административным центром, который организует (arrange) лекции для студентов всех колледжей, проводит (hold) экзамены и присуждает ученые степени (award degrees). Основная форма обучения – лекции и индивидуальные консультации (tutorials).

5. В 19 веке были основаны многие “краснокирпичные» университеты. Их так называли, потому что это был самый популярный строительный материал того времени. Они, в основном, располагались в промышленных центрах, например в Бирмингеме, Манчестере, Ливерпуле, Бристоле, Ньюкасле и др. Самый знаменитый в этой группе – Лондонский университет.

6. Эти университеты во многих отношениях отошли от традиций (departed from the traditions) Оксбриджа и в дальнейшем сконцентрировались на преподавании практических предметов, связанных с техникой (engineering).

7. После Второй мировой войны развитие высшего образования привело к появлению так называемых «новых» университетов. Они очень быстро стали популярными благодаря их современному подходу к университетским курсам. Некоторые «новые университеты» (York University, Warwick University) к настоящему времени даже превзошли (out-performed) “краснокирпичные» университеты в области научных исследований.

8. В 1992 г. большинство Британских политехнических колледжей (polytechnics), имевших тесные связи с местной промышленностью и коммерцией, были также преобразованы (incorporated) в университеты.

9. Открытый Университет был основан в 1968 г. Это единственное заведение дистанционного обучения в Британии. (Britain’s single distance-learning institution) и самое большое высшее учебное заведение страны по количеству студентов. Каждый год около 6000 студентов всех возрастов получают здесь различные степени. Уроки и лекции проводятся с помощью специальных ТВ и радио программ или через Интернет. Университет предлагает программы по искусству, математике и информатике, науке и технике, общественным наукам, образованию, здравоохранению и социальному обеспечению (health and social welfare), бизнесу и гуманитарным предметам.

IV. Writing

Write a composition on one of the following topics:

1. The system of higher education in Russia.

2. The system of higher education in the USA or Great Britain.

3. My impressions of Far Eastern State Transportation University.

4. The history and the present day of our University.

Supplementary Reading

Text 1

Passwords Reveal Your Personality

The word or phrase that you use to open your email account may provide a key to your personality as well as to your correspondence, according to a British psychologist. Helen Petrie, professor of human/computer interaction at City University in London, analysed the responses of 1,200 Britons who participated in survey funded by CentraNic, an Internet domain-name company. The results were recently published on CentraNic’s website.

Petrie identifies three main password “genres”. “Family oriented” respondents numbered nearly half of those surveyed. These people use their own name or nickname, the name of a child, partner, or pet, or a birth date as their password. They tend to be occasional computer users and have strong family ties. “They choose passwords that symbolize people or events with emotional value”, says Petrie. One third of respondents

were “fans”, using the names of athletes, singers, movie stars, fictional characters, or sports teams. Petrie says fans are young and want to ally themselves with the lifestyle represented by a celebrity. Two of the most popular names were Madonna and Homer Simpson. The third main group of participants are “cryptics” because they pick unintelligible passwords or a random string of letters, numerals, and symbols such as “Jxa+157”. Petrie says cryptics are the most security-conscious group. They tend to make the safest but least interesting choices.

Passwords are revealing for two reasons. First, because they are invented on the spot. “Since you are focused on getting into a system, for example your email account, you’re likely to write down something that comes quickly to your mind”, says Petrie. “In this sense passwords tap into things that are just below the surface of consciousness. Also, to remember your password, you pick something that will stick in your mind. You may unconsciously choose something of particular emotional significance.”

Vocabulary Notes:

1. reveal - открывать, показывать

2. occasional – случайный, редкий

3. emotional value – эмоциональное значение

4. ally oneself – соединиться, иметь общие черты

5. celebrity – знаменитость

6. cryptics (зд.) – шифровальщики

7. unintelligible – неясный, неразборчивый

8. random - выбранный наугад, случайный, беспорядочный

9. security-conscious – осознающий (понимающий) проблему безопасности,

надежности

10. on the spot – спонтанно, без промедления

11. tap into - пользоваться

12. below the surface of consciousness – за пределами сознания

13. stick in one’s mind – запомниться, засесть в памяти

Text 2

Families Have a Great-Great Future

Twenty years ago, the typical extended family was “wide”. It usually consisted of two or three generations, with many children in each “nuclear family”. People had lots of aunts and uncles but often didn’t know their grandparents. However, according to a new study by the British research group Mintel, the family is changing shape. The family groups of the future will be ”long and thin”, with three or four small generations.

Here are some of their predictions:

1. Most children will know their great-grandparents (and even great-great-parents)

because people are living longer

2. Very few children will have brothers and sisters, and it will be common to be an only

child. As a result, future generations will not have many cousins either.

3. Many children will grow up isolated from other children and young adults. This will

make them more selfish and introverted.

4. More couples will divorce and re-marry, some more than once. They may have

children with their new partners, so many children will have a stepmother or stepfather

and half-brothers or sisters.

5. There will be many “boomerang children”. These are the children who leave home to

get married, but then divorce and return to live with their parents.

6. There will be more single-parent families.

7. Because houses are now so expensive, different generations may decide to live

together, so parents, grandparents, and adult children may co-own their houses, and

many couples will have to live with their in-laws.

Vocabulary Notes:

1. extended family – семья, состоящая не только из родителей и детей, но также из

других близких родственников (бабушек, дедушек, двоюродных сестер, братьев

и т.п.)

2. nuclear family – семья, состоящая только из мужа, жены и их детей

3. prediction – предсказание, прогноз

4. introverted – сосредоточенный на самом себе

5. co-own – владеть совместно с кем-либо

Text 3

Modern British Family

Father leaves for work in the morning after breakfast. The two children take the bus to school, and mother stays at home cooking and cleaning until father and kids return home in the evening. This is the traditional picture of a happy family living in Britain. But is it true today? The answer is – no! The past twenty years have seen enormous changes in the lives and structures of families in Britain, and the traditional model is no longer true in many cases.

The biggest change has been caused by divorce. As many as two out of three marriages now end in divorce, leading to a situation where many children live with one parent and only see the other at weekend or holidays. There has also been a huge rise in the number of mothers who work. The large rise in divorces has meant many women need to work to support themselves and their children. Even when there is no divorce, many families need both parents to work in order to survive. This caused an increase in children facilities, though they are very expensive and can be difficult to find in many areas. In addition women are no longer happy to stay at home raising children and many have careers earning as much as or even more than men, the traditional breadwinners.

There has also been a sharp increase in the number of single mothers, particularly among teenagers.

In the past, people got married and stayed married. Divorce was very difficult, expensive and took a long time. Today, people's views on marriage are changing. Many couples, mostly in their twenties or thirties, live together (cohabit) without getting married. Only about 60% of these couples will eventually get married.

In the past, people married before they had children, but now about 40% of children in Britain are born to unmarried (cohabiting) parents. In 2000, around a quarter of unmarried people between the ages of 16 and 59 were cohabiting in Great Britain.

People are generally getting married at a later age now and many women do not want to have children immediately. They prefer to concentrate on their jobs and put off having a baby until late thirties.

By the year 2020, it is estimated that there will be more single people than married people. Fifty years ago this would have been socially unacceptable in Britain.

However, these changes have not had a totally negative effect. For women it is now much easier to have a career and good salary. Although it is difficult to be a working mother, it has become normal and it’s no longer seen as a bad thing for the children. As for children themselves, some argue that modern children grow up to be more independent and mature than in the past. From an early age they have to go to childminders or nurseries and so they are used to dealing with strangers and mixing with other children. So while the traditional model of a family may no longer be true in modern Britain, the modern family continues to raise happy successful children.

Vocabulary Notes:

1. survive – пережить, выдержать, уцелеть

2. children facilities – детские учреждения

3. earn- зарабатывать

4. breadwinner – кормилец (семьи)

5. salary – зарплата

6. mature – зрелый

7. childminder (Br.E.)– няня; человек, присматривающий за детьми, когда родители

отсутствуют или заняты

8. nursery – ясли

Text 4

Family Forms and Trends in the USA

Saralee Jamieson, Human Environmental Sciences Specialist, and

Lisa Wallace, Human Development Specialist University of Missouri Extension

Families are crucial in the development of human competence and character. Recent research tells us that the family's influence is even greater than we have imagined. Families play a major role in how well children do in school, how well they perform on the job as adults and how well they contribute to society in general. Families have the first and foremost influence on our development.

Family units take a variety of forms, all of which involve individuals living under one roof.

Married nuclear families: in these families, both adults are the biological or adoptive parents of children. There are three types of married nuclear families depending on employment status of the woman and man. In the first type, the man works outside the home while the woman works inside the home caring for the children. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, 28 percent of all households fit this description.

In the second type of married nuclear family, the woman works outside the home and the man cares for the children. This constitutes 2 percent of the families in the USA.

In the third kind of married nuclear family, both the husband and the wife work outside the home or are income providers. In some situations, the woman might have a home-based business, such as a day care center. Nearly 60 percent of women with children under the age of six were in the workforce during the past decade.

Single-parent families: in this family there is only one parent in the home. Due to high divorce rates and adults choosing not to marry, this is currently the fastest growing family form in America. More than half of all children will spend some of their lives in a single-parent family. Currently, 88 percent of these families are headed by women.

Step families: these families are generally created by divorce and remarriage rather than by the death of the mother or father. In step families, biologically unrelated children often live in the same household. There are 9,000 new step families being created each week in the United States..

Cohabitation families: two unmarried adults who are committed to a long-term relationship and, sometimes, children from this union or from previous relationships are included. This can include heterosexual or homosexual partners.

Cross-generational families: two or more adults from different generations of a family, who intend to share a household during the foreseeable future. This family type may include children. Sometimes children are raised by their grandparents when their biological parents have died or no longer can take care of them. The number of these families has increased by 40 percent in the past ten years. In addition, many grandparents take some primary responsibility for child care, particularly when both parents work.

Joint/shared-custody families: in these families, children are legally raised by both parents who are not living together. Generally, the children move back and forth between the residences of each parent, depending on the legal agreement between the parents.

Foster and group-home families: foster parents and institutional child-care workers often provide a substitute family for children referred by the courts or government agencies. While problems with their parents or guardians are being resolved, the children may live in these families.

These changes in family forms in recent decades did not take place in a vacuum. They were a product of our society's complex industrial, technological, and social changes. These changes forged new prevailing attitudes about women working outside of the home, about divorce, and about single adults.

Vocabulary Notes:

1. adoptive - приемный

2. provide income (зд.) – обеспечивать семью

3. household. – семья

4. cohabitation – совместное проживание

5. commit – брать на себя обязательство

6. joint/shared-custody – совместная опека

7. substitute – замена

8. court – суд

9. guardian –опекун

10. forge – постепенно выдвигать на первое место

Text 5

The Royal Family

When British people talk about the royal family they usually mean the present Queen and her family: her husband Prince Phillip, and their children Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward together with their wives or husbands and their children, including Princes William and Henry. The Queen Mother, and the Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret and her children used to be included. The wider family, who gather on ceremonial occasions, includes the Queen’s cousins and their children.

The present royal house is the House of Windsor, popularly known as the Windsors. Elizabeth II is descended from William I (1066-87), and before that from Egbert, King of Wessex 802-39. The ruling house has changed several times over the centuries.

The Queen was born on the 21st of April 1926. As a child she studied constitutional history and law as well as art and music. In addition she learned to ride and acquired her enthusiasm for horses. As she grew older she began to take part in public life, making her first broadcast at the age of 14. In 1947 she married Prince Phillip of Greece, who had just been made the Duke of Edinburgh, in Westminster Abbey. In February 1952 they were visiting Kenya when the news came of the death of her father. Elizabeth was crowned on 2 June 1953.

The main role of the Queen is as a representative of Britain and the British people. She is a symbol of the unity of the nation beyond party politics. She is also head of the Commonwealth and works to strengthen the links between member countries. Other members of the royal family assist the Queen in her duties, often in less formal way. They act as patrons of British cultural organizations and support the work of charities and good causes.

The Queen's husband, Duke of Edinburgh, was born in 1921. He was educated in Britan and was in the Royal Navy in World War II. Among his many interests are British industry, projects for young people (he founded Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme in 1956) saving wild animals from extinction and various sports.

The Queen's heir is Charles, Prince of Wales (born in 1948). In 1981 he married Lady Diana Spencer. They had two children, William and Henry, but the marriage failed and they separated in 1992. The Prince of Wales is well known for his interests in architecture and his concern for the environment. He is also a keen painter, and has written a successful children’s book, The Old Man of Lochnagar (1980). His wife Diana, Princess of Wales (often called in mass media Princess Di), won the affection of many people by her modesty, shyness and beauty. She was the most popular member of the royal family. Unfortunately, she died in a car accident in August, 1997.

Prince William (born in 1982), the first son of the Prince and Princess of Wales. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather he was in the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy. In September 2013 it was announced that his active service as an operational pilot of a search and rescue helicopter ended so that he can concentrate on his royal and public service duties in support of his grandmother the Queen. His interests include sport and he is president of England Football Association and Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union. On 29 April 2011 he married Catherine (Kate) Middleton in Westminster Abbey. They are now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. On 22 July 2013 their first child Prince George was born. He is now 3rd in Line of Succession to the thone after his father, Prince William, and his grandfather Prince Charles.

Prince Henry (born in 1984), commonly known as Prince Harry, is the younger son of Charles and his first wife Diana. Prince Harry is currently Patron of a number of charities and organisations and he holds two honorary military appointments (in the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force).

Princess Anne (born in 1950), is the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip. She has a strong interest in horse-riding and represented Britain at the 1976 Olympic Games. She is also known for her work as the President of the Save the Children Fund. She has two children, Peter (1977) and Zara (1981).

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, (born in 1960) is the third child of Queen Elizabeth II. He became a helicopter pilot in the Royal Navy and took part in the Falklands War. In 1986 he married Miss Sarah Ferguson. The royal couple had two daughters, Beatrice (1988) and Eugenie (1990), but separated in 1992.

Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex (born in 1964) is the fourth child of Queen Elizabeth II. He was educated in Cambridge where he studied history. He joined the Royal Marines in 1986, but left the next year to begin a career producing plays for the theatre and films for television. In 1999 he married Sophie Rhys-Jones. They have a daughter Louise (2003).

The Queen Mother, the widow of the late King George VI, died in 2002 at the age of 102. The Queen's only sister, Princess Margaret (1930-2002), Countess of Snowdon, was well-known for her charity work. She had two children, David, Viscount Linley (1961) and Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones (1964).

Vocabulary Notes:

1. royal house – королевская династия

2. descend (from) – происходить (из)

3. broadcast (зд.)- выступление по радио

4. Duke of Edinburgh – герцог Эдинбургский

5. the Commonwealth – Содружество (государственное объединение

Великобритании и большинства ее бывших доминионов и колоний)

6. charity – благотворительная организация

7. the Royal Navy -военно-морской флот Великобритании

8. extinction - вымирание

9. heir - наследник

10. affection – любовь, привязанность

11. line of succession – очередность престолонаследия

12. the Royal Marines –морская пехота Великобритании

13. earl -граф

14. countess – графиня

15. viscount – виконт

Text 6

Differences Between British and American Universities

The exact same percentage, 70, of citizens of higher education age enrolled in higher education in both the United States and the United Kingdom, according to UNESCO. The U.S. and Britain account for all but two of the top 20 universities in the world, according to The World University Rankings.

British and American universities have some similarities - hardly surprising, considering that many of the founders of the US's earliest colleges were graduates of the British system. Over the centuries, however, the two systems have diverged considerably. Modern British and American universities have many differences, not only in their organization and funding but in the typical student experience.

Public and private

One of the most important differences between the British and American higher education systems is the role of the state. In the UK, as in most of the world, universities are founded, funded and run by the state, with private education making up only a small percentage of the total number of students. In the US, the system is much more evenly divided between private and public universities. Many leading American universities, such as Harvard, Stanford and Yale, are private.

Time To Earn Degree

In Britain, undergraduate degrees take three years to complete, while master's degrees are finished in one or two years. A doctoral degree can be finished in three years, according to the British Council. In the U.S., undergraduate degrees are completed in two to four years, with associate degrees earned in two and bachelor's degrees in four. In the U.S., many master's degrees are earned in two years, while doctoral degrees can take anywhere between one to eight years to be completed.

Specialization

The British undergraduate system is much more highly specialized than its American counterpart. British undergraduates typically apply to study a particular subject and spend their three-year courses working on that one topic. American undergraduates, on the other hand, do not have to choose a subject until well into their university careers. They usually spend the early part of their four-year courses taking a wide variety of classes. This both helps them choose a specialization - or "major" in American terminology - and gives them a well-rounded basic education.

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