Introductory reading and talk. The meny-go-round ofcollege life is something that one never forgets

The meny-go-round of college life is something that one never forgets. It's a fascinating, fantastic, fabulous experience, ir­respective of the fact whether one is a full-time or a part-time stu­dent.

Who can forget the first day at the university when one turns from an applicant who has passed entrance exams into a first-year student? I did it! I entered, I got in to the university! A solemn cere­mony in front of the university building and serious people making speeches. Hey, lad, do you happen to know who they are? Who? The rector, vice-rectors, deans, subdeans... and what about those la­dies? Heads of departments and senior lecturers? Okay. Some of them must be professors, some — associate or assistant professors, but, of course, all of them have high academic degrees. And where are our lecturers and tutors? Oh, how nice...

The monitors hand out student membership cards, student record books and library cards — one feels like a real person. First celebra­tions and then days of hard work. So many classes, so many new subjects to put on the timetable! The curriculum seems to be devel­oped especially for geniuses. Lectures, seminars and tutorials. Home preparations; a real avalanche of homeworks.

If one can not cope with the work load of college he or she im­mediately starts lagging behind. It is easier to keep pace with the programme than to catch up with it later. Everyone tries hard to be, or at least to look, diligent. First tests and examination sessions. The first successes and first failures: "I have passed!" or "He has not given me a pass!" Tears and smiles. And a long-awaited vacation.

The merry-go-round runs faster. Assignments, written reproduc­tions, compositions, synopses, papers. Translations checked up and marked. "Professor, I have never played truant, I had a good excuse for missing classes ". Works handed in and handed out. Reading up for exams. "No, professor, I have never cheated — no cribs. I just crammed ".

Junior students becomesenior. Still all of them are one family — undergraduates. Students' parties in thestudents' clab. Meeting people and parting with people. You know, Nora is going tobe ex­pelled and Dora is going tograduate with honours. Yearly essays, graduation dissertations, finals...

What? A teacher's certificate? You mean, I've got a degree in English? I am happy! It is over! It is over... Is it over? Oh, no...

A postgraduate course, a thesis, an oral, and a degree in Phi­lology. The first of September. Where are the students of the fa­culty of foreign languages? Is it the English department? Oh, how nice...

1. Say a few words about your university: say what it is called, speak about its faculties and their specializations.

2. Would you compare college life with a merry-go-round or with some­thing else?

3. What do you think of the first months at the university?

4. They say that it is a poor soldier who does not want to become a gen­eral. Name the steps of the social ladder which a student must pass to climb up to the position of the rector. Use the words from the list below, placing one word on one step.

Dean, assistant lecturer, head of department, vice-rector, asso­ciate professor, assistant professor, subdean, professor.

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