Unit 6. Education in Siberia
Ex. 1. Read the text and discuss the following questions:
Akademgorodok — a new town of science and culture.
A trip by bus from Novosibirsk to Akademgorodok is indicative of concentration of scientific institutions. The driver announcing the stops will call out: «Thermophysics», which means that the bus has arrived at the institute conducting research on heat and mass transfer and new problems of energetics. The next stop is «Chemistry», that is, one of the five chemical institutes of the center, then come «The computer centre», «Nuclear physics», «Hydrodynamics» and «Economics and industrial organization». One doesn't see much from the window of a bus. That's why we invite you to have a walk around the township and see for yourself what is going on in the Town of Science. Akademgorodok has one more specific feature — it is one of the few towns in the world built right in the middle of the forest.
The closeness of the town to Novosibirsk, a large cultural centre, is an additional blessing. Actors of the best Siberian theatres often visit the town and scientists see the plays, operas, ballets and other performances, and stars on tour also rarely miss the town.
There are cinemas, clubs, shops and cafes like in every other town. The difference is that you can walk in age-old forest just a few steps away from your home. Scientific conferences and symposiums are held in the halls of the Scientists' House, heated debates often take place in its cosy rooms. Exhibitions of scientific literature, devices and equipment both Russian and foreign are often organised here. In the evenings there are soiree, shows, films. The house has a collection of paintings numbering over 3.000 canvases.
1. How can you get from Novosibirsk to Akademgorodok?
2. What does the stop "Thermophysics" mean?
3. What are the other stops?
4. Is there a specific feature of Akademgorodok?
5. What can one see having a walk around the township?
6. Where are scientific conferences and symposiums held?
7. What is the Scientist's House famous for?
Ex. 2. Make the following statements disjunctive questions. Work in pairs.
1. One doesn't see much from the window of a bus.
2. Actors of the best Siberian theatres often visit the town.
3. There are cinemas, clubs, shops and cafes like in every other town.
4. The scientist's House has a collection of paintings numbering over 3000 canvases.
5. The difference is that you can walk in age-old forest just a few stops away from your home.
6. The children are playing in kindergartens.
7. Every summer a noisy crowd of children - the winners of the All-Siberian mathematics contests, visits Akademgorodok.
Ex. 3. Make up a plan and retell the text.
Ex. 4. Make up a dialogue of your last visit to Akademgorodok.
Ex. 5. Read the text and put the questions to it.
They say the young are apt to err. True, but they are also apt to dare. Their elders must temper their daring to keep them from serious errors, but must not dampen their enthusiasm. Akademgorodok was designed to combine the experience and knowledge of prominent scientists with the daring of the young.
Generally, towns pride themselves on their size or their historical monuments. What is Akademgorodok proud of? Akademgorodok may be proud of its science and university. In 1958 the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences had 8 academicians, 17 corresponding members, 8 doctors and 95 candidates of sciences. Ten years later there were 24 academicians, 52 corresponding members, 200 doctors and 2,000 candidates of sciences. So each ten years more and more scientists started working on the key trends, of science.
Ex. 6. Give it a name.
1. A process of training and instruction of children and young people in school, etc;
2. A person who has recently left school;
3. A person who studies one or more of the natural world and society through observation and experiment;
4. The facts, information, understanding and skills that a person has acquired through experience or education;
5. A formal test of somebody's knowledge or ability in a particular subject by means of written questions or practical exercises.
6. The highest level of educational institution, in which students study for degrees and academic research is done.
Ex. 7. Which is the odd wood out?
a) error, fault, mistake, slip, work;
b) college, playgroup, school, room, university;
c) to educate, to bring up, to study, to instruct, to teach;
d) infant schools, junior schools, nursery schools, clubs, primary schools;
e) academicians, corresponding members, teachers doctors, candidates of science.
Ex. 8. Make up your own sentences with the words and word combinations given below:
to leave/finish school - заканчивать школу
school-leaving/final exams - выпускные экзамены
Certificate of Secondary Education - аттестат о среднем образовании
vocational school - профессиональное училище
technical secondary school - техникум
besides - кроме
general regular school - обычная общеобразовательная школа
intensive study - интенсивное изучение
certain - некоторый, определённый
to teach (taught) - учить кого-либо
gifted - талантливый, одарённый
handicapped children - дети с физическими недостатками
fee-paying - платный
higher education - высшее образование
institution - заведение
the course of studies - курс обучения
normally - обычно
to enter - поступать (в учебное заведение)
entrance exams - вступительные экзамены
free - бесплатный
to charge fees - взимать плату
grant or scholarship - стипендия
Ex. 9. Translate the dialogue into English
1). Образование в нашей стране бесплатное?
- Да, оно бесплатное в школе и в некоторых вузах. Студенты институтов получают стипендию.
2). Что Вы можете сказать о школьном образовании в Великобритании, например?
- Там есть разные типы школ. Обязательное образование начинается с 5 лет, дети посещают начальную школу. В возрасте 11 лет они идут в общеобразовательную школу, где они остаются до 16 лет. Эти школы бесплатные. Но там есть также частные школы, они - платные.
Ex. 10. Read the text and answer the following questions:
Education in Russia
Before children start going to school, many of them attend kindergartens until they are six or seven. Compulsory education in our country begins at the age of 7, when children go to primary school. This is the first stage of their schooling and lasts three or four years. The children learn to read, to write and to count. They also have Drawing, Music and Physical Training classes. Secondary stage begins from the 5th form where children have a lot of new subjects, such as Literature, History, Natural Science, Physics, Algebra and Geometry, a foreign language and others. Examinations are taken at the end of the 9th and the 11th year. After passing their school-leaving exams at the age of 16 or 17, young people receive a Certificate of Secondary Education. Some children may leave school after the 9th form and continue their education at vocational or technical secondary schools or colleges.
1. At what age does compulsory education begin in Russia?
2. What do some children attend before school?
3. How long does primary education last?
4. What do children learn in primary school?
5. What subjects are studied at the secondary stage?
6. When do school-leavers receive a Certificate of Secondary Education?
7. What other secondary schools can children attend after they complete 9 years of their education?
8. Where can gifted children get their education?
9. What higher educational institutions are there in Russia?
10. How can young people enter a higher educational institution?
Ex. 11. Analyze the Educational Systems of England and Wales and draw the Educational System in Siberia.
The Educational System
Education Systems (England and Wales)
Age
1
Nursery School (play groups)
2
3
4
First School
5
Infant Schools
6
7
8
Junior Schools
9
Middle School
Compulsory
10
Schooling
11
Comprehensive School
12
13
Comprehensive
14
School
15
16
17
18
19
University or College Or Polytechnic 3 or 4 year course
20
21
22
23
Past-graduate studies
24
25
Ex. 12. Match the following word combinations according to their meaning:
1. curriculum
a) a school which pupils must past certain exams to enter
2. degree
b) not obligatory
3. domestic science
c) a university qualification
4. extra curriculum
d) cookery and housekeeping
5. fee
e) charge or payment for professional advice, service
6. optional
f) a private school (18-19 aged)
7. public school
g) a course of study in a school
8. selective school
h) university student, working for a bachelor's degree
9. tuition fee
i) not part of the school time table
10. tutor
j) a teacher in a college, who leads a discussion group
11. undergraduate
k) teaching costs.
Ex.13. Translate these sentences into Russian:
a) 1. After finishing 9 classes of secondary school the young people can continue their education at different kinds of vocational or technical schools, colleges. 10. They not only learn general subjects, but receive a speciality there. 11. Having finished a secondary school, or a vocational, or a technical school, the young people can start working, or they may enter an institute or a university. 12. By the way, some people think, that professional training makes it easier to get a higher education. 13. As for high schools, there are a lot of them in our country. 14. Some of them train teachers, others - doctors, engineers, architects, actors and so on. 15. Many institutes have evening and extra- mural departments. 16. That gives the students as opportunity to study at an institute without leaving their job at plants or factories.
b) Among higher educational institutions there are universities, institutes, academies and schools of higher education, where the course of studies is normally five years. To enter a higher educational institution young people have to take entrance examinations. Higher as well as secondary education in our country is free. Although there are some new open universities today which charge fees.
Ex. 14. Find in texts a) and b)
Synonyms to: to finish the school, to learn, to enter an institute, to enter an institute, to train, departments, a job;
Antonyms to: high schools, to take exams, free of charge, make it easier, entrance examination, young people.
Ex. 15. Read the text and give a summary of it.
The Novosibirsk state University.
No scientists without pupils" such is the motto the Siberian Branch of Academy of Sciences has adopted. The education of a scientist begins at school. Gifted children from Yakutia, Transbaikalia, Sakhalin and Kamchatka are taught at the physicomathematical school of the Novosibirsk Scientific Centre according to special programmes.
The last link in the training of researchers is the Novosibirsk State University. This is where the leading scientists of the Siberian Branch train new generations of researches.
For this very reason the University was founded simultaneously with the first research institutes. Professors of country-wide fame are reading lectures and drawing the students into research. Beginning with their 'third year the students handle the most up-to-date equipment and receive knowledge „first-hand" — from the scientists who are extending the frontiers of knowledge: publish articles in scientific papers. The first graduates of the University are now employed as research associates, some have defended their doctorate theses.
Today the University has a number of residence halls and a large academic building. True, many think it too small. They say there is no place for the laboratories of physicists and chemists, no place for electronic computers for mathematicians, no place for a collection of stones. Actually there is no place for all these things but then there is not supposed to be. The whole point of the new principle of training young scientists is that they receive their knowledge in the laboratories of the people who are solving the problems of today and the future.
Students of various faculties of the University — mathematical, physical, geological, geophysical, natural sciences, economic, the humanities — have a good chance to receive deep knowledge of foreign languages. They can study English, Italian, Latin, Japanese, German, French through various language courses and then use their skills in practice while meeting native speakers who often visit Akademgorodok and the University. Very often professors from abroad teach in the University and help students acquire good competence of foreign languages. Language laboratories are well-equipped. Experienced teachers of foreign languages are always ready to help students in the researches where the knowledge of the language is required.
The University also trains teachers of various subjects for secondary schools and colleges. That is why in the university students study psychology, philosophy, methodology and other important subjects which can help future teachers give good knowledge to pupils.
Ex. 16. Put 10 questions to this text.
Ex. 17. Make up a dialogue using the facts from the text, given above.
Ex. 18. Answer the questions:
What other universities in Russia do you know?
Can you name the famous British and American universities?
Ex. 19. Read and learn the dialogue by heart.
Plans for the future
Jane: What do you do, Mark?
Mark: I'm a student but I'm working with Tim for the summer.
Jane: You won't be here for long, will you?
Mark: No, I'll only be here until the end of August and then I'll go home.
Jane: You won't have a holiday, will you?
Mark: Oh yes, I'll have three weeks' holiday in Wales. I'm going to the Welsh mountains.
Jane: And then?
Mark: Then I'll go to Coventry.
Jane: Why will you go there?
Mark: To study at the University of Warwick.
Jane: Oh, I'll be near there.
Mark: Where will you be?
Jane: I'll be at Birmingham University. What are you doing to study?
Mark: Economics, I hope to work for an advertising agency one day. And what about you? Will it be first year?
Jane: Yes, I'm going modern languages. I don't know what I want to be. I think, I'd like to be a teacher.
Mark: Do you know what you'll teach?
Jane: I'm not really sure... perhaps I'll teach Spanish.
Mark. Do you speak Spanish?
Jane: Oh yes, I've studied it for four years.
Mark: I can't speak the language but I can understand it.
Ex.20. Translate from English into Russian.
Education in Russia
1. Everyone in our country has the right to education. 2. It is said so in our Constitution. 3. But it is not only a right, it is a duty too. 4. Every boy and every girl in Russia must go to school, that is they must get a full secondary education. 5. So, when they are 6 or 7 years old, they begin to go to school. 6. There are thousands of schools in Russia. 7. There are schools of general education, where the pupils study Russian (or a native language), Literature, Mathematics, History, Biology, Music Arts, foreign languages. 8. There is also a number of specialized schools, where the pupils get profound knowledge of foreign languages, or Maths, or Physics.
Ex.21. Translate the text from Russian into English.
ОБРАЗОВАНИЕ В РОССИИ
1). В нашей стране каждый имеет право на образование. 2). Так сказано в нашей Конституции. 3). Но это не только право, это также и обязанность. 4). Каждый мальчики каждая девочка в России должны ходить в школу, т.е. они должны получить среднее образование. 5). Итак, когда им исполняется 6 или 7 лет, они начинают ходить в школу. 6). В России тысячи школ. 7). Есть общеобразовательные школы, где учащиеся изучают русский (или родной) язык, литературу, математику, историю, биологию, географию, музыку, ИЗО, иностранные языки. 8). Есть также целый ряд специализированных школ, где ученики получают углубленные знания иностранных языков, математики или физики.
9). После окончания 9 классов средней школы молодые люди могут продолжить свое образование в разного рода профтехучилищах, техникумах, колледжах. 10). Они там не только изучают общие дисциплины, но и получают специальность.
11). Закончив среднюю школу, профтехучилище или техникум, молодые люди могут начать работать или поступить в институт либо в университет. 12). Между прочим, некоторые люди считают, что профессиональная подготовка облегчает получение высшего образования. 13). Что касается высших учебных заведений, их очень много в нашей стране. 14). Некоторые из них готовят учителей, другие — врачей, инженеров, архитекторов, актеров и др. 15). Во многих институтах есть вечерние и заочные отделения. 16). Это дает студентам возможность учиться в институте без отрыва от работы на заводах и фабриках.
Ex.22. Match each word with the definition.
Computer words
The arrival of computers has brought many new words into the English language. How many of these do you know? Match each word with its definition from the right-hind column.
1. Word-processor
2. Hardware
3. Graphics
4. Electronic mail
5. 512K
6. Loading
7. Monitor
8. Disc drive
a. The computer equipment
b. Transferring information from disc to computer memory
c. Part of computer that operates discs
d. Programme to assist in the typing and editing of text before it is printed
e. Computer's memory capacity
f. Illustration on a monitor
g. Communications sent from one computer to another down the telephone lines
h. Television that provides visual information from the computer
Ex.23. Write a composition one of these points:
Discussion points
1. Do you think secondary education should be selective or comprehensive? What are advantages of both systems?
2. What do you think are the advantages of school uniform? And the disadvantages?
3. Is it good thing to leave home at the age of 18 and to go to study at a far away university? What are the advantages and disadvantages
4. How do British schools and universities differ from schools and universities in our country? What do you like and dislike about the British