Universities

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 very near there.

Mark Where will you be?

Jane I'll be at Birmingham University. What are you going to study?

Mark Economics. I hope to work for an advertising agency one day. And what about you? Will it be your first year?

Jane Yes. I'm doing 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 can understand it.

SECTION 5

Communicative Activity

Ex. 1. Why have you decided to enter the University? Give reasons to apply to ASU. What influenced your choice? What does higher education mean to you personally?

Ex. 2. Describe your entrance exams. What exams did you pass? Was it difficult to manage them successfully? What grades did you get? Did your parents influence your choice of the future profession?

Ex.3. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements:

1. Larger schools are better than smaller ones.

2. It is impossible to enter the university if you haven’t attended preparatory courses.

3. The best professors are the oldest ones.

4. It is more fun to live in a dormitory or a student hostel than to rent an apartment.

5. Professors always know more than students.

Ex 4. Do you know about your University?

1. Who was its first rector?

2. Were there among the graduates any famous:

1. scientists, engineers

2. politicians

3. artists

3. How many people are currently enrolled?

4. What is the most popular faculty in your University?

Ex. 5. Do you think that higher education should be free? Do you agree that teachers at the private universities work better because they are paid more? Make up a list of bad and good points of the fee-paying higher education. Devide in groups of 3-4 and then compare your lists.

Ex. 6. Describe your plans for the future. What is your future profession? What speciality do you major in? Name at least 5 character traits that a good representative of your profession should have. What professional skills should he possess?

Ex. 7. Find additional information about famous Universities of the world: Cambridge, Oxford, the Open University, Harvard and Moscow State University. Make up reports and present them in class.

SECTION 6

Supplementary Reading

TEXT 1.

Task 1. Read the text.

The Faculty of Law. My future profession: Lawyer.

The Faculty of Law is one of the country’s leading law schools. It is also one of the largest. It is housed in a teaching block on Socialistichesky Prospect. About 400 new students of daytime and extra-mural departments are admitted each year to read for the degree. The codification study-room adjoins the faculty and has tens of thousands of law books and journals, law reports, statutes and other legal materials. Computer terminals are available for use by students and give access to the massive legal database.

The faculty provides a great variety of teaching methods and methods of assessments: credit-tests, essays, and examinations.

The teaching staff of the Law Faculty is excellent and consists of 52 teachers with V. J. Muzykin, the dean, at its head.

There are seven departments at the law our faculty:

1. The Department of Criminal Law and Criminology;

2. The Department of Criminal Procedure and Criminalistics;

3. The Department of Constitutional and International Law;

4. The Department of Theory and History of State and Law;

5. The Department of Labor, Ecological Law and Civil Procedure;

6. The Department of Law Studies;

7. The Department of Civil Law.

The Department of Criminal Law and Criminology is one of the faculty’s leading departments. Alongside with experienced teachers (professors, professor assistants, law-science candidates) work young specialists, recent graduates of ASU. They deliver lectures and carry out seminars on Criminal Law, Criminology, Executive Law, procurator’s supervision, etc. The university’s first admission graduate, Doctor S.V.Zemlykov, heads the department.

The Department of Criminal Procedure and Criminalistics was founded in 1983. This department stimulates students’ interest in the secrets of crime commitment, its disclosure and prevention.

V.V.Nevinsky, Honored Lawyer of Russia, Doctor of Law, Professor is the head of The Department of Constitutional and International Law consisting of 15 staff members.

At The Department of Theory and History of State and Law, headed by N.N.Sorokin, a considerable part of studying hours is devoted to learning of state and municipal structures, financial, customs and international law and constitutional structure of Russia.

A successful combination of theory and practice can be noticed at The Department of Labor, Ecological Law and Civil Procedure headed by V.J.Muzykin, the dean of the Law Faculty.

Recently two more departments have been founded: The Department of Law Studies and The Department of Civil Law.

Law as an academic subject is a mixture of art, science and social science. Law is concerned with the structure and organization of society: it is the law that guarantees freedom in society. In that aspect law has some affinity with philosophy, politics, economics and sociology. The lawyer needs to turn general ideas and broad concepts into precise and workable rules. In this respect, students are encouraged to develop an investigative and critical attitude to the rules of law, to see the problems, to understand the nature of any difficulty and to think about its possible solution, to reason logically; to argue persuasively and to make independent judgments.

After graduation from the University the students are able to work in courts, procurator’s offices, in the sphere of preliminary investigations, at legal advice offices, arbitration bodies, etc.

Nowadays the profession of a lawyer is one of the most important in the law-governed state. The duty of lawyers is not only to punish people for various crimes but they must do their best to prevent crimes. They should help those people who committed an error to find the right road in their life. The lawyers protect the rights and legal interests of citizens, institutions and organizations.

In our country justice is exercised on the principles of equality of citizens before the law and the court, regardless of social position, property or official standing, nationality or race. The court’s mission is not just to meter out punishment, but rather to educate people in the spirit of strict observance of all laws, of labor discipline, appreciation of their duty to the state and society, respect for the rights and integrity of fellow citizens and the norms of behavior.

Task 1. Answer the questions:

1. Where is the faculty of law located?

2. What do the students of the faculty have at their disposal?

3. The teaching staff is highly qualified, isn’t it?

4. How many departments are there at the faculty?

5. What makes a good lawyer?

6. Why is the profession of a lawyer one of the most important nowadays?

7. What kind of specialists graduate from the Law faculty?

8. What problems do lawyers have to solve?

9. What are lawyer’s duties?

10. On what principles is justice exercised in our country?

Task 2. Translate the sentences from Russian into English:

1. Юридический факультет Алтайского Государственного Университета является одной из ведущих юридических школ в России.

2. Большое количество специальной литературы предоставляется в распоряжение студентам Университета.

3. Ежегодно на факультет зачисляется около 400 студентов на очную и заочную формы обучения.

4. На юридическом факультете существует семь кафедр.

5. После окончания АГУ студенты могут работать в суде, органах прокуратуры, органах внутренних дел, нотариате и т. д.

6. Задача юриста состоит в предупреждении совершении преступлений, а также в наказании лиц уже совершивших их.

7. Юристы защищают права и законные интересы гражданина.

TEXT 3

Task 1. Read the text.

British Universities

There are more than forty universities in Britain, of which 36 are in England, 8 in Scotland, 2 in Northern Ireland and 1 in Wales. The two oldest universities in England are Oxford and Cambridge. These date from the Middle Ages. Oxford is the oldest of these two universities, it is more philosophical, classical, theological. The history of Oxford began in 1249, that of Cambridge — in 1348. Among the English universities Oxford and Cambridge have a special eminence, and they are different from the others.

England had no other universities, apart from Oxford and Cambridge, until the nineteenth century. The universities which were founded between 1850 and 1930, including London University, are known as Redbrick universities (they were called so because that was the favourable building material of the time). They are in London, Durham, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Bristol, Nottingham, etc. The University of London is the largest of them. The division between Oxford and Redbrick is sharp. The division is essentially a class one. Redbrick universities were built to provide a liberal education for the poorer boys and to give technological training. Oxford and Cambridge graduates scorned them.

The universities which were founded after the Second World War are called “the new universities”. They are in Staffordshire, Kent, Essex, Lancaster, Sussex, York. Some of them quickly became popular because of their modem approach to university courses.

All British Universities are private institutions. Every university is independent, autonomous and responsible only to its own governing council. Although they all receive financial support from the state, the Department of Education and Science has no control over their regulations, curriculum, examinations, appointment of staff, or the way they spend money. The number and type of faculties differ from university to university. Each university decides each year how many students it supposes to admit. The admission to universities is by examination or selection (interviews). The students receive grants. They have to pay fees and living costs but every student may receive from the local authority of the place where he lives a personal grant which is enough to pay lodging and food — unless his parents are rich. Most students take jobs in the summer for about six weeks, but they do not normally do outside work during the academic session.

Students who pass examinations at the end of three or four years of study get Bachelor’s degree. The first postgraduate degree is normally that of Master conferred for a thesis based on at least one year’s full-time work. Universities are centres of research and many postgraduates are engaged in research for higher degree, usually Doctorates.

The British government does not think to build more new universities. There is a tendency to expand the older ones. The most interesting innovation is the Open University.

Task 2. Answer the questions on the text:

1. How many universities are there in Great Britain?

2. What are the oldest British universities?

3. What Redbrick universities can you name?

4. Why did “the new universities” quickly become popular?

5. All British universities are private institutions, aren’t they?

6. What university degree do you know?

7. Are universities centres of research?

Task 3. Complete the sentences:

1. The oldest Universities in Britain are ... .

2. There is a sharp division between ... .

3. New universities became popular because ....

4. Every university is independent, and responsible only to ... .

5. Students who pass exams after three or four years of studies get ... .

6. There is a tendency to expand ....

Task 4. Insert the right word:

(British, Oxford, Britain, Oxford and Cambridge, the Open University)

There are 47 universities in ... . The oldest universities are .... The history of ... began in 1249. These two universities are different from all other ... universities. Redbrick universities were built to give technological training. ... universities are private institutions, but they receive financial support from the state. The British government does not think to build new universities. The most interesting innovation is ... .

Task 5. Mark the statements that are true:

1. All British universities are private institutions. 2. The admission to the University is by examination or selection. 3. The Department of Education and Science controls appointment of staff. 4. The number and type of faculties is the same at all British universities. 5. Students never work in summer, they work during the academic year. 6. The first postgraduate degree is that of Master. 7. Universities are centres of research.

Task 6. Make a short summary of the text. Do it according to the following plan:

1. The title of the text is ...

2. The text is devoted to ...

3. It consists of ...

4. The first passage deals with ...

5. The second (third, forth, etc.) passage deals with …

6. The main idea of the text is …

TEXT 4.

Task 1. Read the text about US higher education.