12. Consider the following statements.

1. Oxford University is a collegiate one.

How do you understand it? Can you express your opinion on the above?

2. Oxford University is considered to give a very high standard of education.

Do you agree? Can you give your reasons?

3. Oxford University graduates often become powerful and successful

members of British society, though this is beginning to change.

Do you agree to that? What is really meant?

13. Discuss pros and cons of the fact that some people think that Oxford and Cambridge Universities are too old-fashioned, traditional, and elitist.

Here are some useful expressions for the supporters:

The point I’m making is…; it is generally felt…; I’m bound to say …; I’m inclined to point out…; everyone knows that …, etc.

Some useful expressions for the opponents:

That’s not the point…; I think it’s absurd to…; anyone can see…; the facts just don’t support…, etc.

14. Retell Text 9c.

15. Make up a story about higher education of Great Britain based on the information given in the above Texts.

SPEAKING

DIALOGUE 1

Talking of higher education of Britain

A.: What kinds of higher educational institutions are there in Great Britain?

B.: There are universities and colleges of higher education.

A.: What are the oldest and best-known universities in Great Britain?

B.: The oldest and best-known universities in Great Britain are Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

A.: What can you say about other universities of Great Britain?

B.: All other universities are fairly new.

A.: Which is the biggest of the new universities?

B.: The biggest of them is London University.

A.: What is London University made up of?

B.: London University is made up of a great variety of colleges and other institutions including medical schools.

A.: What educational establishment usually has both faculties and departments?

B.: A university has.

A.: What are the common faculties?

B.: The most common faculties are arts, law, medicine, science, and theology.

A.: What does the department include?

B.: The department includes engineering, economics, commerce, agriculture, music, and technology.

16. Memorize and reproduce Dialogue 1 as a model.

17. Make up dialogues of your own using Dialogue 1 as a model.

Situations: You meet your friend who graduated from one of the Universities in Great Britain and talk to him about:

a) the University he went to;

b) what he liked and disliked about higher education of Great Britain;

c) the difference between higher education of Great Britain and that of Russia.

DIALOGUE 2

Talking of Oxford University

John: Who is that scholarly-looking man who walked past and smiled at you? Surely he isn’t an undergraduate.

Pete: No, that’s my tutor.

John: What is a tutor?

Pete: The tutorial system is one of the ways in which Oxford and Cambridge differ from all the other English universities. Every student has a tutor and as soon as you come to Oxford one of the first things you do is to go to see your tutor. He, more or less, plans your work, suggests the books you should read and sets work for you to do, for example an essay to write. Each week you go to him in his room, perhaps with two or three other students, and he discusses with you the work that you have done, criticizes in detail your essay and sets you the next week’s work.

John: Does the tutor also give lectures?

Pete: Yes, he may.

John: But aren’t lectures given by professors?

Pete: Yes, though professors don’t give a great many lectures. They are often appointed not so much to do teaching work as to carry on research in their particular subjects.

John: Can you go to any lecture you like, no matter whether it is by a tutor or professor of your college or not?

Pete: Yes. Lectures are organized not by the colleges but by the university, and so any member of the university may attend, for all students are members of the college and of the university. The result is that where you get a famous professor, you will often find that his lecture-room is crowded; a dull professor may have only a handful of students.

John: You said that lectures were organized by the university. Where is the University?

Pete: It must seem rather strange to you but there isn’t really any university at Oxford as there is, for example, at Manchester or Bristol or Edinburgh. Oxford (like Cambridge) is a collection of colleges, each self-governing and independent. “The University” is merely an administrative body that organizes lectures, arranges examinations, gives degrees, etc.

John: What do you want to do when you leave Oxford?

Pete: What I should like more than anything else would be to start a school in Oxford for teaching English to foreign students.

John: Well, I wish you like.

Pete: Thanks, John. But let’s walk on again; you’ve hardly seen any of the colleges yet.