Syktyvkar State University

1. What do you know about Syktyvkar University?

a) When was SU founded?

b) Why was it founded?

c) Who helped our University in the hard period of establishing?

2. Pronounce the following words and word-combinations:

educational; university; scientific; methodological; to recognize; geological; initiative; search; successful; expedition; discovery; deposits; industrial; region; qualified; higher; institution; branch; scratch; to receive; substantial funds; neither experience nor tradition; to equip; to support; private; to supply; to compile; curricula

3. Learn the following words and word combinations:

education – образование

to recognize – признавать

on one’s initiative – по чей-либо инициативе

search – поиск

to result in – приводить к

discovery – открытие

coal deposits – залежи угля

highly qualified experts – высококвалифицированные специалисты

higher educational institution - ВУЗ

to start from scratch – начинать с нуля

it goes without saying – само собой разумеется

to receive – получать

to fall back on – опираться на

to support – поддерживать

to equip – оборудовать

free of charge – бесплатно

to donate – дарить, жертвовать

to supply – снабжать

to compile – составлять

curriculum (pl. curricula) – учебный план

4. Could you give three forms of the verbs?

to become -

to send -

to be -

to receive -

to give -

to fall -

5. Could you change the following words into as many derivatives as it is possible:

To educate –

To initiate –

To discover-

To qualify-

To establish-

6. While reading the text, check your answers in the assignment 1 and get ready to answer the questions after the text.

Syktyvkar University, founded in 1972, has become the main educational, scientific and methodological centre of the Komi Republic. The need for it was recognised long ago, when the first geological expedition was sent to the Komi area on Lenin’s initiative. Their search was successful, resulting in the discovery of the Pechora coal deposits and later of what is now known as the Timan-Pechora oil and gas complex. In a short period of time the Komi Republic has become an important industrial region with developed forestry, coal, gas and other industries. We needed not just literate people but highly qualified experts. That was why higher educational institutions and the Komi branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences were opened in the Republic.

Our University started from scratch. It goes without saying that we received substantial funds for it from the state. But we had neither experience nor tradition to fall back on. In this hard period of establishing the University we were supported by the whole Republic and, moreover, by the whole country. 22 of the Union Republics’ universities gave us nearly half a million books. 27 Komi enterprises equipped our laboratories free of charge. Well-known Soviet scientists donated their private libraries to our University. Moscow and Leningrad Universities supplied us with teachers and helped us compile our curricula.