4. Find russian equivalents to english sayings and proverbs:

1. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. 2. A good beginning makes a good ending. 3. A sound mind in a sound body. 4. A storm in a teacup. 5. A tree is known by its fruit. 6. A wolf in sheep's clothing. 7. All cats are grey in the dark. 8. An hour in the morning is worth two in the evening. 9.Out of sight, out of mind. 10. There is no fire without smoke. 11. There is no rule without an exception.

5. Here is a list of interesting facts that you should be aware of, but probably don't need to know… China has more English speaking people than the United States. 

Did you know you share your birthday with at least 9 million other people in the world? 

The search engine Google got its name from the word ‘googol’, which refers to the number one with a hundred zeros after it. 

The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter of the alphabet. 

Lightning strikes men about seven times more often than it does women. 

Women make up 49% of the world population. 

The heart of a blue whale is the size of a small car. 

The tongue of a blue whale is as long as an elephant. 

Our eyes are always the same size from birth. 

There are more TV sets in the US than there are people in the UK. 

Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur. 

Topic 6. EDUCATION (ОБРАЗОВАНИЕ)

Topical vocabulary

citizen	гражданин	creche	ясли
to ensure	обеспечивать	stage	ступень, этап
general education	общее образование	upper	высший
available	доступный	to last	длиться
private	частный	to aim	иметь целью
to establish	учреждать	to complete	завершать
to incorporate	включать	choice	выбор
pre-school	дошкольный	tuition	обучение
secondary school	средняя школа	fee	оплата
primary education	начальное образование	to allow	позволять
vocational education	профессиональное образование	either…or	или… или
kindergartens	детский сад	to head	возглавлять

Text a. Education in Russia

1. Read and translate the text.

Citizens of Russia have the right for education which is guaranteed by the Constitution. Education in Russia is organised and coordinated by the state, which ensures that general education is free and available for everyone. Most schools are state schools but private schools have also been established in recent years.

The public educational system in our country incorporates pre-school, general secondary school, secondary vocational education and higher education.

Pre-school consists of kindergartens and creches. Children there learn reading, writing and arithmetic. But pre-school education isn't compulsory - children can get it at home.

Compulsory education is for children from 6(7) to 17 years of age.

General education in Russia comprises three stages. The first stage is primary education, which lasts for four years. Basic general education (from 5^th to 9^th forms) lasts for five years. Children learn the basic laws of nature and society at the lessons of history, algebra, literature, physics and many others. After completing primary and basic general education, the pupils participate in final examinations after which they get a Certificate of Secondary General Education, Attestat o Srednem Obshchem Obrazovanii. Also they have a choice: entering the 10^th grade of a general secondary school or a secondary vocational school.

The upper stage of the secondary education (high school) lasts for two years. Russian general education is aimed at the intellectual, emotional, moral and physical development of the individual. Tuition in most of them is free of charge, but some new types of schools (private, specialized) are fee-paying. In total, general education takes 11 years to complete.

After completing the secondary general education, the pupils need to pass the Unified State Examination, which will allow students to continue to higher education: either vocational education or university level education. Institutions are headed by rectors; the faculties are headed by the deans. One has to study in the higher school 5 years.