Московский государственный

УНИВЕРСИТЕТ ПУТЕЙ СООБЩЕНИЯ (МИИТ)

Кафедра «Иностранные языки – 1»

Практикум по английскому языку по устным темам

рекомендовано редакционно-издательским советом университета в качестве практикума для студентов, обучающихся по специальностям

«Психология», «Социология»,

«Государственное и муниципальное управление» Гуманитарного института

под редакцией Федоткиной Е.В.

МОСКВА – 2006

УДК 42

П 69

Апресян К.Г., Афанасьева Е.Н., Баданова Е.А., Богомолова И.И., Кометиани Е.А., Коткова И.Б., Матвеева Н.В., Роговая Н.М., Русакова Н.В., Сидельникова Е.М., Солопенко Т.А., Угольникова И.А. Практикум по английскому языку по устным темам для студентов, обучающихся по специальностям «Психология», «Социология», «Государственное и муниципальное управление» Гуманитарного института / под редакцией Федоткиной Е.В. – М.: МИИТ, 2006. – 48 с.

Практикум предназначен для развития навыков и умений устной речи по темам, указанным в «Рабочих программах по курсу «Иностранные языки» от 2005 года. Практикум включает 19 тем. Текстовый материал заимствован из оригинальной английской литературы и адаптирован в соответствии с целью данной методической разработки. Темы 1, 15, 16 подготовлены Бадановой Е.А., тема 2 – Кометиани Е.А., тема 3 – Сидельниковой Е.М., темы 4, 7 – Матвеевой Н.В., темы 5, 8, 9 – Богомоловой И.И., тема 6 – Роговой Н.М., темы 10, 13 – Угольниковой И.А., тема 11 – Котковой И.Б., тема 12 – Афанасьевой Е.Н., тема 14 – Апресян К.Г., темы 17, 18 – Русаковой Н.В., тема 19 – Солопенко Т.А.

©Московский государственный университет путей сообщения (МИИТ), 2006

1. Psychology

Psychology as a science studies mental activity and human behaviour. The word "psychology" is derived from the Greek word meaning "study of the mind or soul". So in the definition of psychology there are three basic words:

"science" "behaviour", "mental processes".

"Science" means rational investigation of processes and phenomena. By "behaviour" psychologists mean everything that people and animals do: actions, emotions, ways of communication, developmental processes. "Mental processes" characterize the work of the mind and the nervous system.

Psychology has both a traditional and scientific history, as any other science. Traditionally, psychology dates back to the earliest speculations about relationships of man with his environment. Beginning from 600 B.C. the ancient intellectuals observed these relationships. The most famous, were Empedocles, Hippocrates, Aristotle, Plato. After the birth of Christ — St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas.

But as the science of mind and behavior, psychology emerged in the nineteenth century. The many influences in psychology's past have helped to make psychology a very diverse field today. That diversity is evident in the many professional endeavors psychologists engage in.

Psychology is one of the most rapidly developing social sciences, touching almost every aspect of our lives. Society which has become more complex is turning more and more to psychology to answer some of the serious human problems of our day and age.

Psychologists are concerned with a wide variety of problems. Some are of broad concern: what child rearing methods produce happy and effective adults; how can mental illness be prevented; how can people be persuaded to do something; why people act as they do, and the like.

Present - day psychology is a complex and differentiated research system extending throughout general, social, developmental, pedagogical, child, medical, engineering psychology.

Psychology is widely used in management and marketing today. This part of psychology is called Industrial psychology or Organizational psychology.

The effective utilization of people in organized human effort has always been a pressing problem. The pharaoh building a pyramid faced problems fundamentally similar to those faced by the corporation executive of today. Each must figure out

1. how to organize work and allocate it to workers;

2. how to recruit, train and effectively manage the people available to do the work;

3. how to create work conditions and reward and punishment systems which will enable the workers to maintain high effectiveness and sufficient morale to remain effective over long periods of time;

4. how to adjust their organization to changing environmental conditions and technological innovations;

5. how to cope with competitions or harassment from other organizations.

All these questions are treated by organizational psychologists as being interrelated and intimately tied to the social system of the organization as a whole. Over the last years the status of psychology has been greatly improved in Russia.

In 1966 faculties and branches were created in a number of universities in which skilled specialists in different fields of psychological science are being trained. In 1971 an Institute of psychology was opened in the Russian Academy of Sciences, which fulfils the functions of the central institute in the development of psychological science.

Questions:

1. What is the origin of the word 'psychology'?

2. What basic words are there in the definition of psychology?

3. What do these basic words mean?

4. When did psychology emerge as the science?

5. What problems are psychologists concerned with?

6. What kind of psychology is used in management and marketing today?

7. What questions are treated by organizational psychologists?

8. Why has the status of psychology been greatly improved in Russia over the last years?

9. When was the Institute of psychology opened in the Russian Academy of Sciences?