Trendsev degree programs

During the 1970s and 1980s, there was a trend away from the traditional liberal arts. Instead of students were choosing major fields that would prepare them for specific jobs. In 1987 56 percent of the four-year bachelor's degrees were conferred in business and management, computer and information science, education engineering, health professions, and public affairs. Only 13 percent of the degrees were conferred in the traditional arts and sciences.

But some observers believe this trend toward pre-professionalism may be ending and that students are switching back to traditional areas of study. They cite the fact that in 1987 bachelor's degrees in mathematics were up 49 percent since the low point they had reached in

1981. Bachelor's degrees in English and literature, foreign languages, history, and physics also saw an upswing. In many ways, this new popularity of liberal arts is a return to the early tradition of American education.

Traditions in education

When the colonies that eventually became United States of America were settled in the 1600s, the world already had some very old universities. The University of Al-Azhar in Cairo was then more than 600 years old. Italy had its University of Bologna for centuries. Oxford and Cambridge in England and the University of Paris were founded in the 12th century.

European colleges were an offspring of its universities. The first colleges were opened in Paris in the 15th century as residence halls for university students. Usually, all the students in one residence studied the same subject (for example, law, medicine or theology). The term "college" gradually came to mean a place for studying a specific subject (for example, law) And thus, colleges developed into schools.

Both institutions—colleges and universities—were an important part of life in England when its people began to migrate to North America. Within the first 25 years of the Massachusetts Bay Colony more than 100 graduates from Oxford Cambridge and Dublin joined its founders. It was natural for these early colonists to set up the same institution in America that they had known in their native.

5.Travelling

There are many kinds of traveling. You can travel by water, by air, by car and many others way to traveling. Each of them has its own advantages. But one of the most widespread ways of traveling after traveling by air is traveling by train. What does it mean to make journey by train?

There is a special organization is called train service in each country. This organization make timetable. It's very important to know when your train pulls out of station to catch the train.

What about train? It can be an ordinary train or an express. An ordinary train is a train which follows from one city to other with stops. Usually there are dining cars in such trains and such train follows from one city to other during some days. There specially trained people work with passengers, they help them and these people are called porters.

An express is a very fast train. An express differs from an ordinary train in everything. It's very fast, faster than an ordinary train. For example, we all know famous Europe expresses run on English Channel. These trains can make 500 km/h. There aren't any porters and dining cars there, because these trains run between the same cities during 1 or 2 hours. As a rule, people travel light on such trains.

To get ticket on any above described trains you must buy yourself a seat or you can reserve seats. In second case you may sure that you will leave a city and, for example, won't be late for important conference or somebody's birthday or wedding.

Modern life is impossible without travelling. Thousands of people travel every day either on business or for pleasure. They can travel by air, by rail, by sea or by road.

Of course, travelling by air is the fastest and the most convenient way, but it is the most expensive too. Travelling by train is slower than by plane, but it has its advantages. You can see much more interesting places of the country you are travelling through. Modern trains have very comfortable seats. There are also sleeping cars and dining cars which make even the longest journey enjoyable. Speed, comfort and safety are the main advantages of trains and planes. That is why many people prefer them to all other means.

Travelling by sea is popular mostly for pleasure trips. On board large ships and small river boats people can visit foreign countries and different places of interest within their own country. It is very pleasant to see the rise and fall of the waves, to feel the fresh sea wind blowing and hear the cry of the seagulls. Trips on the Volga, the Dnieper, the Yenisei, the Black Sea are very popular today.

Many people like to travel by car. It is interesting too, because you can stop when and where you like, you do not have to buy tickets or carry your suitcases. A very popular method of travelling is hiking. It is travelling on foot. Walking tours are very interesting. Hitch-hiking is a very popular method of travelling among young people. But it is not so popular in our country as abroad.

The Black Sea is one of the most wonderful places which attracts holiday-makers all over the world. There are many rest-homes, sanatoriums and tourist camps there. But it is also possible to rent a room or a furnished house for a couple of weeks there. Sometimes we place ourselves in a tent on the sea shore enjoying fresh air and the sun all day long. As a rule I make new friends there. In the daytime we play volleyball, tennis, swim in the warm water of the sea and sunbathe. In the evening I like to sit on the beach watching the sea and enjoying the sunset.