§3. Omsk State Agrarian University

1. You’re the first-year student of Omsk State Agrarian University. Why did you decide to enter the university? What have you already learnt about it?

2. Study the Vocabulary, get ready to read and translate the text

Vocabulary

a hostel far Hydraulics land surveyor a dean a timetable descriptive Geometry a training farm

to be founded to be situated to be provided to train to consist of to attend to arrange according to

Omsk State Agrarian University

Omsk State Agrarian University is one of the largest and oldest educational institutions in Siberia. The first Agrarian Institute in Siberia was founded in 1918. In the spring of 1994 Omsk State Agrarian University was founded through reorganization of three Institutes (Agricultural Institute, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Institute of Specialists Retraining and Agrarian Business).

For 95 years our university has been training qualified specialists for agriculture: agronomists, economists, agricultural engineers, land use planners, land surveyors, meliorators, technologists of food products and many others. Today the university consists of 11 faculties, 2 institutes (the Institute of Economics and Finance, the Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Biotechnology), Tara branch University, Agrarian College.

There is a new library with reading rooms and conference halls, many lecture halls, computer centres, modern Physics, Hydraulics, Chemistry, Geology laboratories in our university. There are also research laboratories, the Centre of pre-university training and professional diagnosis, experimental field, linguistics center, spare time centre, students’ club, sports and museum complex of History and Education.

Each faculty is headed by a dean and rector is the head of the university. The dean arranges examinations at the end of each term. Students study Higher Mathematics, History, Philosophy, Chemistry, Descriptive geometry and other subjects. They attend classes every day according to the timetable. The practice is organized on the training farms.

3. Scan the text to answer the questions:

1. When was our university founded? 2. What facilities are there in our university? 3. What specialists does the university train? 4. What is a dean responsible for? 5. What does a rector do? 6. What is a structure of the university?

4. Fill in the table with the information from the text.

Specialists	Laboratories	Subjects
Agronomist	Physics laboratory	English

5. Read and translate the text “A letter”

A letter

Dear Helen,

Don’t be angry with me for my long silence, but really I was too busy to write.

As you know, I left school in June and began to prepare for my entrance exams to the University. As both my mother and father are teachers I have made up my mind to be a teacher too. I think teaching is a noble profession.

I had to take four exams and passed all of them with excellent marks. So I’m glad to tell you now I’m a first-year student at the Moscow State Teacher Training University.

I should like to show you the main building of our University. I can’t help admiring this fine old building with its beautiful columns. The first students entered it more than 120 years ago.

It goes without saying we, students, are very proud of this fact.

There are 18 faculties at our University which train teachers in many subjects: Russian, Literature, Mathematics, Physics, Geography, Biology, Foreign languages and others. Many well-known professors teach at our University.

We have good libraries and reading-rooms and for those who go in for sports there are good gymnasiums and a stadium.

At present we have quite a lot of work as we have English practice, Grammar and Phonetics, Linguistics, History of our native land and other subjects. There is an English speaking club at our faculty. It gives us a good opportunity to master the language, but I don’t take part in it yet. I’m working hard at my pronunciation. There is a good language laboratory at our faculty where we work with tape-recorders. It helps us to find our mistakes and to get rid of them in the shortest possible time.

So that’s the latest news about myself. Please write to me about your life and studies.

My best regards to your parents.

Yours,

Ann.

6. Give English equivalents to the following word combinations.

Быть сердитым на кого-то, долгое молчание, вступительные экзамены, решить, отличные оценки, не могу не восхищаться, быть гордым, многие предметы, заниматься спортом, хорошая возможность, усовершенствовать язык, избавится от чего-либо, наилучшие пожелания

7. Scan the text to answer the questions:

1. Who is writing a letter? 2. Why did Ann make up her mind to be a teacher? 3. Where does she study? 4. When did the first students enter the University? 5. How many faculties are there at the University? 6. What facilities do they have for those who go in for sports? 7. What subjects do they have?

8. Write a letter about your study in Omsk state agrarian university to your friend.