Easy Reading in English. Методическое пособие по домашнему чтению для студентов II курса неязыковых специальностей педагогических вузов
.pdfpopulation and you were considered one of the elite — destined for one of the professions, senior management or a top post in the civil service.
Today, one in three young people enters higher education and a degree is fast becoming the minimum qualification for any white-collar job. This is not to suggest that the value of a degree has diminished. We now live in a far more complex world and most jobs today require a much higher level of intellectual skills than ever before.
Graduatesnotonlycontinuetoenjoyhigherpayandlowerunemployment than non-graduates, but most employers will tell you that there is still a shortage of good graduates.
So what do employers look for in graduate recruits? Certainly, they want intellectual skills acquired in taking a degree. These include the ability to collect and analyze information, to acquire specialist knowledge, to solve problems and to communicate clearly. In the past this was enough. When graduates were small elite, employers could afford to invest in extended training programmes lasting between one and two years.
Although small numbers of graduates of exceptional potential are still recruited as future high flyers into such training schemes, they are a tiny minority. Most graduate recruits today are expected to make an immediate contribution to the organization. This means that they need more than their academic qualifications. Employers look for a range of generic vocational skills which are useful in almost all types of work; they are usually known as «key skills».
Employers have produced long lists of desirable skills which they would like their new graduate recruits to possess.
SixkeyskillsareapprovedbytheQualificationsandCurriculumAuthority (QCA) for incorporation into many vocational education and training programmes. These key skills are communication, using and presenting numerical data, information technology, team-working, improving your own learning and performance, and problem solving. Graduate employers certainly hope to find all of these, but they also look for some additional qualities such as adaptability and commercial awareness. Above all, they want recruits to have already had some practical experience of applying them.
One of the strongest single messages received from employers was the value of work experience. In fact most students do now get work experience of one kind or another. What is less certain is whether they use all the learning opportunities this provides. Many still see it only as a necessary way to get some money.
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Recent government policy says that all students should have what it described as «quality work experience» before they complete their fulltime education. However, not enough employers offer suitable vacancies to provide this. Ideally, you would get vacation or part-time work relevant to your area of study so that you could start to apply theory to the world of work. But many students end up serving in retail shops, bars and fast-food outlets, or waiting in restaurants. The money is certainly useful, but does menial work provide opportunities for useful learning and help your careers prospects? It does.
Even in the most menial jobs you can analyze everything you see and do and what your colleagues at all levels are doing. You can try and work out why things are organized in the way they are and why people act in the way they do. What do you find motivates the customers of your business — and annoys them? Are there health and safety implications in the way things are done? The job can be used as a learning opportunity so you can tell future recruiters what skills and understanding you have gained.
Few people will find a lifetime employer. They will move between employers to gain greater expertise and experience. Many will be offered short-term contracts, others will be offered work as consultants on a selfemployed basis. Graduates face more flexible though less certain futures. In going to university it is important to recognize that the future will be very different from the past, that you must learn to adapt and that you can and should learn from every experience of student life.
Notes
a wealth of experience – богатый опыт destined – предназначенный
civil service – государственная служба white-collar – служащий
to diminish – уменьшать
a graduate – окончивший учебное заведение, выпускник shortage – дефицит
a recruit – новичок
to acquire – приобретать extended – расширенный exceptional – исключительный a scheme – программа contribution – вклад
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generic – общий
adaptability – приспособляемость relevant – относящийся (к) retail – розничная продажа
an outlet – торговая точка menial work – черная работа expertise – фр. компетентность flexible – гибкий
awareness – осведомленность to gain – приобретать
Assignments
1.Translate the article into Russian in writing.
2.Think of a different title of the article.
3.Fill in the blanks with the words from the text:
1)Most jobs today require a much higher level of intellectual … than ever before;
2)These include the … to collect and analyze information, to … specialist knowledge, to … problems and to communicate clearly;
3)Most graduate … today are expected to make an immediate … to the organization;
4)All students should have what it described as «…» before they complete their … education;
5)They will move between … to gain greater expertise and ….
4.Search for the key-words reflecting the problem of the article.
5.Answer the questions to the article sharing your opinion with your groupmates:
What is the author’s opinion on the problem?
What aspects of life in the UK did you learn about in this article? Compare the situation in Britain (or other English-speaking countries) and Russia and comment on them.
What is your attitude towards this problem? What have you read or heard about it?
Did anything surprise you?
Do you agree with the theory presented in the article? Give your reasons.
Have you (or your friends) ever had to deal with the problem described in the article?
What are you going to do to succeed in your future profession?
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6.Divide the text into some parts, make up a plan to the article and entitle each part of your plan in the form of a sentence or an expression.
7.Whom can the article be interesting for reading?
8.Sum up all the points that have been discussed and render the article according to the plan.
STUDENTS WITH JOBS LOSE OUT IN EXAMS
(From «The Guardian»)
Themostcash-strappeduniversitystudentsarejeopardizingtheirchances of exam success by combining their studies with long hours in low paid jobs, according to research.
Half of those surveyed said they combined paid work with their studies during term-time, and half focused solely on their academic work. Students who worked admitted they spent less time on academic work because of the demands of regular term-time jobs – typically in bars, pubs, cafes and shops
– and often skipped lectures and handed work in late. For those working 15 hours a week the odds of obtaining a first class degree were cut by more than a third.
The results of the three-year study confirm the phenomenon of students who are forced into regular employment to pay for basics such as food and rent. It also shows that students from the poorest homes and ethnic minority backgrounds most likely to be working long hours to help pay bills.
Thestudy,byresearchersatLondonSouthBankUniversityandtheOpen University, is the first to confirm that students forced to work as a result of financial hardship suffer in terms of academic performance. The number of final-year students in paid work has increased dramatically since the end of the 1990s, following reforms of student funding introduced by Labour, the report says. While its authors say they cannot predict the impact of the introduction of top-up fees of up to 3,000 from next year, they expect termtime work by students “to remain part of the higher education landscape”.
TheresearchprojectwascommissionedbytheHigherEducationFunding Council for England (HEFCE) and the umbrella group Universities UK. Around 1,500 undergraduates attending seven universities across the UK completed the survey in spring 2002.
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Students tended to work in low-paid jobs reported that their studies suffered as a direct result of their work. Many admitted missing lectures, producing poor quality assignments and having difficulty accessing libraries and computer facilities.
More then 80% said they spent less time studying because of their termtime jobs, and nearly three-quarters spent less time preparing coursework. Many students believed that term-time working damaged academic performance-worries that were well-founded. The more students worked during term-time, the lower their average end-of-year marks or final degree results.
Three-quarters of students had concerns about debts. Of those forced to work, more than a third (37%) spent most of their earnings on basics such as food and rent. Less than one student in every 10 spent most of their earnings on social life and entertainment.
Around 90% of students surveyed had taken out a student loan, the report found, but ethnic minority students, Muslims and single-parent students were less likely to do so. The average loan debt was £ 9,620, with one in five saddled with debts of more than 15,000.
Co-authorProfessor ClaireCallender,of LondonSouth Bank University, said: ”Even with the new fees regime from 2006, we expect term-time working will remain an issue for undergraduates.” But the higher education minister, Bill Ram-mell, said that the study did not reflect the impact of the new student financial package: “Students beginning university next year will have nothing to pay until they have finished studying and earning over 15,000 with the reintroduction of grants worth 2,700 a year and bursaries offered by many universities, students should need to find less cash to support themselves while they are studying”.
Notes
cash-strapped – испытывающий денежные затруднения to jeopardize – подвергать опасности
solely – исключительно to skip – пропускать to force – вынуждать odds – шансы hardship – трудности
academic performance – академическая успеваемость an assignment – задание
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to access – пользоваться to commission – поручать a loan – заем
to saddle – обременять a fee – плата за обучение a bursary – стипендия
Assignments
1.Comment on the title of the story.
2.What does this article touch upon?
3.Make the derivatives from:
To access, to employ, to perform, dramatic, to introduce, finance, to entertain, difficult, to earn, to introduce.
4.Express your opinion on the given questions:
What problem does the article highlight? What is the author’s opinion on the problem? Do you share the author’s opinion?
What factors in the author’s view influence the academic performance of students in the UK?
What is the attitude towards this problem in our society? Do you agree with what is presented in the article?
Have you ever had to deal with the problem described in the article? Does work harm academic performance?
What do you have to do to make progress in your studies?
5.Speak on the common problems of students in Russia.
6.Write an annotation paying attention to everything discussed earlier using new words and expressions.
THE STUDENT HOWLERS
(From «The Daily Mail»)
They are supported to be the cream of the education system. But when it comes to landing jobs the vast majority fall at the first hurdle because of sloppy spelling and grammar, research shows.
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A study of 1,000 written job applications found that nine out of ten graduates and final–year students were rejected because of basic errors in their first few words. Seventeen spelling mistakes were found in a single covering letter while a number of candidates addressed applications to the wrong person or referred to the wrong job. One hopeful blew his chances with the over–the–top declaration: 'I exist! I live! Seize me!'
Another had burnt the edges of his curriculum vitae, saying: 'As you can see from the single marks on my application, I'm red hot.'
Many candidates fail at the interview stage because they display little knowledge of the company or the precise role they would have to fill.
The poor calibre of graduates entering the workforce will embarrass ministers who want half of young people to be in higher education by 2010. The Government has also unveiled plans to allow universities to charge ₤ 3,000 a year in tuition fees, claiming that the higher salaries on offer to graduates justify higher student debt levels.
The average individual debt of last summer's graduates is ₤ 10,997, according to figures released by Barclays Bank. Miss Castle, a human resources director at Lewis, said too many CVs betrayed a lack of attention to detail. She claimed universities needed to earn their increased tuition fees by giving more help to undergraduates in the job market. Chris Lewis, the PR company’s founder, said: 'The falling standard of literacy is a most alarming development. In an age of increased course fees, this needs to be urgently addressed'.
Notes
a howler – глупейшая ошибка sloppy – небрежный
to land – добиться
a blunder – грубая ошибка
resume – амер. краткая автобиография the cream – самое лучшее, цвет (чего-либо) a hurdle – препятствие
a covering letter – сопроводительное письмо to reject – отказывать
red hot – горячий
calibre – моральные качества
to embarrass – приводить в замешательство to unveil – раскрывать
to charge – назначать цену
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tuition fees – плата за обучение literacy – грамотность
Assignments
1.Read the article and explain how you understand its title.
2.What another title to the article can you offer?
3.What do these words mean:
A hurdle, a job application, curriculum vitae, calibre, unveiled, a salary, a graduate, urgently, literacy, a tuition fee.
4.Answer the questions to the article:
What problem is the article based upon?
What is the author’s opinion on the problem? Do you share it? What aspects of life in the UK did you learn about in this article? What is the attitude towards this problem in our society?
What have you read or heard about this phenomenon?
What new facts about student’s life can you get acquainted us with? Have you ever experienced what is described in the article?
What skills do you need to write a CV without mistakes?
5.Render the article according to the plan, using new words and expressions.
IT DOESN’T PAY TO GO TO SOME UNIVERSITIES
(From «The Sunday Times»)
The widening gulf in the pay and job prospects of students at Britain's best and worst-performing universities is revealed today in the first league tables to show how graduates fare in the careers market.
The figures, published in The Sunday Times University Guide, show that former students of Imperial College London were the best paid six months after they graduated last year, earning an average of &24,247. This was almost twice the pay level at Aberystwyth, the lowest-ranked institution.
Imperial’s graduates are also among the least likely to be in jobs that they believe could have been done by a non-graduate, with only 11.1 % falling into this category. By contrast 53.7 % of former students at the University of Wales, Lampeter, believed they were in non-graduate jobs.
Experts say the poor employment performance of some universities casts
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doubt on the wisdom of Tony Blair's target that half of British school leavers should go to university.
«If graduates from higher education think they are going to get an interesting job on a good salary than will give them a middle-class career, manyofthemwillbedisappointed,»saidPhilipBrown,professorofsociology at Cardiff University and coauthor of The Mismanagement of Talent, a book published earlier this year that claims the economy is producing too few graduate jobs to absorb all university leavers.
Brown added: «Employers think there is a shortage of real talent so they pay the really talented a lot of money, but there is a glut of what they see as run-of-the-mill graduates.»
Competition is becoming increasingly fierce for graduate jobs, with an average of 40 applicants for each vacancy and growing numbers of foreign job seekers sending in online applications from Asia and Eastern Europe.
Anthony Hesketh, a management lecturer at Lancaster University and Brown's co-author, said: «If you have got less than 300 UCAS [Universities and Colleges Admissions Service] points [three Bs or equivalent] it might not even be worth going to university if you are dreaming of one of those coveted graduate jobs.»
The figures published in the Sunday Times guide have been gathered by the Higher Education Statistics Agency from more than 182,000 students who graduated last summer and were asked about the jobs they held on January 15 this year. They show that the national average starting salary for graduates is 16,393, while 7,1 % are unemployed six months after leaving university.
On average, almost one-third of graduates believe they are in jobs that they could have obtained without going through a three-year degree course and amassing 20,000 debts.
London colleges — including University College, the Sunday Times University of the Year — head the table of graduate earnings, filling the top five places. This can partly be attributed to the higher salaries paid in the capital and also to the presence of big medical schools in four of the top five.
Several other universities also perform well. Graduates from Dundee, in ninth place, earn an average starting salary of 18,884, with Aberdeen close behind on 18,685.
In terms of both starting salary and standard of job, the traditional elite institutions dominate the league tables. Some new universities, however, are performing well. Many offer targeted courses, often highly regarded for
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particular professions. They include London South Bank, the only former polytechnic in the top 10 for graduate earnings. It is also in the top 20 for low numbers of students in non-graduate level jobs.
Oxford Brookes, which has a renowned course for potential managers in the hospitality industry, for example, comes near the top. Only 23.1 % of its graduates are in jobs that a non-graduate would have been qualified to do, a better figure than that achieved by neighbouring Oxford University.
Job-hunting is likely to become increasingly difficult for graduates who do not get into top universities or find highly regarded courses at lowerranked institutions.
Notes
to reveal – обнаруживать to fare – преуспевать
lowest-ranked – самой низкой категории likely – вероятный
wisdom – мнение, взгляд a target – цель
mismanagement – плохое управление to claim – утверждать
shortage – дефицит glut – избыток
run-of-the mill – заурядный fierce – жестокий
an applicant – претендент a seeker – соискатель admission – прием
to covet – сильно желать to amass – накапливать to attribute – объяснять
highly regarded – престижный job hunting – поиск работы to count for – иметь значение outlook – взгляд(ы) academic – ученый
switched on – деятельный, общительный oven-ready – полуфабрикат schadenfreude – злорадство
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