USA Education Reader. High School and college culture. Книга для чтения

grass cello. I was scouted by the Mets. I am the subject of the numer- ousdocumentaries.WhenIambored,Ibuildlarge-suspensionbridges in my yard. I enjoy urban hang gliding. On Wednesdays, after school, I repair electrical appliances free of charge. I am an abstract artist, a concrete analyst and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I don’t perspire. I am a private citizen, yet I receive fan mail. I have been caller number nine and have won the weekend passes.

Last summer I toured New Jersey with a traveling centrifugalforce demonstration. I bat .400. My deft floral arrangements have earned me fame in international botany circles. Children trust me. I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick and David Copperfield in one day and still had time to refurbish an entire dining-room that evening. I know the exact location of every food item in the supermarket. I have performed several covert operations with the CIA. I sleep once a week; and when I sleep, I sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply to me. I balance, I weave, I dodge, I frolic and my bills are all paid. On weekends, to let off steam, I participate in full-contact origami. Years ago I discovered the meaning of life but forgot to write it down. I have made extraordinary four-course meals using only a mouli and a toaster-oven. I breed prize-winning clams. I have won bullfights in Sun Juan, cliff-diving competitions in Sri Lanka and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I have played Hamlet, I have performed open-heart surgery and I have spoken with Elvis.

But I have not gone to college.

He was accepted.

Huge Gallagher

[From Chicken soup for the college soul: inspiring and humorous stories about college [compiled by] Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Kimberly Kirberger, Dan Clark. Health Communications, Inc. Deerfield Beach, Florida (1999). – p. 2–4].

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What is your opinion of the essay? What impressed you most of all? How does the essay characterize the applicant? Do you think it is worth while introducing a college admission essay at universities in Russia?

Imagine you are applying to one of the USAuniversities.At home write a one-page college admission essay, discuss the most interesting essays with your teacher in class.

STORY 9.

THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE

PRE-READING TALK

It has been said that people grow and develop the most during two periods of their lives: before the age of five and during college. The first chance for development comes naturally to everyone. But getting the second chance takes more effort — one must first be admitted to college, which is certainly no easy experience. Do you know how to enter a college or a university here in Russia? What kind of exams are you to take? What kind of documents are you to supply? Is the USA admission practice similar or different from that in Russia? What do you know about it?

INTERACTIVE READING

Read the following story told by a University of Massachusetts student to find out how admission practices are carried out in the USA. Would you call her experience happy or unhappy?

After reading the story, do a test and some other exercises to enhance your comprehension and build your vocabulary. While reading, you will come across a number of culturally marked words. Most of them can be found in the Glossary at the end of the book. As for the culturally marked words in italics, they are not included into the Glossary, so be sure to consult the Internet sources, dictionaries or encyclopedias to find out what they mean.

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THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE

The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances­ they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.

George Bernard Shaw

When I found out I didn’t get into the colleges I wanted to go to, I was in New York City on a school trip. I called home from a pay phone, and my little sister, Alex, said four envelopes had arrived: Georgetown, Cornell, William and Mary and the University of Massachusetts. She then opened and read them to me in her adenoidal, ten-year-old voice: “We regret that we do not have a place for you...” Rejected from Georgetown. “You were one of many qualified candidates. . . .” Rejected from Cornell. And number seventy-three on a waiting list of seventy-five at William and Mary.Accepted to U Mass, my safety school.

I didn’t digest the rejections immediately. I toured the United Nations, took Amtrak home and went back to school. Then I realized that other people had gotten into schools they really wanted to go to. Up to that point in my seventeen years, I hadn’t really failed at anything. I got good grades, made varsity and scored well on my SATs. I hadn’t experienced any major disappointments in my life — no deaths, no disease, no divorce, no cavities even. So being rejected seemed apocalyptic.

I had always assumed I’d go to one of the “good schools.” I really wanted to be chosen: This is the place for smart people, and we want you. U Mass, on the other hand, had the reputation of being a party school — to which, come September, I’d be headed with the guy who sat next to me in tenth-grade history and who, during tests, left his book open on the floor and flipped through it with his feet.

I became bitter. I compared everyone’s grades and talents­ to my own in a desperate attempt to make my own misfortune add up. “Of course she got into Harvard. Her dad went there. Who needs a frontal lobe when you’re a legacy?” I was melodramatic. Talking to teachers, relatives or friends, I’d say, “I’m going to U Mass,” pro-

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jecting my indignation onto them. Not U Mass, I’d imagine them thinking. Not you. I’d draw a deep breath, raise my eyebrows­ and frown slightly, like some old Yankee farmer confirming the death of a faithful plow-ox.

I did not get proactive like my friend Heather, who, having been rejected by her first choice, made I Love Lucy-style plans to drive to the Duke campus with her soccer ball and her science-fair project to show the admissions board exactly what they were rejecting. I simply adopted the mantra, “I’ll transfer after one semester.” And I’d say things like, “I’ve decided to forego the bachelor’s degree and take a cake-decorating course.” The subtext in all these conversations was: I’m stupid. The world isn’t fair. I made my jokes right up to the registration desk in my dorm, where I had my little sister present my paperwork and pretend to be me.

The strangest thing happened, though: I liked U Mass. I met Marci, my soul mate whose first choice had also been Cornell. However, U Mass had been her second. Finally I’d found someone who would take a nightly three-mile jog with me to buy a sundae. And I met lots of other smart, funny, interesting people.

I liked my classes, too. It didn’t take me that long to figure out that basically, college is college, wherever. Sometimes on weekends, when I didn’t want to see anyone­ I knew, I’d head downtown to study in the library at Amherst College — the Shangri-la of competitive colleges. Walking across campus, I’d think, Why don’t I go here? Inside, the students weren’t so unlike the ones back at U Mass, whether they were studying, napping or procrastinating­. I realized that trading U Mass for any other school would be a pretty shallow move: I’d be deserting my friends and my classes so I could have some Oriental rugs and hi-pro name on my T-shirts, diploma and resume.

Now I only occasionally wonder if going to some fancy-pants school would have made a difference in my life. My one friend from Amherst calls me every so often — collect — to beweep her unsatisfying stints as a waitress or a receptionist at a company whose name she can’t pronounce­. She tends to say, “God, I should have just gone to U Mass.”And then, “The real world is so unfair.”

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Welcome to it, I think.

Rory Evans

[From Chicken soup for the college soul: inspiring and humorous stories about college [compiled by] Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Kimberly Kirberger, Dan Clark. Health Communications, Inc. Deerfield Beach, Florida (1999). – p. 16–18].

WHILE-READINGACTIVITIES

Decide if the statements are true (T) or false (F).

1.The story-teller was accepted to the college she applied to. _____

2.The University of Massachusetts was not as prestigious as other universities the girl applied to._________

3.The story-teller went to one of the prestigious colleges she had not been accepted by to make them understand what they were rejecting.________

4.The story-teller didn’t transfer to another college after a term, only because she had met lots of funny, interesting people at U Mass.

________

5.Judging by her friend’s experience, the story-teller would enjoy life more if she had entered another college than under the present circumstances. __________

Choose the correct variant.

1.The rejection made the story-teller …

a.develop a depression and an inferiority complex.

b.hate and envy those who were accepted to “good schools”.

c.collect herself and do her best to get into the college she liked.

d.forego higher education and take a cake-decorating course.

2.The girl did not like the University of Massachusetts because…

a.it was not so popular and prestigious as other universities she applied to.

b.she would have to study with her former classmates there.

c.the students accepted by the University of Massachusetts were not as bright as those accepted by Harvard or William and Mary or others.

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d.none of the above.

3.The story-teller’s friend Heather …

a.got into the college she liked.

b.reacted differently to the news about being rejected.

c.was accepted because she drove to the Duke campus and showed the admissions board what they were rejecting.

d.all of the above.

4.Now the storyteller …

a.studies at the University of Massachusetts.

b.studies atAmherst.

c.studies at the University of Massachusetts and attends some classes atAmherst.

d.studies at the University of Massachusetts and occasionally goes toAmherst Library.

5.The girl is not going to transfer any longer, because…

a.she met her soul mate at U Mass.

b.she could see that students were not different at all at U Mass and atAmherst.

c.she liked her classes.

d.all of the above.

Provide Russian equivalents to the following words and phrases from the story

Paperwork, soul mate,

competitive colleges, to nap,

to trade for, to call collect,

to score well on some exam, to make varsity.

Comment on the following phrases and expressions from the story. Paraphrase them in your own words. What kind of feeling or attitude do they help to convey?

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1.Accepted to U Mass, my safety school.

2.I didn’t digest the rejections immediately.

3.U Mass, on the other hand, had the reputation of a party school — to which, come September, I’d be headed with the guy who sat next to me in tenth-grade history and who, during tests, left his book open on the floor and flipped through it with his feet.

4.I simply adopted the mantra, ‘I’ll transfer after one semester”.

6.Amherst College — the Shangri-la of competitive colleges.

7.…trading U Mass for any other school would be a pretty shallow move.

8.I’dbedesertingmyfriendsandmyclassessoIcouldhavesome Oriental rugs and hi-pro name on my T-shirts, diploma and resume.

Match the columns to define the cultural lacunas on the left after you have done some search in the Internet.

ENHANCING COMPREHENSION

Look through the story and describe:

–the story-teller’s attitude to U Mass,

–her feelings about being rejected,

–the change of attitude to U Mass she experienced.

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CULTURE PERSPECTIVE

1.Comment on the cultural peculiarities of a USA college and University. Consult the Glossary. Are they used as synonyms in USA Higher Education? How different are they?

2.There seemed to be a misunderstanding when the word college was borrowed and the school was integrated into the Russian educational system. It seems the Russian word колледж originated from the American community college which is a two-year higher educational institution. Is the Russian counterpart an institution of higher education? Look for some additional information about USA community colleges in the Glossary or elsewhere and learn about its major differences from the Russian колледж.

3.What is SAT? Consult the Glossary. What parts does it consist of? Is SATII required by all universities and colleges? When can one take SATs? Does a good score in SATII allow enrollment to a higher level college course or even exempt the student from the entire college requirement in that subject?

4.Are there special accommodations for taking SATs by students with documented visual, hearing, learning or physical disabilities? How are SATs graded? What is the average score?

5.Which of the SATs does the Federal Exam in Russia (ЕГЭ) similar to? Comment on the differences.

6.What kind of privileges does a high school graduate have if he/ she is a legacy? Consult the Glossary. Do you think it is fair play? Do high school graduates have a similar privilege when entering universities in Russia?

7.What are college admission requirements in the USA? Consult the Glossary and try to find additional cultural clues in the Internet. Do admissions boards work on a year-around schedule in USA colleges? What paperwork do you have to send to the admissions board? What is common and what is different in admissions practices in universities in Russia and the USA?

8.What academic degrees are awarded in the US postsecondary education? Comment on the differences between Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Science (BS).Are there any differences in Bach-

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elor degrees in Russia and the USA? What other academic or professional degrees can you earn in USAuniversities and colleges?

9.Comment on the cultural peculiarities of the college diploma in the USA.

10.Consult the Internet and encyclopedias to learn what kind of culture-specific phenomenon the word dormitory (dorm) represents. You can also come across residence halls on a USA college campus. Is there any difference between the two? Consult the Glossary. How different are college dorms here in Russia and the USA? Look for additional information in the Internet.

11.Share the information you have found about the italicized culturally marked words with your group mates: a school trip, Georgetown, Cornell, William and Mary, the University of Massachusetts, Harvard.

SUMMARIZING

Pretend to be Rory’s friend Heather/ her sister Alex. Give a short account of what happened to the story-teller from their viewpoints.

LEADS TO DISCUSSION

1.Can you explain the title of the story? Provide an alternative title to convey the main idea of the story more clearly?

2.Was being rejected really as apocalyptic as it seemed to Rory? Would you feel the same?

3.Compare how the story-teller and her friend Heather reacted to being rejected. Whose reaction do you think was more natural and effective? How would you react in a similar situation?

4.Read the epigraph to the story once more. Do you think it applies to the story-teller?

5.What is your attitude to the new college admissions practices in Russia? Do you rather prefer taking college entrance exams like we used to do in the past? What is your personal attitude to the Federal Exam? Why do you think there is so much controversy about it in society?

6.Summarize the differences between SATII and the Federal Exam in Russia.

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CULTURALWEB

Having read and discussed the story, you can add some new culturally marked words to the Web concerning college organization and management, learning and social activities.

PROJECT WORK

In groups of 2–3 collect information about admissions requirements of any USA university or a four year college, role-play the admissions officer’s visit to a high school aimed at informing the senior students about the university/college and motivating them to make the right choice. Get ready with a colorful slide presentation.

STORY 10.

PIANO MUSIC

PRE-READING TALK

Now you know quite a lot about the admission process in USA colleges, don’t you? What are the major sources of financial support an American university student can rely on? What else do you think a student can do to cover college expenses? Read the next story “Piano Music” to find out about another financial option for college students.

INTERACTIVE READING

Read the story and say whether the girl enjoyed helping the old couple. Why?

After reading the story, do a test and some exercises to enhance your comprehension and build your vocabulary.

While reading, you will come across a number of culturally marked words. Most of them can be found in the Glossary at the end of the book. As for the culturally-marked words in italics, they are not included into the Glossary, so be sure to consult the Internet sources, other dictionaries and encyclopedias to find out their cultural background.

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