Министерство культуры Российской Федерации ФГБОУ ВО «Кемеровский государственный институт культуры»

Социально-гуманитарный факультет Кафедра литературы, русского и иностранных языков

С. А. Золотарева, О. В. Ртищева

Деловой иностранный язык (английский)

Практикум

для укрупненных групп направлений подготовки 51.00.00 «Культуроведение и социокультурные проекты»; 53.00.00 «Музыкальное искусство»;

54.00.00«Изобразительное и прикладные виды искусств»;

43.00.00«Сервис и туризм»; 52.00.00 «Сценические искусства

илитературное творчество»; 46.00.00 «История и археология»

Квалификация (степень) выпускника: «магистр»

Форма обучения: очная, заочная

Кемерово 2024

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УДК 811.1/.8(076.5)

ББК 81.2(Англ)я73

Утвержден на заседании кафедры литературы, русского и иностранных языков КемГИК, протокол № 1 от 31.08.2023 года.

Рекомендован к изданию учебно-методическим советом социальногуманитарного факультета КемГИК, протокол № 1 от 04.09.2023 года.

Золотарева, С. А.

Деловой иностранный язык (английский) : практикум для укрупненных групп направлений подготовки 51.00.00 «Культуроведение и социокультурные проекты»; 53.00.00 «Музыкальное искусство»; 54.00.00 «Изобразительное и прикладные виды искусств», 43.00.00 «Сервис и туризм»; 52.00.00 «Сценические искусства и литературное творчество»; 46.00.00 «История и археология», квалификация (степень) выпускника: «магистр» / С. А. Золотарева, О. В. Ртищева; Кемеров. гос. ин-т культуры. – Кемерово : КемГИК, 2024. – 122 с. – Текст : непосредственный.

ISBN 978-5-8154-0695-7

Практикум по дисциплине «Деловой иностранный язык (английский)» направлен на формирование у магистранта способности и готовности к иноязычной профессиональной деловой коммуникации. В практикум включены описания практических занятий, посвященные развитию навыков письменной и устной речи обучающихся в ситуации профессионального общения, методические указания по выполнению практических заданий, справочные материалы, задания для самостоятельного выполнения, список литературы и другие материалы, способствующие организации самостоятельной работы обучающихся в процессе подготовки к практическим занятиям по ключевым темам изучаемой дисциплины.

УДК 811.1/.8(076.5)

ББК 81.2(Англ)я73

ВВЕДЕНИЕ

Целью практикума по дисциплине «Деловой иностранный язык» (английский)» является формирование у магистранта способности и готовности к иноязычной профессиональной деловой коммуникации. Учебное пособие предназначено для обучающихся укрупненных групп направлений подготовки 51.00.00 «Культуроведение и социокультурные проекты»; 53.00.00 «Музыкальное искусство»; 54.00.00 «Изобразительное и прикладные виды искусств»; 43.00.00 «Сервис и туризм»; 52.00.00 «Сценические искусства и литературное творчество»; 46.00.00 «История и археология», квалификация (степень) выпускника «магистр». Выполнение заданий в составе практикума направлено на формирование у обучающихся следующей компетенции:

- способность свободно пользоваться государственным языком Российской Федерации и иностранным языком как средством делового общения.

В результате выполнения заданий в составе практикума обучающийся должен демонстрировать следующие образовательные результаты:

знать:

•основные требования к написанию и оформлению текстов различных типов письменной речи (деловые письма, рецензии, аннотации, тезисы, электронные письма, резюме);

•основные речевые обороты (фразы, вводные слова) для организации диалогов, монологов, бесед, выражения личного мнения, рассуждения на профессиональную тематику;

•язык деловой переписки и особенности научных и профессиональных текстов, характерных для профессиональной коммуникации;

уметь:

•употреблять грамматические конструкции, явления в продуктивной речи;

•понимать, интерпретировать и анализировать материалы иноязычных источников;

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•уметь обобщить полученную из различных источников информацию;

•создавать логичные, связные письменные высказывания информативного характера (письменное оформление презентаций, аннотации, статьи, рецензии, доклады);

•понимать (ключевые факты, подробную информацию) аутентичных письменных текстов в жанрах информационного сообщения, лекционного сообщения, интервью, публичной речи, беседы, дискуссии, дебатов по общекультурной и профессиональной проблематике;

владеть:

•лексическим разговорным минимумом в объеме программы для выражения личного мнения, оценки факта, явления, события;

•навыками комментирования научных выступлений по специальной тематике, а также участия в обсуждении научного доклада или любого профессионального сообщения;

•профессионально направленной терминологией в объеме программы;

•основными речевыми оборотами (фразами, вводными словами) для организации диалогов, монологов, бесед, выражения личного мнения, рассуждения.

В практикум включены описания практических занятий, посвященных развитию навыков письменной и устной речи обучающихся

вситуации профессионального общения.

Практические занятия по разделу «Лексика» представляют собой тематические занятия, посвященные определенным сферам, связанным с профессиональной деятельностью магистрантов, таким как музыка, история, визуальные искусства и т. д. Каждое практическое занятие сопровождается серией упражнений, направленных на отработку и закрепление навыков владения профессиональной лексикой.

Описание практических занятий по разделу «Чтение» включает профессионально ориентированные тексты, подобранные в соответствии с принципами методики обучения иностранным языкам CLIL

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(интегративное обучение языку и культуре), с последующими заданиями, нацеленными не только на проверку понимания информации, содержащейся в тексте, но и развитие навыков устной речи в форме передачи основного содержания статей.

Описание практических занятий по разделу «Грамматика» освещает темы, наиболее актуальные для профессиональной и академической деятельности магистранта. Представленные практические задания в данном разделе направлены на отработку навыков владения грамматическими структурами с целью выражения своих мнений и суждений в профессиональной и академической коммуникации.

Описание практических занятий по разделу «Письмо» содержит как теоретические рекомендации по написанию текстов различных жанров, так и практические задания для формирования навыков письма для профессиональных и академических целей.

Практикум также содержит методические указания по выполнению практических заданий, справочные материалы, задания для самостоятельного выполнения, список литературы, список ключевых слов и другие материалы, способствующие организации самостоятельной работы обучающихся в процессе подготовки к практическим занятиям по ключевым темам изучаемой дисциплины.

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1. МЕТОДИЧЕСКИЕ УКАЗАНИЯ ПО ВЫПОЛНЕНИЮ ПРАКТИЧЕСКИХ ЗАДАНИЙ

1.1. Общие методические указания по выполнению практических заданий

При применении практикума по дисциплине «Деловой иностранный язык (английский)» используются традиционные образовательные технологии, включающие аудиторные занятия в форме практических занятий, связанных с выполнением конкретных заданий, а также развивающие проблемно-поисковые технологии: решение проблемно-исследовательских задач, участие в дискуссии и т. д. Практические задания предполагают использование следующих интерактивных форм: работа в малых группах, проведение деловых ситуационных и ролевых игр и т. д. При подготовке и выполнении заданий раздела «Письмо», установленных планом самостоятельной работы студента, применяются современные инфор- мационно-коммуникационные технологии, обеспечивающие доступ

кэлектронным ресурсам справочных систем.

Вцелях контроля знаний обучающихся используются технологии проверки уровня овладения учебным материалом, включающие различные задания по разделам дисциплины.

Текущий контроль успеваемости представляет собой проверку усвоения магистрантами учебного материала, осуществляемую в течение учебного семестра. Достоинством данного типа контроля успеваемости является его систематичность, сочетающаяся с требованием постоянного и непрерывного мониторинга качества обучения. Промежуточная аттестация по изученным темам проводится в следующих формах: представление устного (письменного) сообщения (монолога), организация дискуссий, написание деловой корреспонденции различных жанров. Основанием для успешной сдачи экзамена является формирование у магистранта соответствующих компетенций при изучении дисциплины.

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1.2. Методические указания по выполнению практических заданий инвалидами и лицами с ограниченными возможностями здоровья

Организация практической работы с инвалидами и лицами с ограниченными возможностями здоровья (ОВЗ) осуществляется в соответствии с положением КемГИК «Об организации образовательного процесса для обучения инвалидов и лиц с ограниченными возможностями здоровья». Выполнение заданий соответствует необходимым условиям для обучения инвалидов и лиц с ограниченными возможностями здоровья с учетом особенностей их психофизического развития и индивидуальных возможностей. Работа с обучающимися возможна как в общих инклюзивных группах, так и по индивидуальным программам (при необходимости).

Реализуются формы практических занятий по созданию безбарьерной среды для инвалидов и лиц с ОВЗ. Выбор методов обучения определяется содержанием материала, их методическим и материально-техническим обеспечением, особенностями восприятия учебной информации инвалидами и лицами с ОВЗ. В процессе работы с обучающимися используются обычные условия со сниженной напряженностью и интенсивностью методов обучения. Во время проведения занятий в группах, где обучаются инвалиды и лица с ограниченными возможностями здоровья, возможно применение звукоусиливающей аппаратуры, мультимедийных и других средств для повышения уровня восприятия и переработки учебной информации обучающимися с различными нарушениями, что никак не влияет на слушателей с обычным восприятием. Студенты с ограниченными возможностями здоровья имеют возможность работы, обращаясь к Электронной образовательной среде КемГИК, электронным ресурсам Научной библиотеки КемГИК, в том числе используя удаленные ресурсы электронно-библиотечных систем («Университетская библиотека online», Научная электронная библиотека eLIBRARY.RU, Президентская библиотека им. Б. Н. Ельцина, На-

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циональная электронная библиотека (НЭБ)); информационным базам данных: РОСИНФОРМКУЛЬТУРА, официальный интернет-портал правовой информации, ТЕХЭКСПЕРТ. Электронный фонд правовой и нормативно-технической документации доступен из любой точки, подключенной к сети Интернет, в т ом числе из дома. Доступность материала для выполнения практических заданий обеспечивается предоставлением альтернативной версии официального сайта КемГИК в сети Интернет для слабовидящих (http://www.kemguki.ru/ ?templatedirectory=kemguki_special).

Форма проведения текущей, промежуточной аттестации по итогам изучения дисциплины для студентов-инвалидов и лиц с ОВЗ устанавливается с учетом индивидуальных психофизических особенностей (устно, письменно на бумаге, письменно на компьютере, в форме тестирования и т. п.), а при необходимости данным обучающимся предоставляется дополнительное время для подготовки ответа на экзамене.

Организация самостоятельной работы, возможность составления индивидуального расписания занятий и индивидуальных консультаций помогает инвалидам и лицам с ОВЗ самостоятельно определять пути и способы освоения дисциплины. Комплексное сопровождение образовательного процесса для инвалидов и лиц с ОВЗ включает организационно-педагогическое, психолого-педаго- гическое и социальное направления. Организационно-педагогиче- ское сопровождение направлено на контроль освоения дисциплины обучающимися с ОВЗ в соответствии с учебным графиком. Оно включает в себя контроль посещаемости занятий, контроль текущей и промежуточной успеваемости, помощь в организации самостоятельной работы, индивидуальных консультаций с преподавателями, ликвидации академических задолженностей. Социальное сопровождение образовательного процесса студентов с ограниченными возможностями здоровья направлено на социальную поддержку инвалидов при их обучении.

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2. ОПИСАНИЕ ПРАКТИЧЕСКИХ ЗАНЯТИЙ ПО РАЗДЕЛУ «ЛЕКСИКА»

Цель – формирование лексического навыка, способствующего использованию слов и словосочетаний в речевой деятельности для решения коммуникативных задач.

Задачи:

1.Узнавание и понимание лексических единиц в рецептивных видах речевой деятельности (аудировании и чтении).

2.Употребление лексических единиц в устной и письменной речи в соответствии с конкретными целями коммуникации.

3.Усвоение лексического материала в процессе выполнения практических заданий.

План практических занятий

1.Практическое занятие № 1 по теме «Визуальное искусство и

архитектура»:

a)изучение тематической лексики;

b)закрепление лексического материала.

2.Практическое занятие № 2 по теме «Литература»: а) изучение тематической лексики;

b) закрепление лексического материала.

3.Практическое занятие № 3 по теме «Музыка и танец»: а) изучение тематической лексики;

b) закрепление лексического материала.

4.Практическое занятие № 4 по теме «История»:

а) изучение тематической лексики;

b) закрепление лексического материала.

5.Практическое занятие № 5 по теме «Бизнес и экономика»: а) изучение тематической лексики;

b) закрепление лексического материала.

6.Практическое занятие № 6 по теме «Социология и архео-

логия»:

а) изучение тематической лексики;

b) закрепление лексического материала.

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7. Практическое занятие № 7 по теме «Технологии и компьютеры»:

а) изучение тематической лексики;

b) закрепление лексического материала.

Lesson № 1

Visual art and architecture

Task 1

Read the words, definitions, and examples. Use your dictionary to find additional word forms for each word (table 1).

Table 1 – Vocabulary on “Visual art and architecture”

30 images of their plans

4) An original element of cubist art was the attempt to show multiple viewpoints simultaneously.

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B. Circle the best word to complete each sentence.

1. One of the most _________ aspects of modernism was the principle that form follows function.

a) innovative b) subjective c) considerable

2.Post-modemism in architecture represents a(n) _________ from a functional to a more decorative style.

a) signal b) shift c) insight

3.Many of Monet’s paintings _________ water lilies from his

garden.

a) utilize b) depict c) signal

4.Images in _________ art do not represent forms of real objects

a) creative b) subjective c) abstract

C. Complete the sentences with the correct form of words from the list.

analyze creative depict illustrate innovative

1.La Guemica by Picasso is a ________ of scenes from the Spanish Civil War.

2.William Blake was a British Romantic painter, poet, engraver, and _______

3.________is the ability to transform existing ideas and make something new.

4.Technological ________ have had a huge impact on modem art.

5.Scientific _________ of materials used in old paintings can help us to restore and conserve them.

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Lesson № 2

Literature

Task 1

Read the words, definitions, and examples. Use your dictionary to find additional word forms for each word (table 2).

Table 2 – Vocabulary on “Literature”

Task 2

Practice Exercises

A. Choose the best words to complete the sentences.

1.The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a _______ novel of the Jazz Age.

a) author b) classic c) prose

2.The Sherlock Holmes detective stories are _______by Sherlock’s friend Dr. Watson.

a) inspired b) set

c) narrated

3.George Eliot was the _______ of the English author, Mary Ann

Evans.

a) pseudonym b) character c) perspective

4.Sylvia Plath’s novel The Bell Jar is a semi - _______ novel based on her own experience.

a) anonymous

b) autobiographical c) contradictory

5.Many of Jack London’s stories were _______ by his life as a sailor and gold prospector.

a) written b) set

c) inspired

B. Complete the text with the correct form of words from the chart. Use your dictionary to help you.

Mark Twain was the … of the 19th century American writer Samuel Clemens. One of his most famous … was The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which was first published in 1887. The work is a realistic … of life in rural Mississippi in the late 1800s. The novel is written in a colloquial

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prose … that was … for the time. The story is … by an uneducated 13-year-old boy who has a unique but limited … on the main events. According to the author, the … for the main character came from one of his childhood friends.

Lesson № 3 Music and dance

Task 1

Read the words, definitions, and examples. Use your dictionary to find additional word forms for each word (table 3).

Table 3 – Vocabulary on “Music and dance”

Task 2

Practice Exercises

A. Complete the sentences with the following words.

Combine rhythm concept evolves genre choreographic instrumental reject release transformed

1.If a place looks completely different, it is ___________________

2.If you help something to happen, you are in ______________

making it happen.

3.If something changes gradually, it _________________________

4.If you mix two things together, you ___________________ them.

5.If you invent a new idea, it is an original ____________________

6.It you say you don’t want something, you _________________ it.

7.Rock ‘n’ roll is one ______________________ of popular music.

8.If you ____________________ a new album, you offer it for sale to the public.

9.If a piece of music has a regular pattern of sound, it has

___________________

10.Self-expression in a modern dance performance usually involves a range of ____________ techniques.

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B. Complete the sentences with the correct form of words from the chart opposite. Use your dictionary to help you.

Milestones in Modern Dance

In the early years of the 20th century, Isadora Duncan was the first to … concept of dance that … of moving naturally in response to music. She … dances in bare feet, wearing a simple flowing tunic, and … elaborate scenery and costumes in order to focus more attention on the dancer. She … elements of folk dance, as well as Greek classical art into her art. Her ideas caused a … in popular attitudes and contributed to the … of modern dance as an art form. In the 1930s, Martha Graham created dance techniques that were … basic human movements such as breathing and walking. In the 1970s, Twyla Tharp was the first … to create a type of dance that … both modern and classical ballet techniques.

Lesson № 4

History

Task 1

Read the words, definitions, and examples. Use your dictionary to find additional word forms for each word (table 4).

Table 4 - Vocabulary on “History”

Task 2

Practice Exercises

A. Choose the correct word to complete each sentence.

1.Historians obtain information from primary sources such as

_______ of eyewitness accounts. a) documents

b) inventions c) constructions

2.The French _________ is an example of a successful attempt to change the system of government in France.

a) hierarchy b) monarchy c) revolution

3.Before the Civil War, many U.S. states had ________ laws that have access to education.

a) declared b) restricted c) ruled

4.Some of the first European _________ in the New World were Spanish sailors who landed on islands in the Caribbean.

a) settlers b) documents c) societies

5.The right of everyone to vote was _________ in the United States with The Voting Rights Act of 1965.

a) constructed b) overthrown c) established

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6.An absolute ________ is a political system where one person has complete power over a country.

a) revolution b) hierarchy c) monarchy

7.The ancient African _________ of Axum was located in present day Ethiopia and reached its height under King Ezana in the 4th century.

a) republic b) kingdom c) society

8.The ____________ of the steam engine revolutionized transportation by making possible the steam train and the steamboat.

a) establishment b) invention c) declaration

B. Complete the paragraph with the correct form of words from the chart.

The Aztec Empire

By the 13th century, groups of Aztecs had migrated southward into Mexico. They _______ in the valley of Mexico and _______ the twin capitals of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco sometime after 1325. After destroying the opposition, the Aztec Emperor Tlacecl ordered all historical _______ to be burned so that they could create their own version of the country’s history. The Aztecs were aggressive and militaristic and quickly expanded their territory beyond the valley to the borders of Guatemala. Aztec _______ was divided into an elaborate

______ of social status, with a small group of ______ and nobility at the top who controlled land and resources. When the Spanish arrived in 1519, they were amazed by the splendor of the Aztec cities and the elaborately

_______ temples and pyramids. But within two years, the Spanish had

________ their government, destroyed their cities and _______ victory for Spain and the start of the Spanish colonial ______ which would then last four centuries. Many treasures of Aztec culture were lost or destroyed and history was again rewritten.

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Lesson № 5 Business and economics

Task 1

Read the words, definitions, and examples. Use your dictionary to find additional word forms for each word (table 5).

Table 5 – Vocabulary on “Business and economics”

Task 2

Practice Exercises

A. Choose the correct form of words from the chart that best replace the words in italics.

1.The government’s financial plan is one way of influencing the country’s financial system.

2.To start a company, it is necessary to find people with money who are willing to provide finance.

3. The wealth of a country can be estimated according to the average productivity of each person.

4.An overall increase in prices can sometimes lead to an economic emergency.

5.In many countries, construction is one pail of the economy that creates a lot of employment.

6.Many businesses use Wand social media to advertise their

products.

7.The price of oil rises when the amount people want to buy is high and the amount available is low.

8. Companies contest with each other by trying to persuade the customer that their product is better than the others.

B. Complete the paragraph with the correct form of words from the chart.

Marketing

Marketing is more than just advertising of your product. First of all, a _____ has to develop a product that _____ will want to buy. This involves doing careful research to find out where there is a gap in the

_____. Second, the price has to be _____ that is, sold at a price that customers will be prepared to pay. If it is priced too high, _____ will be low. If it is priced too low, there will not be enough _____. A large part of the marketing _____ will be _____ to advertising so that customers can get to hear about the product. Finally, there has to be a sufficient _____ of the product available in places where people will be likely to buy it.

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Lesson № 6 Sociology and archeology

Task 1

Read the words, definitions, and examples. Use your dictionary to find additional word forms for each word (table 6).

Table 6 – Vocabulary on “Sociology and archeology”

Task 2

Practice Exercises

A. Choose the best words to complete the sentences.

1. Recent sociological studies are (a) … a social networks and their (b) …

a)investigating, conducting, involving

b)identity, institution, structure

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2.One … that sociologists study is the interaction between individuals and social … such as schools.

a) survey, data, issue

b) participants, institutions, artifacts

3.Anthropologists sometimes … research that … traveling to remote parts of the world.

a) observe, conduct, excavate

b) conducts, investigates, involves

4.Archeologists in France and southern Spain have … a stone pots and other … that provide … of prehistoric civilization.

a) observed, excavated, involved b) artifacts, issues, sites

c) identity, evidence, diversity

5.A … that was … by researchers in Sweden found that there was a link between depression and diet.

a) survey, site, data

b) involved, conducted, investigated

B. Complete the text with the correct forms of words from the chart.

Anthropological Research Methods

Cultural immersion describes the process by which an anthropologist lives among a certain group of people for a period of time in order to get a better understanding of the _______ of their social

________ This can _______ living with the group for many months or years. In studies of this kind, researchers can sometimes take part in the social group they are _______ by taking a job or another social role. This is known as ______ observation. Researchers can explain their research role to the people in the group, although this can sometimes have an adverse effect on the _______. Another approach is to conceal their

______ and pretend to be a member of the group. A famous example of this second type of research was _______ by Erving Goff man in his

_______ into life in mental hospitals. Goffman worked as a member of staff in the hospital which enabled him to gather a more accurate picture of life in a mental _______.

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Lesson № 7 Technology and computers

Task 1

Read the words, definitions, and examples. Use your dictionary to find additional word forms for each word (table 7).

Table 7 – Vocabulary on “Technology and computers”

Task 2

Practice Exercises

A. Choose the correct words to complete the sentences.

1. Please report any … problems to library staff immediately.

a)browser

b)shortcut

c)software

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2.All documents will be … when you return your laptop. a) configured

b) deleted c) posted

3.You can search for information by typing in keywords to your Internet ….

a) password b) browser c) network

4.If you don’t have a valid …, you will not be able to access your

email.

a) shortcut b) website c) password

5.If you have too many files on your … you can slow your computer down.

a) browser b) desktop c) website

6.You can … your email account with your password.

a)post

b)configure

c)access

7.The network in the library is wireless, and all our laptops are … to connect to it.

a) posted

b) configured c) deleted

8.Test results are … on the college website but you must have a password to log on to your account.

a) wireless b) deleted c) posted

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B. Match the sentences with the correct word to complete them.

1.You can store data on a …

2.You can post messages on a …

3.My desktop has a … to an online dictionary.

4.A good way to store numerical data is on a …

5.You can adapt your computer to new devices by … it

6.You can meet people online in a … world

7.You can download software onto a …

8.You can log on to the Internet using your …

9.You can communicate in real time using … Internet tools.

10.You can get rid of extra icons on your desktop by … them. a) virtual

b) synchronous c) flash drive d) password e) deleting

f) website

g) spreadsheet h) reconfiguring i) hard disk

j) shortcut

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3. ОПИСАНИЕ ПРАКТИЧЕСКИХ ЗАНЯТИЙ ПО РАЗДЕЛУ «ЧТЕНИЕ»

Цель – понимание логики организации целостного высказывания в процессе чтения иноязычного текста

Задачи:

1.Решение конкретных речевых задач с использованием различных технологий чтения иноязычного текста.

2.Расширение словарного запаса через изучение лексических единиц текста.

3.Развитие навыков устной монологической и диалогической речи в изложении информации, полученной из текста.

План практических занятий

1.Практическое занятие № 1 по теме «Социологические теории религии»:

a) чтение и перевод текста; b) работа по тексту.

2.Практическое занятие № 2 по теме «Искусство и всемирная история»:

а) чтение и перевод текста; b) работа по тексту

3.Практическое занятие № 3 по теме «Архитектура Британии»: a) чтение и перевод текста;

b) работа по тексту.

4.Практическое занятие № 4 по теме «Коммуникация в науке»: a) чтение и перевод текста;

b) работа по тексту.

5.Практическое занятие № 5 по теме «Эффект музыки Моцарта»:

a) чтение и перевод текста; b) работа по тексту.

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6.Практическое занятие № 6 по теме «Обзор книги по музыкофилии»:

a) чтение и перевод текста; b) работа по тексту.

7.Практическое занятие № 7 по теме «Социальные сети помогают адаптации студентов»:

a) чтение и перевод текста; b) работа по тексту.

8.Практическое занятие № 8 по теме «Бронзовый век в Китае»: a) чтение и перевод текста;

b) работа по тексту.

9.Практическое занятие № 9 по теме «Джордж Гилбер Скотт»: a) чтение и перевод текста;

b) работа по тексту.

10.Практическое занятие № 10 по теме «Раскрытие секрета Великих пирамид Гизы»:

a) чтение и перевод текста; b) работа по тексту.

11.Практическое занятие № 11 по теме «Форма будущего

здания»:

a) чтение и перевод текста; b) работа по тексту.

12.Практическое занятие № 12 по теме «Повествование от доисторических времен до наших дней»:

a) чтение и перевод текста; b) работа по тексту.

13.Практическое занятие № 13 по теме «Различные типы об-

ществ»:

a) чтение и перевод текста; b) работа по тексту.

Note: before writing a paper it is vitally important to be able to read, understand and summarize information gathered from various sources.

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Often the title of an article will give the reader insight into the paper’s content, but further reading and analysis is necessary to understand the major points of the article.

To avoid troubles in evaluating a paper it is recommended to read:

•the title, concentrating on key words that show relevance of the paper to a certain topic;

•an abstract which helps you decide if a paper satisfies your specific needs;

•the opening and the closing paragraphs which prove relevance of the paper to your study.

Lesson № 1

Sociological Theories of Religion

Task 1

Choose a paper from a journal and decide whether it is related to the subject of your research. What makes you think that it is relevant to your topic?

Task 2

Read the text 1.

Text 1

Sociological Theories of Religion

The ideas of three early sociological theorists continue to strongly influence the sociology of religion: Durkheim, Weber, and Marx. Even though none of these three men was particularly religious, the power that religion holds over people and societies interested them all. They believed that religion is essentially an illusion; because culture and location influence religion to such a degree, the idea that religion presents a fundamental truth of existence seemed rather improbable to them. They also speculated that, in time, the appeal and influence of religion on the modern mind would lessen.

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Durkheim and functionalism

Emile Durkheim, the founder of functionalism, spent much of his academic career studying religions, especially those of small societies. The totetism, or primitive kinship system of Australian aborigines as an “elementary” form of religion, primarily interested him. This research formed the basis of Durkheim’s 1921 book, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, which is certainly the best known study on the sociology of religion. Durkheim viewed religion within the context of the entire society and acknowledged its place in influencing the thinking and behavior of the members of society.

Durkheim found that people tend to separate religious symbols, objects, and rituals, which are sacred, from the daily symbols, objects, and routines of existence referred to as the profane. Sacred objects are often believed to have divine properties that separate them from profane objects. Even in more advanced cultures, people still view sacred objects with a sense of reverence and awe, even if they do not believe that the objects have some special power.

Durkheim also argued that religion never concerns only belief, but also encompasses regular rituals and ceremonies on the part of a group of believers, who then develop and strengthen a sense of group solidarity. Rituals are necessary to bind together the members of a religious group, and they allow individuals to escape from the mundane aspects of daily life into higher realms of experience. Sacred rituals and ceremonies are especially important for marking occasions such as births, marriages, times of crisis, and deaths.

Durkheim’s theory of religion exemplifies how functionalists examine sociological phenomena. According to Durkheim, people see religion as contributing to the health and continuation of society in general. Thus, religion functions to bind society’s members by prompting them to affirm their common values and beliefs on a regular basis.

Durkheim predicted that religion’s influence would decrease as society modernizes. He believed that scientific thinking would likely replace religious thinking, with people giving only minimal attention to

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rituals and ceremonies. He also considered the concept of “God” to be on the verge of extinction. Instead, he envisioned society as promoting civil religion, in which, for example, civic celebrations, parades, and patriotism take the place of church services. If traditional religion were to continue, however, he believed it would do so only as a means to preserve social cohesion and order.

Weber and social change

Durkheim claimed that his theory applied to religion in general, yet he based his conclusions on a limited set of examples. Max Weber, on the other hand, initiated a large scale study of religions around the globe. His principal interest was in large, global religions with millions of believers. He conducted in depth studies of Ancient Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism. In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1904/1958), Weber examined the impact of Christianity on Western thinking and culture.

The fundamental purpose of Weber’s research was to discover religion’s impact on social change. For example, in Protestantism, especially the “Protestant Work Ethic,” Weber saw the roots of capitalism. In the Eastern religions, Weber saw barriers to capitalism. For example, Hinduism stresses attaining higher levels of spirituality by escaping from the toils of the mundane physical world. Such a perspective does not easily lend itself to making and spending money.

To Weber, Christianity was a salvation religion that claims people can be “saved” when they convert to certain beliefs and moral codes. In Christianity, the idea of “sin” and its atonement by God’s grace plays a fundamental role. Unlike the Eastern religions’ passive approach, salvation religions like Christianity are active, demanding continuous struggles against sin and the negative aspects of society.

Marx: Conflict theory

Despite his influence on the topic, Karl Marx was not religious and never made a detailed study of religion. Marx’s views on the sociology of

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religion came from 19th century philosophical and theological authors such as Ludwig Feuerbach, who wrote The Essence of Christianity (1841). Feuerbach maintained that people do not understand society, so they project their own culturally based norms and values onto separate entities such as gods, spirits, angels, and demons. According to Feuerbach, after humans realize that they have projected their own values onto religion, they can achieve these values in this world rather than in an afterlife.

Marx once declared that religion is the “opium of the people”. He viewed religion as teaching people to accept their current lot in life, no matter how bad, while postponing rewards and happiness to some afterlife. Religion, then, prohibits social change by teaching nonresistance to oppression, diverting people’s attention away from worldly injustices, justifying inequalities of power and wealth for the privileged, and emphasizing rewards yet to come.

Although people commonly assume that Marx saw no place for religion, this assumption is not entirely true. Marx held that religion served as a sanctuary from the harshness of everyday life and oppression by the powerful. Still, he predicted that traditional religion would one day pass away.

Task 3

Work on the text.

1.What did Emile Durkheim think about religion?

2.How did Max Weber view religion?

3.What was the purpose of Weber’s study of religions?

4.What did Marx believe about religion?

5.Why did Marx predict that religion would disappear?

6.What did Weber find in religion?

7. What did Weber find in Marx?

8. What did Marx predict about religion?

9. What should we make of Marx’s statement that “religion is the opium of the people”?

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Lesson № 2

Art and the world history

Task 1

Read the text 2.

Text 2

Art and the world history

Art is made everywhere. Art is an aesthetic object. It is meant to be looked at, and appreciated for its intrinsic value. Its special qualities set art apart, so that precious examples have often been placed away from everyday life - in museums, churches or caves. The word “aesthetics” is defined “that which concerns the beautiful”. The ability to make art is the most distinctive man’s feature that separates him from all other creatures. Though all the living creatures have imagination, only men can tell one another about imagination in stories and pictures. The record of man’s earliest art is lost to us. Man has been walking the earth for some three million years. But the earliest prehistoric art that we know was made only about 25 000 years ago. It was undoubtedly the culmination of a long development, which we cannot trace.

Who were the first artists? In all likelihood they were shamans. With the shaman’s unique ability to penetrate the unknown and his rare talent for expressing it through art, he gained control over the forces hidden in him and nature. Even today the artist remains a magician whose work can mystify and move us.

Art represents its creator’s deepest understanding and highest aspirations. Being inspired an artist creates a masterpiece. We can say with assurance, a masterpiece is any work of art that contributes to our vision of life and leaves us profoundly moved. Moreover, it does so too many people over time and space. The scientific laws are useless in helping us to understand works of art. In other words, it withstands the test of time.

Art enables us to express our understanding in pictures. This way is worth a thousand words. But what is the meaning of art? What is it trying to say? Artists provide no clear explanation, but some regularly repeated symbols can be regarded as universal. Nevertheless, each particular

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culture having its specific meaning gives rise to the diversity of art. Thus art like language requires that we learn the style and outlook of a country, a period and an artist.

The art imitating reality is easier to understand. But we know a great deal of works of art based on the leaps of the artists’ imagination. Needless to say, artistic creation is too subtle. Only the artist himself can observe it fully, but he is so absorbed by it that he cannot explain it to us. What sets the real artist apart is not the desire to seek but the mysterious ability to find which we call talent, gift or genius. We must keep an open mind making attempts to understand the works of art. If we do so, we shall discover the real value of art: the more we know about art, the more we understand what it means.

Task 2

Work on the text.

1.What did Friedrich Nietzsche think about art?

2.How did Walt Whitman view art?

3.What was the purpose of Wagner’s study of art?

4.What did Leonardo da Vinci think about art?

5.What was the purpose of Michelangelo Buonarroti’s study of art?

6.What was the purpose of Renaissance humanism’s study of art?

7.What was the purpose of Rembrandt’s study of art?

8.What was the purpose of Poussin’s study of art?

9.What was the purpose of Rubens’ study of art?

10.What was the purpose of Van Gogh’s study of art?

Lesson № 3

Architecture in Britain

Task 1

Read the text 3.

Text 3

Architecture in Britain

From the Middle Ages to the 20th century, what are the influences and movements that have shaped the changing face of British architecture? Architecture is about evolution, not revolution. It used to be

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thought that once the Romans pulled out of Britain in the fifth century, their elegant villas, carefully-planned towns and engineering marvels like Hadrian’s Wall simply fell into decay as British culture was plunged into the Dark Ages. It took the Norman Conquest of 1 066 to bring back the light, and the Gothic cathedral-builders of the Middle Ages played an important part in the revival of British culture. However, the truth is not as simple as that. Romano-British culture – and that included architecture along with language, religion, political organisation and the arts – survived long after the Roman withdrawal. And although the AngloSaxons had a sophisticated building style of their own, little survives to bear witness to their achievements as the vast majority of Anglo-Saxon buildings were made of wood.

Even so, the period between the Norman landing at Pevensey in 1066 and the day in 1485 when Richard III lost his horse and his head at Bosworth, ushering in the Tudors and the Early Modern period, marks a rare flowering of British buildings. And it is all the more remarkable because the underlying ethos of medieval architecture was “fitness for purpose”. The great cathedrals and parish churches that lifted up their towers to heaven were not only acts of devotion in stone; they were also fiercely functional buildings. Castles served their particular purpose and their battlements and turrets were for use rather than ornament. The rambling manor houses of the later Middle Ages, however, were primarily homes, their owners achieving respect and maintaining status by their hospitality and good lordship rather than the grandeur of their buildings. In a sense, the buildings of the 16th century were also governed by fitness for purpose – only now, the purpose was very different. In domestic architecture, in particular, buildings were used to display status and wealth.

This stately and curious workmanship showed itself in various ways. A greater sense of security led to more outward-looking buildings, as opposed to the medieval arrangement where the need for defense created houses that faced inward onto a courtyard or series of courtyards. This allowed for much more in the way of exterior ornament. The rooms themselves tended to be bigger and lighter – as an expensive commodity, the use of great expanses of glass was in itself a statement of wealth.

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There was also a general move towards balanced and symmetrical exteriors with central entrances. With the exception of Inigo Jones (1573– 1652), whose confident handling of classical detail and proportion set him apart from all other architects of the period, most early 17th century buildings tended to take the innocent exuberance of late Tudor work one step further. But during the 1640s and 50s the Civil War and its aftermath sent many gentlemen and nobles to the Continent either to escape the fighting or, when the war was lost, to follow Charles II into exile. There they came into contact with French, Dutch and Italian architecture and, with Charles’s restoration in 1 660, there was a flurry of building activity as royalists reclaimed their property and built themselves houses reflecting the latest European trends. The British Baroque was a reassertion of authority, an expression of absolutist ideology by men who remembered a world turned upside down during the Civil War. The style is heavy and rich, sometimes overblown and melodramatic. The politics which underpin it are questionable, but its products are breathtaking.

The huge glass-and-iron Crystal Palace, designed by Joseph Paxton to house the Great Exhibition of 1851, shows another strand to 19th century architecture – one which embraced new industrial processes. But it wasn’t long before even this confidence in progress came to be regarded with suspicion. Mass production resulted in buildings and furnishings that were too perfect, as the individual craftsman no longer had a major role in their creation. Railing against the dehumanising effects of industrialisation, reformers like John Ruskin and William Morris made a concerted effort to return to hand-crafted, pre-industrial manufacturing techniques. Morris’s influence grew from the production of furniture and textiles, until by the 1880s a generation of principled young architects was following his call for good, honest construction.

The most important trends in early 20th century architecture simply passed Britain by. Whilst Gropius was working on cold, hard expanses of glass, and Le Corbusier was experimenting with the use of reinforced concrete frames, we had staid establishment architects like Edwin Lutyens producing Neo-Georgian and Renaissance country houses for an outmoded landed class. In addition there were slightly batty architectcraftsmen, the heirs of William Morris, still trying to turn the

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clock back to before the Industrial Revolution by making chairs and spurning new technology. Only a handful of Modern Movement buildings of any real merit were produced here during the 1920s and 1930s, and most of these were the work of foreign architects such as Serge Chermayeff, Berthold Lubetkin and Erno Gold-finger who had settled in this country.

After the Second World War the situation began to change. The Modern Movement’s belief in progress and the future struck a chord with the mood of post-war Britain and, as reconstruction began under Attlee’s Labour government in 1945, there was a desperate need for cheap housing which could be produced quickly. The use of prefabricated elements, metal frames, concrete cladding and the absence of decoration - all of which had been embraced by Modernists abroad and viewed with suspicion by the British - were adopted to varying degrees for housing developments and schools. Local authorities, charged with the task of rebuilding city centres, became important patrons of architecture. This represented a shift away from the private individuals who had dominated the architectural scene for centuries.

Since the War it has been corporate bodies like these local authorities, together with national and multinational companies, and large educational institutions, which have dominated British architecture. By the late 1980s the Modern Movement, unfairly blamed for the social experiments implicit in high-rise housing, had lost out to irony and spectacle in the shape of post-modernism, with its cheerful borrowings from anywhere and any period. But now, in the new Millennium, even post-modernism is showing signs of age. What comes next?

Task 2

Work on the text 3.

1.What is your opinion about the influence of the Modern Movement on modern architecture?

2.How do you see the relationship between architecture and society

today?

3.What are some examples of buildings from the last few decades that show the influence of post-modernism?

4.Do you think that architecture should be seen as a profession or a

hobby?

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5.What are some of the challenges facing architects today?

6.What are some of the changes happening in the field of architecture since 2000?

7.What are some of the key themes in contemporary architecture?

8.What is the British Baroque?

Lesson № 4

Communication in science

Task 1

Read the text 4.

Text 4

Communication in science

Science plays an increasingly significant role in people’s lives, making the faithful communication of scientific developments more important than ever. Yet such communication is fraught with challenges that can easily distort discussions, leading to unnecessary confusion and misunderstandings.

Some problems stem from the esoteric nature of current research and the associated difficulty of finding sufficiently faithful terminology Abstraction and complexity are not signs that a given scientific direction is wrong, as some commentators have suggested, but are instead a tribute to the success of human ingenuity in meeting the increasingly complex challenges that nature presents. They can, however, make communication more difficult. But many of the biggest challenges for science reporting arise because in areas of evolving research, scientists themselves often only partly understand the full implications of any particular advance or development. Since that dynamic applies to most of the scientific developments that directly affect people’s lives global warming, cancer research, diet studies – learning how to overcome it is critical to spurring a more informed scientific debate among the broader public.

Ambiguous word choices are the source of some misunderstandings. Scientists often employ colloquial terminology, which they then assign a specific meaning that is impossible to fathom without proper training. The term “relativity”, for example, is intrinsically misleading. Many

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interpret the theory to mean that everything is relative and there are no absolutes. Yet although the measurements any observer makes depend on his coordinates and reference frame, the physical phenomena he measures have an invariant description that transcends that observer’s particular coordinates. Einstein’s theory of relativity is really about finding an invariant description of physical phenomena. True, Einstein agreed with the idea that his theory would have been better named “Invariant theory”. But the term “relativity” was already entrenched at the time for him to change.

“The uncertainty principle” is another frequently abused term. It is sometimes interpreted as a limitation on observers and their ability to make measurements. But it is not about intrinsic limitations on any one particular measurement; it is about the inability to precisely measure particular pairs of quantities simultaneously? The first interpretation is perhaps more engaging from a philosophical or political perspective. It’s just not what the science is about. Even the word “theory” can be a problem. Unlike most people, who use the word to describe a passing conjecture that they often regard as suspect, physicists have very specific ideas in mind when they talk about theories. For physicists, theories entail a definite physical framework embodied in a set of fundamental assumptions about the world that lead to a specific set of equations and predictions – ones that are borne out by successful predictions. Theories aren’t necessarily shown to be correct or complete immediately. Even Einstein took the better part of a decade to develop the correct version of his theory of general relativity. But eventually both the ideas and the measurements settle down and theories are either proven correct, abandoned or absorbed into other, more encompassing theories.

“Global warming” is another example of problematic terminology. Climatologists predict more drastic fluctuations in temperature and rainfall – not necessarily that every place will be warmer. The name sometimes subverts the debate; since it lets people argue that their winter was worse, so how could there be global warming? Clearly “global climate change” would have been a better name. But not all problems stem solely from poor word choices. Some stem from the intrinsically complex nature of much of modem science. Science sometimes

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transcends this limitation: remarkably, chemists were able to detail the precise chemical processes involved in the destruction of the ozone layer, making the evidence that chlorofluorocarbon gases (Freon, for example) were destroying the ozone layer indisputable.

A better understanding of the mathematical significance of results and less insistence on a simple story would help to clarify many scientific discussions. For several months, Harvard was tortured months. Harvard was tortured by empty debates over the relative intrinsic scientific abilities of men and women. One of the more amusing aspects of the discussion was that those who believed in the differences and those who didn’t used the same evidence about gender-specific special ability. How could that be? The answer is that the data shows no substantial effects. Social factors might account for these tiny differences, which in any case have an unclear connection to scientific ability. Not much of a headline when phrased that way, is it? Each type of science has its own source of complexity and potential for miscommunication. Yet there are steps we can take to improve public understanding in all cases. The first would be to inculcate greater understanding and acceptance of indirect scientific evidence. The information from an unmanned space mission is no less legitimate than the information from one in which people are on board.

This doesn’t mean never questioning an interpretation, but it also doesn’t mean equating indirect evidence with blind belief, as people sometimes suggest. Second, we might need different standards for evaluating science with urgent policy implications than research with purely theoretical value. When scientists say they are not certain about their predictions, it doesn’t necessarily more open about the mathematical significance of their results and if the public didn’t treat math as quite so scary; statistics and errors, which tell us the uncertainty in a measurement, give us the tools to evaluate new developments fairly.

But most important, people have to recognize that science can be complex. If we accept only simple stories, the description will necessarily be distorted. When advances are subtle or complicated, scientists should be willing to go the extra distance to give proper explanations and patient about the truth. Even so, some difficulties are unavoidable. Most developments reflect work in progress, so the story is complex because no one yet knows the big picture.

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Task 2

Work on the text 4.

1.What is the purpose of the text?

2.Who wrote the text?

3.What is the author’s opinion about the accuracy of the statements made in the text?

4.What is the main topic of the text?

5.What is the main point of view expressed in the text?

6.What is the main reason behind the creation of the text?

7. Is there anything unique or interesting about the content of the text?

8.Does the text contain factual errors or exaggerations?

9.What is the main message or theme of the text?

10.Are there any significant issues or controversies discussed in

the text?

Lesson № 5

The Mozart Effect

Task 1

Read the text 5.

Text 5

The Mozart Effect

Music has been used for centuries to heal the body. In the Ebers Papyrs (one of the earliest medical documents, circa 1500 B.C.), it was recorded that physicians chanted to heal the sick (Castleman, 1994). In various cultures, we have observed singing as part of healing rituals. In the world of Western medicine, however, using music in medicine lost popularity until the introduction of the radio. Researchers then started to notice that listening to music could have significant physical effects. Therapists noticed music could help calm anxiety and researchers saw that listening to music could cause a drop in blood pressure. In addition to these two areas, music has been used with cancer chemotherapy to reduce nausea, during surgery to reduce stress hormone production, during

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childbirth, and in stroke recovery (Castleman, 1994 and Westley, 1998). It has been shown to decrease pain as well as enhance the effectiveness of the immune system. In Japan, compilations of music are used as medication, of sorts. For example, if you want to cure a headache or migraine, the album suggested Mendelssohn’s Spring Song, “Dvorak’s Humoresque”, or part of George Gershwin’s “An American in Paris” (Campbell, 1998). Music is also being used to assist in learning, in a phenomenon called the Mozart Effect.

Frances H. Rauscher, Ph.D., first demonstrated the correlation between music and learning in an experiment in 1993. His experiments indicated that a 10 minute dose of Mozart could temporarily boost intelligence. Groups of students were given intelligence tests after listening to silence, relaxation tapes, or Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major for a short time. He found that after silence, the average IQ score was 110, and after the relaxation tape, scores rose a point. After listening to Mozart, however, the scores jumped to 119 (Westley, 1998). Even students who did not like the music still had an increased score on the IQ test. Rauscher hypothesized that “listening to complex, nonrepetitive music, like Mozart, may simulate neural pathways that are important in thinking” (Castleman, 1994).

The same experiment was repeated on rats by Rauscher and Hong Hua Li from Stanford. Rats also demonstrated enhancement in their intelligence performance. These new studies indicate that rats that were exposed to Mozart showed “increased gene expression of BDNF (a neural growth factor), CREB (a learning and memory compound), and Synapsin I (a synaptic growth protein)” in the brain’s hippocampus, compared with rats in the control group, which heard only white noise (e.g. the whooshing sound of a radio tuned between stations)

How exactly does the Mozart affect work? Researchers are still trying to determine the actual mechanisms for the formation of these enhanced learning pathways. Neuroscientists suspect that music can actually help build and strengthen connections between neurons in the cerebral cortex in a process similar to what occurs in brain development despite its type. When a baby is born, certain connections have already been made – like connections for heartbeat and breathing.

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As new information is learned and motor skills develop, new neural connections are formed. Neurons that are not used will eventually die while those used repeatedly will form strong connections. Although a large number of these neural connections require experience, they also must occur within a certain time frame. For example, a child born with cataracts cannot develop connections within the visual cortex. If the cataracts are removed by surgery right away, the child’s vision develops normally. However, after the age of 2, if the cataracts are removed, the child will remain blind because those pathways cannot establish themselves.

Music seems to work in the same way. In October of 1997, researchers at the University of Konstanz in Germany found that music actually rewires neural circuits (Begley, 1996). Although some of these circuits are formed for physical skills needed to play an instrument, just listening to music strengthens connection used in higher-order thinking. Listening to music can then be thought of as “exercise” for the brain, improving concentration and enhancing intuition.

If you’re a little skeptical about the claims made by supporters of the Mozart Effect, you’re not alone. Many people accredit the advanced learning of some children who take music lessons to other personality traits, such as motivation and persistence, which is required in all types of learning. There have also been claims of that influencing the results of some experiments.

Furthermore, many people are critical of the role the media had in turning an isolated study into a trend for parents and music educators. After Mozart Effect was published to the public, the sales of Mozart CDs stayed on the top of the hit list for three weeks. In an article by Michael Linton, he wrote that the research that began this phenomenon (the study by researchers at the University of California Irvine) showed only a temporary boost in IQ, which was not significant enough to even last throughout the course of the experiment. Using music to influence intelligence was used in Confucian civilization and Plato alluded to Pythagorean music when he described this ideal state in The Republic. In both of these examples, music did not have caused any overwhelming changes, and the theory eventually died out. Linton also asks, “If Mozart’s

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Music were able to improve health, why was Mozart himself so frequently sick? If listening to Mozart’s music increases intelligence and encourages spirituality, why aren’t the world’s smartest and most spiritual people Mozart specialists?” Linton raises an interesting point, if the Mozart Effect causes such significant changes, why isn’t there more documented evidence?

The “trendiness” of the Mozart Effect may have died out somewhat, but there are still strong supporters (and opponents) of the claims made in 1993. Since that initial experiment, there has not been a surge of supporting evidence. However, many parents, after playing classical music while pregnant or when their children are young, will swear by the Mozart Effect. A classmate of mine once told me that listening to classical music while studying will help with memorization. If we approach this controversy from a scientific aspect, although there has been some evidence that music does increase brain activity, actual improvements in learning and memory have not been adequately demonstrated.

Task 2

Work on the text 5.

1.What is the significance of the Mozart Effect in terms of education and learning?

2.How do you explain the Mozart Effect in terms of neurology and genetics?

3.Can you provide an example of how the Mozart Effect has been used in the field of education?

4.What is your opinion on the use of music in the classroom?

5.Do you believe that the Mozart Effect can be replicated through various methods, including music, drugs, or other factors?

6.Why do you think that the Mozart Effect has become popular among parents and music educators?

7.What are the main arguments against the Mozart Effect?

8.What are the main arguments in favor of the Mozart Effect?

9.What are the implications of the Mozart Effect for understanding human behavior and learning?

10.What should parents and teachers consider before implementing the Mozart Effect in their classrooms?

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Lesson № 6

Book review on Musicophilia

Task 1

Read the text 6.

Text 6

Book review on Musicophilia

Norman M. Weinberger reviews the latest work of Oliver Sacks A. Music and the brain are both endlessly fascinating subjects, and as a neuroscientist specialising in auditory learning and memory, I find them especially intriguing. So I had high expectations of Musicophilia, the latest offering from neurologist and prolific author Oliver Sacks. And I confess to feeling a little guilty reporting that my reactions to the book are mixed.

Sacks himself is the best part of Musicophilia. He richly documents his own life in the book and reveals highly personal experiences. The photograph of him on the cover of the book which shows him wearing headphones, eyes closed, clearly enchanted as he listens to Alfred Brendel perform Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata makes a positive impression that is home out by the contents of the book. Sacks’s voice throughout is steady and erudite but never pontifical. He is neither self-conscious nor self-promoting.

The preface gives a good idea of what the book will deliver. In it Sacks explains that he wants to convey the insights gleaned from the “enormous and rapidly growing body of work on the neural underpinnings of musical perception and imagery, and the complex and often bizarre disorders to which these are prone.” He also stresses the importance of “the simple art of observation” and “the richness of the human context.” He wants to combine “observation and description with the latest in technology,” he says, and to imaginatively enter into the experience of his patients and subjects. The reader can see that Sacks, who has been practicing neurology for 40 years, is between the old-fashioned path observation and the new-fangled, high-tech approach: He knows that he needs to take heed of the latter, but his heart lies with the former.

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The book consists mainly of detailed descriptions of cases, most of them involving patients whom Sacks has seen in his practice. Brief discussions of contemporary neuroscientific reports are sprinkled liberally throughout the text. Part, “Haunted by Music,” begins with the strange case of Tony Cicoria, a nonmusical, middle-aged surgeon who was consumed by a love of music after being hit by lightning. He suddenly began to crave listening to piano music, which he had never cared for in the past. He started to play the piano and then to compose music, which arose spontaneously in his mind in a “torrent” of notes. How could this happen? Was the cause psychological? (He had had a near-death experience when the lightning struck him.) Or was it the direct result of a change in the auditory regions of his cerebral cortex? Electroencephalography (EEG) showed his brain waves to be normal in the mid-1990s, just after his trauma and subsequent “conversion” to music. There are now more sensitive tests, but Cicoria, has declined to undergo them; he does not want to delve into the causes of his musicality. What a shame!

Part II, “A Range of Musicality”, covers a wider variety of topics, but unfortunately, some of the chapters offer little or nothing that is new. For example, chapter 13, which is five pages long, merely notes that the blind often have better hearing than the sighted. The most interesting chapters are those that present the strangest cases. Chapter 8 is about “amusia,” an inability to hear sounds as music, and “dysharmonia,” a highly specific impairment of the ability to hear harmony, with the ability to understand melody left intact. Such specific “dissociations” are found throughout the cases Sacks recounts.

To Sacks’s credit, part III, “Memory, Movement and Music,” brings US into the underappreciated realm of music therapy. Chapter 16 explains how “melodic intonation therapy” is being used to help expressive aphasic patients (those unable to express their thoughts verbally following a stroke or other cerebral incident) once again become capable of fluent speech. In chapter 20, Sacks demonstrates the near-miraculous power of music to animate Parkinson’s patients and other people with severe movement disorders, even those who are frozen into odd postures. Scientists cannot yet explain how music achieves this effect

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To readers who are unfamiliar with neuroscience and music behavior, Musicophilia may be something of a revelation. But the book will not satisfy those seeking the causes and implications of the phenomena Sacks describes. For one thing, Sacks appears to be more at ease discussing patients than discussing experiments. And he tends to be rather uncritical in accepting scientific findings and theories.

It’s true that the causes of music-brain oddities remain poorly understood. However, Sacks could have done more to draw out some of the implications of the careful observations that he and other neurologists have made and of the treatments that have been successful. For example, he might have noted that the many specific dissociations among components of music comprehension, such as loss of the ability to perceive harmony but not melody, indicate that there is no music center in the brain. Because many people who read the book are likely to believe in the brain localisation of all mental functions, this was a missed educational opportunity.

Another conclusion one could draw is that there seem to be no “cures” for neurological problems involving music. A drug can alleviate a symptom in one patient and aggravate it in another, or can have both positive and negative effects in the same patient. Treatments mentioned seem to be almost exclusively antiepileptic medications, which “damp down” the excitability of the brain in general; their effectiveness varies widely.

Finally, in many of the cases described here the patient with musicbrain symptoms is reported to have “normal” EEG results. Although Sacks recognises the existence of new technologies, among them far more sensitive ways to analyze brain waves than the standard neurological EEG test, he does not call for their use. In fact, although he exhibits the greatest compassion for patients, he conveys no sense of urgency about the pursuit of new avenues in the diagnosis and treatment of music-brain disorders. This absence echoes the book’s preface, in which Sacks expresses fear that “the simple art of observation may be lost” if we rely too much on new technologies. He does call for both approaches, though, and we can only hope that the neurological community will respond.

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Task 2

Work in the text 6.

1.What do you think of the title “Musicophilia”?

2.Why, in your opinion, did the author decide to write this book?

3.Do you consider music therapy a promising area for future research?

4.How would you describe the relationship between music and memory?

5.What are your opinions about the potential benefits of using music therapy in Parkinson’s disease?

6.Are there any particular areas of interest in neuroscience where you feel there is still a lot to learn?

in neuroscience on the field of music therapy?

9.How do you feel about the idea of a “music cure”?

10.What were some of the challenges you encountered while reading this article?

Lesson № 7

Social networks help students adapt

Task 1

Read the text 7.

Text 7

Social networks help students adapt

Can online networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace, help new students settle into university social and academic life and minimize the chance of them withdrawing from their courses? Researchers at the University of Leicester are now looking for first-year University of Leicester students who use Facebook to help their pioneering research into this issue. They should not be too difficult to recruit. The reason for

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this is that student use of the online networking site Facebook is running at a phenomenal level, with almost 10,000 present and past students and staff participating. Currently, 95 per cent of 16-18 year olds intending to go to university are using social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.

Yet we know little about how this phenomenon impacts on the student experience and, in particular, if and how it helps them integrate into university life, commented Jane Wellens, Education Developer in the University of Leicester’s Staff Development Centre. She is working with Dr Clare Madge, of the Department of Geography, Tristram Hooley, of CRAC, the Career Development Organisation, and Julia Meek, an independent evaluation consultant. The expectations and online experience of the latest and next generations of students requires universities to think carefully about how, and whether, to use these new technologies and meeting spaces to enhance the social aspects of student integration into university life, she further commented.

Academic and social integration into university life are key factors influencing individual students’ experiences and the likelihood of their withdrawing from their student courses. Until now most research in the field has concentrated on academic support rather than integration into the wider social world of the university. Students are now so used to using social networking sites that one university in the US has actually been running sessions to encourage students to build up face-to-face networks. One aspect of the Leicester project is to explore whether there are differences in the longevity and nature of university friendships that students establish face-to-face compared with those they make online through social networking sites.

The Leicester project builds on internationally acclaimed work the University has already started on teaching and learning online. We recently used Facebook as a means of encouraging students on an online module to get to know one another, Jane Wellens said. This raised many issues such as where the boundary between public and private space is, and how comfortable students (and staff) of different ages feel regarding the use of such technology. The Leicester project also draws on

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internationally recognized expertise by this specific team of researchers in online research methodologies. As Clare Madge of the Department of Geography at the University of Leicester stated: “This project will be using both an online questionnaire and virtual interviews, and will innovate in the use of Facebook itself as a site to conduct virtual interviews”.

What Dr Wellens and her colleagues hope to establish from the new research project is how Leicester students are using Facebook as part of their social and learning experience and whether joining the University’s Facebook network before they come to Leicester helps students to settle down more easily into university life. They will also be looking to see if there is any way that university supports services and academic departments can use the online social networking sites to help students integrate into university life, and how the sites might be reshaping our everyday lives in terms of the importance of place-based versus virtual networking.

Research results are expected to influence university policies at Leicester and beyond. “It may affect the way the University uses its Facebook network”, said Dr Wellens. “ One outcome might be that the University would use these sites to bring new students together before their arrival, or to bring together current and new students to provide peer support. It will also ascertain students’ views about the ways in which the University and its staff should, or shouldn’t, use Facebook for academic purposes”.

Task 2

1.What are the main features of Facebook and why is it important for students to join it?

2.What are the advantages and disadvantages of Facebook for students?

3.Can students use Facebook to build personal connections and interact with classmates?

4.Is Facebook beneficial for students’ academic performance?

5.What are the risks and dangers associated with using Facebook?

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6.What are the implications for student engagement and motivation when using Facebook?

7.How can universities use Facebook to enhance student engagement and motivation?

8.What are the challenges and opportunities associated with using Facebook for educational purposes?

9.What are the potential consequences for students’ privacy and confidentiality when using Facebook?

10.What are the implications for the development of digital literacy and the internet for individuals and society as a whole?

Lesson № 8 Bronze age in China

Task 1

Read the text 8.

Text 8 Bronze age in China

The long period of the Bronze Age in China, which began around 2000 B.C., saw the growth and maturity of a civilization that would be sustained in its essential aspects for another 2,000 years. In the early stages of this development, the process of urbanization went hand in hand with the establishment of a social order. In China, as in other societies, the mechanism that generated social cohesion, and at a later stage statecraft was ritualization. As most of the paraphernalia for early rituals were made in bronze and as rituals carried such an important social function, it is perhaps possible to read into the forms and decorations of these objects some of the central concerns of the societies (at least the upper sectors of the societies) that produced them.

There were probably a number of early centers of bronze technology, but the area along the Yellow River in present-day Henan Province emerged as the center of the most advanced and literate cultures of the time and became the seat of the political and military power of the

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Shang dynasty (ca. 1600-1050 B.C.). The earliest archaeologically recorded dynasty in Chinese history. The Shang dynasty was conquered by the people of Zhou, who came from farther up the Yellow River in the area of Xi’an in Shaanxi Province. In the first years of the Zhou dynasty (ca. 646-256 B.C.), known as the Western Zhou (ca. 1046-771 B.C.). The ruling house of Zhou exercised a certain degree of “imperial” power over most of central China. With the move of the capital to Luoyang in 771 B.C., however, the power of the Zhou rulers declined and the country divided into a number of nearly autonomous feudal states with nominal allegiance to the emperor. The second phase of the Zhou dynasty, known as the Eastern Zhou (771-256 B.C.). is H^V subdivided into two periods.

The Spring and Autumn period Hi (ca. 770-475 B.C.) and the Warring States period (ca. 475-221 B.C.). During the Warring States period, seven major states contended for supreme control of the country, ending with the unification of China under the Qin in 221 B.C.

Although there is uncertainty as to when metallurgy began in China, there is reason to believe that early bronze-working developed autonomously, independent of outside influences. The era of the Shang and the Zhou dynasties is generally known as the Bronze Age of China, because bronze, an alloy of copper and tin. Used to fashion weapons, parts of chariots, and ritual vessels, played an important role in the material culture of the time. Iron appeared in China toward the end of the period, during the Eastern Zhou dynasty.

One of the most distinctive and characteristic images decorating Shang dynasty bronze vessels is the so-called taotie. The primary attribute of this frontal animal-like mask is a prominent pair of eyes, often protruding in high relief. Between the eyes is a nose, often with nostrils at the base. Taotie can also include jaws and fangs, horns, ears, and eyebrows. Many versions include a split animal-like body with legs and tail, each flank shown in profile on either side of the mask. While following a general form, the appearance and specific components of taotie masks varied by period and place of production. Other common motifs for Shang ritual bronze vessels were dragons, birds, bovine creatures, and a variety of geometric-patterns. Currently, the significance

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of the taotie, as well as the other decorative motifs, in Shang society is unknown.

Jade, along with bronze, represents the highest achievement of Bronze Age material culture. In many respects, the Shang dynasty can be regarded as the culmination of 2.000 years of the art of jade carving. Shang craftsmen had full command of the artistic and technical language developed in the diverse late Neolithic cultures that had a jade-working tradition. On the other hand, some developments in Shang and Zhou jade carving can be regarded as evidence of decline. While Bronze Age jade workers no doubt had better tools - if only the advantage of metal ones - the great patience and skill of the earlier period seem to be lacking. If the precise function of ritual jades in the late Neolithic is indeterminate, such is not the case in the Bronze Age. Written records and archaeological evidence inform us that jades were used in sacrificial offerings to gods and ancestors, in burial rites, for recording treaties between states, and in formal ceremonies at the courts of kings.

Task 2

Work on the text 8.

1.When did the Bronze Age begin in China?

2.What were the preceding cultures in China before the Bronze

Age?

3.How did the Shang Dynasty start and what was their impact on Chinese history?

4.What are the main features of the Shang culture?

5.What happened to the Shang dynasty after they were defeated by the Zhou dynasty?

6.What were the cultural changes that occurred during the Zhou dynasty?

7.What were the relations between the Shang and Zhou dynasties?

8.What were the main technologies used in the Bronze Age in

China?

9.What were the uses of bronze in ancient China?

10.What were the main innovations that occurred in Chinese art and architecture during the Bronze Age?

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Lesson № 9

Giles Gilbert Scott

Task 1

Read the text 9.

Text 9

Giles Gilbert Scott

A bastion of the architectural establishment in early 20th century Britain, Giles Gilbert Scott (1880-1960) fused tradition with modernity by applying historic styles to industrial structures in his designs from the Battersea and Bankside power stations in London, to Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, and to the K2 telephone kiosk.

At the top of the splendid Portland stone tomb of the 19th century architect John Soane and his wife and son, in St Pancras Old Church Gardens, north London, is a dome in a surprisingly familiar shape. Designed by Soane in 1815 as a monument to his beloved wife, the tomb is one of his most romantic designs, ornate in form and decorated by stone carvings of snakes and pineapples. It is familiar not because of its association with Soane’s family tomb, but because of its influence on the design of the red K2 telephone kiosks, which were once a common sight throughout Britain.

The architect who designed the K2, Giles Gilbert Scott, admired Soane’s work and had recently become a trustee of the Sir John Soane Museum in London when invited in 1924 to enter a competition to design a public telephone kiosk. The shape of his design was inspired by the central domed structure of Soane’s tomb. By rooting his design in Britain’s architectural heritage, Scott transformed the telephone kiosk from what was then seen as an intimidating symbol of modernity into something that seemed reassuringly familiar. When the wooden models of the competing designs were exhibited outside the National Gallery, Giles Gilbert Scott’s was chosen as the winner.

Scott continued to package modernity in British traditionalism throughout his career. In his inaugural address as president of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1933, when Britain was finally

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succumbing to modernism and the architectural profession was split by battling “trads v. rads”, he advocated a “middle line” of both embracing technological progress and the human qualities of architecture. The “middle line” was illustrated by Scott’s best known London buildings, the power stations at Battersea (1929-1935) and Bankside (1947-1960), where he disguised their industrial purpose behind Gothic facades. Battersea, in particular, became a popular London landmark. Yet in an age when progressive architects such as Le Corbusier and Jean Prouve romanticised technology, Scott’s attempts to popularise industrial buildings by obfuscating their function seemed, at best, conservative.

It is not surprising that Giles Gilbert Scott appeared unable to escape Britain’s architectural tradition as he was born into it. His grandfather George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878) was the eminent High Victorian Gothic architect of the Albert Memorial, the Foreign Office and the Midland Railways Terminus Hotel at St Pancras station. His uncle John Oldrid Scott was also an architect, as was his father, the second George Gilbert Scott, who was nicknamed Scott Jnr. A gifted yet tragic figure, Scott Jnr showed youthful promise by designing a series of churches in London and Yorkshire that bridged Victorian gothic and the arts and crafts movement, only to succumb to alcoholism and, eventually, to be committed to a mental asylum. In 1923, Giles Gilbert Scott was commissioned to design Memorial Court, a hall of residence at Clare College, Cambridge (begun in 1923), which he completed in a Georgianinspired style. The following year he won the telephone kiosk competition. Traditional though his kiosk was in style, functionally it was very advanced. An ingenious ventilation system was installed using perforations in the dome, and the glass was divided into small panels for speedy replacement in case of breakages. Scott’s original proposal was for a mild steel structure, but the Post Office insisted on changing it to cast iron. It also insisted on painting the kiosks bright red for maximum visibility in emergencies rather than Scott’s suggested shade of duck egg blue. Following protests in rural areas, where people complained that the bright red kiosks looked overbearing in the open countryside, the Post Office agreed to repaint them in green.

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Despite the rural complaints, the K2 kiosk was a popular success, and Scott was invited by the Post Office to modify his design in 1930 for the concrete K3, intended principally for country use. He was recalled again to design the K6 in 1935 to commemorate King George V’s silver jubilee. This became the most widely used version of the kiosk with thousands being installed.

As well as these landmark commissions, Scott designed dozens of churches throughout his career, as well as more modest public projects such as monuments and extensions to existing buildings. One of his most conspicuous commissions was as a consultant, rather than an architect, to Battersea Power Station in south London. Charged with making the enormous electricity generating station more appealing, Scott suggested brick as the main material for the central structure and turned the four chimneys – one on each corner – into reassuringly familiar neo-classical columns. The result is surprisingly engaging for such a vast structure, but with the showiness of the Art Deco cinemas then being constructed across Britain.

His most significant post-war commission came in 1947 when Scott was invited to design a second London power station at Bankside beside the Thames in Southwark. More austere in style than Battersea, Bankside did not match its popularity until its conversion in 2000 by the Swiss architects Herzog and De Meuron into the Tate Modern museum. Yet formally and functionally it is the more sophisticated of the two buildings, not least as Scott combined all of Bankside’s chimneys into a single central tower.

Task 2

Work on the text 9.

1.What are some of the features of the Portland stone tomb of the 19th century architect John Soane and his wife and son?

2.How did the architect Giles Gilbert Scott influence the design of the telephone kiosk?

3.What was the significance of the shape of the central domed structure of the architect John Soane’s tomb?

4.What were the influences on the design of the red K2 telephone

kiosk?

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5. What was the relationship between Giles Gilbert Scott and the Post Office during the design of the telephone kiosk?

6. What were the specific changes made to the design of the telephone kiosk after protests in rural areas?

7. What was the significance of the green color scheme adopted for the telephone kiosk?

8. What were the architectural influences on the design of the Bankside power station?

9. What were the specific changes made to the design of the Bankside power station after protests in rural areas?

Lesson № 10

Uncovering the secrets of the Great Pyramid of Giza

Task 1

Read the text 10.

Text 10

Uncovering the secrets of the Great Pyramid of Giza

For thousands of years, people have sought to unlock the secrets of the Great Pyramid. Constructed more than four millennia ago on the plains of Giza, near present-day Cairo, the Great Pyramid remains shrouded in mystery. Many theories have been proposed to explain its origin. Many believe it was simply a tomb or monument for an ancient pharaoh, others suggest it was an astronomical observatory, a huge sundial, or even a vast communication device to connect with other worlds.

The earliest existing description of the pyramids was written by the Greek historian Herodotus. After visiting Egypt in the fifth century BC, Herodotus described the four faces of the Great Pyramid as being covered with highly-polished limestone, with joints so fine that they were almost invisible. Four centuries later, the geographer Strabo wrote of a perfectly concealed, hinged stone located on the north face of the

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pyramid. The stone could be raised to form an entrance, but when closed was indistinguishable from the surrounding stone. The hidden entrance apparently gave access to a narrow passage that descended more than 350 feet into a damp, vermin-infested pit carved out of the bedrock directly beneath the base of the pyramid. However, by the 1 century AD, the whereabouts of this door had been lost.

In 820, Abdullah al-Mamun, the son of the Caliph of Baghdad, made the first major attempt to unlock the secrets of the Great Pyramid. After spending years fruitlessly searching for a secret entrance, al-Mamun finally ordered his team of workers to use battering rams to knock a hole directly through the pyramid’s outer casing. The workmen then burrowed their way more than 100 feet into the core of the monument in the hope of finding a passage that would lead them to the pyramid’s interior. With no passage in sight, the workmen were on the point of giving up, when they suddenly heard the sound of a falling rock to the east of the tunnel. After digging their way toward the source of the noise, they emerged into a dark descending passageway.

Al-Mamun’s fortunate discovery was a long, 3-foot wide passage that descended into the base of the pyramid at an angle of 26°. Working their way up the passageway, al-Mamun’s workmen found the secret entrance to the pyramid that they had missed before, about 90 feet to the north and nearly 50 feet above the pyramid’s base, much higher than al-Mamun had guessed. Further down the descending passage, the workers located the entrance to another ascending passageway which was blocked by three granite rocks. After cutting around the blocks, the workers climbed the passage until they came to the entrance of a highroofed ascending corridor, known subsequently as the Grand Gallery. A low horizontal passage from the gallery’s entrance led to an empty room now (called the Queen’s Chamber). At the top of the gallery, the workmen finally arrived at the King’s Chamber with its five-store vaulted ceiling. Despite searching everywhere for treasure, the only discovery was a large open coffin made of polished granite. The coffin lid - and the King’s body - had long since been removed.

The first major study of the Great Pyramid was conducted in 1638 by John Greaves, an Oxford professor of astronomy and mathematics.

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Greaves noticed that near the lower entrance of the Grand Gallery was a narrow shaft, hidden in the wall, which had been dug straight down into the depths of the pyramid. This was the entrance to the so-called “Well Shaft” which links the Grand Gallery with the descending passage. Using notches carved into the shaft’s sides for support, Greaves was able to lower himself down to a small chamber about 60 feet beneath. The purpose of the shaft was a mystery to Greaves, although archaeologists have since suggested it was used as an exit route for the Pharaoh’s workers, once the granite blocks had been put in place.

In 1837, Colonel Howard Vyse, an English army officer, re-opened the original forced entry way that had been made by al-Mamun a thousand years earlier. Despite some destructive techniques (he used dynamite to blast his way through the pyramid), Vyse was able to make a number of significant discoveries, including air shafts leading from the King’s Chamber to the outside of the pyramid which allow the chamber to remain at a constant 20°C. Vyse’s greatest find, though, was a small piece of graffiti that gives the only clue to the pyramid’s builder, the 4th Dynasty Pharaoh Khufu.

Research into the Great Pyramid took a new direction in 1864 when the Scottish astronomer Robert Menzies proposed that the monument is actually a chronological map of the world’s history – past, present and future. According to Menzies, every inch of the pyramid represents one year, with major historical and biblical events represented by key locations within the pyramid’s structure. Menzies also contended that the secret of this divinely-given storehouse of wisdom would remain sealed until a time when it would be most needed.

Inspired by Menzies and his followers, various other pyramidologists have proposed theories that attribute divine or alien guidance to the Great Pyramid’s construction, despite the skepticism of the majority of archaeologists, engineers, and architects who instead attribute the pyramid’s construction to human ingenuity. Today, the use of robotics and other advanced technology offers the prospect of being able to explore the pyramid’s most remote spaces, making both groups of researchers hopeful that someday soon the Great Pyramid’s secrets may finally be revealed.

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Task 2

Work on the text 10.

1.What is the height of the Great Pyramid?

2.How many steps does the Great Pyramid take to reach its

summit?

3.What is the age of the Great Pyramid?

4.Who built the Great Pyramid?

5.Where did the Great Pyramid come from?

6.Is there any evidence suggesting that the Great Pyramid was built by aliens?

7.How many layers of stones do you think the Great Pyramid contains?

8.What is the significance of the "Well Shaft"?

9.Does the Great Pyramid contain any hidden passages or rooms?

10.Why has the Great Pyramid remained intact for thousands of

years?

Lesson № 11

The shape of buildings to come

Task 1

Read the text 11.

Text 11

The shape of buildings to come

It already has a nickname: a dumb one – the Gherkin. I am not sure where this name originated, but it is hopelessly inappropriate, even if it’s likely to stick. Gherkins do not look like this. Nor is 30 St Mary Axe, in any accepted understanding of the word, “organic”. If it resembles anything, it is one of the great dirigibles of the 1930s, or Wemher von Braun’s early space rocket. Tethered firmly to the ground, this sleek and sensational machine for making money, this ‘towering innuendo”, commissioned and owned by financial services group Swiss Re, is home to around 4,000 workers. It is certainly a striking design, but does 30 St Mary Axe offer better conditions than workers have been used to? Is it more than yet another filing cabinet in the sky?

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Client and architect have made great claims for the building’s environmental efficiency. One of the less measurable ways in which the tower could be considered environmentally friendly is the manner in which, close up, it appears to be much smaller, or at least, much lower, than it is. In fact , it appears no higher than GMW’s Commercial Union building (which is some 70m shorter), an illusion created by the fact that the top of the building is invisible from the square below.

Not only does the building’s circular form make it appear much less bulky than it is, it channels considerably less wind at street level than many right-angled towers. This has been proven in wind-tunnel tests on a model of the building. The circular form also offers a generous public plaza at the base, while an arcade around the tower promises a number of up-coming shops.

The real environmental achievement here, however, is the internal design. What you see from the plaza and, in fact, from all corners of London, is a great sheath of steel, aluminium and glass. This is the building’s skin. Just behind this is the great steel structure of the building, hidden on dull days, clearly visible when the sun shines. This structure, devised by the engineers, Arup, is a diagonal cage very much like the skeleton of Barnes Wallis’s Second World War bombers. Intriguingly, this structure compresses during the day as the building loads up with people and stretches in the evening as it empties.

Spiralling up through the internal structure is a sequence of atriums. They are interrupted every six floors so that the updraft of air through the building does not become too strong. These atriums achieve many things: they let light deep into the building and allow diagonal views up and down through the building. But the main advantage is that their corkscrew shape creates different air pressures, ensuring that fresh air is sucked up through the building as well as through the office floors. In addition, the windows on the skin of the building can be opened in mild weather to allow air to flow in and out. Roller blinds set between the steel skeleton and glass skin control glare and reduce heat. Heating, lighting and airconditioning bills will be low compared with most towers and, with daylight reaching desks at the core of the building, workers should feel well off.

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The luckiest are able to reach the nose cone of the tower, where a restaurant and bar satisfies anyone with a craving for James Bond glamour. The bar, reached by a spiral staircase or glass lift from the 70-seat restaurant, looks very much like a Ken Adam film set: the lair of a villain with designs to take over the world. It is quite breathtaking. Sadly, it and its master-of-the-universe views are reserved for Swiss Re employees and their guests only.

This is a fine skyscraper and one of the shapes of things to come in the design of city-centre offices. However, it is not perfect: the building is, perhaps, a little too smooth for its own good. Detail is not so much pared down as polished away, as if the architects had tried to make it as sheer as an airship, without the touches that delight hand and eye. Its entrance is also problematic; carving an appropriate doorway into the base of this office rocket was always going to be difficult, and the result seems a little crude, as if someone had opened up a cavity with a giant tin-opener and then tried a little too hastily to cover up their handiwork. It would, perhaps, have been better to have created more than one underground entrance, which might have swept those working here from the edges of the plaza up into the aluminum-lined entrance lobby, leaving the skin of the building unbroken. This a trick Oscar Niemeyer performed neatly and dramatically with the entrance of his “crown-of-thorns” cathedral in Brasilia. Doubtless there are practical not to mention security reasons why this could not have been.

The result is a fascinating building that undoubtedly raises the standard of citycentre office design, but one that should be regarded as a kind of work-in-progress: a marker on the way to a more responsible and attractive form of skyscraper. In a Britain of largely cynical, fast-buck, skin-deep, government-approved new architecture, this is one new building - not a gherkin - that deserves to be relished.

Task 2

Work on the text 11.

1.What is the origin of the nickname "Gherkin" for the 31-story skyscraper known as 30 St Mary Axe?

2.How did the shape of the building influence its popularity among architects and builders?

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3.What advantages does the building offer in terms of its environmental performance?

4.What factors contributed to its success as a business center?

5.What are the main drawbacks of the building?

6.What is the significance of the public plaza located at the base of the building?

7.What is the relationship between the building and the surrounding

area?

8.What is the overall effectiveness of the building’s exterior

design?

9.What are the main challenges faced by the developers and architects involved in the construction of the building?

10.What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of the building’s use as a workplace?

Lesson № 12

Storytelling, from prehistoric to the modern times

Task 1

Read the text 12.

Text 12

Storytelling, from prehistoric to the modern times

It was told, we suppose, to people crouched around a fire: a tale of adventure, most likely relating some close encounter with death; a remarkable hunt, an escape from mortal danger; a vision, or something else out of the ordinary. Whatever its thread, the weaving of this story was done with a prime purpose. The listeners must be kept listening. They must not fall asleep. So, as the story went on, its audience should be sustained by one question above all. What happens next?

The first fireside stories in human history can never be known. They were kept in the heads of those who told them. This method of storage is not necessarily inefficient. From documented oral traditions in Australia, the Balkans and other parts of the world we know that specialised storytellers and poets can recite from memory literally thousands of lines, in verse or prose, verbatim-word for word. But while memory is rightly

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considered an art in itself, it is clear that a primary purpose of making symbols is to have a system of reminders or mnemonic cues-signs that assist us to recall certain information in the mind’s eye.

In some Polynesian communities a notched memory stick may help to guide a storyteller through successive stages of recitation. But in other parts of the world, the activity of storytelling historically resulted in the development or even the invention of writing systems. One theory about the arrival of literacy in ancient Greece, for example, argues that the epic tales about the Trojan War and the wanderings of Odysseus – traditionally attributed to Homer, were just so enchanting to hear that they had to be preserved. So the Greeks, c. 750-700 BC, borrowed an alphabet from their neighbors in the eastern Mediterranean, the Phoenicians.

The custom of recording stories on parchment and other materials can be traced in many manifestations around the world, from the priestly papyrus archives of ancient Egypt to the birch-bark scrolls on which the North American Ojibway Indians set down their creation-myth. It is a well-tried and universal practice: so much so that to this day story time is probably most often associated with words on paper. The formal practice of narrating a story aloud would seem – so we assume – to have given way to newspapers, novels and comic strips. This, however, is not the case. Statistically it is doubtful that the majority of humans currently rely upon the written word to get access to stories. So what is the alternative source?

Each year, over 7 billion people will go to watch the latest offering from Hollywood, Bollywood and beyond. The supreme storyteller of today is cinema. The movies, as distinct from still photography, seem to be an essentially modern phenomenon. This is an illusion, for there are, as we shall see, certain ways in which the medium of film is indebted to very old precedents of arranging “sequences” of images. But any account of visual storytelling must begin with the recognition that all storytelling beats with a deeply atavistic pulse: that is, a “good story” relies upon formal patterns of plot and characterisation that have been embedded in practice of storytelling over many generations.

Thousands of scripts arrive every week at the offices of the major film studios. But as screenwriters really need look no further for essential advice than the fourth-century BC, philosopher Aristotle. He left some

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incomplete lecture notes on the art of telling stories in the literary and dramatic modes, a slim volume known as The Poetics. Though he could never envisaged the popcorn-fueled actuality of a multiplex cinema, Aristotle is almost prescient as for the key elements required to get the crowds flocking to such a cultural hub. He analyzed the process with cool rationalism. When a story enchants us, we lose the sense of where we are – we are drawn into the story so thoroughly that we forget it is a story being told. This is, in Aristotle’s phrase, the suspension of disbelief.

We know the feeling. If ever we have stayed in our seats, stunned with grief, as the credits roll by, or for days after seeing that vivid evocation of horror have been nervous about taking a shower at home, then we have suspended disbelief. We have been caught, or captivated in the storyteller’s web. Did it all really happen? We really thought so for a while. Aristotle must have witnessed often enough this suspension of disbelief. He taught at Athens, the city where theater developed as a primary form of civic ritual and recreation. Two theatrical types of storytelling tragedy and comedy, caused Athenian audiences to lose themselves in sadness and laughter respectively. Tragedy, for Aristotle, was particularly potent in its capacity to enlist and then purge the emotions of those watching the story unfold on the stage, so he tried to identify those factors in the storyteller’s art that brought about such engagement. He had, as an obvious sample for analysis, not only the fifthcentury BC masterpieces of Classical Greek tragedy written by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Beyond them stood Homer, whose stories even then had canonical status: The Iliad and The Odyssey were already considered literary landmarks-stories by which all other stories should be measured. So what was the secret of Homer’s narrative art?

It was not hard to find. Homer created credible heroes. His heroes belonged to the past, they were mighty and magnificent, yet they were not, in the end, fantasy figures. He made his heroes sulk, bicker, cheat and cry. They were, in short, characters-protagonists of a story that an audience would care about, would want to follow, and would want to know what happens next. As Aristotle saw, the hero who shows a human side – some flaw or weakness to which mortals are prone – is intrinsically dramatic.

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4.Why do movies and television films have such a significant impact on our culture?

5.In what ways does the written word (books, magazines, newspapers) contribute to the spread of knowledge and information?

6.What are the implications of the popularity of movies and television for the study of literature and history?

7.Can you provide examples of how movies and television films influence the structure and content of stories?

8.What are the advantages and disadvantages of using written language as a means of storytelling?

9. What are the historical and cultural contexts behind the development of the concept of “moviegoing”?

10. Can you discuss the role of storytelling in the development of cinema and its relationship to literature and history?

Lesson № 13 Types of societies

Task 1

Read the text 13.

Text 13

Types of societies

Although humans have established many types of societies throughout history, sociologists and anthropologists tend to classify different societies according to the degree to which different groups

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within a society have unequal access to advantages such as resources, prestige or power, and usually refer to four basic types of societies. From least to most socially complex they are clans, tribes, chiefdoms and states.

Clan

These are small-scale societies of hunters and gatherers, generally of fewer than 100 people, who move seasonally to exploit wild (undomesticated) food resources. Most surviving hunter-gatherer groups are of this kind, such as the Hadza of Tanzania or the San of southern Africa. Clan members are generally kinsfolk, related by descent or marriage. Clans lack formal leaders, so there are no marked economic differences or disparities in status among their members. Because clans are composed of mobile groups of hunter-gatherers, their sites consist mainly of seasonally occupied camps, and other smaller and more specialised sites. Among the latter are kill or butchery sites-locations where large mammals are killed and sometimes butchered – and work sites, where tools are made or other specific activities carried out. The base camp of such a group may give evidence of rather insubstantial dwellings or temporary shelters, along with the debris of residential occupation.

Tribe

These are generally larger than mobile hunter-gatherer groups, but rarely number more than a few thousand, and their diet or subsistence is based largely on cultivated plants and domesticated animals. Typically, they are settled farmers, but they may be nomadic with a very different mobile economy based on the intensive exploitation of livestock. These are generally multi-community societies, with the individual communities integrated into the larger society through kinship ties. Although, some tribes have officials and even a “capital” or seat of government, such officials lack the economic base necessary for effective use of power. The typical settlement pattern for tribes is one of settled agricultural homesteads or villages. Characteristically, no one settlement dominates any of the others in the region. Instead the archaeologist finds evidence for isolated, permanently occupied houses or for permanent villages. Such villages may be made up of a collection of free-standing houses, like those

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of the first farms of the Danube valley in Europe. Or they may be clusters of buildings grouped together for example, the pueblos of the American Southwest, and the early farming village or small town of Catalhoyuk in modern Turkey.

Chiefdom

These operate on the principle of ranking-differences in social status between people. Differ lineages (a lineage is a group claiming descent from a common ancestor) are graded on a scale of prestige, and the senior lineage, and hence the society as a whole, is governed by a chief. Prestige and rank are determined by how closely related one is to the chief, and there is no true stratification into classes. The role of the chief is crucial. Often, there is local specialisation in craft products, and surpluses of these and of foodstuffs are periodically paid as obligation to the chief. He uses these to maintain his retainers, and may use them for redistribution to his subjects. The chiefdom generally has a center of power, often with temples, residences of the chief and his retainers, and craft specialists. Chiefdoms vary greatly in size, but the range is generally between about 5000 and 20,000 persons.

Early State

These preserve many of the features of chiefdoms, but the ruler (perhaps a king or sometimes a queen) has explicit authority to establish laws and also to enforce them by the use of a standing army. Society no longer depends totally upon kin relationships: it is now stratified into different classes. Agricultural workers and the poorer urban dwellers form the lowest classes, with the craft specialists above, and the priests and kinsfolk of the ruler higher still. The functions of the ruler are often separated from those of the priest: palace is distinguished from temple. The society is viewed as a territory owned by the ruling lineage and populated by tenants who have an obligation to pay taxes. The central capital houses a bureaucratic administration of officials, one of their principal purposes is to collect revenue (often in the form of taxes and tolls) and distribute it to government, army and craft specialists. Many

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early states developed complex redistribution systems to support these essential services.

This rather simple social typology, set out by Elman Service and elaborated by William Sanders and Joseph Marino, can be criticised, and it should not be used unthinkingly. Nevertheless, if we are seeking to talk about early societies, we must use words and hence concepts to do so. Service’s categories provide a good framework to help organise our thoughts.

Task 2

Work on the text 13.

1.What are the four basic types of societies according to sociologists and anthropologists?

2.What is a clan and what are its characteristics?

3.What is the difference between clans and tribes?

4.What is a chiefdom and how does it differ from a tribe?

5.What is an early state and how does it differ from a chiefdom?

6.What is the role of the chief in a chiefdom?

7.What is the role of the ruler in an early state?

8.What is the purpose of the bureaucratic administration in an early state?

9.What are the limitations of Service’s social typology?

10.Why is it important to use concepts and categories when discussing early societies?

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4. ОПИСАНИЕ ПРАКТИЧЕСКИХ ЗАНЯТИЙ ПО РАЗДЕЛУ «ГРАММАТИКА»

Цель – формирование грамматических навыков речевой деятельности.

Задачи:

1.Изучение закономерностей организации грамматики английского языка.

2.Овладение практическими знаниями грамматического строя английского языка.

3.Усвоение грамматических конструкций в процессе выполнения практических заданий.

План практических занятий

1.Практическое занятие № 1 по теме «Обзор глагольных

форм»:

a) повторение грамматического материала; b) закрепление грамматических конструкций.

2.Практическое занятие № 2 по теме «Согласование подлежащего и сказуемого»:

a) повторение грамматического материала; b) закрепление грамматических конструкций.

3.Практическое занятие № 3 по теме «Герундий и инфинитив»: a) повторение грамматического материала;

b) закрепление грамматических конструкций.

4.Практическое занятие № 4 по теме «Определительные придаточные предложения»:

a) повторение грамматического материала; b) закрепление грамматических конструкций.

5.Практическое занятие № 5 по теме «Грамматические конструкции с there и it»:

a) повторение грамматического материала; b) закрепление грамматических конструкций.

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6.Практическое занятие № 6 по теме «Перефразирование»: a) повторение грамматического материала;

b) закрепление грамматических конструкций.

7.Практическое занятие № 7 по теме «Референтные слова»: a) повторение грамматического материала;

b) закрепление грамматических конструкций.

Lesson № 1 Review of verb forms

Task 1

Study the explanations and examples in the chart. Make your own examples based on each rule (table 8).

Table 8 – Review of verb forms

Another use of the present A recent survey found that perfect is to describe completed the majority of people events at an unspecified time in have used the Internet at the past. some time to buy or sell

something.