Практикум по обучению диалогической речи. Сборник текстов на английском языке для студентов I и II курсов заочного отделения-1

10.What are the most famous Moscow museums? (art galleries?)

11.What theatres in Moscow do you know?

12.What is your favorite place in Moscow?

Names

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Text 16

St. Petersburg

St Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia and one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great as the "Window on the West". Thousands of workmen were brought from all parts of Russia to build a new city on the swampy land at the mouth of the Neva River. Peter the Great was in a hurry. The work was fast and hard, and workmen dropped dead by the hundreds. But the work went on.

In 1917 St Petersburg, a city of great beauty, with palaces, cathedrals, churches, government buildings became the capital. Under later rulers the new capital of the Russian Empire grew rapidly in wealth and beauty. Architects were brought from western Europe to lay out the city in harmonious squares. Buildings were constructed of grey and rose-coloured granite. The Hermitage Palace and the Winter Palace, the homes of the tsars, were equal to any in Europe.

When the First World War began in 1914, the German-sounding name, St Petersburg, was changed to Petrograd. After the October Revolution the city was renamed after Lenin.

During the Great Patriotic War the city suffered a great deal. The German armies laid siege to it in 1941, and for the next year and a half it was cut off from the rest of the country. No food could be brought in, and people died of starvation. Daily shelling and air raids destroyed parts of the city. Thousands of people were killed. Rebuilding took years.

Now St Petersburg is an important industrial, cultural and educational centre. The population of the city is over 5 million.

St Petersburg is indeed a wonderful city: at every turn there is something to catch your eye. The Winter Palace, the Hermitage, the Russian Museum, St Isaac's Cathedral, the Peter-and-Paul Fortress, the Admiralty building attract thousands of tourists from every corner of the world.

Petersburg's many museums house some of the world's most famous art collections. The Hermitage, for example, contains the richest collection of pictures in the world.

The city is called the Northern Venice because there are 65 rivers, arms and canals there with artistically decorated bridges. It's also famous for its beautiful white nights.

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Answer the questions:

1.Have you ever been to St Petersburg?

2.Is St Petersburg as old as Moscow?

3.Who was the city founded by and when did it become the capital of the Russian Empire?

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4.Peter I thought that Moscow looked provincial in comparison with the capitals he had visited and decided to build a magnificent city equal to any European capital. Did he succeed?

5.How many times has the city been renamed and why?

6.Did the city suffer a great deal during the Great Patriotic War?

7.What is St Petersburg famous for?

8.Have you ever been to the Russian Museum? (the Hermitage?)

9.What other places of interest in St Petersburg do you know?

10.Why is St Petersburg called the Northern Venice.

Text 17

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Education in the Russian Federation

Russians have always shown a great concern for education. The right to education is stated in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. It is ensured by compulsory secondary schools, vocational schools, and higher educational establishments. It is also ensured by the development of extramural and evening courses and the system of state scholarships and grants.

Education in Russia is compulsory to the 9th form inclusive. The stages of compulsory schooling in Russia are: primary education for ages 6-7 to 9-10 inclusive; secondary education including intermediate school for ages 10-11 to 12-13 inclusive, and senior high school for ages 13-14 to 14-15 inclusive. If a pupil of a secondary school wishes to go on in higher education, he or she must stay at school for two more years. Primary and secondary school together comprise 11 years of study. Every school has a «core curriculum» of academic subjects, such as Russian, Literature, Mathematics, History, a foreign language and others. Lyceums and gymnasiums offer programs giving a profound knowledge in some field of study.

After finishing the 9th form one can go on to a vocational school which offers programmes of academic subjects and a programme of training in a technical field, or a profession.

After finishing the 11 th form of a secondary school, a lyceum or a gymnasium one can go on in higher education. All applicants must take competitive examinations. Higher educational institutions, that is, institutes or universities, offer a 5 -

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year programme of academic subjects for undergraduates in a variety of fields, as well as a graduate course. If one finishes a graduate course and writes a thesis, he or She receives the candidate degree, corresponding to the master's degree, or the doctoral degree.

Higher educational establishments are headed by Rectors. Prorcclors are in

charge of academic and scientific work. An institute or a university has a number

of faculties, each specializing in a field of study. Faculties have specialized councils

which confer candidate and doctoral degrees.

. The system of secondary and higher education in Russia is going through a transitional period. The main objectives of the reform arc: to decentralize the higher education system, to develop a new financial mechanism, to give more aca-

demic freedoms to faculties and students. All secondary schools, institutes and uni-

versities until recently have been funded by the state. Now there is quite a number of

private fee-paying primary and secondary schools; some universities have fee-paying departments.

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Text 18

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The British Educational System

All state schools in Britain are free, and schools provide their pupils wi.th books and equipment for their studies.

Education is compulsory from 5 to 16 years. Parents can choose to send their children to a nursery school or a pre-school play group to prepare them for the start of compulsory education. Children start primary school at 5 and continue until they are 11.

At primary school children become acquainted with Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic and develop their creative abilities, they are taught to sing, dance, play, and draw. Primary children do all their work with the same class teacher, except for physical training and music, which are often taught by specialists.

Most children are taught together, boys and girls in the same class.

At 11 most pupils go to secondary schools called comprehensives, which accept a wide range of children from all backgrounds and religious and ethnic groups. Ninety per cent of secondary schools in England, Scotland and Wales are co-educational.

At 16 pupils take a national exam called «GCSE» (General Certificate of Secondary Education) and then they can leave school if they wish. This is the end of compulsory education.

Some 16-year olds continue their studies in the 6th form at school or at a sixthform college. The 6th form prepares pupils for a national exam called «A» level (Advanced Level) at 18. Pupils need «A» levels to enter a university. Other 16-year olds choose a college of further education to study hairdressing, typing or mechanics.

Universities and colleges of higher education accept students with «A» levels from 18. Students study for a degree, which takes on average three years of fulltime study. Most students graduate at 21 and are given their degree at a special graduation ceremony.

Seven per cent of British schoolchildren go to private schools. There are 3 levels of private schools: primary schools (age four to eight), preparatory schools (age eight to thirteen). At the age of 13 children take an examination. If they pass it, they go to public school, where they usually remain until they are 18. Many preparatory

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and most public schools are boarding schools; the children live at school during the school terms. But though these schools are called public, they are, in fact, private and it can be very expensive to send a child to such a school.

The most famous public schools have a long history and tradition. It is often necessary to put a child's name on a waiting list at birth to be sure he or she get a place. Children of wealthy or aristocratic families often go to the same public school as their parents and their grandparents. Eton is the best known of these schools.

Traditionally, public schools were always single-sex schools but now many of them are becoming co-educational, both boys and girls attend the school. Eton, however, still remains a public school for boys only.

Text 19

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The U.S. Educational System

The US educational system is very decentralized and schools vary greatly from state to state. There are three levels of subsidizing of education: federal, state and local. They subsidize 3-5 per cent on a federal level, around 20 per cent on a state level and 70-80 per cent on a local level.

There are 15,000 school districts, which are different in size. A school district is governed by the Board of Education/School Board/School Council, which is elected every two years by the residents of the school district. Members of school boards perform their responsibilities on a volunteer basis that means they do not get any salaries. They are to define the policies for the administration of the school district. Teachers, in their turn, decide about the program and approaches of teaching.

Every resident pays a school tax to the school district he/she lives in, no matter he/she has school children or not. School education in the United States is free and parents are free to choose a school for their children. But if parents send their child to a school of another school district they have to pay the sum equivalent to the school tax directly to the school the child goes to. There are also a lot of private schools, mainly religious, and parents have to pay for them. The cost is $ 5,000 — $ 10,000 a

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year. There is no home education in the United States. Each invalid is supposed to attend school. School provides all the necessary conditions for them to study.

The school system structure in the United States looks like this. Children start going to school at the age of five. First they go to eight-year elementary school and then to high school or if they go to fiveor six-year elementary school, they then attend threeor four-year middle school, and then high school. Teenagers study at high school four years and graduate from it at the age of eighteen.

Members of each grade in high school have special names: a ninth grader is called a freshman, a tenth grader — a sophomore, an eleventh grader — a junior, a twelfth grader — a senior.

The completion of high school is called graduation. In order to graduate, students must accumulate a certain amount of credits during their four years at school. Credits are points given for every subject that is passed successfully. In addition to that, students must successfully complete specific subjects required by the state or local educational authorities, such as US history, English, mathematics and physical training. This may vary from state to state.

Over 60 % of school graduates continue their education in twoor four-year colleges or universities. At least 10% of high school students are allowed to finish school at the age of 16.

A school year starts at the beginning of September or at the end of August and ends in late June or early July, just before the Independence Day, and is divided into three terms/trimesters or four quarters. School children have winter and spring breaks for two or three weeks and summer vacation for six up to eight weeks.

There is a great variety of Saturday, Sunday, vacational and other schools. The most popular one is summer school. It is for students who want to get a deeper knowledge in a particular subject,or to skip a year,or just fail their examinations. It lasts six weeks and parents have to pay for it.

American schools today house a large number of students, but making friends can be difficult, as the same group of students does not attend all the classes. In order to encourage meeting and knowing a broader population at school, special emphasis

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is placed on so-called extracurricular activities where interests, rather than academic ability, bring students together.

In addition to clubs and sports teams, one will find the Student Council and the class officer meetings. Students are elected by their school and classmates to represent them in these bodies and to organize activities for their school.

Text 20

Talk on the topic

National Character British Character

«The British are definitely romantic, much more romantic then Italians ...».

Generally British people are polite, but this way of behaviour is probably a mask for all kind of other feeling. They may be polite partly because they are afraid of drama and of confrontation. For this reason, they also may be attracted to «dramatic» people, like the Italian.

I would like to research into English people (my first wife is, in her own words,

«a Londoner»). In our life, I find that Clare reacts and behaves in ways which I would describe as «British», or more specially English.

For the sake of simplicity I will use the word «British», although we should not forget that the Scottish, for example are an altogether different species. More immediately expressive, direct and hot-tempered, for example, then the English and the Welsh. Scottish people may be more open to foreign countries and contacts because they have traditionally looked for contacts.

British people are obliged by society stereotyping to be polite;

British accumulate negative emotions and feelings and do not as a rule express their real feeling spontaneously;

They should expect a high level of heart attack;

The powerful stereotype influences body gestures and movements;

The British are not confident with their bodies, most British men dislike dancing, unless they have had a bit to drink.

I think conservative dress reflects this luck of body confidence.

Interpersonal contacts are generally rather cool and formal. Handshakes are not

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so warm. British punctuality should be connected with this formality, but also with a kind of;

respect and consideration for other people that helps avoid embarrassing confrontations.

Adaptability is low.

Text 21

Talk on the topic

Russian and British Character

Travelling to all over the world becomes easier and easier. We live in a global village, but how well do we know and understand each other? You should know the national character of the country where you are going to travel. I'm Russian and as I'm learning English I would like to compare the English and the Russian character.

Some greetings in England and in Russia are very informal: a simple «good morning» or a wave of the hand across the street is quite enough. In England handshakes are only exchanged on a first introduction, in Russia men always shake hands with each other when they meet. English people do not readily ask each other to do anything. If they do ask, then they say something like «I don't really like asking you, but...» In contrast, Russians are not shy in asking for something.

In England, it is considered polite to give up one's seat to a lady who is standing, to open the door for her, to carry things for her, and so on. Russians are usually not very polite nation, it means that they don't give up a seat to women, to the old, and so on.

The best-known quality of the English is reserve. A reserved person is one, who does not talk very much to strangers, does not show much emotion. If English people are travelling by train, they will try to find an empty compartment. If they have to share the compartment with a stranger, they may travel many miles without starting a conversation. If a conversation does start personal questions like «How old are you?» or even «What is your name?» are not easily asked. Questions like «Where did you buy this watch?» or «What is your salary?» are impossible. Russian people will hardly be looking for an empty compartment and I think there are seldom empty compartments on trains in Russia. They will begin conversation a;t once and speak to you about everything from your new watch up to politics and global problems in the world.

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