Text 2. An account of a typical day

At oxford University

Read the text about Christina’s studies at Oxford University.

Say what new information you have gained from the text.

The system of study at Oxford University brings about a situation where all the days of a term are really working days as we are left to work on our own. I will therefore describe a typical day of the term. In term-time I usually get up at about 8 o’clock, eat breakfast, and then begin private study at about 9 o’clock. Most lectures in the Modern languages faculty tend to be either at 10 or 11 o’clock although there are some at 9 and at 12. As lectures are not compulsory I usually try to ascertain which are worthwhile and attend them. If I have a lecture I go to the university. I continue private study all morning if I have no lectures. At 1 o’clock I eat lunch and then continue to study either in the library or in my room. My work involves reading texts, then criticisms and finally writing an essay on a title given to me by my tutor. I have to do 1 or 2 of these essays a week. I also have to do a French translation and a Russian translation and so almost all the days of the term are devoted to study.

The work I do must be presented to my tutor at a tutorial. Quite often therefore in the afternoon I have to go to a tutorial which lasts 1 hour. I eat dinner at 6.30 p.m. and usually study for a couple of hours in the evening and then visit some friends to chat for a while. Sometimes I go to see a French or English film in the evening or to see a play. These films are usually at the cinema but some are shown at the University French Society.

Chapter 4. Free Time. Travelling Text 1. Oleg’s free time Read the text and do the exercises that follow it.

Study the following vocabulary before reading the text:

to stay away (from) – пропускать, не ходить

to be in a hurry – спешить

garbage – мусор

to tidy the room – убирать комнату

plenty of = many (much)

rather – довольно

sunbathe – загорать

leisure – досуг

pastime – времяпрепровождения

indoors – внутри (дома)

to be frozen over – замерзать

to sledge – кататься на санках

to be boring – быть скучным

to pick up – поднимать, собирать

to go to the seaside – ездить к морю

to ride – ездить (верхом)

to cycle – ездить на велосипеде

1. Oleg’s day off

Oleg hasn’t much free time on week-days when he studies. But he is more or less free on Sundays. On that day he stays away from classes. He gets up later than usual as he is not in a hurry anywhere. After breakfast he usually tidies the room, takes the garbage away as on week-days he has no time to do it regularly. Then it’s high time to go shopping. The shop is not far from his hostel and it doesn’t take him long to do shopping. But sometimes he goes to the market that is a long way and he has to take a bus to get there.

As a rule, Oleg has some other things to do. On that day he usually does his hometasks and if it is necessary he visits a library to get ready for classes. Then he may relax.

What Oleg does on his days off really depends on the weather. If the weather is fine he prefers to visit his friends and they go to the park together. There are a lot of different things going on there, from sport competitions to musical entertainment of various kinds. They can listen to a band or just sit on the bank of the river, have a talk and discuss different problems.

If the weather is cold or wet, it is not a big problem for Oleg. There are plenty of things he can do indoors. He can read books, listen to music, and watch TV. Watching TV is a very popular leisure activity. He may also go to different entertainment centers such as sport and disco clubs, art centers including exhibitions, cinema, theatre, concert halls, etc. Oleg is very sociable and he often meets friends at his place. They have a nice time together.