11 Oxbridge

In Britain you can get a degree in a university, in a "poly­technic", or in some of the many colleges of further education.

Oxford and Cambridge are the two oldest and most prestigious universities in Britain. They are often called collectively Oxbridge to denote an elitarian education. Many Oxbridge students come from public schools, and Oxbridge graduates often go on to become influential and powerful in British society.

The tutorial system is one of the ways in which Oxford and Cambridge differ from all the other English universities. Every student has a tutor and as soon as you come to Oxford one of the first things you do is to go and see your tutor, he, more or less, plans your work, suggests the books you should read and sets work for you to do. Each week you go to him in his room, perhaps with two or three other students, and he discusses with you the work that you have done, criticises in detail your essay and sets you the next week's work.

Oxford and Cambridge universities consist of a number of colleges. Each college has its own character and individuality. The universities have over a hundred societies and clubs: drama­tic societies, language clubs, philosophy societies, debating clubs, political clubs of all colours - in fact, clubs for almost every activity under the sun. Both universities are independent.

Questions:

1. Where can one get a degree in Britain?

2. What is Oxbridge?

3. What kind of students study at Oxbridge?

4. How does the tutorial system at Oxbridge differ from that at other English universities?

5. What do Oxford and Cambridge universities consist of?

12 Myra's Employment Agency

At Myra's we help people find jobs. And we help companies, too, because we identify good workers for them. So, we offer an important service to both employees and employers. Of course, we have to be paid for our work. We make money in two ways: sometimes the person who gets the job pays us for our help. Other times the companies pay us for finding suitable workers for them. How­ever, we do not usually receive payment unless the workers stay in the job for at least six weeks.

Our agency handles all kinds of jobs and workers. We look for salespeople and for factory workers. Sometimes we look for executives to manage companies.

The people who work in this office are called job developers. They find companies that have jobs to fill. Then they try to match these jobs to qualified people who come to our agency looking for jobs. We try to find the right person for each job.

It is often easier for us to get jobs for people who have some work experience or who have had special training in a parti­cular kind of work. Currently, we have a job for a welder, but we do not have any job candidates who have training as a welder.

Questions:

1. What does Myra's Employment Agency deal in?

2. How does the company earn money?

3. What kind of jobs and workers does the agency handle?

4. How do the people at the agency work?

5. When is it easier for the agency to find a job for a person?