Ex. 15. Answer the following alternative questions to the text.

1. Does SSUT train specialists for railway transport or aerospace industry?

2. Does the University offer a broad portfolio of courses or jobs?

3. Do these courses meet the needs of students or online news services?

4. Is the University playing an increasingly important role for local or international companies?

5. Was our University established as a technical school or an institute?

6. Did the first admission comprise seventy-five or fifty-seven students?

7. Does the University complex include railway technical schools or high schools?

8. Does SSUT have three or five faculties?

9. Is teaching provided in the full-time or evening form?

10. Do sixteen or thirty-seven departments offer degree courses?

11. Do state-of-the-art computing facilities support research or sports activities?

12. Is access available to electronic or electrical databases?

13. Do University papers cover the most interesting or the funniest events of the SSUT life?

14. Are SSUT buildings equipped with the latest news or facilities?

15. Does the University simulation test ground house railway or rocket vehicles?

Ex. 16. Go back to the text and find sentences, which are similar to the following statements.

1. More than 10 thousand students study at Samara State University of Transport.

2. 700 teachers work at Samara State University of Transport.

3. Eighty teachers have a university degree of the highest level.

4. International cooperation with leading foreign higher schools is very important to our University.

5. Many students of SSUT originate from other cities and towns.

6. Sport is very popular among the students of SSUT.

7. There are many sports facilities on the University campus.

8. It doesn’t take a long time to get from the students’ hall to the swimming pool or fitness centers.

9. SSUT students take an active part in sports competitions held in our country and abroad.

10. Many students are active participants in all kinds of social events; they demonstrate how smart and talented they are.

Ex. 17. Using the questions below, make up stories on the following topics:

(A) The school I went to

1. What school did you go to? (secondary school; gymnasium; vocational school; technical school; lyceum; specialized English school)

2. At what age did you begin to attend it?

3. Where is it situated?

4. What subjects did you study at your school?

5. What were your favorite subjects?

6. How many times a week did you have your English lessons?

7. What did you do during your English lessons?

8. What was your mark in English?

9. Who was your favorite teacher?

10. What exams did you pass at school?

11. What did you like and dislike about your school?

(B) Entering the University

1. When did you first start thinking about entering a higher school?

2. Did anybody advise (советовать) you or was it your own choice?

3. What made you choose the University of Transport rather than some other higher school? Give your reasons.

4. Do your parents approve (одобрять) your choice?

5. Did you take entrance exams or were you admitted on the basis of your results in the Unified State Examinations for the secondary school?

6. How many points did you get in Physics and Mathematics?

7. How did you prepare for the exams? (You attended the fitting school подготовительные курсы; your teacher helped you; you read a lot of books yourself or you didn’t prepare for your exams at all)

8. Were you afraid of taking exams?

9. What was the most difficult subject for you to take?

10. Was the competition intense?

11. How does it feel to be a student?