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• Institute: an independent higher educational institution, which applies vocational education curricula in specific areas of science, technology, and culture.

Russian higher educational institutions can grant the following types of degrees and diplomas:

Intermediate Diploma; Bachelor’s degree; Diploma of Specialist; Master’s degree.

The function of the degree of Intermediate Higher Education granted after no less than two years of training is to certify that a student has successfully completed the first two years of the fundamental higher education, which is considered to be a basis of the chosen field of training. Besides, this degree provides mobility between various higher educational institutions.

The Bachelor’s degree is awarded after at least four years of training. It covers almost all fields of knowledge, except medical science. Final state certification procedure includes the presentation of the graduation paper.

Degree of a Specialist is awarded after 5–6 years of studies. The degree of a Specialist has a double function. It provides access to occupational activities and also gives the possibility to enter postgraduate courses (doctoral programs). Final state certification includes presentation of the graduation paper. Besides, in the majority of cases students have to pass final state examinations.

Task 2

Use the information in the text to find answers to the following questions

1.Who can be admitted to a higher educational institution?

2.What are the types of educational institutions in Russia?

3.What is a USE?

4.What types of degrees can Russian higher education institutions grant?

5.What are the functions of an Intermediate Diploma?

6.What does the final state certification procedure include?

Task 3

Finish the sentences using the information from the text

1.To enter university a student with secondary education have to _________

2.The types of higher institutions in Russia are___________

3.After 6 years of training a student gets _________

4.A traditional Russian final qualifying degree is that of a _______

5.The function of the Intermediate Higher Education degree is to provide_____

6.Final state certification includes_______

Task 4

Look at the scheme of giving а summary to the text and enumerate the 4 main elements of the summary

1.Give the title of the text summarized.

The title of the text is….

2.Begin the summary with one of the introductory general phrases:

The text deals with… (speaks about, say that, present, points out, describes, is devoted to, gives some comments on, offers an overview)

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3.The main body must not be more than six plain statements generalizing the main ideas of the text in a logical sequence.

4.Conclude the abstract with your personal opinion of both the content and the language used, using given phrases:

The text is informative….; The text is dry, dull and boring…; The reading of the text gives (does not give) some satisfaction and pleasure…

The information is up-to-date (out-of-date)… The text is (not) worth reading and abstracting…. There are practically no unknown words….

Task 5

Look at the example summary and say what element among the enumerated ones does it lack? Give your own variant of the summary.

Summary

The title of the text is “Higher Education in Russia “.

The text offers an overview of the Russian educational system.

There are different types of higher educational institutions in Russia. They are universities, academies and institutes. Each educational institution has its peculiarities. They can grant the following types of degrees and diplomas. Intermediate Diploma: to get such a diploma at least 2 years of training is needed. Bachelor’s degree requires not less than 4 years of training and you need 5 or 6 years of training to get the Diploma of a Specialist, which is the traditional final qualifying degree in Russia and you can get

Master’s degree after 6 years of training.

Vocabulary practice

Exercise 1

Match phrases in column A with their translation in column B and make up sentences with them

Exercise 2

Distribute the words given below into three columns

To grant, secondary, entrance, to cover, Master’s, Bachelor’s, higher, postgraduate, final, further, academic, qualifying, vocational.

Exercise 3

Fill in the correct word from the list: sciences, to grant, secondary, multilevel, to give, paper, entrance, individual, mobility, research.

1.________ studies

2.________ the possibility

3.scientific ________

4.________ exams

5.Natural _________

6.________ education

7.________ system

8.graduation ______

9._________ a degree

10.to provide _______

Exercise 4

Make up a dialogue on the situation Student A

You are a second-year student of the SUSU. Help the American student to understand the rules and regulations of being accepted to Russian university, being granted a degree. Explain the difference between the types of Russian educational institutions. You may also suggest him some tips for studying, clarify the peculiarities of students’ life in Russia. It’s your first meeting with the person. Don’t forget to introduce yourself.

Student B

You are an American student. You want to get a higher education in Russian. You love Russia very much as your grandmother is Russian. So you’ve come to Russia to find out as much details as possible about the system of Higher education in Russia, about the types of educational institutions and about the hardships (difficulties) of students’ life. You’ve met a Russian second-year student. Introduce yourself and remember you are a very inquisitive person.

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Grammar exercises

Exercise 1

Put the verbs in brackets into the right form of Present Perfect and translate them Example: She ______ already (cook) the breakfast.

She has already cooked the breakfast.

1.He ____ (gain) a lot of weight recently.

2.Tom ____ just (clear out) the garage.

3.They ____ (sell) their house and ____ (go) on a tour of the world.

4.I ___ (be) to New York several times.

5.Martin is not here. He ____ (leave) for Moscow.

6.I ____ (not see) Kate since my weeding.

7.Pam ____ already (finish) his test.

8.She ____ (quarrel) with her mother 5 times this week.

9.This year I ___ twice (be) abroad.

Exercise 2

Choose the right variant: Past Simple или Present Perfect

6.When Jill (finish) school?

a)When has Jill finished b) When did Jill finish

7.When I was a child, I (be) always late for school.

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Exercise 3

Choose the right variant: Past Perfect or Present Perfect

Exercise 4

Open the brackets and put the verbs into the Future Perfect Tense

1.She ___________ (to cook) dinner by the time you come.

2.The tutor _________ (to look through) all our tests by the end of the week.

3.The film already ________ (to start) when we get there.

4.I _________ (to finish) this book by next month.

5.My parents ________ (to go) to bed when we come back from the theatre.

6.The lecture _________ (to be over) by 5 and the last student will have left the hall.

7.It _________(to stop) raining by the time we get there.

8.By the time you get home you __________ (to forget) everything.

9.Ann _______ (to come) back by the moment the play starts.

10.By 2100 computers ________ (to take over) many of the jobs that people do today.

Exercise 5

You are first year students. You spent not much time at the university. What have done yet?

Example 1: I have already twice visited the library.

Example 2: I have already been to the university swimming–pool.

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Exercise 6

React to the suggestion using the Present Perfect Tense as in the model. The following adverbial phrases may be of some help to you:

this week, this month, this year, this morning, this evening.

Example: – Let’s go to the swimming–pool.

–No, thanks. I have already been there in the morning.

1.Let’s go to the library this evening to prepare for our physics classes.

2.Let’s go to the cinema to see ”Nochnoy Dozor”.

3.Why don’t we go to visit our grandmother this week.

4.Let’s dedicate this poem to Svetlana.

5.Let’s go to see Paris this summer.

6.Let’s not miss lectures on History this week.

Exercise 7

You are 18 year old students. You are young but I am sure you have some achievements in your life. Think of them and formulate them using the model

Model: I have finished a secondary school and the Chelyabinsk State Pedagogical University. I have visited many foreign countries: Germany, the USA and Great Britain are among them.

Communication

Reacting Task 1

Look at sentences 1 to 8. Then choose phrases from the list and in pairs act out short exchanges reacting positively or negatively.

•OK. • Never mind. • Not at all. • Go ahead• Pity • Why not • I’d love to. • Yes, actually,

•You'd better not. • Let's not. • Poor • Quite reasonable. • I’d rather not. • Terribly

1.I won’t be able to make it.

2.Shall we go?

3.Do you mind?

4.How did it go?

5.Are you coming then?

6.What are my chances?

7.Can I try?

8.I tried really hard.

Example: A. I won’t be able to make it.

B. Pity.

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Task 2

Enlarge the situations given

Example:

Will you go to the disco this evening?

I won’t be able to make it. I am sitting with my sister this evening.

Pity. May be next time?

With pleasure.

Homework

Task 1

Use the phrases given below to fill in the gaps into the sentences

Secondary education, training, final state examinations, vocational education curricula, to provide mobility, entrance exams, degree of a Specialist, to provide access, competition, distance learning students.

1.To enter the higher institution every applicant should pass ________.

2._______________ is compulsory in Russia.

3._______________ is awarded after 5 or 6 years of study.

4.Institute is and independent higher educational institution which applies__________ in specific areas of science, technology and culture.

5.The Intermediate Higher degree is designed _________ between various higher educational institutions.

6.Final state certification includes the presentation of the graduation project and

________.

7.In many modern universities large computer centers are established __________

to Internet resources for the students.

8.________ to enter state university for the specialties that are in great demand nowadays is 5 applications for one place.

9.To get a Bachelor’s degree a student needs not less than four years of

__________.

10.Part-time and __________ constitute one third of the overall number of students in the country.

Task 2

Choose the right variant: Present Perfect or Past Simple

1.She is happy. She (passed/has passed) her exam in Maths.

2.When (did you pass/have you passed) your laboratory work?

3.Ann is upset. She (lost/has lost) 500 rubles.

4.Pete feels uneasy. He (missed/has missed) his classes and (met/has met) his teacher on the street later today.

5.Yesterday I (read/have read) an interesting article about the nature of earthquakes.

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Task 3

Translate from Russian into English using the active vocabulary of the lesson

1.Система высшего образования в России находится в стадии реформирования.

2.Среднее образование является обязательным для всех граждан России.

3.После четырех лет обучения студент получает диплом Бакалавра.

4.Университет это высшее учебное заведение, чья деятельность направлена на образование, развитие науки и культуры.

5.При поступлении в университет абитуриенты должны сдавать вступительные экзамены.

6.Министерство образования предлагает принимать в университет абитуриентов на основе результатов Единого Государственного Экзамена.

(Unified State Exam)

7.Студенты вечернего отделения и студенты, получающие образование дистанционно, составляют третью часть всех студентов.

8.В Российской Федерации существует несколько типов высших учебных заведений: университеты, институты, академии.

Task 4

Read the text and match the abstracts with the titles given below

a.Leading role in humanities and in applied sciences

b.Russian Diplomas Competitiveness

c.Great variety of educational institutions

d.High Standard of Education

e.Higher Education in Russian is much cheaper than in other countries

Five advantages of Russian educational system

1.The Russian national education system is generally regarded to be of a high standard. It is founded upon a solid theoretical base. Leading Russian Universities are primarily scientific research centres. Many of the greatest achievements of 20th century science took place in Russia.

2.In 2002 31 Russian students took part in international mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, ecology, informatics and geography competitions, 29 of them became International Competition winners. No country in the world has ever achieved such a brilliant result!

3.The Russian Educational System has two types of further education institutions: universities, like Lomonosov Moscow State University, which offer a variety of subjects, and institutions of a smaller size, which concentrate on specific fields. Many new institutions and colleges have appeared in recent years. The level of achievement in these institutions is as high as those in traditional universities, but tuition fees are much lower. There are nearly 400 non–state owned institutions of higher education in Russia and the total number of students is nearly 270 thousand.

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4.Russian graduates are considered to be among the top competitors for jobs worldwide. A Classical Russian University Education is considered by many to be an excellent starting point for any career. Bill Gates, the computer king, who has made a fortune of 90 billion dollars has 20 former graduates of Novosibirsk University. According to Bill Gates his staff made him one of the richest people in the world.

5.Tuition fees in Russia are considered to be much lower than anywhere else in the world. Additional costs such as accommodation, textbooks, use of libraries etc., are also low. Take the UK, for example. Accommodation in London will cost a student 360$ a week. In Moscow a student may rent a two-room apartment for 300$ a month, or pay just the same amount for bed–and breakfast accommodation. In London a student has to spend 1000$ a month for textbooks and supplementary literature compared to 100$ in Moscow. The fees in Oxford Westminster College, for example, are usually 25000– 30000$ a year and in Plekhanov Academy of Economics in Moscow are only 5000$ per year.

Did you know that…..

There are 1041 institutions of higher education in Russia; 610 institutions are state;

44 % of state institutions’ freshmen pay for their education.

Task 5

Find what the following figures refer to? Give answers as in the example

31, 29, 400, 270, 25 000 $, 300$, 20, 100$

Example: 31 is the number of students taking part in the international competitions in 2002.

Task 6

Answer the questions to the text

1.Why can we be proud of Russian system of higher education?

2.What are the advantages of Russian system of higher education over the Western ones?

3.Why do you think our specialists are highly competitive in the world market?

4.What problems does our system of higher education have?

Task 7

Find information in the Internet on the following topics and present it in the form of a report:

1.What is the Bologna process?

2.Why has Russia decided to become the part of the Bologna process?

3.What is the main purpose of the Unified State Exams?

4.Why is the Russian system of higher education is among the best in the world?

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Smile with us

Professor: A fool can ask more questions than a wise man can answer. Student: No wonder so many of us failed our exams!

Lesson 3. Higher Education in the UK

Task 1. Brainstorming activity

Discuss the following question and give all the possible answers to it

Why do many children of new Russians study in Great Britain?

Task 2. Active Vocabulary

Pronounce the active vocabulary of the lesson after the teacher

3.Advanced Level examinations – экзамен по программе средней школы

4.applied technology – прикладные разработки

5.approximate number – приблизительное количество

12.sandwich course – курс обучения, чередующий теорию с практикой;

13.to apply to a university – обращаться с заявлением о приеме в университет

14.to attend a university – посещать университет

15.to be dedicated to – быть посвященным чему–либо

Lead-in

Task 1

Try to answer the following question using your background knowledge

1.What do you know about the system of Higher Education in Great Britain?

2.Why do you think many new Russians send their children to the UK colleges to get degrees?

3.Do you know any world famous colleges of the UK?

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