yastrebova-vladykina_uchebnik_2_kursa

years, he landed at the National Institutes of Health, where he began trying to locate and decode a gene that governs production of a brain-cell protein.

The work was agonizingly slow, and when he heard about a computerized machine that used lasers to automatically identify the chemical letters in DNA, he went out and bought a prototype – even though his bosses wouldn’t pay for it.

If that purchase became a symbol of Venter’s disdain for authority, the new technique he developed for finding genes with it demonstrated his brilliance. For it is thanks to Venter, aggressive and stubborn as he is, that the world can read the human genome not three or four or five years from now but today.

/Michael D. Lemonick, Time, Dec. 25–Jan. 1, 2001/

1.How different is Craig Venter from the “organization kid”?

2.What factors made his success possible?

3.Are “the organization kids” likely to accomplish as much?

☻ Read the extract from “The Street Lawyer” by John Grisham and answer discussion questions that follow.

Michael Brock, a lawyer, scrambling up the ladder at Drake & Sweeney, a giant Washington law firm, tells his story. The story of a rising star with no time to waste, no time to stop, no time for anyone… .

I met Claire when I was just out of Yale with a great job in a rich firm. She was finishing her degree in political science at American University. Drake & Sweeney, like most large firms, treats the first year as a training camp. I worked fifteen hours a day, six days a week, and on Sundays Claire and I would have our weekly date. Sunday nights I was in the office. We thought that if we got married, we would have more time together.

The wedding was large, the honeymoon brief, and when the luster wore off I was back at the office ninety hours a week. She was a sport for the first few months, but she grew weary of being neglected. I did not blame her, but young associates don’t complain in the hallowed offices of Drake & Sweeney. Less than ten percent of each class will make partner, so the competition is ruthless. The rewards are great, at least a million bucks a year. Billing lots of hours is more important than a happy wife. Divorce is common. I didn’t dream of asking the boss to lighten my load.

By the end of our first year together, Claire was very unhappy and we had started to quarrel.

She decided to go to med school. Tired of sitting at home watching TV, she figured she could become as selfabsorbed as I was. Her goal was to become the greatest female neurosurgeon in the country. I thought it was a wonderful idea. It took away most of my guilt.

After four years with the firm, they started dropping hints about our chances of making partner. The hints were collected and compared among many of the associates. It was generally felt that I was on the fast track to a partnership. But I had to work even harder.

Claire became determined to spend more time away from the apartment than I did, and so both of us slid into the silliness of extreme workaholism. She was always in a hurry – appointments, classes, rounds, the life of an ambitious young surgical resident.

As young workaholics, we did not need alarm clocks, especially for Monday mornings, when we faced an entire week of challenges. We were up at five, eating cereal at five-thirty, then off in separate directions, practically racing to see who could leave first. She wouldn’t know when she might be home, but usually it was very late. I didn’t hold it against her. She had learned the fast-track lifestyle from me.

We stopped fighting and simply drifted apart. She had her friends and interests, I had mine. Fortunately, we did not make the mistake of reproducing.

I wish I had done things differently. We were in love once, and we let it get away.

Discussion questions:

1.Why do people in modern society tend to push themselves to a point of exhaustion?

2.Do you think this is a road to success?

3.What are the most obvious consequences of workaholism?

Ex. 32. Give a free translation into English.

В условиях в целом неблагоприятных воздействий макросреды у молодежи снизился престиж нравственности, возросли интересы сугубо личного, прагматического плана. У значительной части молодых людей утрачены такие традиционные нравственно-психологические черты, как романтизм, честность, добросовестность (conscientiousness), вера в добро и справедливость, стремление к правде и поиску идеала.

По данным социологического исследования, среди выпускников московских школ добрыми и чуткими считают себя 47,9%; добросовестность и исполнительность отмечает в себе лишь половина из них (51,5%); честность и порядочность – 56,2%; умение приспособиться к жизни как ценное качество личности рассматривают 37,9% респондентов.

223

Изменения в системе ценностей молодежи касаются, в основном, отношения к материальному богатству и способам его добывания. Богатство и карьера вошли в число ведущих ценностей значительной части молодых людей. «Чистых» трудоголиков среди молодежи около одной шестой, тогда как среди представителей старшего поколения – от одной трети до половины. Большинство молодых людей признаками хорошей работы считают: хороший заработок, интересный содержательный труд, возможность самореализации.

Богатство (деньги) по мнению молодых людей обеспечивает большую свободу выбора, удовлетворение разнообразных потребностей, социальный престиж и власть. При этом, по данным опросов, до 40% опрошенных молодых людей не возражают занять должность, где можно получать крупные взятки, а 7% хотели бы занять такую должность. Для большинства приемлема работа на «сомнительной» фирме за большие деньги, укрывательство доходов от налогообложения (tax evasion) и брак по расчету.

Нынешнее поколение студентов, по мнению преподавателей, более развито интеллектуально, но беднее духовно, более прагматично. Большинство студентов четко знают, чего хотят и как этого добиться, активно стремятся к получению максимума знаний и навыков по «нужным» им предметам. Они более раскрепощенные, самоуверенные и практически лишены чувства коллективизма.

/по материалам НИЦ ИМ и газеты Известия 7.12.2001/

READING 3

Pre-reading questions:

1.What is a bank holiday?

2.What bank holidays in the UK do you know? Match the holidays with the correct dates or months.

Major UK National Holidays

Note: The exact date of some holidays (e.g. Easter) varies each year. Scotland and Northern Ireland have some different national holidays.

3.Are the holidays spaced evenly? When do the British wait 15 weeks for a bank holiday and four (as with the proverbial bus) come along at once?

4.How many official holidays do you think are necessary apart from one’s annual leave?

Guessing from context

Learn to read faster. Read the sentences and choose an equivalent of each underlined word. If you already know the word move on to the next one.

1.The spacing of Britain’s bank holidays is absurd. But the real problem is their paucity of numbers. With eight days off, Britain comes second from the bottom of the European public holiday league.

paucity

1)убогость

2)недостаточность

3)малое количество

2.It may be said that people who want to reduce their hours can do so voluntarily, or through collective bargaining with employers.

bargaining

1)ведение переговоров (о сделке, договоре)

2)сделка

3)выгодная покупка

3.Long working hours have become ingrained in the culture of many firms and organizations; they are often impossible to resist if you have an eye on promotion.

ingrained

1)необязательный

2)въевшийся

224

3) укоренившийся

4.In many workplaces, as already happens with existing bank holidays, hours will in practice be stretched and productivity improved in order to accommodate the extra day off.

5.In fact, by giving employees more rest and time for recuperation, an extra bank holiday is likely to make them more productive.

recuperation

1)восстановление сил

2)развлечение

3)период выздоровления

6.It is true that some employees will be required to work on an extra bank holiday. But they will get a day off in lieu. in lieu

1)в порядке очереди

2)в свое время

3)вместо

7.A reasonable target, putting us in the European mainstream, would be 12 bank holidays – an average of one every four weeks.

mainstream

1)большинство

2)основное направление, тенденция

3)главный поток

8.Bank holidays have the additional advantage of providing the opportunity for collective national commemoration and reflection.

commemoration

1)празднование

2)отдание чести

3)открытие памятника

Read the text quickly and find a) the arguments for and against more bank holidays; b) what practical suggestions the author makes.

Give Us More Bank Holidays

Feel like you need a holiday? It would hardly be surprising. The spacing of Britain’s bank holidays is absurd. But the real problem is their paucity of number. With eight days off, Britain comes second from bottom of the European public holiday league, with only the Netherlands having fewer (7). ltalians enjoy twice as many days off as us, closely followed by Icelanders (15), with the citizens of Spain and Portugal, and some regions of Germany, on 14. Austria has 13, Norway 12, Sweden and France 11, in the latter case supplemented by various local holidays. Even Northern Ireland, on ten, has more than the rest of the UK (the extras are St. Patrick’s Day and the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne).

The general argument for more bank holidays is the same as that for other kinds of reduction in working time. Employees in the UK work the longest hours in Europe, leading to high levels of stress and depression, and other forms of ill health. Most working people find it increasingly hard to achieve a satisfactory balance between work and other activities, particularly the enjoyment of quality time with children and the fulfilment of other caring responsibilities. Long hours have reduced the voluntary work done by those in employment.

It may be said that people who want to reduce their hours can do so voluntarily, or through collective bargaining with employers. But this is where the specific argument for more bank holidays comes in. So long as everyone else is working long hours – and earning the incomes that go with them – reducing one’s own hours and income voluntarily is difficult. Long working hours have become ingrained in the culture of many firms and organisations; they are often impossible to resist if you have your eye on promotion. Consumption patterns are socially determined, drawn from comparisons we make with others in society. A voluntary reduction in income from fewer earning hours is hard because it makes us different from our friends and neighbours.

Meanwhile, many firms, particularly smalland medium-sized ones, feel unable to offer more holidays or shorter hours unless their competitors are doing so, too.

225

In these circumstances, it is the collective and universal nature of the proposal for more bank holidays that is crucial. By ensuring that everyone gains the benefit, the risk of individual loss – whether through social comparison or economic competition – is avoided.

Employers will complain that more holidays will reduce the overall productivity of the economy. But the evidence for this is weak – as the number of bank holidays enjoyed by our European competitors suggests. A cut of one working day a year represents just 0.4 per cent of the 230 we work in total, easily outweighed by the 1-2 per cent plus by which productivity rises on average each year. In many workplaces, as already happens around existing bank holidays, hours will in practice be stretched and productivity improved in order to accommodate the extra day off.

In fact, by giving employees more rest and time for recuperation, an extra bank holiday is likely to make them more productive. It will also generate new demand in the leisure industry, as people spend money on their day off. (It is true that some employees will be required to work on any extra bank holiday. But they will get a day off in lieu.)

A reasonable target, putting us in the European mainstream, would be 12 bank holidays – an average of one every four weeks. One extra bank holiday introduced every three years would achieve this in little more than a decade.

Bank holidays have the additional advantage of providing the opportunity for collective national commemoration and reflection. A competition could be held to decide what the new days should mark – the anniversaries of historical figures or significant events, for example. Alternatively, we could have days with symbolic meaning – days for world peace, endangered species or the elimination of global poverty.

/Michael Jacob, New Statesman, March 5, 2001/

Ex. 33. Give a free translation into English.

Образ жизни современной российской молодежи имеет преимущественно пассивный характер. Наиболее частые виды проведения досуга для почти трех четвертей молодых людей – просмотр телепередач и встречи с друзьями и приятелями; две трети увлекаются прослушиванием музыкальных записей и просмотром видео. Активные формы проведения свободного времени занимают весьма небольшое место в жизни молодых людей: часто бывают из них в театрах и на концертах 17% и никогда их не посещают 33%; в музеи и на выставки часто ходят 10%, а никогда – 46%, что свидетельствует о резком снижении культурной активности молодежи. Заметно сузилась сфера самодеятельного творчества молодежи. Художественным творчеством (amateur arts) регулярно занимаются 13% опрошенных студентов. Данный вид проведения свободного времени никогда не используют 46% опрошенных.

Несколько большую значимость имеет такой вид проведения свободного времени, как посещение баров и дискотек: 27% молодых людей часто посещают эти заведения, причем активнее здесь представители младшей возрастной группы (31%). Своеобразный вид отдыха, – «ничегонеделание» (idling away) предпочитают 39% опрошенных, однако 21% никогда не проводят так свое свободное время.

Общественная деятельность также не занимает значительного места в жизни нашей молодежи. Много внимания этому уделяют 18% респондентов, а 60% практически никогда этого не делают.

 SPEAKING 3

Discussion questions:

1.Which arguments do you agree / disagree with? Why?

2.Why do you think reducing one’s own working hours and income voluntarily is difficult?

3.What public holidays are celebrated in Russia? (Make a list of the holidays and the dates). Do you find the number and spacing satisfactory?

☻ Pairwork

1. Study the Fact File on the American holidays and compare the three lists (the UK, Russia, the USA). Point out the differences and similarities (the number, spacing, the kind of holidays each country established: religious, political, etc.).

The Fact File

Each of the 50 states establishes its own legal holidays. The federal government, through the President and Congress, can legally set holidays only for federal employees and for the District of Columbia. Most states, however, accept the federal legal holidays. Holidays for all federal offices, most state and local government offices, and many (but not all!) businesses are:

New Year’s Day (January 1)

Martin Luther King’s Birthday (third Monday in January) Washington’s Birthday, sometimes called “Presidents’Day”

226

(third Monday in February) Memorial Day (last Monday in May) Independence Day (July 4)

Labor Day (first Monday in September) Columbus Day (second Monday in October)

Veterans’ Day (November 11)

Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday in November) Christmas Day (December 25)

Perhaps the two “most American” of the holidays are the Fourth of July – Independence Day – and Thanksgiving. The Fourth of July is like a big, nationwide birthday party. Yet, it’s a party that takes place in neighborhoods, on beaches or in parks, or on suburban lawns throughout the country. Some towns and cities have parades with bands and flags, and most politicians will try to give a patriotic speech or two, should anyone be willing to listen. But what makes the Fourth of July is the atmosphere and enjoyment of, for instance, the family beach party, with hot dogs and hamburgers, volleyball and softball, the fireworks and rockets at night (and, often, a sunburn and a headache the next morning). The nation’s birthday is also the nation’s greatest annual summer party.

Like Christmas, Thanksgiving is a day for families to come together. Traditional foods are prepared for the feast – turkey or ham, cranberry sauce and corn dishes, breads and rolls, and pumpkin pie. At the same time, Thanksgiving is a solemn occasion, a day to remember the many who are less well off, in America and throughout the world.

/from American Life and Institutions/

2. Read the extract about leisure activities and compare popular pastimes in Russia and in the other industrialized nations.

Traditional leisure activities date from the days when free time was brief and had to be enjoyed near or in the home. They include many forms of sports, gardening, fishing, collecting hobbies, board and card games, eating out, gambling, and drinking. Since the 1960s a great increase in time available for leisure in the industrialized nations has come about through a combination of factors, among them the shorter working week and longer holidays, the liberating effects of automation in the workplace, and greater life expectancy. Better diet and health care, greater mobility through car ownership, the growth of cheap air travel, and, in wealthy countries, the availability of land no longer required for agriculture, have encouraged tourism and outdoor leisure pursuits. The changing times have produced a greater appetite for continuing education. Such leisure activities are largely confined to the industrialized world; in most developing countries concepts such as leisure, personal fitness, and holidays are regarded as scarce luxuries.

/from The Oxford Interactive Encyclopedia/

☻ Project work

Developing oral presentation skills 1. Carry out a survey of students’ use of leisure time.

a)Complete a questionnaire given below. Discuss with your partners which points you would like to add or leave out.

b)Have twenty students complete the questionnaire. Work as a team to collect more information.

c)Analyse the results.

Questionnaire “Students’ Use of Leisure Time”

Holidays

Time out

227

Rating sheet to be used for assessment:

 WRITING 2

A survey report is a formal piece of writing based on research

Structure:

Introduction

State the purpose / aim of the report, when and how the information was gathered.

Main Body

All the information collected and analysed is presented clearly and in detail.

Conclusion

Sum up the points mentioned above. If necessary a recommendation can be included as well.

Useful hints and phrases:

A survey report should consist of: a) an introduction which states the purpose and content of your report, b) a main body where all information collected is presented clearly in detail (sub-headings, numbers or letters can be used to separate each piece of information) and c) a final paragraph which summarises the points mentioned before. If necessary, a recommendation can be included as well.

Present Tenses, Reported Speech and an impersonal style should be used in survey reports. Use a variety of reporting verbs such as claim, state, report, agree, complain, suggest, etc.

When reporting the results of a survey, the figures gathered should be given in the form of percentages or proportions. Expressions such as “one in four” or “six out of ten” can be used, or exact percentages e.g. 25% of the people questioned, 68% of those who filled in the questionnaire, etc. Less exact expressions such as: the majority of those questioned, a large proportion of, a significant number of, etc. can also be used.

Useful language for reports:

To introduce: The purpose / aim of this report, As requested, This survey was carried out (conducted), etc. To generalise: In general, Generally, On the whole, etc.

To refer to a fact: The fact is that…, In fact, In practice, etc.

To conclude / summarise: In conclusion, All things considered, To sum up, All in all, etc.

Ex. 34. Write an account of the findings in the survey “Students’ Use of Leisure Time” according to the plan:

1.breakdown into groups according to sex, age and place of residence

2.analysis of the data collected

3.main differences between groups (sex, age, residence)

4.aspects that you find unusual or interesting

Ex. 35. Write an introduction to the survey report:

1.State the date when the survey was conducted, the number od students who answered the questions

2.State the purpose (e.g. …to discover popular leisure time activities of …)

3.Describe how the data were collected (e.g. the survey …. by means of.., the questionnaire consisted of ….)

Ex. 36. Write a conclusion of the survey report. One way of summing up is making some general comments:

e.g. Evidently, female students are more inclined to go to the seaside abroad, while male students prefer to go hitchhiking. Watching TV seems to be equally popular among male and female students living at home. Students living in halls of residence (hostels), however, prefer …

Other useful phrases for writing conclusion:

It is not easy to reach any definite conclusions.

If any conclusions may be drawn from the data…

It is clear that…

The survey shows / indicates / demonstrates that …

229

Ex. 37. Write a survey report “Students’ Use of Leisure Time” (180–200 words). Make use of phrases in Writing 3, part III, ex. 41; Writing 1 part IV. A sample survey report is given in Appendix II, 2.

Developing Communicative Skills: oral and written presentation

☻ Project work

The Portrait of a Workaholic

1.Write a survey report “The Portrait of a Canadian Workaholic”.

2.Make a presentation “The Portrait of a Workaholic”

Stage 1. Team work (3-4 students).

1.brainstorm: analyse the data on p. 621. Concentrate on the following points:

1)the link between income and being a workaholic

2)the link between hours of paid work per week and being a workaholic

3)the quality of life: workaholics vs non-workaholics

Stage 2. Individual work.

1.write an account of the data with emphasis on differences between workaholics and non-workaholics and points which you find unusual or interesting

2.write an introduction and a conclusion

Stage 3. Team work.

1.Compare the introductions, accounts (main body) and conclusions written by the team members.

2.Decide on the final “product” (in case of disagreement the team leader has the final say)

Stage 4. Individual work

Student 1: writes the final version of the survey

Student 2: prepares an oral presentation “The Portrait of a Canadian Workaholic” (for useful hints see p. 200-203, p. 394-396). Information from other sources is welcome.

Student 3/4: prepare(s) an oral presentation “The Portrait of a (Young) Workaholic”, comments on the possible reasons for becoming a workaholic (at a young age) and the effects on one’s health, family life, sense of well-being, etc. You are welcome to use information from other sources.

Stage 5. Presentations in class. A contest for the best presenter.

1.Listening, making notes in assessment sheets.

2.Asking and answering questions

3.Discussion time: choosing the winner.

230

UNIT 9.

HEALTHY LIVING

 READING 4

Pre-reading questions:

1.Have you ever lived in the country? Did you like it?

2.What kind of people do you think enjoy country living?

3.What are the good and the bad points of country living? Do you think they are the same in Russia and Western countries? Why?

Read the text fast to find out if the following statements are true or false:

1.Deborah Bosley’s boyfriend comes from a well-to-do family and is fond of country living.

2.According to D.Bosley, country living is good for those who work in the countryside.

3.Most rural dwellers hate going to work in town.

4.Women living in the country are happy looking after their children.

5.Deborah Bosley enjoys living in the country because she has a job she can do from home.

6.Problems with children start as they grow older.

7.Living in the country saves children from drugs.

Country Living Stinks

I’ve been living in the country for eight years and I’ve grown to hate it. As I write, 1 sit in a magnificent pile of rosefestooned, elegantly decaying 17th-century bricks in an isolated position high on the Berkshire Downs1. The property is owned by my solvent and distinguished boyfriend and, thanks to his efforts, the garden is a blowzy, natural, slightly overgrown colour-supplement illustration of the good life.

It gets better. I live here rent-free with my son and enjoy all the privileges of a rich housewife. I do not have to go to work if I don’t mind total financial dependence on another, and 1 am not troubled by traffic, pollution, crime or bad schools. Our little slice of up-scale Berkshire is much sought after.

Oh yes, it’s beautiful, unspoilt, exclusive, rich. All the things you want your country home to be. So why isn’t it working for me and why would I advise the happy newcomers to proceed with caution? The answer is simple (although it’s taken me eight years to work it out): social isolation, boredom and the long, slow death of the spirit due to a lack of stimulation.

Those who do well here have an occupation that purposefully occupies them in the working countryside. Farmers, farriers2, coal merchants and septic-tank clearers3 all thrive. The rest either commute ridiculous distances to their place of work or stay at home looking at the kitchen clock and wondering if 11 a.m. is too early for sherry. I am fortunate because I have a job that I can do from home, and can look after my son with only part-time childcare. Ideal, isn’t it? You wouldn’t think so from the far-off expressions on the faces of the women with children around here. We are a bemusedlooking bunch who can’t quite figure out why we’re so disjointed and lonely. We spend long days trying to occupy our children, filling in the time until our partners get home from work with news of the outside world.

Those who survive here do so by getting the hell out at every opportunity. My illustrious boyfriend, who has lived here for more than 30 years, staunchly defends his love of the countryside and his determination to stay. Fair enough, but only severe illness or a train strike will keep him from going to London four days a week. Of the two friends I have made, one survives by running a business in South Africa, to which she has to travel frequently. And the other has such a saintly disposition that you could stick her in a war zone and she’d find something nice to say about it.

“It’s so wonderful for the children, so much freedom,” is the habitual cry of rural defenders. But think about it. Is it really? Yes, it’s a thing of joy and beauty to watch your child run up a country lane with his dog, the cow parsley billowing in the breeze. But do it every day because there’s nothing else to do, and it soon begins to pall. And what about when they get older and the nearest sports centre is 12 miles away? Do country children retire to their rooms with improving books? No, they do not. They do what bored children everywhere do – smoke dope4 and ring each other on their mobile phones.

Undoubtedly, my son will experiment with drugs and be a mobile-phone user, but there are survival skills I would like him to pick up along the way. Such as how to get on a bus or a train. How to deal with the homeless and street ag-

1известковые холмы (на юге и юго-востоке Англии)

2кузнецы

3ассенизаторы

4наркотик

231

gression. I don’t want him to go into a pub at 18 for the first time in his life and be horrified when a fight breaks out. I want him to do a bit of underage drinking and clubbing, like youngsters in towns all over the country, and learn how to handle himself.

And what about me? Aided and abetted by a genetic disposition, country living has turned me into an alcoholic. Boredom and loneliness don’t seem nearly so bad the other side of two bottles of wine a night. Now the highlight of my week is attending a local AA meeting1 on a Friday night.

/Deborah Bosley, New Statesman, June 26, 2000/

Read the text for detail. Say whether the following statements are true or false. Give your arguments.

1.Deborah Bosley doesn’t believe her boyfriend really enjoys living in the country.

2.Deborah Bosley thinks the rural idyll is a myth.

3.The article gives the reader an idea of an average Englishman’s (Briton’s) dream.

4.The article is a warning to country-cottage dreamers.

5.It is housewives that suffer most from country living.

Ex. 38. Explain the following phrases from the text.

1.a magnificent pile of rose-festooned, elegantly decaying 17th-century bricks

2.the garden is a blowzy, natural, slightly overgrown colour-supplement illustration of the good life

3.our little slice of up-scale Berkshire is much sought after

4.…commute ridiculous distances to their place of work

5.stay at home looking at the kitchen clock and wondering if 11 a.m. is too early for sherry

6.rural defenders

7.…do it every day and it soon begins to pall

8.…improving books

9.… aided and abetted by a genetic disposition

10.the other side of two bottles a night

Ex. 39. Match the following with the Russian equivalents.

1 собрание анонимных алкоголиков

232