3. My weekend. My Weekend

I go to the university five days a week, so I have two days off -Saturday and Sunday (I'm lucky because some other students have the only one day off). During the week I am very busy, so I like to have a rest on my weekend.

I am not an early riser and it is a rare Saturday or Sunday when I get up before 10 o'clock. I enjoy staying in bed when I don't have to hurry anywhere. We have late breakfast at 10.30 and watch TV. Usually we have something tasty: meat salad, fruits, cake or pie.

If the weather is fine, I usually do not stay indoors, I and my dog go outside. Often we go to the park and play there. If the weather is rainy and gloomy, I stay at home and watch TV, listen to the music or play computer games.

After dinner I go to visit my friends, or just simply take a nap. Sometimes when my friends call me we go to the cinema or do some rollerblading round the park. I like rollerblading very much; I think it is a lot of fun. In the evenings I like to watch video and music programs. There is a big armchair in my room rig. If it is cold I like to sit there with cup of coffee.

I always go to bed late on Sundays, and Monday morning is the nastiest thing through all the week. I like weekends very much, because I can rest and gain some energy for the next week.

4. Higher Education Higher Education

After finishing school pupils can get higher education. There are a lot of institutes and universities in Russia. They offer various specialities which an entrant can choose according to his or her abilities. It is difficult to enter an institute or a university. Entrants should attend university courses and then pass entrance exams. Nowadays a new examination system is being introduced. The so-called General State Exam allows pupils to enter any Russian university if they get good and excellent marks for it. Pupils take this examination after the 11-th grade.

The training course at institutes and universities lasts four or six years. At the end of each term students have to take tests and exams. If students pass the exams well they get a scholarship paid by the government. In most universities and institutes graduates have to pass State exams and defend their diploma project. After graduating from an institute they can continue studies and enter a post-graduate school. After defending a dissertation they get a Master's Degree.

The system of higher education in Great Britain differs from Russian. There are more than 60 universities in the U.K. The leading universities are Cambridge, Oxford and London. English universities differ from each other in their traditions, general organization, internal government, etc. British universities are comparatively small. A university consists of departments: art, law, music, economy, education, medicine, engineering, etc. After three years of study a student may proceed to a Bachelor's degree, and later to the degrees of Master and Doctor.

Some students get scholarship, but the number of these students is small. There are many societies and clubs at Cambridge and Oxford. The work and games, the traditions and customs, the jokes and debates - all are parts of students' life there.

It should be mentioned that not many children from the working-class families are able to receive higher education as the fees are very high (more than 1000 pounds a year). Besides that special fees are taken for books, laboratory works, exams and so on.

5. The Vyatka State University.