Unit 1 Making the Choice of Your Life

Lead In

1. Choosing a university at which you will spend the next few years of your life is not easy. It is important to make sure that you choose the right place to study. There are so many questions you have to answer. List the factors that influenced your choice of the university, e.g.:

• university location

• fields of study

• …

• …

• …

2. How did you get information about the university/faculty you study at: through University Prospectus, University Open Days, from your friends,etc.?

Reading

1. Read quickly the advertisement of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and try to guess what the words below mean:

Sorority	Faculty	Fraternity
Prospectus	Accommodation	Campus
Staff	Department	Alumni

2. Read the advertisement again. Take notes under the following headings:

• Levels of study:

• Fields of science:

• Accommodation provided:

• Institute structure:

• Number of students:

• Location:

(Adapted from MIT Web site)

3. Find words in the text that mean approximately the same as these:

to promote	to stretch	to train/teach
to devote	hostel/dormitory	a graduate
teachers (AmE)	to finance	learning

4. Which words in the text match the following definitions?

• officially approved that smth/smb is of an accepted quality or standard

• a university or college student who is studying (for their first degree)

• the buildings of a university or college and the land around them

• a person who has a university degree

• the serious study of an academic subject and the knowledge and methods involved

• the people who work at a school, college or university, but who do not teach students

• an area of land around a large river with streams running down into it

• a school or an educational system where girls and boys are taught together

What do you think?

• Is MIT a prestigious institution? Why?

• If you had a chance would you choose MIT to study at?

• What factors from this advertisement would help you to make up your mind?

Focus on Language

1. Read the paragraph. What do the words in bold print refer to?

The MIT is dedicated to educating students in science, technology and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation in the 21st century. It offers a wide range of accommodation for its students. A great deal of research is carried out by MIT’s laboratories and centers whose work extends beyond traditional departmental boundaries. This allows both undergraduate and graduate students gain all round educational experience and broaden their research horizons.

Contextual reference Pronouns and adjectives are often used to link ideas together so that the text is easier to read. In this case they refer to a word or words mentioned earlier in the sentence or paragraph.

Practice

1. Read the following paragraph and highlight the words in the text that refer to the words in bold.

With over 100,000 people located in a 6.5 square mile area, Cambridge, US is a unique community with a strong mix of cultural and social diversity and technological innovation. Its "Squares" are rich in various international restaurants and cafes as well as unique shopping, theatres, museums, and historic sites. Located between the academic centers of Harvard and MIT, Central Square is the seat of City government and is home to a rich variety of music clubs, book shops, restaurants and clothing stores. It’s about a 12 minute walk from Kendall Square, which is the home to MIT and the heart of Massachusetts' high tech and biotechnology industries. The main site of the MIT is located along the left bank of the Charles River. This provides a wonderful view of the Boston area. Parking in Cambridge can be expensive and hard to find. Whenever possible use public transportation to get to the MIT campus. The Tech shuttle and Safe Ride shuttle provide free transportation around the MIT. But the latter runs only on weekdays.

(Adapted from http://www.cambridge-usa.org/)

Listening

Recording 2.1

1. Listen to the radio programme about Washington University. Take notes under the headings below.

• Location

• Number of students

• % of international students

• University Schools

• Tuition fees for undergraduate students for a year

• Tuition fees for the Master of Business Administration program

• Scholarships

• The university offers

• Date of the foundation

Speaking

1. Match the names of famous universities with the cities and countries they are located in.

University	City	Country
MSU Humboldt University MIT Tokyo Daigaku Fudan University Harvard Oxford MIPT Friedrich Wilhelm University Cambridge Yale Sorbonne	Oxford Cambridge, Mass. Paris Cambridge Berlin New Heaven, Conn. Cambridge, Mass. Moscow Shanghai Tokyo Bonn	France USA Russia Japan UK Germany China

2. What are these universities famous for? Make sentences adding any information you know about them e.g.:

famous prestigious world-known ancient first largest …

Humboldt University is the German university located in the city of Berlin.

3. Answer the questions about the university you study at.

1. What is your university famous for?

2. What levels of study are available?

3. Where is the university located? Is it a campus or non-campus university?

4. Does it offer accommodation for the students?

5. What fields of science does the university provide courses in?

6. Is your university/faculty prestigious in the country or in your region? Why?

7. Have any graduates, faculty members won world famous prizes? Who?

Get real

Study the web site and Prospectus of your university or faculty. Then write an advertisement of your own for university applicants. Use MIT advertisement as an example.

Reading

1. Work as a class. Check you know these words and phrases:

undergraduate/postgraduate level qualification compulsory subject

modular course optional subject elective subject unit of study

credit points subject area assessment associate field of study

2. Read the text about the British system of higher education. And complete the notes.