Vocabulary

to be named after — быть названным в честь

office-workers - служащие

twice as hard as — в два раза больше

I and My Plans for the Future

Let me introduce myself. My full name is Yekaterina Petrovna Ivanova, but friends normally call me by my first name, Katya. I was born on September, 8, 1970 in a family of lawyers. I'm the only child in the family.

I'm a pupil of the eleventh form of a secondary school. Our school is a gymnasium. It offers a general course of academic and non-academic subjects (like sports and home economics), providing general education. Besides, it offers a number of courses giving profound knowledge in a variety of fields: the humanities, natural sciences, mathematics.

I specialize in the humanities. The course I take includes Russian, Russian Literature, Social Sciences and two foreign languages — English and French. Social Sciences and English have always been my favourites, but my chief interest is law.

My dream has always been to become a lawyer. I chose this profession as my future occupation a long time ago. As a child, I listened to my parents discussing professional matters. Little by little, I got interested in the subject and began thinking of law as my prospective occupation. For me, choosing a career is not only a matter of future prestige and wealth. In my opinion, a job should be interesting and socially important. That is the reason why I have chosen the profession of a lawyer, which gives plenty of opportunities to help people in trouble. I am very well aware of the fact that my interest in the subject is insufficient, I need profound knowledge in the chosen field. That is why my ambition is to enter the law department of the University of Moscow. That's a difficult task, and I have to study twice as hard as others. I also take a six-month preparatory course at the University of Moscow we are given lectures on Literature, Social Sciences; we have seminars in these subjects, too, and also tutorials in English.

I hope I'll manage to pass my finals and entrance exams at the University with good and excellent marks. That'll give me a chance of entering the University this year. If I fail at the exams, I'm going to have a try next year. I think to become a lawyer is my final choice.

Vocabulary

to introduce oneself - представиться

to be born in a family of lawyers - родиться в семье юристов

a gymnasium - гимназия

to offer a general course of academic and non-academic subjects - предлагать общий курс ака­демических и неакадеми­ческих предметов

home economics - домоводство

to provide general education - давать общее среднее обра­зование

to offer a number of courses - предлагать ряд курсов

to give profound knowledge in a variety of fields- давать глубокие знания в ряде областей

the humanities - гуманитарные предметы

a natural science - естественная наука

to specialize in the humanitites - специализироваться по ес­тественным наукам

to take a course - изучать курс

a social science - общественная наука

to be one's favourite - быть любимым (о предмете)

to be one's chief interest - больше всего интересовать кого-либо

to become a laywer - стать юристом

to discuss professional matters - обсуждать профессиональ­ные вопросы

to get interested in the subject - заинтересоваться предметом

one's prospective occupation - чья-либо будущая профес­сия

to choose a career - выбрать профессию

a matter of future prestige and wealth - вопрос будущей престижно­сти и благополучия

socially important - социально значимый

to give plenty of opportunitites - дать массу возможностей

to be well aware of the fact that - хорошо отдавать себе отчет в том, что...

insufficient - недостаточный