English_Education

to disagree with somebody

On the other hand ... It’s not (entirely) true

I don’t agree (with you) I don’t think so

c) Fill in the chart and give your reasons for your decision.

	Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	Group 4
It is necessary for a future engineer to study a foreign language.			+
It’s not necessary for a future engineer to study a foreign language.

BEADING PRACTICE

1. As soon as we are born we begin to learn. We go to kindergartens, schools, colleges, institutes, universities. These make up a system of education. The system of education in Russia has a long history. Below you will find the text “Education in Russia”.

1. Before reading the text try to predict what information you will find in it, choosing the

statements from the list below.

1. The education in ancient Europe.

2. The education in Byzantine.

3. The education and the Russian Orthodox Church.

4. The greatest teachers of Russia.

5. The foundation of the first universities in the world.

6. The changes in education to prepare young people for modem life.

7. The types of schools in Russia before the revolution.

8. The system of education in the Soviet Union.

9. The system of education in Russia today,

2. Read the text rapidly to find out if you are right.

TEXT1A EDUCATION IN RUSSIA

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1. Ancient Rus was one of the early feudal states and held a leading place in the world history.

The Slavonic written language came to Rus from Bulgaria in the 9th century jTowards the end of this century the replacement of religious books in Greek for those in the Slavonic language began.

Between the 10th and 13th centuries Russians developed a high civilization, which formed the foundation of the Russian culture in the following centuries.' During this period numerous cultural treasures were accumulated. The written works of the time show that the level of knowledge on most natural phenomena was as high as that of Ancient Greece.

Monasteries were cultural and educational centres. They had large libraries and well-equipped book-making shops, in which not only church manuscripts were copied and translated but original books were written. Today we can confidently say that Ancient Rus was a state of high culture and knowledge.

2. In pre-revolutionary Russia there was a network of primary schools for common people. Nevertheless illiteracy among common people was very hi}»h. Well-off people taught their children in grammar schools,¹ commercial schools or secondary schools teaching no classics.²

There were also schools for nobles only. Entrance to those schools was limited. For example, at lycee where A.S. Pushkin studied the number of pupils ranged from thirty to one hundred Only boys at the age of 10 or 12 from noble families of high rank were admitted and studied there for six years. They were taught many different subjects. The most important were Kussian literature, history, geography, mathematics, physics, logic, law, •Intone and such foreign languages as French, English, German and Latin. * « eat attention was paid to different arts and physical training: riding, nwimming, fencing and dancing. The aim of this school was to bring up intelligent people in the broad sense of the word. Those who graduated from nidi educational institutions usually entered the service of their country to i pithy® their abilities and knowledge to the benefit of their state.

1. The history of higher education in Russia goes back to 1755 when the Hi si University was founded in Moscow on the initiative of M.V. Lomono- *«»v and in accordance with his plan.. Later, universities were opened in nimiy other big cities of the country.

•1 After the revolution in 1917, education was guaranteed to the Soviet i iii/oiis by the Constitution and was free of charge, including higher •ducation. Teaching at schools was carried out almost in all national languages. The system of education was the same throughout the country.

School attendance was compulsory for those between 7 and 15 Those who completed their secondary education and passed entrance examinations Id higher education establishments received monthly grants if they did not

foil in the examinations that they took at the end of each term. Higher school education lasted five years.

5. In 1991 the former fifteen republics of the Soviet Union became independent states. The Russian Federation, the biggest and the most powerful of them began to develop as a democratic state. From the very start democratic reforms began to take place in many fields of life. Changes in political, economic and social conditions required changes in the system of education. Its aim is to prepare the growing generation for independent life and work in new conditions.

New curriculums were introduced in schools such as “The World Around Us” for younger students and “Fundamentals of Information Science and Computer Engineering”, “Ethics and Psychology of Family Life” for senior students. Along with state schools where education is free of charge there appeared many private schools, colleges, lycees,³ , gymnasiums and different courses where students can study sciences and \ humanities including foreign languages.

5. At some schools the leavers are sent abroad to continue their education at Sorbonne in Paris, at the Universities of Great Britain, j Germany, USA and other countries.

After graduating from those Universities they return to their country to . work in different fields of national economy.

A former student of a Russian school said on his return home:

“I was surprised how much there is in common between Russian and ‘ Western young people - their love for entertainments and the same kind of music and their wish to know everything new. I hope there will be time when young people from abroad will also come to our country to study. \

Such exchanges of students will undoubtedly result in better understanding among people which in its turn will bring greater stability to the whole world.”

NOTES TO THE TEXT

1. grammar schools - зд. гимназии

2. secondary school teaching no classics - реальные училища (в дореволюционной

России)

3. lycee - лицей

с) Read the translation of the first two paragraphs given below. Compare it with the original; and say if everything is right.

Древняя Русь была одним из ранних феодальных государств и занимала одн' из ведущих мест в мировой истории. Старославянский язык письменности был за, имствован из Болгарии в IX веке. К концу этого века началась замена церковн книг на древнегреческом языке книгами на старославянском.

Между X и ХШ столетиями русские создали высокую культуру, послужйвпг основой развития в последующих столетиях. В течение этого периода ш 36

накопление культурных сокровищ. Письменные памятники этого периода пока­зывают, что уровень понимания многих естественных явлений был так же высок, как и в древней Греции.

4. Find in the text passages about the system of education in the Soviet Union and the subjects which were taught at schools before the revolution and translate them into Russian.

3. Choose a passage from those you’ve translated and read it aloud. (The approximate time of reading is 1-2 minutes.)

0 Find in the text and put down 10-12 words or word combinations which can be used to speak about the history of higher education in Russia.

2. a) Skim* the text below and time your reading. It is good if you can read it for 6 minutes (70 words per minute).

ТЕП'IB HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

If you go on an excursion to the Pavlov Biological Station at Pavlovo near St. Petersburg, you will see a very interesting monument there. It is a monument to the dog. The' dog, as you know, played a very important part (роль) in all Pavlov’s experiments. Pavlov wanted to thank the dog, so this monument was set up (установлен).

Then, if you go to see Pavlov's room in which great scientist worked for so many years, you will see another dog, a toy one, standing on the bookcase. This toy dog has a very interesting history. It comes from Cambridge, one of the oldest universities in the world.

Once a group of students stopped before the window of a toyshop (иг­рушечный магазин) in Cambridge and looked at the toy dogs there. "There’s the thing we want,” said one of them, and he pointed to a white dug in the shop window. They entered the shop and soon came out with the lug white dog they had seen in the window. Then laughing (смеясь) and tnlking they went to their professor and showed the dog to him.

The professor did not understand what it was all about until one of the ■Indents told him about their plan to give Pavlov the present (подарок) of the toy dog.

“Where did you get the idea from?” asked the professor. “I think it’s an eHcollent (отличная) one.”

“We got it from the grandson of Charles Darwin, who is now a student lieio,’’ they answered. “When Darwin got his doctor’s degree (степень) at Cambridge, the students gave him a toy monkey (обезьянка). That was how they showed that they supported (поддерживать) his theory of the or (gi'i of man.”

The next day was a great holiday at Cambridge. Thousands of students wiiiio to the University to see the foreign scientists receive their diplomas. The students watched the ceremony from the gallery.

* 1о икт - быстро прочитать текст, чтобы понять его основное содержание

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