Государственное образовательное учреждение

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Кафедра «Иностранные языки»

Давайте говорить по-английски

Часть III.

для студентов I-II курсов всех специальностей.

САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГ

2006 г.

UNIT 1

UNIVERSITY LIFE

I.Read the text university life

I’d like to tell you about our university. I’m a first year student at the Saint-Petersburg State Railway Transport University. I have a students’ card and students’ credit book and I live in a hostel.

Our classes begin at nine o’clock. Each lesson lasts one hour and a half. After two lessons we have a forty-minutes break. During the break we go to the canteen to have lunch. Every day we have three or four lessons. We have classes on maths, physics, history, English, programming, P.T.(Physical Training) and many others. My favourite subject is maths and I am very good at computers.

At the end of the term we have to pass exams and to write tests. To study well and not to fail the exams we have to attend all the lectures and practical lessons. All students and postgraduates receive a grant if they study well.

We study six days a week and so we don’t have much free time but there are lots of ways to spend it well. Usually we don’t go home after classes. We have a lot of extra-activities. Students regularly go on excursions. There is a students’ theater, rock club, ball room dancing and the chorus “Cantus”. You may choose what you like.There are many sport sections at our University. Basketball, football, athletics, ping-pong, tennis, swimming, gymnastics and aerobics are among them. The University has a Swimming Pool and well-furnished Sports Halls. Every autumn first-year students take part in special sport competition and get special prizes. In future I would like to graduate from the university, to get speciality and to find a good job.

Exercises

1.Make sure you know the meaning of the following words.

A) First year student, subject, education, grant, students’ card, credit book, graduate, postgraduate, hostel, canteen, break, competition, chorus.

B) Maths, Physics, Chemistry, History, Economics, Philosophy, English, P.T., Ecology, Descriptive Geometry.

2.Make up the sentences, using the following word combinations:

to be bad at; to be good at

For example: I am good at Maths, but I am bad at Philosophy.

What subjects are you good at? What about your friend?

3.Give the English equivalents:

жить в общежитии, получить стипендию, получить студенческий билет и зачетную книжку, посещать лекции и практические занятия, сдать экзамены, проводить свободное время, принимать участие, закончить университет, получить специальность.

4.Answer the questions. Work in pairs:

1. How many lessons do you have every day?

II.What is your favourite subject?

III.Are there any subjects you are bad at?

IV.Do you live in a hostel, rent a room or live with your parents?

V.What subjects do you study?

VI.Do you receive a grant?

VII.What do you usually do after classes?

VIII.Act out the following mini-dialogues. Substitute phrases.

1. – Where do you¹ study? 1. – does he, does she, do they

– I study at the St. Petersburg State Transport University².

2. – at the Electrical Engineering faculty

2. – What’s you favourite subject?

– I like English¹ most of all. 1. – Maths, Chemistry, P.T., History

3. – What is David good at¹? 1. – clever, poor, keen on

– He is good at Maths². 2. – Computers; Foreign languages

4. – Why did you miss last English lesson¹?

– I was not well^2.

1.– a lecture on History, a seminar on Economics

2.– was late, didn’t know about it

5. – What mark did you get for your test¹? 1. – translation, exam, essay

   • I got an excellent mark². 2. – a good mark, a satisfactory mark, a bad mark

6. – Where can I find the Dean¹?

– He is probably at the Dean’s office².

1. – the tutor, the lecture, the English teacher;

2. – the stuff room, the lecture room, the faculty office;

III*.Read and discuss: STUDENT’S LIFE

The merry-go-round¹ of student’s life is something that one never forgets. It’s a fascinating, fantastic, fabulous experience for a full-time and a part-time student. Who can forget the first day at the university when one turns from an applicant who has passed entrance exams into a first-year student? I did it! I entered the university! A solemn ceremony of dedication of freshmen to the body of students in the Yusupov Garden and serious people making speeches. Hey, do you happen to know who they are? Who? The rector, vice-rector, deans … and what about those ladies? Heads of departments and senior lecturers? Okay. And where are our lecturers and tutors²? Oh, how nice….

The monitors hand out student membership cards and library cards – one feels like a real person. First celebrations and then days of hard work. So many classes, so many new subjects to put on the timetable! The curriculum seems to be developed especially for geniuses. Lectures, seminars and tutorials. Home preparations; a lot of homework.

First tests and examination. Reading up for exams. “No, professor, I have never cheated – no cribs³. I just crammed⁴”. The first successes and first failures: “I have passed!” or “He has not given me a pass!” Tears and smiles. And a long-awaited holiday.

The merry-go-round runs faster. Junior students become senior. Still all of them are one family – undergraduates. Students’ parties in the students’ club. Meeting people and parting with people. Yearly essays, graduation dissertations, finals…. I’m happy! It is over! It is over… Is it over? Oh, no…

¹ merry-go-round – (зд.) круговорот ³ crib - шпаргалка

² tutor - куратор ⁴ cram - зубрить

a) Discussion points:

1. Compare your student’s life with a merry-go-round.

2. Your first months at the university?

3. They say that it is a poor soldier who does not want to become a general. Say what a student must do to become a good specialist.

4. Your plans for the future: to get an interesting but not well-paid job or well-paid but monotonous one.

b) Translate the proverbs into Russian and comment upon them:

1. A man is never too old to learn.

2. Education covers a lot of ground but it doesn’t cultivate it.

3. Live and learn.

c) Roleplay:

Imagine you are a Dean of your faculty.

A group of students came to you to discuss their problems

(too busy time-table, there’s not enough special literature in the library, etc.).