2.3 Read the text through and be ready to do the exercises after. The faculty of ecology and geography

As it is well known the success or failure of adult life depends upon the choice made early in life.

I am a student of the faculty of Ecology and Geography. Our faculty is quite young, it was established in 1985. The building of the faculty is situated in the centre of Tyumen, at the corner of Dzerzhinsky and Osipenko Streets.

There are some departments at our faculty such as Physical Geography and Ecology, Geoecology, Social and Economic Geography and Environmental Management, Social and Cultural Service and Tourism, Applied Information Science in Geography and Foreign Languages. Besides, there are multimedia laboratories connected to the Internet. Every student has an opportunity to work in up-to-date well-equipped lecture rooms where different problems of geography are under investigation. Here students can acquire skills, which fit them for a better career and get much practical and useful experience in scientific research. The teaching staff of the faculty consists of professors, Candidates of Science and well-qualified lecturers. All of them are knowledgeable in their subjects, friendly and well-organized. All students of the faculty are divided into groups. The head of the faculty, the dean, appoints heads of each group. These students are responsible for the attendance of lessons and for the students’ progress. Our classes usually start at 8 o’clock in the morning and last till 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Each lecture or seminar lasts an hour and a half.

The students of the faculty are acquainted with all branches of geography. They are lectured in various subjects. During the first two years they attend lectures on Mathematics, Geography, Meteorology, Cartography, Philosophy, Regional Studies, Ethnography, Monuments of History and Architecture and Foreign Languages. The students acquire knowledge in landscape cartography, ecological condition of water and atmosphere, anthropogenic pollution, environmental management, geographical forecast, systems of information gathering, storing and processing. They are seriously taught in the spheres of World Religion, Art and Culture, tourism market, hotel and restaurant service and management in tourist industry. The students learn English and German to be able to read the latest information on different problems in foreign magazines and scientific books. The next years more narrow specialization begins. The students have several specialized courses and additional practical and research work in the subject they have chosen as their future speciality. Lectures are given to large groups of students (from 20 to 100). Seminars and tutorials are much smaller than lecture classes. Besides attending lectures the students must choose a problem to work over according to their bents. All of them know that the field of geography and all that connected with it is the science of glorious past and great future. They do their best to acquire as much knowledge as possible. Usually after completing four or five years of study students receive a Bachelor degree or a University degree. They write a diploma paper for a University degree. Very often graduates of the faculty write dissertations for an advanced degree. And after three years of post-graduate work over the dissertation it is possible to obtain a candidate degree.

Graduates of the faculty of Ecology and Geography are assigned to work at schools, research institutes, agencies of nature protection and environmental management and other large private and state organizations as specialists of high level.

2.4 What subjects study the following? Match the definitions:

1) Environmental management	a) the scientific study of the top layer of the earth in which plants grow
2) Cartography	b) the scientific study of water
3) Meteorology	c) the scientific study of weather conditions
4) Ecology	d) the way people control and organize different situations that concern or affect the air, land, or water on Earth
5) Hydrology	f) the study of the countries, oceans, rivers, mountains, cities etc. of the world
6) Soil science	g) the business of providing things for people to do, places for them to stay etc. while they are on holiday
7) Geographic Information Systems (GIS)	h) the fields of study concerned with the solid Earth, its waters, and the air that envelopes it
8) Geography	i) the study of relationships of living things to their environment
9) Tourism	j) modes of expression that use skill or imagination in the creation of aesthetic objects, environments, or experiences that can be shared with others
10) Regional Studies	k) discipline concerned with the physical-chemical makeup of the solid Earth
11) Earth Sciences	l) the study of landforms, which is concerned with the description of the features of the present terrestrial surface and an analysis of the processes that gave rise to them
12) Geomorphology	m) it encompasses the analytical and comparative study of cultures in general
13) Mineralogy	n) the study of a particular region or area
14) Arts (Fine Arts)	o) a computer system for performing geographical analysis. It is frequently used by environmental and urban planners, marketing researchers, retail site analysts, water resource specialists, and other professionals whose work relies on maps.
15) Ethnology	p) the activity of making maps

2.5 Read these sentences spoken by university students. What is each person studying?

1 The atmospheric sciences are traditionally divided into three topical areas: meteorology, climatology, and aeronomy.

2 Geographic Information System (GIS) evolved in part from the work of cartographers, who produce two types of maps: general-purpose maps, which contain many different themes, and thematic maps, which focus on a single theme such as soil, vegetation, zoning, population density, or roads.

3 We have to know scientific laws that control the life of a particular type of animal or plant.

4 The way we use fertilizers is much more precise than 20 years ago.

5 The world’s human population is now over five billion and is rising rapidly.

6 People are beginning to realize that environmental problems are not somebody else’s.

7 Functional analysis as well as the theory of differential variable function spaces was created.

8 The study of light is called optics.

9 Among the principal attractions are historic Prague, numerous spas and mineral springs, winter resorts, and various cultural festivals.

10 This discipline enables individuals to know the basic features of the world in which they live, the great variety of lands and peoples, the complex associations and interrelations of human beings with resources and nature, and the problems faced by inhabitants of other countries and regions.

11 The Global Positioning System, usually called GPS, is only fully-functional satellite navigation system.

12 GPS has become a vital global utility, indispensable for modern navigation on land, sea, and air around the world, as well as an important tool for map-making and land surveying.

2.6 Match the word-combinations in A with their Russian equivalents in B:

A B

1 the faculty of Ecology and Geography	a) хорошо оборудованные лаборатории
2 multimedia laboratories	b) научная работа
3 well-equipped laboratories	c) специалист высокого уровня
4 Candidate of Science	d) доцент
5 well-qualified lecturers	e) область географии
6 course work	f) оценивать
7 teaching staff	g) получить оценку (по предмету)
8 private and state organizations	h)эколого-географический факультет
9 specialist of high level	i) курсовая работа
10 the field of geography	j) мультимедийные аудитории
11 research-paper	k) высококвалифицированные преподаватели
12 associate professor	l) научный руководитель
13 to assess, to evaluate	m) кандидат наук
14 to get a mark (in a subject)	n) преподавательский состав
15 supervisor	o) частные и государственные предприятия

2.7 Think over your own sentences with the following words and word-combinations:

Model: The head of the group is responsible for the attendance of lessons.

1 to be responsible for something

2 the attendance of lessons

3 to depend upon (on)

4 to be a first-year (second, third, forth, fifth) student

5 to specialize in (to be specializing in)

6 to be under investigation

7 to attend lectures on

8 to be knowledgeable in something

9 to receive a university degree

10 a graduate paper

11 to obtain a candidate degree

12 an additional practice

13 to do one’s best to do something

14 to acquire knowledge

15 according to one’s bents

2.8 Match the words and word-combinations in A with their meanings in B:

A B

1 up-to-date a) the people employed by an organization

2 well-equipped b) adapted for a particular purpose

3 staff c) to praise highly

4 to be acquainted with d) to get possession of

5 various e) in current style

6 specialized courses f) detailed discourse

7 bent g) of several kinds

8 to acquire h) natural skill or liking

9 dissertation I) to know slightly

10 to glorify j) supplied with what is needed

2.9 Fill in the correct word(s) from the list below to make up a phrase. Use the words only once.

To depend upon / to get / knowledgeable / to appoint / to choose / to be responsible for / to last / to attend / to have / to join / to acquire / to complete / to receive / to work over

Model:……to receive….… the latest information

1…………………………….. lecturer

2……………………………. opportunities

3……………………………. the latest information

4……………………………. lectures on

5…………………………..... five years of study

6……………………………. a problem

7……………..………….….. knowledge

8…………………………….. a diploma paper

9..…………………………... a university degree

10………….……………..… scientific circles

11…………………………... the head of the group

12…………………………… for the attendance

13…………………………… an hour and a half

2.10 Complete the sentences:

1 I study at the University at the faculty of ……

2 There are many departments at our faculty:…..

3 The teaching staff of the faculty consists of……

4 The students have at their disposal……

5 The students are taught many different subjects such as……

6 The students are acquainted with all branches of……

7 The students must attend lectures on……

8 The students do their best to acquire……

9 After completing four or five years of study the students……

10 Graduates of the faculty are assigned to……

2.11 Study the information about exams and education:

Take/ do/ sit an exam

resit an exam – take it again because you did badly first time

pass an exam – get the minimum grade (mark) or more

do well in an exam – get a high grade

fail an exam – do not get the minimum grade

do badly in an exam – fail or don’t do as well as expected / as well as you wanted

Before an exam it’s a good idea to revise for it. If you skip classes / lectures, you will probably do badly in the exam.

In universities there are lectures (large classes listening to the teacher and taking notes), seminars (10-20 students actively taking part in discussion etc).

A professor is a senior university academic who is a well-known specialist in his/her subject. University teachers are usually called lecturers.

► Correct the mis-collocations in these sentences:

1 I can’t come out. I’m studying. I’m passing an examination tomorrow.

2 Congratulations! I hear you succeeded your examination!

3 You can study a lot of different careers at this university.

4 I got some good notes in my continuous assessment this term.

5 She’s the professor in a primary school.

6 He gave an interesting 45-minutes conference on Goethe.

7 When I was 12, we started having French seminars at school, and I fell in love with the language.

2.12 What questions could you ask to get these answers?

1 No, they have to finance their own studies.

2 I’ve been revising / studying for an exam.

3 No, I was ill. I didn’t miss this lecture deliberately.

4 The course of study runs for five years.

5 A student who does well in his/her exams gets a scholarship.