Topic 17 Do you learn better by yourself or with a teacher?

Learning is a lifelong theme of every person. How brilliant your achievement will be to some degree depends on whether you can learn anything efficiently or not. Some people prefer to learn by themselves. They think that they can learn better in this way because they have more freedom, independence, and less pressure in their self-paced (самостоятельное) study. There is some truth in it, but they fail to see the many advantages of learning with a teacher. As far as I am concerned, I would like to learn with a teacher.

The column marched along the road; - Колонна шла дорогой.

Firstly, when you are a beginner to a new subject, a teacher is able to provide you with a lot of fundamental knowledge, which is ready to become a solid basis for your later knowledge system. As we all know, entering a brand new area of knowledge usually demands sharp altering of minds and a gradual accumulation (постепенное накопление) of new information. Without a teacher as a guide, you could still march along this road but at the cost of large amount of time and unpleasant experience. However, equipped with a certain amount of basic knowledge, which resembles a map (напоминающее карту), you will easily steer clear (избежать) the obstacles barring on the beginning of your long journey. And that knowledge is what a teacher will help you gain without troubles.

Secondly, The storage of concrete knowledge is one matter, while understanding how to learn a certain subject of knowledge is another. As many students confess (Поскольку многие студенты признаются), it usually takes them quite a long time to find a way of learning suitable to a special subject. Again, a competent teacher is the key to this problem. The teacher will equip the students with some insightful (проницательный) views over the whole subject and much rewarding experience (полезный опыт) in overcoming difficulties of the subject. For example, a teacher of a Computer Programming Language will certainly let you know lots of rules in programming that is probably hard to accumulate by yourself. Some people may argue that to learn with a teacher will lose some kind of freedom. For instance, heavy load of assignments will eat up too much time. But a good teacher will take control over such assignment so that the load is only sufficient for students to strengthen what they have learned. It seems that this turns out to be another advantage of a teacher.

In short, I prefer go to class, studying with teacher to guide and urge (заставлять, побуждать) me. I choose to learn in a big family - my school. If I was obliged (urge) to learn by myself without a teacher or classmates, I would feel very sad and lonely. There would be no fun, no pressure, and no motivation. I could not learn well in such dull and depressing circumstances.

Topic 18 Important qualities of a good supervisor

Though (хотя) everyone will work in different places such as a company, a college or university, a factory and so on, I think there are the same standards judging a good supervisor in several aspects.

Firstly, a good supervisor treats his/her staff fairly. He knows how to balance the workload. He will not let some members of his staff do many things while others only do a few things. If he gives you a task, he will tell you in advance. Moreover, he will not ask you complete a project in a few days that actually needs half a month to do. A poor supervisor never considers his employee's feelings. A poor supervisor is usually not a good planer, so he is very nervous when a project comes to its deadline, and he will use his fault to punish his staff. A supervisor like this would certainly not benefit the company.

Secondly, a good supervisor praises (хвалит) or criticizes (критикует) in a straightforward way (в простой форме). If you do very well, he will praise you, and encourage you to do better. If you have made a mistake, he will criticize you face to face, and he will not complain to your co-workers. He will also analyze how to improve your work and point out (указать, отметить, обратить внимание) the ways to do thing right. Furthermore, he will encourage you and trust that you will do well next time.

Thirdly, a good supervisor cares for his staff. He is aware (знает, осведомлён) of your feelings and emotions. When you are sick, he will send you flowers or visit you, or he will arrange other members of staff to see you if he is busy. He treats his staff like family members. He is gentle and cheerful (задорный, жизнелюбивый). Smile often appears on his face when he greets (встречает) you. On the contrary, a poor supervisor often pretends to be serious. He never understands what his subordinates are thinking. His staff will never have a good mood when he is present at work.

Finally, a good supervisor must set a good example (подавать хороший пример) to his staff. He must work hard, and has a strong sense of responsibility about his company. He must understand the operation of the company, and can do every staff s job in his department when necessary. That way he will win respect from his stuff and his spirit can motivate them.

In short, a good supervisor treats his workers fairly (порядочно, честно), cares for their feelings, treat them as family members, and set a good example for them.