ABOUT MYSELF
Hello, friends. Let me first introduce myself. My name is Ann or Anya for my friends. My surname or last name is Sokolova. I was born on the 2nd of October in Sochi, Krasnodarsky Krai. This is the most beautiful city in Russia situated on the Black Sea coast. Now I am a first-year student at the Technical Academy. In five years I'll be an engineer.
Now let me describe my appearance. I am tall and slim and have fair hair and blue eyes. My friends say that I am pretty. I think I am just good-looking. I love sports and music. I was very serious about a career in gymnastics when I was in the 5th form. But then I broke my arm and doctors didn't let me go in for gymnastics. I love to listen to modern music and dance. I dance a lot and I hope I am good at it. I also love swimming. I always swim in the Black sea when I visit my parents, my dear family.
I would like to tell you about my family. There are five people in our family. My father's name is Vladimir Stepanovich. He is a mathematician by education and businessman by profession. My mother's name is Tatyana Petrovna. She is a housewife. She has much work about the house because I have a younger sister. She is a pupil. My sister Natasha is in the fifth form. My grandmother, my mother's mother, lives with us. She is very kind and helps us a lot.
Our family is very friendly, we have many friends. In summer many relatives come to visit us. And, of course, they use a chance to spend several weeks in beautiful Sochi.
In May I have finished school No 5 in Sochi. I did well in all the subjects but my favourite subjects at school were Physics and Computer Science. I also enjoyed English lessons.
I am very interested in learning English because I always wanted to become a programmer or maybe a businesswoman. I also think that the knowledge of foreign languages helps in everyday life and career.
Two years ago I travelled much around Europe. I have visited France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. There the knowledge of English helped me a lot.
As you see,' my biography isn't very long yet. But we'll meet again in the next lesson and I'll tell you more about myself. See you later...
Vocabulary:
introduce ,
Black Sea coast
a first-year student ()
region
appearance
slim
career
gymnastics
mathematician
housewife
several
to do well .
chance ,
kind
a lot
the Netherlands
the United Kingdom ()
Please, introduce yourself. The questions below will certainly help you:
1. What is your name?
2. Where and when were you born?
3. How old are you?
5. Have you got a family?
6. How many people are there in your family?
7. Do you have brothers, sisters, grandparents in your family?
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8. Where do you live?
9. Did you study well at school?
10. What school did you finish?
11. Did your teacher of English help you to choose your future profession?
12. What was your favourite subject?
13. What do you like to read?
14. What sport do you go in for?
15. What are you going to be?
16. Do you still live with your parents?
17. Do you have a girlfriend / boyfriend?
ANN'S ACADEMY
Hello again! Now let me tell you about my Polytechnical Academy. I am really glad that I study here. It is one of the finest country's higher educational institutions. Many famous people have graduated from my Academy, and not only engineers or scientists, but many outstanding writers, actors, showmen and politicians. Studying at our Academy gives a solid background in all spheres of knowledge and prepares for practical work.
Our Academy is quite large and old. It was founded in the 19th century by the famous Russian inventor Vladimir Komarov. First, it was a small department of a large University, but later it was rearranged into an independent institution. Nowadays it is a large school where more than 5,000 students are currently enrolled. About 3,000 are full-time students, like me, and the rest are part time-students. There are also about 150 graduate students. They conduct independent research work and have pedagogical practice.
The course of study at my academy lasts five years. There are many faculties in my academy. Here are some of them: the faculty of industrial automation and robotics, the faculty of plastics, the faculty of machine tools and the faculty of metalworking.
Our academy is large and we have several buildings. One of the buildings is for lectures and seminars only. There are many large halls there so that students of 3-4 groups together can fit in there. And that is more than 100 people. The acoustics ['ku:stiks] in such large halls is very good but sometimes it is very noisy when students chat during the lecture.
We have two laboratory buildings which are equipped with up-to-date equipment and there students can carry on lab works and conduct various experiments. Many students from my group do their own research work.
There are several cafes at the academy. My favourite one is situated in a separate one-storeyed building and people say that this is the oldest canteen or student's cafe. The food there is tasty and very affordable.
There are also several dormitories or hostel buildings where students from other cities live. But you know already that I don't live in a dormitory I rent an apartment.
Vocabulary:
currently
to be enrolled
full-time students
part time-students
to conduct
course of study
industrial automation
robotics
plastics
machine-tools
metalworking
figure [f'ig] ,
noisy
to chat ,
to be equipped with
up-to-date equipment
carry on
research work
one-storeyed
tasty ['teisti]
affordable (to afford )
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"MY FUTURE PROFESSION"
Hi, there! Here is Ann Sokolova again. I am afraid this will be my last meeting with you because I need to pack my suitcase. I am leaving for Sochi tonight. I have passed all the exams successfully and I'm free till the 1st of September.
As I have already told you, I was always good in mathematics and physics. My parents bought me a computer when I was in the 10th form. Since then I knew that I would become a specialist in computer technologies a computer engineer.
Computer industry is developing so fast, that it comprises almost all spheres of professional life. No business now is possible without computers. This is especially true about automated manufacturing of products and robotics. Computer control of automated production opens new horizons for the cheap and quality production of goods. Information is now generated, transmitted, received, and stored electronically through computer networks on a scale unprecedented in history, and there is every indication that the explosive rate of growth in this field will continue.
Computer engineering is a general field. It deals with both electric and electronic industries.
Electronicengineering deals with the research, design, integration, and application of circuits and devices used in the transmission and processing of information.
Engineers in the field of electric and electronic engineering are concerned with all aspects of electrical communications, from fundamental questions such as What is information? to the highly practical, such as the design of telephone systems. In designing communication systems, engineers rely on various branches of advanced mathematics, such as Fourier analysis, linear systems theory, linear algebra, differential equations, and probability theory.
Engineers work on control systems which are used extensively in automated manufacturing and in robotics.
Major developments in the field of communications and control have been the replacement of analogue systems with digital systems; fibre optics are used now instead of copper cables. Digital systems offer far greater immunity to electrical noise. Fibre optics are likewise immune to interference; they also have great carrying capacity, and are extremely light and inexpensive to manufacture.
Computer engineering is now the most rapidly growing field. The electronics of computers is the design and manufacture of memory systems, of central processing units, and of peripheral devices. The most prospective industry now is the Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) and new computer architectures. The field of computer science is closely related to computer engineering; however, the task of making computers more intelligent (artificial intelligence), through creation of sophisticated programs or development of higher level machine languages or other means, is generally regarded as the dream of computer science.
One current trend in computer engineering is microminiaturization. Engineers continue to work to fit greater and greater numbers of circuit elements onto smaller and smaller chips.
Another trend is towards increasing the speed of computer operations through the use of parallel processors and superconducting materials.
So, as you see, there are a lot of employment opportunities in my field. I don't worry about finding a job. The most important thing for me now is to study well and to graduate from the Academy.
Vocabulary:
to comprise
automated manufacturing of products
robotics
horizons
cheap
to generate ,
to transmit
to store
scale
unprecedented in history
indication ,
explosive
to deal with , -
integration
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application ,
circuits ,
device
transmission
processing
to rely
Fourier analysis
linear systems theory
linear algebra
differential equations
probability theory
extensively
replacement
fibre optics
copper
digital
immunity ,
carrying capacity
light
rapidly growing
artificial intelligence
sophisticated
superconducting
ADD TO YOUR ACTIVE VOCABULARY:
a) mechanical engineer -
electric engineer -
electronic engineer
computer engineer -
military engineer
b) prestigious job (work)
well-paid job
employee
employer
businessman ,
state-employed
white-collar worker ,
blue-collar worker ,
skilled worker
unskilled worker
experienced worker
c) to be hired for a job
