EU JEP CATCH PROJECT
Module I
General English for University and Professional Purposes I
Student’s script
For internal use only
Marina Berezina
Izhevsk 2013
Contents
Unit I 3
EDUCATION SYSTEM IN RUSSIA AND ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES 3
SELF- STUDY MATERIALS FOR UNIT I 29
Unit II 47
COUNTRIES AND CITIES 47
SELF-STUDY MATERIALS FOR UNIT II 67
Unit III 70
SCIENTISTS 70
SELF-STUDY MATERIALS FOR UNIT III 98
Unit IV 112
COMPUTER 112
SELF-STUDY MATERIALS FOR UNIT IV 128
Unit V 135
CAREER PROSPECTS 135
SELF-STUDY MATERIALS FOR UNIT V 156
Unit I
EDUCATION SYSTEM IN RUSSIA AND ENGLISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES
Lesson 1
LEAD-IN
a. Now you are first-year students. You passed your entrance exams thanks to the knowledge you gained at school. Say a few words about:
1) the type of school you studied at;
2) compulsory and optional courses there were at your school (chemistry, drawing, history, geography, etc.);
3) how many times a week you had your lessons of English;
4) your favourite subjects;
5) the entrance exams you passed before entering the university.
b. Work in pairs. Match the questions in A with their answers in B:
| A | B |
| I. What faculty are you in? | I’m a student. |
| 2. How old are you? | I study at the State Technical University. |
| 3. What are you? | I’m good at maths and poor at chemistry. |
| 4. What’s your name? | I’m seventeen. |
| 5. Where do you study? | My name is........... |
| 6. What year are you in? | I’m in the (civil engineering) faculty. |
| 7. What are you going to become (to be)? | I’m a first-year student (a fresher, in my first year). |
| 8. What subjects are you good/poor at? | Yes, I do. I’m getting on well at the University. |
| 9. Do you get a grant (scholarship)? | I’m going to become a (civil engineer). |
| 10. What subjects are taught at the University? | Well, it depends on the faculty and the year. |
ACTIVE VOCABULARY
Give synonyms or close meanings of the following words and word combinations and try to pronounce them correctly:
Secondary school, private school, natural sciences, higher education, total number, multitude, to enter, entrance exams, non-government, applicants, graduates, employers, links, fee-paying form, compulsory, optional.
Look at the photo and discuss these questions:
- What building is it?
- Where is it situated?
- When was it founded?
- Who was the founder of it?
Find out more: http://www.msu.ru/en
READING TEXT
Read the following text and try to understand it:
EDUCATION IN RUSSIA
At present, there are different kinds of secondary educational institutions, including lyceums and gymnasiums in Russia:
1. An ordinary secondary school, which reproduces the pattern of the Soviet period, with the program now extended to 11 years.
2. A gymnasium, which provides a higher standard of training in the humanities.
3. A lyceum, which gives deep knowledge in the natural sciences and technology.
4. Private schools, which comprise 1% of the total number of secondary schools. But studying there is very expensive, and very few can afford it.
The present education in Russia, including, higher education, is free. But now there is a multitude of non-government universities.
It is much easier to enter a private university than a free (government) university, because the requirements of the entrance examinations are much lower and the competition is not so stiff (not everybody can afford to pay for education), but also because free government universities have long-standing traditions, including a system of training specialists and experienced teachers. So the competition among the entrants is very tough, particularly at prestigious universities; and the successful passing of the entrance exams takes long and careful preparation.
In spite of the economic difficulties Russia is going through, the number of universities and students in the country is going up. The competition increases every year, especially in the fields of medicine, law, finance, and economics. There are also many applicants to the departments of modern technology and general theoretical training.
After graduation from an Institution of Higher Education young people can find jobs through their parents and friends; and sometimes a “Career Day” is organized, where future graduates and representatives of companies — potential employers — meet. At such meetings, useful links are established, and interviews are given. Now, students often begin to work at outside jobs during their second or third year of study; and by the time they graduate, they have already become experienced specialists.
N. Tokareva, Moscow, 2005
READING COMPREHENSION
I. Fill in the blanks with suitable words.
- Free education in Russia is the most common; there also exist.............. schools and universities which charge tuition fees.
- Gymnasium is a kind of secondary school which concentrates mainly on..................
- The competition for entering universities is very..........
II. Match the words and their definitions given below:
curriculum; tuition fee; an applicant; a fresher; department; graduate from; employers; term; scholarship; a graduate.
a person who wants to be a student;
payments for teaching;
successfully complete an academic course;
one of the periods into which the academic year is divided;
a person who gives work, usually for payment;
a course of study in a school, college, etc.;
yearly grant given to a student to continue his study;
a person who has completed the course at an educational institution;
one of several divisions of a university.
a first-year student.
III. Answer the following questions and be ready to discuss the main ideas of the topic:
- Is education at Russian schools and universities free?
- Is there also a fee-paying-form of education at government universities?
- What is the difference between a gymnasium and an ordinary school?
- Why is the competition so tough at government universities as compared with private ones?
- Has the number of students in Russia been increasing lately?
- How do students who graduate from universities find jobs?
IV. Tell briefly about education in Russia.
Speaking
It is your first day at the university. You try to find out everything about the university, faculty, and curriculum. You meet new people and talk about college life. Use the new words and word combinations from the previous exercise and from the box below and make up dialogues about your study at the university:
| to enter the university | to graduate from the university | total number of students | to attend lectures | to take exams | to fail exams | to live in a hostel |
You may find the following expressions helpful:
By the way as for me I’d like to know I wonder
I see I’m afraid if I’m not mistaken and what about you
It seems to me that I don’t know exactly
Writing
Informal letters
Look at the organization of the following informal letter.
We begin all letters with Dear... Your address and the date, but not your name.
|
Homework
I. Write a letter to your penfriend about yourself and your study at the University following this scheme:
1) Your name, age; 2) the name of your university; 3) the date of its foundation; 4) its faculties; 5) the faculty you are in; 6) the subjects you study; 7) your success in studies; 8) exams; 9) whether you get a grant or not; 10) the place you live in....
II. Do the grammar test.
Lesson 2
Introduction
We discussed the education system in Russia at the previous lesson. In general the second and high education in Russia is free, but there are also non-government universities and private schools and a fee-paying form of education at government universities. Today we are talking about the education system in Great Britain.
Look at the photo:
This is the building of one of the oldest universities in Great Britain. It has got the name of the city it is situated in. The history of the university and the city started at the same time in the 12th century as a result of the migration of students. What university is this? What do you know about it?
Find out more: http://www.ox.ac.uk
LEXICAL EXERCISES
Active vocabulary
Find suitable definitions to the following words and word combinations, which you learned in the previous lesson:
- a person who wants to be a student;
- sciences that deal with the physical world, considered as a group or as individual subjects such as physics, chemistry, or biology;
- a school providing education that the children’s parents pay for directly;
- a school for pupils aged from 6-7 to 17-18;
- the education, which you get after secondary;
- general quantity;
- teaching cost;
- something, which doesn’t belong to the government;
- someone who has finished their studies at university or college, usually by getting a degree;
- a connection between two people, places or facts;
- obligatory;
- a company or a person that employs people;
- elective;
- exam which you need to pass before to be accepted by some school.
Secondary school, private school, higher education, natural sciences, total number, entrance exam, to pay for tuition, non-governmental, applicant, graduate, employer, link, optional, compulsory; an applicant.
New words
Give synonyms or close meanings of the following words and word combinations and try to pronounce them correctly:
Primary school, comprehensive school, craft, domestic science, woodwork, campus, nursery, tutor, Bachelor degree, preparatory, public schools.
SPEAKING PRACTICE
Read the following text to get the information about the education system in Great Britain:
THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN GREAT BRITAIN
Education in Britain is provided by the Local Education Authority (LEA). Educational planning and organization are not controlled as much by central government as in many other countries.
