81.2 73
ISBN 978-985-543-154-2
, 2015
充.....5
UNIT I: STUDENTS PROFILE ...6
Text: A My Daily Routine...7
Text B: Tech Addiction Harms Learning.9
Text C: Leisure Time...12
UNIT II: BELARUS .14
Text A: The Republic of Belarus.....14
Text B: Minsk..18
Text C: From the History of Belarus...20
Text D: Holidays in Belarus....22
Text E: Places of Interest in Belarus ....23
UNIT III: GREAT BRITAIN .......25
Text A: Four Countries One Kingdom ....25
Text B: How Britain Is Run.27
Text C: How the Education System Works.....29
Text D: Britain and Europe........31
Text E: A Language that Came from Nowhere to Conquer the World ... .32
UNIT IV: ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 34
Text A: Global Warming Is a Reality..35
Text B: Environmental Problems and Solutions..37
Text C: Deforestation .39
Text D: Humanity and Greenhouse Warming40
Text E: Where in Nature Can We Look for Salvation?...............................................42
Text F: Green Answers. Making Clean Energy..43
Text G: Chernobyl: Decades Later .45
UNIT V: MY UNIVERSITY ....48
Text A: The Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics..49
Text B: Oxbridge.....52
Text C: Students Life at English and American Universities...54
Text D: How to Survive Your First Year at University.....57
Text E: A Few Tips That Will Help to Make That First Year Easier for You58
UNIT VI: MY FUTURE PROFESSION .....60
Text A: Information Technology in Todays Society.60
Text B: Requirements for IT Specialists61
Text C: How Do You Fit the IT Field?..................................................................... 64
Text D: Possible Careers in IT. 66
Text E: Economics. My Speciality...70
Text F: Curriculum Vitae (CV).....73
..76
. : Students Profile, Belarus, Great Britain, Environmental Issues, My University, My Future Profession.
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UNIT I: STUDENTS PROFILE
Pre-reading
1. Which of the following statements are true for you?
| My classes begin at 8 p.m. | I am always late for classes. |
| I often study on Saturdays. | I usually have lunch in the cafeteria. |
| I go to the university by bicycle. | My favourite subject is maths. |
| I put my homework off until the last minute. | I have to wear a uniform at the university. |
2. What do you think a typical day of a student is like? What about you?
3. Match up the verbs and nouns below to make collocations.
| do your, fail, hand in, have, pass, miss, pay, learn, make, attend, take |
| debts, a retake, an exam, programming, classes, seminars, by heart, progress, best, homework, attention |
4. Write 5 −7 questions, use the collocations from the previous exercise.
5. Interview your partner using the following prompts: get up, have breakfast, go to the university, classes begin, have a break, have lunch, classes are over, come home, do homework, have dinner, go to bed.
6. How does students life differ from other peoples life?
7. Match the words with the corresponding definitions.
| 1. A person who has completed a university degree | a) lecturer |
| 2. A teacher of the highest rank in a university department | b) assignment |
| 3. Work that you must do as a part of a course of study | c) graduate |
| 4. A period of time into which the teaching year is divided at universities | d) professor |
| 5. Money that you pay to take classes at a university | e) tuition |
| 6. A student who is doing a university course for a first degree | f) tutor |
| 7. A student who is doing studies at a university after he has received his first degree | g) term |
| 8. Money given to a student to pay for a course of study. | h) postgraduate |
| 9. A teacher who directs studies in a small group and gives private instructions | i) scholarship |
| 10. A teacher who gives lectures, esp. at a university, college | j) undergraduate |
Reading
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8. Read the following text and find the answers to the questions.
1. How does Nikita describe himself?
2. What is he keen on?
3. What is his family like?
5. What is his duty?
4. Does he enjoy spending time with his family? Why?
5. Why is it so vital to follow the schedule if you have one?
Text A: My Daily Routine
As the saying goes - if you want something to be done well, do it yourself. I follow this wise advice and I would like to introduce myself.
My name is Nikita Kovalevich. I was born on June 20, 1998. I am 18 years old. I come from Minsk, Belarus. How do I see myself? I am an active and energetic person. I cant bear just sitting around and doing nothing. It just makes me impatient and restless. But I know what I want, and I think I have got what it takes to achieve my goals. I am a hard worker when it comes to what I am interested in. Does it make me sound horribly ambitious and selfish? I hope not!
I am friendly, kind, and honest. I have my own likes and dislikes. I enjoy other peoples company. Friends visit me regularly and I never feel lonely.
I am modest and sometimes shy, but I would not advise anyone tricking or kidding me. I am the kind of person who doesnt let friends down. I do not like hypocrisy. I always say in open what I think. It is very difficult for me to deal with people who are selfish and dishonest.
This summer I passed the entrance examinations in the form of centralized testing and on the basis of the results was admitted to the University. Now Im a first-year student of the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics where Im taking programming. So my main duty is to study at university. I am a full-time student and my day-to-day activities depend on my timetable.
My classes usually begin at 8 a.m. Every day I get up at half past six and go jogging in the park. It takes me thirty minutes. Then I do some morning exercises. Thats why I never feel sleepy in the morning. I feel refreshed and full of energy. When I am back I take a cold shower and have breakfast. I like talking to my parents while having it. I leave at about 7.45 a.m. If the weather is fine I get to the university by bicycle. The University is situated in the city center. It takes me 20 minutes to get there. As a rule my classes start at 8 a.m. I have 3 or 4 classes a day: lectures, seminars, practical classes and lab works. They are usually over at 3 p.m.
I go to the sports center where I have karate trainings three times a week. I also take guitar lessons. I come home at 7 p.m. I have dinner and start doing my homework. If I have some spare time I play the guitar or read classical literature. I go to bed at about half past eleven. I think it is very important to go to bed before midnight and get up early in the morning, especially on weekdays. Thus you can manage everything you plan to do.
At weekends I usually get up at 8 oʼclock and do the same things I do on weekdays. Sometimes I have a rehearsal with the rock band where I play the guitar. Sometimes I can stay home, read books, or hang out with my friends.
I cant imagine my life without my family. It isnʼt big. There are four of us: my father, mother and a sister. My father is a well-educated and knowledgeable person. That is why it is always interesting to talk to him: he usually tells a lot of exciting stories. My mother is a nice person. I admire her character. She is an optimist. She is full of energy and enthusiasm. I really like her sense of humour. My mother is a housewife. It takes her much time and patience to look after the house. But she copes with her household chores very well. Besides, both my father and I help her with the housework. For example, I do the dishes and my father goes shopping. She is keen on cooking so she spends much time in the kitchen. My father likes stamp collecting and when a child I got interested in it as well. Since that time, stamps and old coins have become my hobby. We have a big collection of them. We also like music and everybody who visits us is impressed with our CD and DVD collection.
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I enjoy spending time with my family very much. We often go for a walk together. My family is fond of travelling. We visit different countries and have great time. So I could definitely say we are a very friendly family.
Comprehension check
9. Decide if the following sentences as true or false according to the text?
1. Nikita is the kind of person who knows how to have a good time.
2. His mother is a housewife but it doesnt take her much time to take care of their home.
3. His father is a hobbyist.
4. I dont think it is important to go to bed before midnight.
4. Nikitas duty is to study at University.
6. I dont like talking to my parents while having breakfast. I prefer listening to music or surfing the Internet.
7. Nikita doesnt like to travel with his family.
Vocabulary
10. Insert the following words in the gaps in the sentences below.
go to bed, to deal with, get up, timetable, consist of, manage, duty, get interested, take, depend on
My family __1__ my father, mother and a sister. When I was a child, I __2__ in stamp collecting. For me, its very difficult to __3__ people who have such features of character as selfishness and dishonesty. I am a full-time student and my schedule __4__ my __5__. My __6__ is to study at university. I __7__ programming. It is very important to __8__ before midnight and __9__ early in the morning. Thus you can __10__ everything you plan to do.
11. Find the odd word in the line.
| huge-big-enormous-tiny | falsehood-dishonesty-justice-untruth |
| good-kind-generous-hospitable | let-enable-permit-allow |
| smart-intelligent-foolish-wise | definitely-honest-artificial-classical |
12.Find the words in the text that are the opposites of the words below.
| to fail, to start, a.m., small, likes, justice, insecure, part-time, silly, useless |
Reading
13. Read the text below and find the arguments in favour of:
1. Technology addiction among young people is having a disruptive effect on their learning.
2. Mobile phones are overused nowadays.
3. Modern technologies lead to poor attention levels.
4. Internet addiction has been linked to depression.
5. The Internet now plays a huge part in modern life, but its benefits are accompanied by a darker side.
6. Social interaction online should not replace an offline social life.
7. Internet addicts are emotionally distressed.
Text B: Tech Addiction Harms Learning
Modern technologies such as mobile phones and handheld computer games are having a great impact on attention levels. Students are hiding these things under the desks so their concentration cannot be equally divided, they are not focusing on whatʼs going on in class. They can't get motivated to read for a long period of time and are also getting into a bad habit of plagiarism. For their homework, instead of reading the book, they go on the Internet and lift it, rather than reading, understanding and putting it in their own words. Also concerns are raised about the text-messaging abbreviations to which young people have grown accustomed. They have invented a new language. So they will have difficulty communicating with others and making themselves understood. Of course, language should evolve but maybe not so quickly.
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There is a strong link between heavy Internet use and depression, UK psychologists became ensure. The conclusions were based on 1,319 responses to an on-line questionnaire. People were asked how much they used the Internet and for what purposes. They were also asked a series of questions to assess whether they suffered from depression. Although most Internet users did not suffer mental health problems many of them were depressed.The respondents were within an average age of 21. The researchers found out that a small number of users had developed a compulsive internet habit, replacing real life social interaction with online chat rooms and social networking sites. They classed 18 respondents as internet addicts. This group spent proportionately more time on sex, gambling and online community websites.
The Internet now plays a huge part in modern life, but its benefits are accompanied by a darker side. While many of us use the internet to pay bills, to do shopping and send e-mails. There is a small subset of the population who find it hard to control how much time they spend online, to the point where it interferes with their daily activities. The Internet addicts are significantly more depressed than the non-addicted group, with a depression score five times higher. The research indicates that excessive Internet use is associated with depression, but what we don't know is which comes first - are depressed people drawn to the Internet or does the Internet cause depression.
Mental Health charities warn the way people spend their time and the kind of social interaction they engage in could well impact on mental wellbeing. In some ways, the Internet can be helpful. To the extent that the Internet encourages meaningful friendships and social connections it can be a very good influence on people's lives. However, social interaction online should not usually replace an offline social life. Evidence suggests that active pursuits such as exercise and socializing with people face-to-face are among the factors that help us stay in good mental health. Although excessive Internet use can't be said to cause mental health problems, if a web addict is substituting meaningful friendships and socializing with virtual contact on the Internet, this might have an adverse effect on their mental wellbeing.
According to the latest researches modern gadgets have worsen pupilsʼ spelling and concentration, encouraged plagiarism and disrupted lessons. The study of 267 pupils found 63 % felt addicted to the Internet and 53 % to their mobile phones. The technology drove a social lifestyle that involved a strong desire to keep in touch with friends. The researchers used a written questionnaire to examine the nature and the volume of mobile phone calls and text messaging as well as computer use including e-mail, instant messaging and accessing social networking sites.
They found 62 % first used or owned a computer before the age of eight, 80 % first used the Internet between the ages of five and 10, 58 % first used a mobile phone between the ages of 8 and 10 and 58 % have had access to social networking sites between the ages of 11 and 13. Over half indicated they spent up to around 30 minutes a day on their mobile, while 17 % said they spent at least three hours on their mobile. Just over one in five said they left the phone on during lessons. Over 30 % reported spending between one to two hours a day using the Internet and 26 % said they spent up to six or more hours a day.
On average, pupils spent between one and two hours on social networking sites each day, sent more e-mails than they received and the majority sent and/or received up to 20 texts a day. Over a third (39 %) admitted that text shortcuts damaged the quality of their written English, particularly when it came to spelling.
And 84 % openly admitted copying chunks of information from the Internet into their homework or projects on a number of occasions because the Internet is by far the largest source of information for such work, with over 90 % saying they used it compared with 43 % who said books. Over 60 % of the respondents admitted to being very or quite addicted to the Internet, while over 50 % are addicted to their mobile phones.
Comprehension
14. Discuss the following questions in pairs using the opening phrases:
| as far as I know, in fact, it is hard to say, I suppose/believe, to my mind, etc. |
1. What does a modern lifestyle require?
2. Why did the researchers use a written questionnaire? What was their purpose?
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3. Why cant young people get motivated to read for a long period of time?
4. Why might the Internet addiction have a negative effect on mental wellbeing?
5. What impact are mobile phones and handheld computer games having on young
peoples attention? Say why?
6. Is a Web addict substituting meaningful friendships and socializing with virtual
contacts on the Net?
7. Do you think there is no good evidence that the problem is the Internet itself?
15. Find the following numbers and say what they mean in the text context.
21, 267, 3, 60, 18, 58, 80, 63, 62, 53, 30, 1319, 50, 84, 20
Vocabulary
16. Match up the words to make common collocations.
| 1) keep | a) information |
| 2) excessive | b) in touch with |
| 3) social | c) games |
| 4) text | d) Internet use |
| 5) chunks of | e) messaging |
| 6) source of | f) abbreviations |
| 7) handheld computer | g) addicts |
| 8) text-messaging | h) mental health problems |
| 9) to suffer | i) chat rooms |
| 10) on-line | j) networking sites |
| 11) Internet | k) information |
Reading
17. Read the text and answer the following questions.
1. What do the old and the young do in their leisure time?
2. What do young people in Britain prefer to do?
3. How do people in your country spend their leisure time?
Text C: Leisure Time
Leisure is time spent in non-compulsory activities. Because leisure time is free from compulsory activities such as work, study, household duties, eating and sleeping, it is often referred to as free time. The ideas of leisure and leisure time are thought to have emerged in the late 19th century with the rise of mechanized industry, when the increase in productivity of labour resulted in the fact that workers had some time to spend on themselves.
They started doing sports and visiting theatres. Since then the idea of leisure time and relaxation has been popular with all the age groups and social classes. The old and the young, the rich and the poor have been using their free time for rest and entertainment. The ways people spend their leisure time normally differ according to the age group: middle-aged and old people normally prefer more passive kind of rest like watching TV, going to the theatre, or sometimes gardening. Younger people enjoy more active pastimes like doing extreme sports, visiting night clubs and discos or travelling. However, the idea of active leisure like doing sports or travelling is gaining popularity with the older people, too.
So the basic leisure time activities of the young are travelling, doing sports including extreme sports, visiting discos and night clubs or more passive ways of recreation like listening to music or watching TV and videos, and surfing the Internet. Teenagers normally prefer to do extreme sports, that is sports featuring speed, height and danger as they lead to the so-called adrenaline rush in participants. They wish to push themselves to the limits of their physical ability and fear, and push the boundaries of a particular sport, such as bungee jumping, climbing, white-water rafting, surfing, windsurfing, etc. Their tastes in music are normally different kinds of popular music associated with youth subcultures, such as hard rock, hip-hop or rap, punk rock, psychedelic rock and the like. In watching TV and videos or going to the cinema, they prefer film genres which are full of action, movement, colour, cinema effects and have a good soundtrack. They normally like action films, comedies, musicals, thrillers and cartoons.
Sometimes the ways young people spend their free time varies according to the country, as they sometimes depend on national traditions. British youngsters are really fond of watching football matches and sorts of races such as horse-racing, boat-racing and even dog-racing, as well as playing football, rugby, golf and taking part in races. They are really fond of pets and often spend some time in the evening taking their dog for a walk. In going out for the evening, they still prefer pubs to restaurants, bars and cafes.
Comprehension
18. Here are the answers to the questions. Work out the questions.
1. The ideas of leisure and leisure time are thought to have emerged in the late 19th century with the rise of mechanized industry.
2. Old and young, rich and poor have been using their free time for rest and entertainment.
3. Middle-aged and old people normally prefer more passive kind of rest.
4. Basic leisure time activities of the young are travelling, doing sports, visiting discos and night clubs.
5. Their tastes in music are usually different kinds of popular music associated with youth subcultures.
6. Sometimes the ways young people spend their free time depends on national traditions.
7. British youngsters are really fond of watching football matches.
Vocabulary
19.Find the words or expressions in the text which mean the following:
a) time when one is not working or occupied; free time;
b) people or things classed together as being of similar age;
c) a sport that is exciting, physically dangerous;
d) a subdivision of a national culture different from that generally accepted in a
society, shared by youth individual groups;
e) a recording of the musical accompaniment of a film;
f) a particular type of literature, painting, music, film, or other form of art;
Discussion
1. Do you believe Internet addiction is a real disorder? Choose the most appropriate answer for you and share your ideas with the groupmates:
a) Yes, but canʼt answer now. Gotta check Twitter and Facebook.
b) No. The Internet is for work and shopping. Thatʼs about it.
c) Maybe. Iʼm waiting to speed-read the new psychiatric literature.
d) I think
2. Discuss with your partner what the youth from different countries have in common.
Project
Prepare a report/presentation on how your life at university differs from your school years.
UNIT II: BELARUS
Pre-reading
1. Do you know your homeland? Can you do this quiz? Try to match the names of the places with the notions of the given sights.
| 1. Viazynka | a) Tadeusz Kosciuszkos birthplace, Ruins of the Palace |
| 2. Strochytsy | b) Composers Moniuszko and Ravensky; linguist Leo Shcherba |
| 3. Zaslaue | c) Skansen village, open-air museum of old Belarusian rural architecture |
| 4. Kosava | d) Yanka Kupalas birthplace; House- Museum |
| 5. Ruzhany | e) The Museum of Popular Arts; Rahneda |
| 6. Turau | f) Artist and composer Napaleon Orda (18071883) |
| 7. Ivanava | g) Sapiegas residence; Ruins of the Palace |
| 8. Cherven (district) | h) Centre of the Principality; birthplace of the first manuscript |
| 9. Smarhon (district) | i) Sporting centre |
| 10. Kreva | j) Church-fortress |
| 11. Staiki | k) Ruins of the Castle, historic village |
| 12. Synkavichy | l) The Academy of Training Bears; writer Bahushevich; composer Ahinsky |
Reading
2. Read the following text and answer the questions below.
1. What do you think are the advantages of the geographical position of Belarus?
2. Do you like the nature and the climate of our Republic?
3. Nowadays Belarus is a country of developed industry, education and culture, isnt it?
4. What proves that Belarus possesses a great scientific and technical potential?
