Список экзаменационных устных тем
1. О себе.
2. Наш университет.
3. Студенческая жизнь.
4. Образование в Беларуси.
5. Образование в Британии.
6. Политическая система Великобритании.
7. Общие сведения о Великобритании (население, география и прочее).
8. Лондон.
9. Республика Беларусь.
10. Моя будущая профессия.
About myself
My first name is Helen, my surname is Ivanova, my patronymic is Ivanovna. I was born on the 15th of November, 1990. I am 22 years old. I live in Gomel. I finished school № 1.
I am a student of Francisk Scorina Gomel State University. I study by correspondence (заочно). My future profession will be an economist (an accountant). I decided (решил) to become an economist because it is a very interesting, prestigious and useful profession. At University we study many subjects such as Economics, Mathematics, Languages (языки) and others.
My hobby is football (collecting stamps, cooking, gardening, painting, singing, dancing, travelling, watching TV, etc.) In my free time, I often read different books. Every day I surf in the Internet. I like to chat with my friends online and I also use the Web to find useful or necessary information for my studies and for pleasure. Sometimes I play computer games (the piano). I often watch different movies. I prefer to watch comedies (dramas, horror films, action films, soap operas, thrillers, etc.). Sometimes I go to the cinema to watch a film on a big screen.
As for my appearance, I have blue (grey, green, hazel) eyes and short / long black (fair, chestnut, dark) hair. As for my character, people say that I am kind, responsible, cheerful, series and modest. I have a good sense of humour.
Now I want to tell you a few words about my family. I have an elder brother and a younger sister (a husband / a wife and two children). I love my family very much and I spend a lot of time with them.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The biggest cities in the country are London, Edinburg, Cardiff, Belfast, Manchester, Leeds and others.
The population of the UK is about 60 million people.
The total area is 244,100 square kilometers (94.250 square miles).
The capital is London.
Great Britain is separated from the Continent by the North Sea (Северное море) and the English Channel (пролив Ла-Манш).
Britain is a country of rivers. The most famous and important rivers are the Thames and the Severn.
There are many lakes in Great Britain. The most beautiful lake is Loch Lomond.
The highest mountains are Ben Nevis in Scotland and Snowdon in Wales.
The flag of the United Kingdom is known as the Union Jack.
Britain is a well-developed economic and industrial country. It produces many things: electrical machinery, cars, bicycles and precision instruments of many kinds. It exports electronics telecommunications equipment, in aircraft and aircraft engines, in plastics and synthetic materials, radio-isotopes and new drugs.
London
London is the capital of Great Britain. This city stands on the river Thames.
London has many parts. The biggest parts are the West End, the East End and the City.
In the West End there are the best and very expensive (дорогие) hotels, restaurants, clubs, theatres and cinemas. The East End is a very poor district (район) of London. There are plants (заводы) and factories (фабрики) there.
The City is the oldest part of London. It is a business part of London. There are many banks and offices here.
There are many places of interest in London, such as the British Museum, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, Westminster Abbey, and the Tower of London.
The British Museum is the biggest museum in the country which has a rich library.
Big Ben is the clock on the famous clock tower.
Westminster Abbey is the place where kings and queens are crowned and many famous people are buried.
T he Tower of London was used as a fortress and prison (now it’s a museum).
Saint Paul’s Cathedral is the largest Protestant Church in England. The architect of Saint Paul’s Cathedral is Sir Christopher Wren.
Belarus
The official name of the country is the Republic of Belarus. It is a sovereign independent state.
Belarus is situated nearly in the centre of Europe. It borders on Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, Russia and the Ukraine.
The total area of Belarus is about 207.6 thousand square kilometres. The population is about 10 mln people. 68% of the population live in towns and cities.
The territory of Belarus is divided into 6 regions: the Brest region, the Vitebsk region, the Gomel region, the Grodno region, the Minsk region, and the Mogilev region.
The capital is Minsk.
The highest point of Belarus is Mount Dzerzhinskaya (350 metres high).
There are more than 3,000 rivers in Belarus. The Dnieper, Neman, Western Dvina, Pripyat, Berezina, Sozh and Viliya are the longest.
Belarus is a lake-country. There are about 10,800 lakes here. The largest is Lake Naroch.
Belarus has many forests. The most famous forest is Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
The climate of Belarus is temperate and mild.
Belarus has a well-developed industry and economy. The country produces and exports trucks and tractors, refrigerators, TV sets, fertilizers, meat and dairy products. Timber processing, furniture making, textile and clothing manufacture, food processing are also the main industries. Belarus’ agriculture grows flax, grain and potatoes.
Belarus is a country of well-developed science, education and culture. There is an Academy of sciences, many higher educational establishments, a lot of theatres, museums and art galleries there.
The Political System of Great Britain
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a constitutional monarchy. The head of the country is a monarch whose power is limited by the constitution. In practice, the king or the queen reigns but doesn’t rule. The legislative power belongs to the Parliament which consists of two chambers: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Lords has 850 members. The members of the House of Lords are composed of Lords “ Temporal ” (Barons, Earls, Dukes) and Lords “ Spiritual ” (archbishops and bishops). The leader is the Lord Chancellor. The seats in the House of Lords are hereditary.
Today the centre of parliamentary power is in the Commons. The House of Commons comprises 630 members who are elected by people. The election is held every five years. The party [1] which has the largest number of members forms the Government. The Head of the Government is the Prime Minister. He is usually the leader of the party having the majority in the Commons. The Prime Minister chooses from both the Lords and the Commons the men (about twenty) to fill the Cabinet which includes Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Home Secretary, the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Defense, the Minister of Health, the President of the Board of Trade and so on.
The second largest party traditionally forms the official Opposition with its own leader and “ shadow cabinet”.
Education in Belarus
National system of education includes Preschool education, Secondary Education, Higher Education and Postgraduate Education.
Secondary Education involves primary, basic and secondary school. Most children start going to school at 6. At primary school they learn to write, read, count. Basic and secondary school provides general subjects, physical training and labour education.
After final examinations, school-leavers get certificates of basic and secondary education.
Our higher educational establishments include universities, academies, institutes and higher colleges. Altogether there are about 60 higher educational establishments: most of them are state institutions (academies, universities, institutes, higher colleges, and 1 higher school), some of them are private and several institutions are governed by religious organizations. Both state and private establishments are governed by the Ministry of Education.
A higher educational institution is headed by the Rector. The institution is divided into faculties (departments), headed by Deans, and faculties (departments) are divided into chairs.
Higher educational institutions offer full-time and part-time programs. At the end of the university course, Belarusian graduates receive a Certificate of a Specialist. To become a Certified Specialist, it usually requires four or five years of training, success in state examinations, and defense of a diploma-work. The second stage of higher education is needed to receive a Master’s degree.
Post-university education and research is needed if you want to get an advanced scholarly degree. The advanced scholarly degrees include 1) Candidate of Science after three years of post-graduate study, success in qualification examinations, and defense of a dissertation, and 2) Doctor’s degree after many years of teaching and independent research, defense of a second dissertation of high theoretical and practical value.
Education in Britain
British people go to school from 5 till 16. School education includes 1) primary education, 2) secondary education, and 3) high school. Secondary education begins at 11. At 16 teenagers take exams for the General Certificate of Secondary Education. People who want to join the University stay at school for two more years to pass A-level exams (Advanced-level exams). Then they go a university.
There are about 50 universities in England, Scotland, Wales. The most famous of them are: Cambridge, Oxford, Edinburgh, London and many others.
British universities differ from each other in many ways: in the date of foundation, size, history, traditions, general organization, methods of instruction, etc.
Almost every British university is divided into colleges. Each college is an independent institution. It means that every college decides on selecting and admitting undergraduate and postgraduate students. Colleges also provide accommodation, libraries to their students, and are responsible for sports and social life of young people studying there.
Colleges organize lectures, seminars, lab work, and tutorials for their students.
A tutorial is a typical form of teaching at Oxford and Cambridge. Tutorials are small group classes which are arranged by a tutor. A tutor is a member of staff (professor) who supervises students’ work individually. The tutor can help with general problems (choice of courses, difficulty in keeping up with their fellow students) and practical problems (family matters, finding accommodation, etc.).
The university education has 3 stages. At the end of the first stage, people get Bachelor’s Degree. If they continue their education, they get Master’s Degree. At the end of the third stage they get Doctor’s Degree (Ph. D).
My future Profession
(Information Technology Software)
There are many interesting and useful professions in the world. I chose the profession of a programmer.
My future profession is connected with computers and with using information technology. Our faculty gives an education in computing, analysis, design and management of information systems. What is an information system? An information system is a collection of hardware, software, people, procedures and data. Information systems have three levels. They include: 1) transaction processing system (диалоговая система обработки запросов), 2) management information system (административная информационная система) and 3) decision support system (информационная модель, система поддержки принятия решений).
To become a programmer, we study many subjects. These subjects are as follows: higher mathematics, mathematical analysis, algebra and geometry, physics, programming essentials, descriptive geometry and engineering graphics, computer organization and functioning, differential equations, program design and programming languages, probability theory and mathematical statistics, computer architecture, computer peripherals, systems software, modelling, operating systems.
After graduating, we shall be able to work at computing centers, research laboratories and institutes, industrial enterprises and other organizations. We will be solving problems connected with the development and application of computing systems.
Our University
I study at Francisk Scorina Gomel State University. This higher educational establishment (вуз) was opened in 1969 on the basis of the Pedagogical institute. It was the second University in Belarus. Today there are 13 departments and 48 chairs (кафедр) in our educational establishment. These departments are the Department of Psychology, the Biology Department, the Department of Foreign Languages (иностранных языков), of Physical Culture, the Department of Law (юридический), the Correspondence Department and others. So, our university trains teachers of mathematics, chemistry, biology, foreign languages, geography, physical training. It also trains lawyers, economists, psychologists, engineers, managers and research workers.
Four forms of trainingare offered at Gomel State University. They are: daytime training, correspondence course (extra-mural department), preparatory section, and post-graduate course. I study by correspondence (заочно). The students of extra-mural departmen t combine work and study. Twice a year we have lectures and practical classes. We also take our exams in many subjects: Mathematics, Languages and others.
My future profession will be an accountant. I decided to become an accountant because it is a very interesting and useful profession.
I should say that our University is well-equipped. It has many comfortable buildings with libraries, reading-halls, canteens, gyms, etc. Most of the time we study in buildings 2 and 3.
At the end of the university course, graduates (выпускники) receive a Certificate of a Specialist.
Students’ Life
First of all, university life is studies. Students study a lot at home, in libraries, in the university reading halls, and labs with modern equipment.
For day-time students, daily (ежедневный) attendance of lectures, seminars and practical classes is compulsory (обязательный).
As for part-time students, they have lectures and practical classes only twice a year. Both day-time and part-time students take exams in many subjects: Mathematics, Languages and others. Most students pass exams successfully. Students also carry outresearch workunder the guidance of instructors. They pres e nt the results of their research work at seminars and conferences.
University life is not only books and lectures. Students don’t forget about leisure. Day-time students take active part in the university public life. They participate in concerts and other events. Very often they go on excursions, visit museums. Students who study by correspondence (заочно) also have a lot of fun while they study: they have an opportunity to communicate with different people, meet new friends, forget about family problems.
The friendly atmosphere, which reigns (царит) at our university, helps students study, develop their talents, and enjoy time at university.
[1] At present there are four main political parties in Great Britain: the Conservative Party, the Labour Party, the Liberal Party, the Social Democratic party.