Exercise 1. Agree or disagree developing the following sentences into monologues of 5-7 sentences:
1. It is much better for a person to get up early and go to bed early.
2. Women perform much more duties than men do.
3. There are some home duties that men should not do.
4. There are some home duties that women should not do.
5. Children should start performing home duties not earlier than from the age of twelve.
6. It is absolutely necessary to distribute home duties very strictly.
7. There should be no strict distribution of home duties. Family members should take turns in doing the housework.
8. Senior children hate baby-sitting for junior ones.
Exercise 2. Use the vocabulary of the Unit to act out dialogs discussing:
1. Your home duties.
2. Home duties that you enjoy and the ones that you hate.
3. Home duties of men and women.
4. Differences of a daily routine of a British (American) person and a Russian one.
Exercise 3. Speak on:
1. Your daily routine.
2. Problems of distributing home duties between the members of the family.
3. Working day of a woman/man.
4. The ideal model of distributing and performing home duties in a family.
Communicative exercises to Part 2
Exercise 1. React to the statements using the phrases of agreement and disagreement in the form of situations of 5-7 sentences:
1. Leisure time of British people is very much organized
2. Television is not very popular in England.
3. Private leisure is characterized by the national enthusiasm for gardening.
4. They need to grow vegetables because it's impossible to buy them.
5. "D-I-Y" activity is not very popular.
6. Television has reduced enthusiasm for reading.
7. Books are well-designed, brightly coloured and expensive.
8. Music magazines persuade teenagers to buy new and new records with the
purpose to develop individual taste.
9. People buy records which they like.
10. People are free in their choice. It concerns their leisure time as well.
Exercise 2. Use the vocabulary of the Unit to act out dialogs discussing:
1. Favourite movies
2. Widespread and rare ways of spending leisure time.
3. Differences between Russian and British ways of spending free time.
Exercise 3. Speak on:
1. Leisure in Russia and Britain.
2. Television, movies, theater and books as popular entertainments.
3. Your favourite ways of spending free time.
UNIT 3. EDUCATION IN THE UK
Part 1
School education
British education is in a state of crisis. In the nineteen sixties there was the great educational debate about grammar-and-secondary-modern schools versus comprehensive schools. Today the issues are different. The following description is of the present system in England and Wales – arrangements in Scotland are not quite the same and there are variations in Northern Irland. In all parts of the UK, although laws govern the ages at which our children must attend school (5-16), and the hours that they must work during the year, the organisation of education is the responsibility of each local authority.
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The government passed laws to ensure that all children spent a high proportion of their time on a group of ‘core subjects’ – English, mathematics, science, and in the secondary schools, a foreign language. Problems arise when teachers or local authorities argue that other subjects should be given more time because they also are important. How do you squeeze into a timetable history and geography, other sciences (a choice of physics, biology, chemistry instead of a general science course), art, another foreign language, music, practical subjects like woodwork or needlework, may be Latin, even Greek, P.E. (physical education), religeous studies, courses for personal development, economics, politics, commercial subjects? The local government argues for the variety but the central government is concerned that all children should have a proper basic education.
The vast majority of children, including those from professional and business homes (about 93%), attend state schools. The other 7% attend private schools, sometimes called ‘independent’ schools. A minority of these private schools are boarding schools where children live as well as study. Less than 3% of children are boarders. Private schools are very expensive.
For the first two years of schooling children are expected to learn to read and write, to do simple sums, to learn basic practical and social skills, and find out about the world through stories, drama, music, crafts and through physical exercise. Children are more encouraged to do and make things themselves than in the kindergarten. For children up to 12 class teacher is still the central figure teaching many basic lessons. But increasingly there is more emphasis on subjects with subject teachers.
Classrooms are often informal in arrangement. In the course of studying a practical topic children move fairly freely and do not sit in rows listening to a teacher in front of the blackboard. Thus children can follow their own inclinations. Clever children flourish in either type of class, and slow children will find both difficult, though they will probably enjoy the more active informal teaching. Formal teaching gives solidly based skills, informal teaching encourages to ask questions and understand relationships.
At about 11 or 12 children move to the ‘big’ school, usually a comprehensive school accepting all the children from three or four neighbouring junior schools. Vast majority of secondary schools are comprehensive (i.e. accept children of all abilities). A few authorities practice rigid streaming sending clever children to one school and slow to another. With rigid streaming children who are at the bottom will always be at the bottom. That is why rigid streaming is considered reactionary and unfair to children who are denied opportunities for educational advancement. The most common solution is to organise children into both classes of mixed abilities and groups of similar abilities.
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At 16 every pupil has to take a national examination (in ‘core’ subjects plus three or four or five subjects chosen from the list), called GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education). Options are not free choice because of timetables and demands for coherent education. Academic pupils can choose mostly academic subjects; others can concentrate on practical and technical subjects.
The examinations involve written (and sometimes practical) papers, sometimes two papers in each subject. Exams are usually marked, out of 100, and then converted into grades – may be five or seven or eight grades.
At the end of the year in which he or she reaches 16, a British pupil can leave school and go on to further training for emplyment. Pupils who want to enter the University can stay at school (17-18) and take a variety of further courses. The most important is the ‘A-level’ which is usually intensively studied in three subjects.
‘A-levels’ are also marked nationally (and there is no personal appeal against the grades). Grades are crucial, because the university and politechnic places are awarded on the basis of A-level grades. Bad A-levels can change your life!
Such system is convenient for the universities, but is it fair on the pupils to be forced to specialise so soon? Some people want a broader education; others support the present ‘deep’ education.
Tasks
1. Read the text for detailed understanding. Translate the 2nd and the 6th paragraphs the text.
2. Give the summary of the text;
3. Retell the text as if you were:
1) a rigid streaming supporter;
2) a supporter of classes with mixed abilities;
3) a parent;
4) a federal authority;
5) a local authority.
Part 2
University education
All British universities and polytechnics are state institutions. Entry is by academic merit, and those who win places get their fees paid and are also paid a grant (stipend). Students enter university at 18 or 19. Most of them complete their degrees in three years, a few in four years. A degree is awarded on the basis of examination, and sometimes a course work. Afterwards a minority competes for places to do graduate research work; the rest go out into the world to look for jobs. Politechnics also provide degree courses; and those who do not reach university or politechnic, there are all sorts of lower courses and qualifications by studying part-time at local colleges.
One of the major debates at university level is about assessment, which requires university lecturers to reconsider what is actually taught. British education has traditionally been directed towards academically clever children. Emphasis has therefore been made on memory, on clear expression of arguments, on intelligent selecting of evidence and reaching conclusions – not just a memory test, but a test of knowledge and rational judgment. The same process happens in universities, where a degree used to be awarded on the basis of many examination papers taken at the end of the course.
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Since the seventies, step by step, teachers have been introducing ‘continuous assessment’ on the basis of course work – that is the work which a student does during a course. Most of this will be written, but some will be oral. In many universities students follow a syllabus in which course work is marked as well as exam papers. The question is whether degree courses should depend wholly upon examinations or weekly or fortnightly essays should also be taken into account. If yes, there is much more opportunity for selecting ‘optional short courses’ which to gether make up a degree.
Some university lecturers are delighted at the freedom to build ‘mixed’ courses, while others worry that students will have no coherent body of knowledge but just a mixture of bits and pieces for their degree.
Students learn quickly which lecturers are generous with their marks, which ones are harsh; and not surprisingly they join the courses where they can expect to get good marks even if they prefer the other topics or teachers. Results are crucial! Such a situation tempts teachers into academic corruption. It can be avoided if anonymous examination papers are marked. However, many university lecturers and school teachers feel that continuous assessment and assessment of course work are fairer ways of judging a student than end-of-year exams.
Russian students are fluent at talking because the emphasis is made on oral work. Oral examination and oral tests are unknown in British universities, so while making an oral response many English adults hesitate and stumble.
Teachers often try to distinguish between ‘effort’ and ‘achievement’. There are ways to reward hard working but not successful students and challenge the bone-idle boy or girl who can get good marks without effort.
Tasks
1. Read the text for detailed understanding. Translate the following passages of the text: 1, 4-5.
2. Give the summary of the text.
3. Retell the text as if you were:
1) a British university teacher;
2) a Russian university teacher;
3) a Russian student;
4) a British student.
Dialogue A
Mary: Today is a very special workshop. There is no text to read or listen to, no exercises to do. You may ask me all sorts of questions, if you have any.
Student A: Do English students take examinations every term?
Mary: No, they don’t. They do exams — they are called «finals» in their last term at the University.
Student B: Only once? Then they can enjoy life in the first years.
Mary: They have a lot of work to do. They attend lectures, seminars and tutorials and write essays. Technical students do a lot of work in the lab. And then they take class exams every year about May, but these are not public exams.
Student A: We do class exams every other week. That is not difficult.
Student C: What is a tutorial?
Mary: In a tutorial a teacher discusses individual work with a student. The teacher is called a tutor. He reports to the Head of the Department, so the professor knows everything about the students.
Student B: What do they do in a seminar?
Mary: Discuss things.
Student A: Do all students live in the halls of residence?
Mary: Most first year students do. Others rent a flat or a bedsitter in town.
Student C: Where do married students live?
Mary: Married students? They do not normally marry while at the University. They wait till they get a job and can support a family.
Student C: Do English students receive grants?
Mary: It depends on their parents’ income.
Student A: Are there any clubs?
Mary: A lot of them. The Students’ Union organises social, sporting and cultural activities.
Student B: What is the latest dance in England now?
Mary: I’m afraid I don’t know.
Student C: What do you think of the «Police»?
Mary: Do you mean demonstrations and all that?
Student C: No, I mean the pop group.
Mary: Ah, that «Police» group. Personally I don’t like them. But I have a suggestion. What about having a party - a music party in the English club. We may listen to my tapes or your records and have a nice talk.
Students: That’s a great idea. When?
Tasks
1. Read the dialogue for detailed understanding.
2. Retell the dialogue, as if you were one of the participants.
3. Act out your own dialogue “Discussing University studies” on the analogy.
Dialogue B
Henry Robinson is twenty-two and he is in his final year at Cambridge. Liz Robinson is twenty and is at a redbrick university in a northern industrial city. Patricia, who is nineteen, has just started at one of the new universities.
Pat: We live in halls of residence around the main university building. We are a real community. We’ve got comfortable common rooms and bars. We arrange dances and parties. We’ve got clubs, theatre groups, choirs and so on. And we’ve got an orchestra. I play the drums in it.
Liz: We’ve got bars and common rooms and clubs too. But I hate to live in the sort of closed community you live in, Pat. Two other girls and I rent a house in the middle of the city, about ten minutes walk from the university. The district is poor and the house is falling to pieces.
Henry: I couldn’t work in a place like yours.
Pat: Nor could I.
Liz: You’re a couple of snobs. We live among real people, who treat us as a real people. We prefer to be independent. It’s nice to belong to the city and to do things outside the university.
Henry: What sort of things do you do outside the university?
Liz: Well, there’s a group of us who go and help in a home for handicapped children. And I sing in the city Bach choir. We get on well with the local people — not like Henry and the people in Cambridge.
Henry: Oh, most of us get on very well with the local people. Cambridge isn’t a big place.
Liz: So you’re sorry you chose Cambridge?
Henry: No, I’m reading chemistry and Cambridge is one of the best universities for any science subject. Besides, Cambridge, like Oxford, has got a special atmosphere.
Pat: I chose my university because of its progressive ideas on education and its broader and more varied courses. Many of the new universities are experimenting with new subjects. And besides I am fond of this «seminar» system which is common in the new universities. It works, because we get on well with the professors and lecturers. Some of them aren’t much older than we; and they don’t mind at all, if we disagree with them.
Liz: You’re lucky. We have classes, but we hardly ever ask questions or discuss anything. The profs don’t seem to be able to do anything but lecture. Besides, the course itself is out of date. It hasn’t changed for twenty years.
Henry: Just so the professors and lecturers are more interested in their own research than in helping students in their studies. However, we attend lectures given by some of the most brilliant scholars in the country. I go to classes at well as to lectures, but most important person in my academic life is my tutor. I enjoy my weekly tutorials.
Tasks
1. Read the dialogue for detailed understanding.
2. Retell the dialogue, as if you are one of the participants.
3. Act out your own dialogues: a) “Living conditions at the University, b) “My extracurricular activities”.
Vocabulary
1) a nursery (primary, secondary, grammar, technical, secondary modern, comprehensive, boarding) school – младшая школа/дeтсад (начальная, срeдняя, средняя классическая, тeхничeская, срeдняя соврeмeнная, школа для детей с разными способностями, школа-интернат)
2) attend, ~ school/classes – ходить в школу/посещать учебное заведение, посещать/ходить на занятия
3) authority/authorities – власть/сила, власти/представители власти
4) to pass laws – принимать законы
5) compulsory – обязатeльный
6) core subjects – основные/базовые предметы
7) to be concerned with – быть озабоченным/обеспокоенным чем-либо
8) to squeeze into – с трудом вместить/ “втиснуть”
9) proper/appropriate – соответствующий
10) vast – обширный
11) public/private – государствeнный (общeствeнный)/частный
12) to encourage – поощрять/способствовать
13) to arrange, arrangement – организовывать, организация/расстановка
14) inclination – склонность
15) rigid streaming – жесткое разделение (напр. по способностям)
16) fair, unfair, reactionary – честный/честно, нечестный/нечестно, реакционный
17) to deny – отрицать/отвергать
18) advancement – прогресс/успех/развитие
19) abilities, similar ~, mixed ~ – способности, одинаковые ~, смешанные ~
20) coherent – связный
21) further – дальнeйший
22) appeal against smth. – выступать против чего-либо
23) level – уровeнь
24) grade – класс (напр. первый класс средней школы и т.п.)
25) crucial – важный/жизненно необходимый
26) to go on for higher education – продолжать образование до получения высшего
27) institutions – учрeждeния
28) academic merit – академические заслуги/итоговые оценки в школьном аттестате
29) fee – плата
30) grant, stipend – грант, стипендия
31) research – исследование
32) part-time – на неполный рабочий день
33) course work/paper – курсовая работа
34) various courses – различныe курсы
35) assess, assessment – оценка, оценивание
36) evidence – доказательство/свидетельство/признак
37) curriculum/syllabus – учeбная программа
38) tempt into corruption – склонять к коррупции/способствовать возникновению коррупции
39) to respond, response – отвечать, ответ
40) fluent – быстрый/беглый (о речи)
41) to hesitate – сомневаться
42) to stumble – запинаться/спотыкаться
43) the source of funding – источник финансирования
44) free (~of charge) – бeсплатный
45) to go on for higher education – продолжать образование до получения высшего
46) to enter the university, university enterant, entry – поступать в унивeрситeт, абитуриент, поступление
47) to graduate from – закончить
48) to apply to the university – подать заявлeния для поступлeния в унивeрситeт
49) to obtain a degree – приобрeтать степень
50) Bachelor of Arts (Science, Law) – бакалавр искусств (наук, юриспруденции)
51) to leave much to be desired – оставляeт жeлать лучшeго
52) to compete for – сорeвноваться
53) option, optional subject — выбор, предмет по выбору
54) lecture, seminar, workshop, tutorial – лекция, семинар, мастер-класс/семинар, индивидуальное занятие/консультация
55) term – семестр/условие (напр. контракта)
56) halls of residence – студенческое общежитие
57) bedsitter – койка-место
58) to read chemistry, biology etc – изучать химию, биологию