Иностранный язык (ан ...

I  Прочитайте и переведите текст, выпишите незнакомые слова, переведите их и выучите.

On Higher Education

            Nobody doubts these days that progress in the world depends on progress in education, higher education in particular.

            In Britain, for example, about 71 per cent of pupils continue studying after the age of 16. The proportion of young people entering universities¹ has risen from one in eight in 1980 to almost about one in three at present.

English universities usually consist of colleges. The academic year is divided into three terms. The course lasts three or four years, depending on the subject area: arts, science, law, engineering, medicine, social sciences. The structure of courses does not differ from Russian courses in size of groups, methods of teaching and close relationships with teachers. Methods of assessment differ from university to university but all British students have to undergo lengthy written examinations.

Conditions of student life in Britain differ from those² in Russia.

The English³ assume that anyone from age eighteen is an independent being capable of making up his or her own mind and capable of looking after himself or herself. As a rule, English students try to live away from home. Like Russian students, English students receive a grant from the state for the expenses of daily living. The level of the grant depends on the income of the student and of the student's parents. Besides, students can take out a special student loan which they do not have to repay until they are earning. Loans are not means-tested⁴. In the opinion of the English there is one more obvious difference between British and Russian students, however. Traditionally, there has always been an enormous amount of amateur and voluntary work in Britain. It takes place in universities as well: playing in the university band, taking part in athletics or football, running university newspapers, helping the disabled and pensioners, participating in local and national voluntary groups and societies.

There is a widespread opinion that conditions may be different but goals of getting higher education are the same everywhere. Many people admit that for the majority of young people today success in life is measured in terms of the money young people earn. This materialistic outlook has seriously influenced education. Fewer and fewer young people these days acquire knowledge only for its own sake⁵. They want to obtain prestigious diplomas to get higher wages and advancement.

Notes on the Text

¹ The proportion of young people entering universities ... – Доля молодых людей, поступающих в университеты ... (Entering — причастие I)

² those — слово-заменитель, употреблено вместо словаconditions

³ The English – англичане

⁴ Loans are not means-tested. – Ссуды предоставляются студентам без проверки их материального положения.

⁵ …acquire knowledge only for its own sake. – … приобретают знания ради знаний.

Задания к тексту (самостоятельное изучение)

1. Ответьте на вопросы к тексту (устно):

            1. What does progress in the world depend on?

            2. What trend (тенденция) in education has taken place in the world since the 1980s?

            3. How is teaching arranged in British universities?

            4. How do conditions of student life in Britain differ from those in Russia?

            5. Why do young people want to obtain prestigious diplomas?

2. Найдите в тексте предложения, в которых говорится о сходстве и различии систем образования в России и Великобритании.

3. Перечислите по-английски названия учебных предметов и виды внеучебной деятельности студентов.

4. Выберите верные утверждения:

            1) In Britain about 71 per cent of pupils don’t continue studying after the age of 16.

            2) English universities usually consist of colleges.

3) English students don’t receive a grant from the state.

4) Loans for studies are means-tested.

5) There is an enormous amount of amateur and voluntary work in Britain.

6) Students have to repay their loans at once.

7) They want to obtain prestigious diplomas to get higher wages and advancement.

8) Success in life is measured in terms of the money young people earn.