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May Week denotes not so much a particular period of time as the general atmosphere of relaxation at the end of the year's work. It starts for each undergraduate when he finishes his examinations.

Everything as far as possible has to happen in the open air-parties, picnics, concerts and plays. May Week seems like a celebration of the coming of spring, till then ignored in favour of examinations, and this spirit of release seems to take over the entire (the whole) town. People go to the river behind the colleges which stand next to the river to watch May boat races, in which young energetic men are ready to show off their skill.

Music and drama also have a part to play in the festivities. Nearly every college of the University (and there are over 20 of them) holds a May Week concert or presents a play in the open air.

But the most important events are the May Balls for which some girls do their best for month in advance to get invitations. College May Balls are the climax of May Week and for many undergraduates are the final event of their university life, when the river is lit with coloured lights, ballroom orchestra plays for dancers and punts glide romantically down the river.

14.Ответьте на вопросы к тексту.

1.What is May Week?

2.When does it take place?

3.How long does it last?

4.What are the most important events during May week?

15.Подготовьте реферирование текста «May Week at Cambridge».

16.Объясните значение следующих пословиц. Приведите иллюстрирующие их ситуации.

1.A little learning is a dangerous thing.

2.Better untaught than ill taught.

3.To know everything is to know nothing.

4.The wish is father to the thought.

5.Learn wisdom by the follies of others.

6.Knowledge is a city, to the building of which every human being brought a stone.

17.Ответьте на вопросы к текстам, рассказывающим о некоторых видах университетов в Великобритании.

1.How did polytechnics change their status since 1960-s?

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Polytechnics

During the 1960-s the best of many technical collages (supported by the local authorities) were given the status of University. Although their main studies are still in technological subjects, they have introduced other subjects such as languages and social sciences. Many of these former polytechnics were in large cities where there was already a University, so there're now some towns and cities in Britain which have two Universities.

2. What kind of people have the opportunity organized by The Open University?

The Open University

This is an educational system which makes use of television, radio and correspondence courses. It was organized to give educational opportunity to those people who for one reason or another have not had a chance to receive further education. Study centers have set up all over the country so that students can attend once a week, and once a year they spend a week at one of the University summer schools.

3. What was the reason for building so-called “Red Brick Universities”?

The Red Brick Universities

With the development of industry in the 19th century technicians and engineers were needed. The older Universities didn't produce them. Therefore science classes were set up in industrial centers and later they developed into either technical colleges or the modern Universities, such as London, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham Universities and others. The term "Red Brick" is not used much today but it's a useful way of describing this group of Universities many of which are build in the favorite building material of the time - red brick.

4. How long does each term in Britain last?

Academic year

Academic year in British Universities is divided into three terms which usually run from the beginning of October to the middle of December, from the middle of January to the end of March, from the middle of April to the end of June. Admission to the Universities is by exams and selection.

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5. How do the forms of teaching differ?

Forms of Teaching

At universities and colleges teaching takes the form of lectures classes, seminars and tutorials. A lecture is a formal method of teaching, and, although there may be questions, usually at the end, there is rarely any discussion. The number of students attending is limited only by the size of the room. A class is less formal than a lecture. There are not usually more than 50 students, sometimes considerably less and there is generally some discussion between the teacher and students. A seminar is a still smaller and more informal group. The number of students usually ranges from 5 to 10. Seminars are often held weekly, and as a rule one of the groups reads paper, which is then discussed by the others. A tutorial in its original form is an informal weekly meeting of an individual student with his tutor to discuss an essay which the student has written.

18.Подготовьте устное сообщение по одной из следующих тем.

1.Высшее образование в России в сравнении с Великобританией и/или США.

2.Высшее образование в Великобритании.

3.Высшее образование в США.

4.Традиции в системе высшего образования.

5.Изменение системы высшего образования (на примере любой страны).

6.История образовательных учреждений (на примере одного/нескольких колледжей, университетов и т.д.).

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PART II

MY ACADEMY

1.Ответьте на вопросы.

1.What can you tell about your academy?

2.What is interesting in it?

3.What faculty do you study at?

4.What subjects do you study?

5.What are general-educational and what are specialised ones?

2.Прочитайте и выучите.

Chemistry – химия Drawing – черчение Geometry – геометрия

A Foreign Language – иностранный язык Science – наука

Strength of materials – сопротивление материалов

Electrical engineering – электротехника to combine – сочетать, совмещать attention – внимание

almost – почти

significant – значительный to depend – зависеть

hoist – подъемные

to belong – принадлежать

Book-keeping – бухучет acquaint – знакомить

descriptive geometry – начертательная геометрия

Составьте 3 предложения с новыми словами.

3. Обратите внимание на произношение следующих букв и буквосочетаний.

2)[k] school, Technological, Chemistry, mechanical, Mechanisms, Mechanics;

3)[∫] Machinery, machine.

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4. Прочитайте и переведите текст.

THE SIBEARIAN AUTOMOBILE AND HIGHWAY ACADEMY

The Siberian Automobile and Highway Academy is one of the largest in Russia. It was founded in 1930 and had only two faculties. Now there are six faculties at the academy. They are: Automobile Transport, Transport Technological Machinery, Highway Engineering, Civil Engineering, Economical Engineering and Information Management Systems Faculty. Over 9000 students study at these faculties.

The students of all faculties study general–educational and specialized subjects. The former are studied by the first and the second-year students. These subjects are: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Drawing, Drawing Geometry, Philosophy, History, Foreign Languages. Great attention is paid to the study of computers and composing programmes for them. Specialized subjects are studied by the third and fourth-year students, depending on their speciality. There are some specialized subjects common for all specialities. Two such subjects are Theoretical Mechanics and Strength of Materials.

The students of mechanical faculties study Electrical Engineering, Machine Elements and Hoist Mechanisms, Science of Metals and Theory of Machines and Mechanisms. The students of building faculties study such subjects as Building Materials, Building Mechanics, Bases and Foundations, Geology and Geodesy. The students of the Economical Engineering Faculty and the Information Management Systems Faculty study Automatic systems of management, Programming, Book-keeping, Finances and Credit and Economy of Automobile Transport Enterprises.

The Academy also has a Postgraduate Department, Research Centre, Centre of Arts, Scientific Library, Publishing Department, experimental school 149, Sanatorium, Sport and Recreation Camp, and four hostels. The Academy’s computer centre of has been functioning for about 30 years. Today it operates over 200 computers, 60 of which are connected to local nets. The centre also provides the students and teaching staff of the academy with an excellent opportunity to work with such a wonderful facility as Internet. Every year scientific conferences are held here.

Graduates of the academy are engineers, mechanics, builders, economists, and managers, who work successfully both in Russia and abroad.

5. Распределите слова в три столбика в зависимости от произношения согласной «c».

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