Higher Education in the USA

In the United States, a student who has finished high school, may want to continue in higher education. There are several ways to do it: universities, colleges, community (местные) colleges, and technical or vocational schools (профессиональные училища).

A university in the United States usually has several different colleges in it. Each has a special subject area (специализироваться в определенной области). There may be a college of liberal arts where humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and mathematics are taught. There may be a college of education and a college of business. A program for undergraduates usually takes four years. University students get an undergraduate degree in the arts or sciences. If they complete a course of study they get Bachelor of Arts or Science degree. Students may leave the university at this time. They may also go on for a graduate (магистра или доктора) or professional degree. The university always has programs for graduate (аспирантов) and professional study in many subjects.

The university may get money from several different sources (источники). A publicly funded university gets some money from the state government. A privately funded university gets money only from private sources. Or the university may be funded by a religious group.

College students usually spend four years at school, too. A college does not have graduate or professional programs. If a college student completes a course of study in arts or science, he or she gets Bachelor of Arts or Science degree. If college students want to continue for a graduate or professional degree, they must go to University. The college is usually funded in one of the three ways already described.

The program of study in the community college usually lasts two years. Not all of the subjects taught there are the usual school subjects.

The community college may give courses in the regular academic subjects (предмет) or subjects like dental technology, sewing and other non-academic subjects.Not all students of the community college have a high school (средняя школа) diploma. They may then go to a college for two more years to get the bachelor's degree. community colleges are nearly always publicly funded.

The technical or vocational school has only job training(профессиональная подготовка),it has no academicprogram. Students may have a high school diploma, or not. Programs may take from six months to two years and more. The technical or vocational school gives training for work in areassuch as electronics, carpentry and others.

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American English

Britain and America were described as nations divided by a common language. Just what is the difference between the English spoken in Britain and America?

The first English settlers to reach America arrived in Virginia in 1607 and in Massachusetts in 1620. They all spoke English of the early seventeenth century – the language of Shakespeare and Milton. Most of them came originally from the southwest of England. Although some of them had spent some years of exile in Holland they spoke with the accents of the southern part of their home country. To a large extent they kept that form of speech, but they soon learned to give old words new uses. They also took words from the local Indian languages for plants and animals that were new to them.

Until the Declaration of Independence in 1777 over two-thirds of the settlers in what later became the U.S. came from England. After that date many other people came to make a new life for themselves in the New World. These included Irish, French, Germans, Dutch, Italians, Slavs and Scandinavians. All these people gave new words to the language of North America. The Negroes who had been taken from Africa as slaves to work on the rice and cotton plantations added words and structures from their own native languages. Some people today think that the very American expression O.K. comes from a similar expression, which was brought to America by the Negroes. Although all these people contributed in various ways to the language which was to become American English, there is one man who can be singled out as the person who did the most to give American English an identity of its own. He was Noah Webster (1758-1843). He is largely responsible for the differences, which exist between British and American spelling.

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What is Economics?

Economics is a social science studying production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of goods and services. Economists focus on the way in which individuals, groups, business enterprises, and governments try to achieve efficiently any economic objective they select. Other fields of study also try to do that. Psychology and ethics try to explain how objectives are formed; history records changes in human objectives; sociology interprets human behaviour in social contexts.

Standard economics can be divided into two major fields. The first, microeconomics, explains how supply and demand in competitive markets create prices, wage rates, profit margins, and rental changes. Microeconomics assumes that people behave rationally. Consumers try to spend their income in ways that give them as much pleasure as possible. As economists say, they maximize utility. For their part, entrepreneurs seek as much profit as they can extract from their operations.

The second field, macroeconomics, deals with modern explanations of national income and employment. Macroeconomics dates from the book, The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money (1935), by the British economist John Maynard Keynes. His explanation of prosperity and depression is based on the total or aggregate demand for goods and services by consumers, business investors, and governments.

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What is “Management”?

There are a variety of views about this term. Traditionally, the term "management" refers to the set of activities, and often to the group of people, involved in four general functions, including planning, organizing, leading and coordinating activities. All these four functions are highly integrated and interrelated.

Some writers, teachers and practitioners say that the above view is rather out-of-date and that management needs to focus more on leadership skills, e.g., establishing vision and goals, communicating the vision and goals, and guiding others to accomplish them. They also say that leadership must be more facilitating, participative and empowering in how visions and goals are established and carried out. Some people say that this really isn't a change in the management functions but a new look at certain aspects of management.

Another common view is that "management" is getting things done through others. Yet another view, quite apart from the traditional view, asserts that the job of management is to support employee's efforts to be fully productive members of the organizations.

To most employees, the term "management" probably means the group of people (executives and other managers) who are primarily responsible for making decisions in the organization. In nonprofit organizations, the term "management" might refer to all or any of the activities of the board, executive director and/or program directors.

Проработав грамматический и текстовой материал, Вы можете приступить к выполнению тренировочного теста. Предварительно проверьте себя, ответив на вопросы устно.

1. Как образуется множественное число существительных в английском языке?

2. Каковы особенности правописания существительных во множественном числе, заканчивающихся на – y , на шипящие?

3. Какие существительные образуют множественное число не по общему правилу, являясь исключениями?

4. Какие существительные не изменяются при образовании множественного числа?

5. Какие существительные имеют только единственное или только множественное число?

6. Как образуются сравнительная и превосходная степени прилагательных в английском языке?

7. Какие прилагательные образуют степени сравнения не по правилу, являясь исключениями?

8. Какие союзы сравнения Вы знаете?

9. Как образуются порядковые числительные от 13 до 19, и числительные, обозначающие десятки (20,30,40 и т.д.); как сказать по-английски сотня, тысяча, миллион?

10. Как образуются порядковые числительные?

11. Помните ли Вы личные, притяжательные, указательные и вопросительные местоимения? Назовите их и переведите.

12. Каковы особенности спряжения глаголов в простом настоящем времени Simple Present? Проспрягайте любой глагол.

13. Проспрягайте глаголы to be и to have в простом настоящем времени (времени Simple Present).

14. Что такое общий и специальный вопросы? Какова их структура?

15. Какие вспомогательные глаголы используются при образовании вопросительных предложений в простом настоящем времени? С какими местоимениями они используются?

16. Что такое альтернативный и разделительный вопросы, какова их структура?

17. Как переводится оборот there is / there are; с чего лучше начинать перевод этого оборота? Какие местоимения используются в вопросительных и отрицательных формах этого оборота

18. Как образуются формы повелительного наклонения в английском языке? Какая конструкция обозначает просьбу и одновременно побуждение к совместному действию?

19. Какие суффиксы прилагательных и наречий Вы знаете?

Проверочный тест (для самоконтроля)

(ключи приведены в конце теста)

I. Напишите следующие предложения во множественном числе

1. This is a long letter.

2. That is a green pencil.

3. What colour is this sofa?

4. What is your friend’s name?

5. I am a student from Russia.

6. Where is the child now?

7. Here is the businessman’s offer.

II. Замените выделенные слова личными местоимениями в объектном падеже.

1. Translate this letter into Russian.

2. Answer these questions, please.

3. Give the customer the offer, please.

4. He doesn’t know the manager and his assistant.

5. Ask the secretary to send the offer to the firm.

6. Show my colleague and me the new model.

III. Выберите подходящие местоимения в зависимости от смысла.

1. At the lessons (they, them, their) teacher asks (they, them, their) a lot of questions and the students answer (they, them, their).

2. (We, us, our) have a children’s room. (It, its) windows are large and (it, its) is very light. (We, us, our) children like (they, them, their) room.

3. Petrov is (we, us, our) student. (I, me, my) know (he, him, his) well. (He, him, his) English is good and (I, me, my) speak only English to (he, him, his). (He, him, his) helps (we, our, us) a lot.

IV. Поставьте следующие предложения в вопросительную и отрицательную форму.

1. These engineers work at the Ministry of Foreign Trade.

2. He has got a good job.

3. He has breakfast early in the morning.

4. Jane goes to the Institute every day.

5. There are cables and telexes on the desk.

V. Укажите, к какой части речи относятся следующие слова, подчеркните встречающиеся в них суффиксы и дайте исходные формы этих слов.

Cultural, industrial, financial, famous, beautiful, fashionable, different, priceless, government, collection, painting, building.

VI. На основании следующих вопросов составьте рассказ о себе.

1. What is your name?

2. How old are you?

3. Are you married or single?