Text 3. Academic year and stages of education

Vocabulary:

to attend lectures, attendance – посещать

to be devoted – быть посвященным

to be aimed at – быть направленным на

to write an essay, term paper, a quiz – сочинение, курсовая, тест

to assess the progress – оценивать успеваемость

to require – требовать

to complete, a completion – заканчивать

an individual tuition – индивидуальные занятия

compulsory/optional subjects – обязательные/не обязательные предметы

profound studies – глубокое изучение

advanced studies – углубленное изучение

a presentation of a thesis – написание диссертации

a proficiency – знание

The duration of academic year in American universities is usually nine months. They study from September to the end of June. Students have three semesters (terms) and holidays: Christmas, Easter and summer.

At the beginning of each term student can choose which lectures he will attend. Attendance is not compulsory, and no records of attendance are kept. Apart from lectures a system of individual tuition is organized. A tutor gives instructions in his subject at least once a week and requires him to write essays and papers.

During the term students study 5 or 6 different subjects. The progress is often assessed by quizzes, term papers and final exam in each course.

The first stage is devoted to a profound study in humanities, sciences and arts. It is aimed at providing general education. It lasts 3 or 4 years and leads to a Bachelor’s degree.

The Master’s degree requires 1 or 2 years of advanced studies and ends in a final examination or presentation of a thesis.

The Doctor’s degree is the highest academic degree. It requires minimum of two years of personal research, success in qualifying exam, proficiency in 1 or 2 foreign languages and completion of doctoral dissertation.

Answer the questions:

1. How much does the academic year last?

2. How many terms and holidays are there?

3. What do the students choose at the beginning of each semester?

4. What is tutorial system?

5. How is the progress assessed?

6. What are the main stages of education?

Translate from Russian into English.

1. В США посещаемость лекций не обязательна.

2. Этот курс посвящен получению общих знаний.

3. Второй этап обучения направлен на глубокое изучение предмета.

4. Прогресса оценивается посредствам сочинений, курсовых и тестов.

5. Степень Магистра требует два года повышенного обучения.

6. Степень Доктора требует знание одного или двух языков.

Topic: Cultural life of youth.

Text 1. Cinema.

Vocabulary:

to spend one's leisure time — проводить свое свободное время
movie audience — киноаудитория, кинозрители
predominantly — по преимуществу, главным образом
video facilities — видео-салон
to emerge — появляться, возникать
cinema-going habit — привычка ходить в кино
a settlement — поселок
adventures — приключения
grown-ups — взрослые
not without pleasure — не без удовольствия
to include — включать
feature film — художественный фильм
genre — жанр
western — вестерн
thriller — триллер
performance — сеанс
entertainment — развлечение
cinema screens — киноэкран
to dominate — превалировать, занимать ведущее место
to be fond of — любить что-либо, нравиться кому-либо
it's a pity — жаль, к сожалению
it's an open secret — ни для кого не секрет, что...
to give preference to smth. — отдавать предпочтение чему-либо
amusing adventures — забавные приключения
woman-reporter — женщина-репортер
hunter — охотник
to look down on smb. — смотреть свысока, презирать кого-либо
to rescue smb. out of smth. — спасти кого-либо
an essential feature — важная черта
to fall in love with each other — влюбиться

Cinema plays an important role in the life of any society. It is an available popular form of art. Lots of people find going to the cinema one of the best ways of spending their leisure time. The movie audience is predominantly a young one.
Due to numerous video facilities, cinema attendances have declined sharply. But there is no denying the fact that the cinema-going habit is still a strong one.
No matter how large the place you live in is (whether it's a big city or a small provincial town, or even a settlement) there's most likely to be a cinema there.
There are such genres of feature films as the western, the thriller, the musical, the drama and the comedy. The performance lasts for two or three hours and most cinemas have at least 4 performances a day. There is no doubt that a good cinema show is an excellent entertainment and quite cheap. Of late cinema screens in this country have been dominated by films produced in the USA. And this tendency is growing.
As for me, I'm fond of going to the cinema. It's a pity, I don't always have time for it. It's an open secret that we live in a very difficult time now. But people do need something amusing and pleasant, something to laugh at. That's why I give my preference to comedies. The last comedy, I saw, is «Crocodile Dandy». The film tells about amusing adventures of a young lovely woman — reporter and a strong and brave crocodile hunter. At first, their relations were not friendly. She even looked down on him and he in return neglected her. But after he rescued her out of some difficult situations, their relations became more friendly. A happy end is an essential feature of American films. The same is true of this comedy. The main characters fall in love with each other in the end of the film.

Answer the questions:

1. How do lots of people find going to the cinema?
2. Who makes up the movie audience?
3. Why have cinema attendances declined sharply?
4. Is the cinema-going habit still a strong one?
5. What genres of feature films are there?
6. How many performances have many cinemas a day?
7. What films have cinema screens in this country been dominated by?
8. Are you fond of going to the cinema?
9. In what time do we live now?
10. What do you give your preference to?
11. What does the film you saw last tell?
12. What is an essential feature of American films?

Text 2. Mass Media.

Vocabulary:

mass media — средства массовой информации
it goes without saying — само собой разумеется
integral part — неотъемлемая часть
to satisfy — удовлетворять
immense — безграничный, огромный
means of communication — средства связи
to keep up with — быть в курсе, поспевать за
vogue — мода
discovery — открытие
invention — изобретение
to appear — появляться
steady — постоянный
advantage — достоинство
disadvantage — недостаток
on the one hand — с одной стороны
mood — настроение
to be specialized in — специализироваться на
various — разный
feature film — художественный фильм
soap opera — сериал
cartoon — мультипликационный фильм
to enrich — обогащать
knowledge — знание
inner world — внутренний мир
to be focused on — быть нацеленным на
exhausted — измотанный, обессиленный
spouse — супруг, супруга
to reveal — открывать, показывать
moreover — более того
source — источник
action film — боевик
to download — загружать
spare time — свободное время
celebrity — знаменитость
harmful — вредный
screen — экран
eyesight — зрение
TV-addicted — зависимый от телевизора
progress in studies — успеваемость
to suffer — страдать
to include — включать, содержать
violent — жестокий
to have a negative influence on — оказывать негативное влияние на
psychic development — психическое развитие
enormous — огромный
advertising (ad) — реклама
useless — бесполезный
drawback — недостаток
goods — товары
pearl of beauty — эталон красоты
appearance — внешность
feeling of inferiority — чувство неполноценности
to glue — прилипать
peers — ровесники
undoubtedly — несомненно
convenient — удобный
to take into account — принимать во внимание
slave — раб
to deceive — обманывать

Nowadays information communication is an important part of our life. It goes without saying that mass media has become an integral part of modern people's life. People live with a constant necessity of getting new information. How can they satisfy their need? They may communicate with one another or just use the immense space of means of communication. People need information in order to keep up with the whole world around them — with vogue, new trends of life, discoveries and inventions. We live to learn news; we breathe and live with this.
Let's concentrate on one of mass media branches — television. As we know, it appeared much later than such kinds of mass media as radio, newspapers and magazines. Nowadays almost everybody has got at least one TV-set at home. Television now plays an important role in our life. It takes a steady place in our daily timetable. However, watching television has two sides: not only advantages but also disadvantages.
On the one hand, TV keeps people informed of current events; TV gives us wonderful possibilities for education. We can choose any programme according to our interests, mood and needs. There is a great amount of channels which are specialized in various spheres. It can be the sphere of politics, news, sports, animals, feature films, soap operas, art, talk-shows, cartoons, educational programmes, music, fashion and many others. Such channels as "History", "Discovery", "Animal Planet", "365", enrich our knowledge in different fields. There are also channels which offer to our attention some educational programmes for children and adults, for example "Happy English" — a programme focused on teaching the English language, "Memory" — a programme which offers a number of exercises for children in order to develop their memory.

The second advantage of watching television is that it gives families an opportunity to spend some time together. Nowadays adults are often too busy to give enough attention to their children. When they come home from work in the evening, so tired and exhausted, — the only possible way to relax for many is just lay on the sofa in front of TV. In such situations it's high time to choose a family comedy and see it together with your spouse and children. So, watching TV helps us to relax and forget about it all — work, worries and problems that are on our mind.
Moreover, television is a great source of entertaining. Every day there is a wide choice of films and serials on TV — detectives, dramas, comedies, action films, thrillers, horrors, cartoons and others. If you have some spare time, switch on your TV-set and see a good movie with famous and talented actors or actresses, like Johnny Depp, Robert De Niro, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts or Dakota Fanning. Nowadays you are not limited in your choice, for even if there is no film you'd like to see in a TV-programme, you can always see it on DVD or download it in the Internet. Besides, sometimes television is the only opportunity to watch concerts of world-famous celebrities, like Michael Jackson, Madonna, Pink, Britney Spears or Justin Bieber.
However, watching television has its negative side. It is well-known that television may turn to be harmful for our health. Spending too much time in front of a TV screen may affect our eyesight badly. There are many cases when children become TV-addicted. Every spare minute they try to switch the TV on. Their progress in studies suffers due to the fact that children try to do their homework as fast as they can in order to have more time for watching TV.
Moreover, nowadays some TV programmes and films include a lot of violent scenes that can have a negative influence on a child's psychic development.
Another disadvantage of television is an enormous amount of advertising. Firstly, it makes people buy some useless or unnecessary things. Bright and beautiful ads don't reveal any drawbacks of the products they advertise. So, it often turns out that the goods quality is far worse than expected. Secondly, many ads deal with the pearl of beauty — a very slim and tall girl. The result of it may be the fact that children become too much concentrated on their appearance, which may lead to depression or to the feeling of inferiority.

Finally, many children nowadays would rather spend a day glued to a TV-set than go outdoors to play with their peers.

Undoubtedly, we need TV, for it is one of the main and most convenient means of mass media. However, taking into account all its merits and drawbacks, we must try to organize our time in the right way so as not to become a TV slave.

Answer the questions:

1. What kinds of mass media do you know?
2. Have you got a TV-set at home?
3. How often do you usually watch it?
4. What are your favourite channels?
5. Do you usually watch TV alone or with your family?
6. What films do you prefer to see?
7. Do you like soap operas?
8. Are you a TV-addict?
9. Do you prefer to see films on TV or at the cinema?
10. What disadvantages of watching television can you name?

Text 3. Art.

Vocabulary:

to define – определить

to reflect – отражать

to interpret – интерпретировать, толковать

applied arts – прикладное искусство

artistic expression – художественное творчество, выражение

to exist – существовать

to relieve stress – снять стресс

subconscious – подсознание

accessible – доступный

Art is defined in encyclopedias as the process and result of making material works, which reflect beauty or reality. The 'creative arts' denote a number of disciplines whose purpose is to create material things which reflect a message, mood, and symbols for the viewer to interpret.

Art includes various forms such as prose writing, poetry, dance, acting, sculpture, painting, music, etc. The term 'arts' often means 'fine arts' — painting, sculpture, drawing, engraving. Installation art, furniture, industrial design, graphic design and others are included in applied arts. There are a variety of arts, including visual arts and design, decorative arts, plastic arts, and the performing arts. Artistic expression may take many forms: painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, music and architecture. New forms include photography, film, video art, conceptual art, performance art, land art, fashion, comics, computer art. Within each form, a wide range of genres may exist.

Of all the forms of art, I prefer painting and music. I am really interested in painting for several reasons. Firstly, it is one of the oldest forms of art. Humans have been painting for about 6 times as long as they have been writing. The oldest painting found is over 32,000 years old. Painting is a form of art which is believed by many to express feelings and ideas in the visual form. Using visual images — colours, light and shade, forms and shape, a painter makes us understand his concept of life, share his feelings and enjoy the beauty of the world. Secondly, painting offers you a wide choice of styles, it allows us to be as specific or abstract as we please. From the wide range of various art schools and styles (realism, impressionism, cubism, fauvism, surrealism, modernism, pop art, etc.) you can choose one to your liking. The art schools I prefer are realism and impressionism, as I think they depict form and mood in the most distinct and vivid way.

The second form of art I am really keen on is music. The term 'music' is difficult to define. It can be explained, for example, as the art of making pleasing combinations of sounds in rhythm, harmony and counterpoint. The music that composers make can be heard through several media; the most traditional way is to hear it live, in the presence of performers. Live music can also be broadcast over the radio, television or the internet. Firstly, music helps me relax and relieve stress. When I listen to music, classical, jazz, rap or any other type of music I enjoy, I forget about the troubles of everyday life; music provides an escape from everyday problems. Stress melts away as I am taken in by the beauty of the music. It can help me feel calm and deeply relaxed. Secondly, music affects my emotions. Each type of music sets distinct mood and changes mine. In doing so, it appeals both to my mind and to the subconscious. Whether I am feeling sad, frustrated or confused, I listen to merry or tender music, and my mood shifts.

There are many divisions and groupings of music. Among the larger genres are classical music, popular music or commercial music, country music and folk music. Classical music is sophisticated and refined, but it is a universal form of communication, it historically was the music of the upper strata of society. Popular music is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public; it is mostly distributed commercially. It is sometimes abbreviated to pop music, although pop music is more often used for a narrower branch of popular music. Pop music is usually memorable, with voices, lyrics, instruments creating catchy tunes. Pop music attracts listeners through easy sound images.