Task 2. Work with a partner. Look at the dialogue and discuss what Alex and Brian say about the following subjects.
a. the difficulty of learning the basics of social sciences
b. the concepts central to sociology
c. the importance of social order
d. the correlation between social order and social norms
Task 3. Match the Russian word combinations in the left-hand column with the English equivalents in the right-hand column. There is one extra you don’t need. Make up five sentences making use of the word combinations from the list.
| 1. | общественныенауки | A. | central to Sociology |
| 2. | понятияитермины | B. | issues under discussion |
| 3. | общественноеустройство | C. | system of values |
| 4. | недоступно моему пониманию | D. | fundamental and academic |
| 5. | основной для социологии | E. | socialsciences |
| 6. | сохранять, поддерживать и проводить в жизнь | F. | lectures on Sociology |
| 7. | фундаментально и научно | G. | promotesocialcontrol |
| 8. | институты, модели общения и обычаи | H. | social order |
| 9. | лекции по социологии | I. | reproduce the conditions |
| 10. | необходимый для существования | J. | the outcast of society |
| 11. | имущественные отношения, соотношения сил, коммуникационные связи | K. | essentialforexistence |
| 12. | система ценностей | L. | concepts and terms |
| 13. | коллективно используемые социальные нормы | M. | conserve, maintainandenforce |
| 14. | управлять нормами общественного поведения | N. | institutions, patterns of interactions and customs |
| 15. | способствовать общественному контролю | O. | sharedsocialnorms |
| 16. | воспроизводитьусловия | P. | beyondmyunderstanding |
| 17. | изгойобщества | Q. | property and power relations, communication relations |
| R. | togovernsociety’sbehaviors |
Dialogue 2
Read and translate the following dialogue.
State and Society
| A. | Good morning, Brandon. Haven’t seen you for ages! You take part in the conference, don’t you? |
| B. | Good morning, Alice. I’m very glad to meet you again. Yes, I am one of the speakers. The issues under discussion seem to be of vital importance for our society. |
| A. | If you don’t object I’d like to clarify some points. It’s common knowledge the society consists of a large number of individuals, families, groups and institutions. The early political thinkers considered both state and society as one. State is a part of society but is not a form of society. Am I right? |
| B. | Yes, that’s true.There are a number of differences between state and society.To begin with, state came into existence after the origin of the society. Society is prior to the state. In addition, state has a fixed territory, whereas the territory of society has no limit. |
| A. | I guess I can expand on the idea. It’s worth mentioning the scope of state is limited, while that of society is much wider.Moreover, the organization of state is political, but society is a social organization. And at last, in legislative terms, state possesses power to enforce laws, and lacks such power. |
| B. | Can I butt in? Prof. Earnest Barker in his book entitled "Principles of Social and Political Theory" clearly brings out the difference between state and society under three headings.They are purpose, organisation and method. |
| A. | Could you be more specific, please? If I’m not mistaken, the state is a legal association, which acts for the single purpose of making and enforcing a permanent system of law and order. However, society comprising of a plurality of associations, acts for a variety of purposes other than legal. |
| B. | Right you are! These purposes embrace intellectual, moral, religious and economic aspects. The state exists for one great but single, purpose; society exists for a number of purposes some great and some small. |
| A. | So, from the point of view of organization the state has a single structure - legal, whereas society comprises within itself many organizations. As regards method, I can point out that the state employs the method of coercion or compulsion, and society adopts the voluntary action approach. |
| B. | I think we’ve touched a lot of major points today. Let’s have a rest, shall we? |
| A. | Well, Brian, thank you very much for putting me into the picture. |
| B. | Don’t mention it. I’m at your service. |
Task 1. Report the dialogue. Use the following reporting verbs:
| Ø to acknowledge that | Ø to explain that |
| Ø to surmise that | Ø to find out if/whether |
| Ø to admit | Ø to guess if/whether |
| Ø to conclude | Ø to indicate that |