Exercise 6. Answer the questions. 1. Who can become a part-time student?
1. Who can become a part-time student?
2. What documents do students have?
3. What should one do to cope with the work-load of college?
4. What are the consequences of playing truant?
5. Why do a number of students take a postgraduate course after their fifth year at university?
Ø SPEAKING
1. Describe your first days at the university.
2. Would you compare your college life with a merry-go-round or with something else? Why?
B. Our University
Active Vocabulary
to make up one’s mind
to enter the University
to be admitted to the University
to follow one’s bent
to take a 5-year course including two compulsory languages
an option of taking a third language
compulsory subjects
optional subjects
to be equipped with, to be well-equipped, to be badly equipped
to have access to
to have at one’s disposal, to be available for
to have every opportunity to study well
to take great pains with classes
to gain knowledge
to cover a lot of material
to make a careful / thorough study of smth.
to get rid of mistakes in the shortest possible time
to read up for an exam, to revise for an exam
to get a better command of the language
to master the language
to enrich vocabulary
to do everything at the last minute
to take / do / sit an exam
to pass an exam
to fail / flunk an exam
to do badly / well at one’s exam
to have bad / good luck
to devote to
to train in smth.
the faculty of the University
to hold / give a lecture on, to lecture on, to arrange a lecture on
to hold a seminar on / in
to have tutorials on / in
to borrow books from the library
extra-curricular activities
to join a debating club
amateur groups
Read the following passage and elicit the information about Vitebsk State University.
Our University
Last year I made up my mind to become a teacher of English. It wasn’t a spontaneous decision as I had always wanted to devote my life to learning foreign languages. I passed my entrance exams to Vitebsk State University successfully and now I’m a first-year student of the English Philology Department of the Philology faculty.
Among the other departments at our university one can find the Biology Department, the Department of Physics and Maths, the Art Department, the History Department, the Law Department and so on. All in all there are 11 departments at our university which train not only teachers in different subjects but also other specialists such as lawyers, artists, philologists, ecologists, computer-programmers, sociologists, psychologists, etc. Nearly 5 thousand students study here.
The Philology faculty is the biggest one as about 600 students study here. The dean of our Faculty is a professor. There are five chairs at our faculty. The English Philology chair is held by an associate professor. The students of our department take a five-year course including two compulsory languages. We are lucky to have an option of taking a third language.
The faculty of the university consists of professors, assistant professors, senior teachers and lecturers who are highly qualified specialists. Most of them have a high academic degree. They give lectures, hold seminars and have tutorials with students on different subjects such as Practical Grammar, Practical Phonetics, Oral and Written Practice, History of English Literature, Foreign Literature, Russian Literature, Linguistics, History of Great Britain, Latin, Modern Russian and so on.
There is a very good proverb which reads “No pains, no gains” and I may say that our students take great pains with their classes to gain as much knowledge as possible. We have at our disposal a number of classrooms, computer classes with access to the Internet, an assembly hall, a canteen, a buffet where we can have a snack, two gyms and a stadium, laboratories equipped with all sorts of audio-visual aids which help us practise the pronunciation, get a better command of the language and get rid of mistakes in the shortest possible time.
There are thousands of books on different subjects and in different languages in the library which can help us enrich our vocabulary and master the language. As soon as a school-leaver is admitted to the university he is allowed to borrow from the library any book he needs. Sometimes we have a real avalanche of homework but I always try to cope with the workload. I don’t skip my classes as I understand that it is better to keep pace with the programme otherwise you may start lagging behind your groupmates and it will be much more difficult then to catch up with the others.
Our senior students may take part in the work of scholarly societies where they do their scientific research.
For those who go in for sports there are different sports clubs. For those who are fond of poetry, art, dancing, music there are different amateur groups where our students have every opportunity to develop their talents and follow their bent. So we may say that our university has all facilities for studies and extra-curricular activities.
VOCABULARY EXERCISES
Exercise 1. Find the English equivalents:
иметь в своём распоряжении, избавляться от ошибок в кратчайшее время, готовить учителей английского языка, брать книги в библиотеке, консультации по предмету, иметь возможность выбора третьего языка, усердно работать на занятиях, книги по различным предметам на различных языках, совершенствовать знание языка, быть принятым в университет, иметь всё необходимое для учёбы и внеурочной деятельности, пройти пятилетний курс обучения.