Replace the underlined verbs with different verbs that have the same meaning in the context.

1. Who is giving the lecture today?

2. Did she receive a grant for her course?

3. Is it difficult to obtain a place at university?

4. You have to pass the exams before you can enter university.

5. He’s studying physics, I think.

6. I think they’re carrying out some research into the cause of asthma.

7. I didn’t take any notes in the lecture yesterday.

8. The course goes on for three years

 

 

Read these sentences and say what each person is studying.

1. We have to know every bone in a person’s body.

2. The way we use fertilizers is much more precise than twenty years ago.

3. We’re going to concentrate on Freud and Jung this term.

4. Expressionism was really a reaction to the work of the Impressionists.

5. We’ve spent a lot of time on American foreign policy and how it has been affected by various domestic problems.

6. You must know this case — it’s one of the most famous in legal history.

7. I’ve been reading some books on time management.

 

How similar is university education in your own country? Answer these questions.

1. Do you need to pass examinations before you can go to university?

2. Do some students get a grant to study at university?

3. Is the tuition free if you go to university?

4. Do most students go to university at the age of 18 or 19?

5. Do more students go to university in your country than in Britain?

6. Do most degree courses last three years?

7. What is your equivalent of the British BA or BS?

8. Do you have similar postgraduate courses in your country?

OXBRIDGE

Oxford and Cambridge are the oldest and most prestigious universities in Great Britain. They are often called collectively Oxbridge. Both universities are independent. Only the education elite go to Oxford or Cambridge. Most of their students are former public school leavers.

The normal length of the degree course is three years, after which the students take the Degree of Bachelor of Arts (B.A.). Some courses, such as languages or medicine, may be one or two years longer. The students may work for other degrees as well. The degrees are awarded at public degree ceremonies. Oxford and Cambridge cling to their traditions, such as the use of Latin at degree ceremonies. Full academic dress is worn at examinations.

Oxford and Cambridge universities consist of a number of colleges. Each college is different, but in many ways they are alike. Each college has its name, its coat of arms. Each college is governed by a Master. The larger ones have more than 400 members, the smallest colleges have less than 30. Each college offers teaching in a wide range of subjects. Within the college one will normally find a chapel, a dining hall, a library, rooms for undergraduates, fellows and the Master, and also rooms for teaching purposes.

Oxford is one of the oldest universities in Europe. It is the second largest in Britain, after London. The town of Oxford is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 911 A. D. and it was popular with the early English kings (Richard Coeur de Lion was probably here). The university’s earliest charter is dated to 1213.

There are now twenty-four colleges for men, five for women and another five which have both men and women members, many from overseas studying for higher degrees. Among the oldest colleges are University College, All Souls and Christ Church.

The local car industry in East Oxford gives an important addition to the city’s outlook. There is a great deal of bicycle traffic both in Oxford and Cambridge.

Cambridge University started during the 13th century and has grown until today. Now there are more than thirty colleges.

On the banks of the Cam willow trees drown their branches into the water. The colleges line the right bank. There are beautiful college gardens with green lawns and lines of tall trees. The oldest college is Peterhouse, which was founded in 1284, and the most recent is Robinson College, which was opened in 1977. The most famous is probably King’s College because of its magnificent chapel, the largest and the most beautiful building in Cambridge and the most perfect example left of English fifteenth-century architecture. Its choir of boys and undergraduates is also very well known.

The University was only for men until 1871, when the first women’s college was opened. In the 1970s, most colleges opened their doors to both men and women. Almost all colleges are now mixed.

Many great men studied at Cambridge, among them Desiderius Erasmus, the great Dutch scholar, Roger Bacon, the philosopher, Milton, the poet, Oliver Cromwell, the soldier, Newton, the scientist, and Kapitza, the famous Russian physicist.

The universities have over a hundred societies and clubs, enough for every interest one could imagine. Sport is part of students’ life at Oxbridge. The most popular sports are rowing and punting.

VOCABULARY

1. prestigious — влиятельный, авторитетный, уважаемый

2. elite — элита

3. public school leavers — выпускники частных привилегированных школ (e. g. Harrow, Eton, Rugby)

4. to award a degree — присваивать степень

5. degree ceremony — церемония вручения ученых степеней, званий

6. to cling to the traditions — оставаться верным традициям

7. full academic dress — парадная форма одежды

8. coat of arms — герб

9. undergraduate — студент университета

10. fellow — младший научный сотрудник колледжа или университета

11. Master — глава колледжа

12. the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle — «Англосаксонскaя Хроника», летопись

13. AD = Anno Domini — лат. нашей эры

14. Richard Coeur de Lion — Ричард Львиное Сердце (1157—1199) (английский король с 1189 г.; последний из династии Плантагенетов)

15. charter — устав

16. overseas — заморский, заграничный (e. g. overseas students, overseas trade); overseas (adj.) is used only before noun

17. University College — Юниверсити-Колледж (основан в 1249г.)

18. All Souls — Олл-Соулз (основан в 1438г.)

19. Christ Church — Крайст-Черч (один из самых крупных аристократических колледжей Оксфордского университета; основан в 1525г.)

20. the city’s outlook — внешний вид города

21. Kings’s College — Кингз-Колледж, Королевский колледж (один из самых крупных колледжей Кембриджского университета; основан в 1441г.)

22. architecture — архитектура

23. choir — хор

24. Desiderius Erasmus — Дезидерий Эразм Роттердамский (1469—1536), гуманист эпохи Возрождения

25. Roger Bacon — Роджер Бэкон (ок. 1214—1292), английский философ; профессор в Оксфорде

26. Oliver Cromwell — Оливер Кромвель (1599—1658), деятель английской буржуазной революции XVII в.

27. physicist — физик (physicist — someone who studies physics; physician — a doctor (AmE)

 

 

TASKS: Answer the following questions:

1. What are the two famous universities often called?

2. How long does the degree course usually last?

3. What degrees can students be awarded?

4. When was Oxford University founded?

5. How many colleges are there at Oxford University now?

6. Which is the oldest college of Cambridge University? When was it founded?

7. When were women first admitted to Cambridge?

8. Do you know any great men who studied at Cambridge? What are they?

9. What are the most popular sports at Oxford and Cambridge?

10. Speak on the degrees at Oxbridge