International languages and English — Интернациональные языки и Английский

There are approximately 5000 different languages and many dialects or local versions of majorlanguages in the world. The oldest written language is Egyptian, but now Egyptian is not a widelyspread language. The most popular languages are Chinese, English, Hindi, Spanish and Russian.The most difficult languages are North American Indian language of Minnesota and Oregon,Tabassaran, Esqimaux and Chinese. The simplest language is Esperanto. It was invented by aPolish doctor, Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof in 1887. This language was invented to be a worldlanguage because of its simplicity, but now only 10 millions people speak Esperanto. Now the worldlanguage is English. It is one of 7 international languages, one of 6 languages of the UnitedNations, common language of NATO, aviation language and the first language of internationalsport. English is an official language of UK, America, Canada, Australia and other English-speaking countries. But English in the UK is not the only language people are speaking. There are a lot ofminority languages in the UK. There are about 80000 Gaelic speakers and over half a million Welshspeakers. There are also some other languages that had come with the emigrants. Theselanguages are: Bengali, Turkish, Gujarati, Spanish, Greek, Urdu, Punjabi, Chinese, Italian, Arabic,French and Portuguese. There is also a great amount of dialects of English. There are some idiomsconnected with languages: pidgin English – dialect, spoken by people, who came to Great Britainfrom Papua New Guinea and the Far East for trading; broken English means badly spoken, corrupted language; Queen’s English – correct, clear and intelligible English. English belongs to theIndo-European language family, more exactly, to the West Germanic subgroup of the Germaniclanguages.

What makes a person educated? — Что делает человека образованным?

Of course we get education at school. The activities of the school day afford different chances forpupil’s self-perfection. They provide many opportunities for deeper study and developing ourtalents. But school lays only the base, the foundation of our education. Here we get only necessaryknowledge and after graduating the school we can continue studying in the universities, institutes orsomewhere else. Not only school makes us educated persons. Reading books and press is alsovery important. It enriches our outlook, broadens the boundaries of our intellect, offers theopportunities to read the latest news and political discussions. TV also gives us wonderful andeffective possibilities for education. Due to mass media we become better informed by watchingdocumentaries, science programs and discussions. It is the principal role of after-school activities todeepen our knowledge in different subjects. Besides regular schools there are a lot of clubs, wherechildren get education and good habits. There are different groups, where children can succeed inthe field they are particularly interested in. Art clubs, Drama and history clubs and groups, studyingforeign languages, are among them. Educational excursions can be also useful in developing thepupil’s intellect. Nature hikes help to explore the world around us. To my mind if we want to besuccessful in our studies we must have the number of positive qualities of character. First of all wehave to be attentive at the lessons. Attention always helps to acquire profound knowledge and tounderstand the material better. To make progress in all subjects we should be hard-working andpersistent persons. Strong-willed and industrious people can stand up all difficulties and hardshipsand they have a purpose in life. So if we want to be well educated, we ought to have all thesequalities in ourselves, only in these conditions we can succeed in our studies. I think that all peopleshould be educated, because it is very useful and important. Educated persons are always ready tofind a good job, they usually have a bright career. Besides, it is also much better to talk toeducated, cultured and extraordinary person. I consider knowledge to be the really great power andthat is why we must always increase it.

The Career Ladder — Карьерная лестница

Getting a job

When Paul left school he applied for (= wrote an official request for) a job in the accountsdepartment of a local engineering company. They gave him a job as a trainee (= a very juniorperson in a company). He didn’t earn very much but they gave him a lot of training (= organisedhelp and advice with learning the job), and sent him on training courses.

Note: Training is an uncountable noun, so you cannot say ‘a training’. You can only talk abouttraining (in general), or a training course (if you want to refer to just one). Here you can use theverbs do or go on: I did/went on several training courses last year.

Moving up

Paul worked hard at the company and his prospects (= future possibilities in the job) looked good.After his first year he got a good pay rise (= more money), and after two years he was promoted (=given a higher position with more money and responsibility). After six years he was in charge of
(= responsible for/the boss of) the accounts department with five other employees (= workers in thecompany) under him (= under his responsibility/ authority).

Leaving the company

By the time Paul was 30, however, he decided he wanted a fresh challenge (= a new excitingsituation). He was keen to work abroad, so he resigned from his company (= officially told thecompany he was leaving his job; you can also say ‘he quit the company’) and started looking for anew job with a bigger company. After a couple of months he managed to find a job with aninternational company which involved (= included) a lot of foreign travel. He was very excited aboutthe new job and at first he really enjoyed the travelling, but…

Hard times

After about six months, Paul started to dislike the constant moving around, and after a year hehated it; he hated living in hotels, and he never really made any friends in the new company.Unfortunately his work was not satisfactory either and finally he was sacked (= told to leave thecompany/ dismissed/given the sack) a year later.

After that, Paul found things much more difficult. He was unemployed (= out of work/without a job) for over a year. He had to sell his car and move out of his new house. Things were looking bad andin the end Paul had to accept a part-time job (= working only some or the day or some of the week) on a fruit and vegetable stall in a market.

Happier times

To his surprise, Paul loved the market. He made lots of friends and enjoyed working out in the openair. After two years, he took over (= took control of) the stall. Two years later he opened a secondstall, and after ten years he had fifteen stalls. Last year Paul retired (= stopped working completely) at the age of 55, a very rich man.

Карьерная лестница

Получение работы

После окончания школы Пол написал заявление о приеме на работу (applied for) в отдел бухгалтерии местной инженерной компании. Они взяли его на обычную должность с целью обучения. Он зарабатывал немного, но получал очень хорошее обучение, и его направили на специальные курсы.

Примечание: Training (обучение), является неисчисляемым существительным, так что вы нельзя сказать ‘a training’. Вы можете говорить об этом только в общем или же можно сказать ‘a training course’, если вы имеете в виду что-то конкретное. Здесь можно использовать глагоы do или go on: I did/went on several training courses last year — в прошлом году я посещал несколько разных курсов.

Повышение

Пол усердно работал в компании и у него были хорошие перспективы. Через год работы его зарплату значительно повысили, а через два года его повысили в должности. Через шесть месяцев его назначили начальником бухгалтерии, с шестью работниками под его руководством.

Увольнение

Когда Полу было 30, ему нужно было новое испытание. Ему очень хотелось работать за границей, и он уволился из своей компании. Он стал искать себе новую работу в более крупной компании. Через пару месяцев ему удалось найти работу в международной компании, занимающейся путешествиями. Он был очень захвачен новой работой, он в первый раз по-настоящему получил удовольствие от путешествия, но…

Тяжелые времена

Примерно через шесть месяцев Полу стали надоедать постоянные поездки, через год он уже просто ненавидел их. Он ненавидел проживание в гостиницах, в новой компании у него никогда не было настоящих друзей. К сожалению, его работа также не удовлетворяла компанию, так что через год его уволили.

После этого Полу было очень трудно. Он был безработным более года. Ему пришлось продать машину и переехать из своего нового дома. Дела шли плохо, и в конце концов Полу пришлось согласиться работать неполный рабочий день в фруктово-овощном ларьке на рынке.

Хорошие времена

К своему удивлению, Полу понравилась работа на рынке. У него появилось много друзей, и ему нравилась работа на открытом воздухе. Через два года, он взял под контроль работу ларька. Еще через два года он открыл второй ларек, а через десять лет их у него было уже пятнадцать. В прошлом году Пол вышел на пенсию в возрасте 55 лет очень богатым человеком.

Questions: 1. What does your job involve?
2. Are you responsible for anything or anyone?
3. Have you had much training from the company?
4. Have the company sent you on any training courses?
5. Have you been promoted since you starred in the company?
6. Do you normally get a good pay rise at the end of each year?
7. How do you feel about your future prospects in the company?
8. Are you happy in the job or do you feel it is time for a fresh challenge in another company?

Vocabulary: apply for a job — подавать заявление о приеме на работу
trainee — практикант, стажер
to earn — зарабатывать, получать доход
prospects — перен., часто мн. перспектива; виды, планы на будущее
pay rise — повышение заработной платы
to promote — выдвигать; продвигать; повышать в чине/звани

 

Business Trips

Never before in the history of the world have businessmen traveled as much as they do today. It isnot surprising because we are living in a world of growing international trade and expandingeconomic and technical cooperation. Though it is fascinating for tourist travelling, it has become themost tiring of all occupations for many businessmen and experts. Therefore, choosing acomfortable hotel to stay at is a matter of big importance. There are plenty of good hotels, motelsand guest houses in the world, which are conviently located in major business centers.

Many developing countries, such as India, Egypt, Nigeria, Lybia, etc have excellent hotels. Theirnumerous facilities include both large and small cocktail bars, barber’s shops and conference hallsequipped with simultaneous, multilingual translation systems. There are parking areas which canaccomodate a lot of cars. It might be useful for travelling businessmen and tourists to know thattailor shops, shoe repair shops, laundry and dry cleaning services are available for guests. Peoplein the office help guests to book train or steamer tickets and rent a car. They are also ready to giveall necessary information. Nowadays people who go on business mostly travel by air as it is thefastest means of travelling. Passengers are requested to arrive at the airport 2 hours before thedeparture time on international flights and an hour on domestic flights, as there must be enoughtime to complete the necessary airport formalities.Passengers must register their tickets, weigh andregister the luggage.

Most airlines have at least 2 classes of travel: first class and economy class which is cheaper. Eachpassenger of more than 2 years of age has a free luggage allowance. Generally this limit is 20kg foreconomic class passenger and 30kg for first class passenger. Excess luggage must be paid forexcept for some articles that can be carried free of charge. Each passenger is given a boardingcard to show at geparture gate and again to the stewardess when boarding the plane. Watch theelectric sign flashes when you are on board, when the «Fasten Seat Belts» sign goes on do itpromptly and also obey the «No Smoking» signal. Do not forget your personal effects when leavingthe plane.

World of Jobs

We spend great part of our lives at our jobs, so choosing a right career is one of the most importantdecisions you will make in your life. Many students finish high school and begin college without aclear idea of what they want to do in future. Part of the problem is the size of the job market itself.With so many kinds of jobs (2000) how can you tell which will interest you? Some of occupationsare already overcrowded. In old industries there may be little need for new workers, while new andgrowing industries will offer jobs now and in the future. Therefor, it is extremely important to exploreyour choice of occupations from every angle, collect as much information as you can. But above allyou must evaluate yourself. Find out where your interests and talents lie. Postponing a decision isan error people make. «I’ll get started tomorrow or next week, or next year,» — many people think.These people refuse to face the problem, hoping it will go away. But if you don’t take the first stepnow, how can you plan for the future, how can you take the right way? Such people miss manyopportunities. First start with yourself, make a list of your interests, talents and abilities. Most peoplehave a lot of these, but at the beginning they are undeveloped and may not seem outstanding. Byconcentrating on a few, or on one you may surprise yourself at how good you can get. The interestinventory that follows covers the major fields in which most people find careers: science, art, socialservice, business, sales and so on. Sometimes we say that someone we know is ‘a square peg in around hole’. This means that person we are talking about is not suited for the job he is doing.Unfortunately, many people in the world are ‘square pegs’. But to be a ‘square peg’ is not a realproblem, a real problem for millions of people is to be unemployed. Unemployment especially hitspoor and working class families the hardest, not because this people are more likely to beunemployed, but because they don’t have financial resource to fall back on. Unemployment existsprimarily for two reasons: first — the existence of millions of unemployed people tends to presentmost of those working from asking for higher wages since they can be replaced easily, second — intheir search for profits, corporations are interested in finding the cheapest labor. As for our countrymore than 10% of our people are unemployed. There is no lack of work force in Russia, but at theresent moment the need for professional workers is increasing. Old industries are overcrowded andit is hard to get new education for people whose age is 35-40 years. The problem of unemploymentis also connected with the economic crisis in our country. And I think when this crisis comes to anend the problem of unemployment will not be so urgent.

Art and culture

The Oxford Advancer Learner`s Dictionary of Current English by Hornby givesus the following definition of the notion «art». «»Art» is the creation orexpression of what is beautiful, especially in visual form. Drawing, painting,sculpture, architecture, literature, music, ballet belong to the fine art».

Art, Museums and Galleries

People reflect their lives in art. Real, live art appeals to the heart and mind of every person, to their feelings and ideals, it proclaims life. Art is truthful only when it serves life, only when the artist hopes to arouse a warm response in the heart of a person. That was the case in the days of Giottoand Raphael, that was the case in the subsequent stages of the world’s artistic development, andthat was the truthful relationship of art and life in the days of Renato Guttuso and Rockwell Kent. Artbelongs to people.

The history of art from the Renaissance to our days confirms this. It is close contact with the life ofthe nation that gives artists’ work its power.

One can see masterpieces of old and modern art in various picture galleries and museums. Thereis nearly a thousand museums in Russia, many of them are world famous. The largest collection ofRussian art is the Tretyakov Art Gallery in Moscow. It is a real treasury of canvases by prominentRussian painters. It contains priceless collections of icons, 17—20th century paintings andsculptures and contemporary Russian paintings and sculpture.

One of the largest and most remarkable museums of the world is the Hermitage, more than threehundred halls housing its exhibitions of articles of the greatest artistic value. The museum’scollections now comprise works of various periods in the development of art, from ancient times upto the present day. Famous painters from different countries are represented there.

The Russian Museum in St. Petersburg is another picture gallery which contains the richestcollection of Russian paintings of 18-19th centuries and the best collection of Russian sculpture.

In the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow the art of the Ancient East and Western Europe isrepresented. This museum possesses a unique collection of copies of the finest sculptures of theold time. It is in this museum that many famous foreign expositions of fine art are displayed almostevery year.

Oscar

It is well-known that Oscars are awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It isa professional honorary organization composed of over 6,000 motion picture artists and craftsmenand women. The Academy was organized in May, 1927, as a nonprofit corporation chartered underthe laws of California.

A popular story has been that an Academy librarian and eventual executive director, MargaretHerrick, thought the statuette resembled her Uncle Oscar and said so, and that as a result theAcademy staff began referring to it as Oscar. No hard evidence exists to support that tale, but inany case, by the sixth Awards Presentation in 1934, Hollywood columnist Sidney Skolsky used thename in his column in reference to Katharine Hepburn’s first Best Actress win. The Academy itselfdidn’t use the nickname officially until 1939.

The Oscar is a tin and copper statuette of a naked man holding a sword and standing on a reel offilm. The award weighs 8 1/2 pounds and is plated with gold. Since the list of winners is kept secretuntil the telecast, the awards handed out on television are blanks. The Academy reclaims thestatuettes the morning after the telecast and has them engraved before they are shipped back tothe anxious recipients. The personalized engraving is on a small plaque attached to the pedestal onwhich Oscar stands. The engraving includes the year, the award category and the name of therecipient. Each statuette is also engraved with a serial number on the back of its base.

Since its conception, the Oscar statuette has met exacting uniform standards — with a few notableexceptions. In the 1930s, juvenile players received miniature replicas of the statuette; ventriloquistEdgar Bergen was presented with a wooden statuette with a moveable mouth; and Walt Disneywas honored with one full-size and seven miniature statuettes on behalf of his animated featureSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Between 1942 and 1944, in support of the war effort, Oscarswere made of plaster. After the War, winners turned in the temporary awards for golden Oscarstatuettes.