Аракин. Учебник английского языка для студентов языковых специальностей. Аракин. Учебник английского языка для студентов языковых специал. Практический курс английского языка 4 курс Под редакцией В. Д. Аракина
 Скачать 2.25 Mb.
|
|
8. Degrees: the Associates' degree — the Associate of Arts (AA.), the Associate of Science (A.S.) — is usually awarded at a community or junior college upon completion of 2 years of study — it represents the same level as completion of the first two years of a four-year college or university and students with A.A. or A.S. may transfer to four-year institutions. The Bachelors degree normally requires 4 years of academic study beyond the high school diploma: the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), the Bachelor of Science (B.S.); the Bachelor of Education (B. Ed.); the Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.), etc. The Master's degree — programs leading to the degree usually require 1 or 2 years of advanced study in graduate-level courses and seminars. Frequently a thesis is required or a final oral or written examination. (M.A. — the Master of Arts, etc.) The Doctor's degree — usually the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) equal to the Soviet candidate of Science, Philology, etc.) — the highest academic degree, it requires a minimum of 2 years of course work beyond the Master's degree level, success in a qualifying examination, proficiency in one or two foreign languages and/or in a research tool (such as statistics) and completion of a doctoral dissertation. 9. SAT — the Scholastic Aptitude Test (in mathematics and verbal ability) used since 1947: 1600 scores — a good result; 400 scores — poor. The SAT is taken in the-11th grade of high school. (About 1,5 million students take it yearly.) Many educators point out that SAT scores are related to family income — the higher the income, the higher the SAT scores and certain minorities have not scored well because of low incomes and bad schools. SAT can be taken two or three times (in the the 11th and 12th grades), generally proceeded by PSAT (preliminary), a test to give students a warm-up exercise for the SAT and indicate their probable SAT scoring range. ACT — the American College Testing program — is similar to SAT but scores social studies and the natural studies. The ACT is taken when required by certain colleges or universities. (About 200,000 students take this test yearly.) Both tests are widely used in the admission process of US colleges and universities. Their results are sent to the colleges or universities to which the students have applied. ACT is meant to be taken only once. Achievement tests — special tests in a discipline required by some colleges for admission. "TOEFL" stands for the Test of English as a Foreign Language. This test is used to measure your English language proficiency. If you are applying to a college or university, your TOEFL scores will help the admission staff determine if your skills are adequate for enrollment into the program of study you have selected. 10. Academic Year is usually nine months duration, or two semesters of four and a half months each. Classes usually begin in September and end in July. There are summer classes for those who want to improve the grades or take up additional courses. During one term or semester, a student will study, concurrently, four or five different subjects. The students' progress is often assessed through quizzes (short oral or written tests), term papers and a final examination in each course. Each part of a student's work in a course is given a mark which helps to determine his final grade. A student's record consists of his grade in each course. College grades, determined by each instructor on the basis of class work and examinations, are usually on a five-point scale, with letters to indicate the levels of achievement. A — is the highest mark, indicating superior accomplishment, and the letters go through B, C, D to E or F which denotes failure. Many schools assign points for each grade (A = 5, B = 4, etc.) so that GPA (grade point average) may be computed. Normally, a minimum grade point average (3.5 points) is required to continue in school and to graduate. 11. Student Financial Aid — sums of money for students who need financial aid to attend college. When a family applies for aid, an analysis is made of the parents’ income; Financial Aid is normally awarded as part of a package: part grant (a grant needn't be repaid, parts of which might come from several sources: federal, state, private scholarship, college scholarship); part loan (to be repaid after college); part work (colleges normally expect students on aid to earn some of the money they need by working summers on the camps). 12. Students Union. There are several national nongovernmental associations of students. The largest and most active has been the United States National Student Association, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. (USNSA). A great deal of the cultural and recreational life at a university is created and conducted by student groups. They sponsor or participate in concerts, plays, debates, forums and festivals. They have various clubs, film societies, jazz groups, newspapers, magazines, radio stations, athletic events. At many universities, the centre of these social and cultural out-of-class activities is the Students Unjpn. Some community colleges or universities maintain major resident facilities, fraternity and sorority houses, and students unions. There are also a large number of national fraternities and sororities with chapters (branches) at almost 500 colleges and universities. These organizations, Greek letter societies, are descendants of the 18th century library and social dubs which flourished in the early American colleges. No society has more than one chapter hi any one college. While those societies are secret in character there is seldom any overemphasis of ritual or mystery in their conduct The Greek alphabet is generally used in naming the fraternity, sorority or a chapter. It has become quite the practice for students of a particular fraternity to reside together during then-college course in their "chapter" house. Students who live outside the colleges or universities live hi cooperatives (cooperative housing associations providing lodgings), rooming houses or apartment complexes. 13. How to Write an Essay. The ability to write well-organized, concise essays is essential. The material must be presented hi logical order and clear language. An essay consists of a number of paragraphs. Here are some hints on paragraph writing: 1) There are paragraph introducers which are sentences that establish the topic focus of the paragraph as a whole. The topic sentence hi the paragraph contains a key idea. 2) There are paragraph developers which present examples or details of various kinds to support the ideas of the topic sentence. 3) There are sometimes viewpoints or context modulators, which are sentences that provide a smooth transition between different sets of ideas. 4) There are paragraph terminators or restatement sentences, which logically conclude the ideas discussed hi the paragraph. To be able to write a good essay you must realize that your essay should be relevant to the set topic hi both content and focus; the essay should be the result of wide reading, taking notes, looking things up, sorting out information, theories and ideas, and coming to well-thought-out conclusions... An essay consists of a number of paragraphs which may be sorted into functional groups such as introductory, developmental, transitional, summarising. Depending upon the purpose or intent of the writer, particular paragraphs may be thought of as aiming to persuade, inform, argue, or excite. Paragraphs may also be classified according to such techniques of development as comparison, contrast, description, classification, generalisation, etc. In linking paragraphs together the transitional devices may be the following: 1) the use of a pronoun instead of the above mentioned nouns; 2) repetition of the key word or phrase used in the preceding paragraph; 3) the use of transitional words or phrases and connectives. The following connectives and transitional phrases are particularly useful in an essay writing: first, second, etc.; next, finally, eventually, furthermore, meanwhile; because of, for; as, and since; thus, therefore, as a result, and so; at the same time, but; and (in order) to, so (that); and for, yet, nevertheless, nonetheless, however; whereas, while; on the other hand; in contrast, unlike; similary, also, too, both; obviously; etc. In essay writing the following hints concerning the language may be helpful: — restrictions upon the vocabulary. Words and phrases labelled colloquial, familiar, vulgar, slang are excluded as inappropriate. Abbreviations, contracted verbal forms, colloquial abbreviations of words (such as ad, vac, exam, etc.) should not be used; — preference should be given to concrete words rather than abstract (instead of walk — more specific stroll, shuffle, trot, etc.); — wider use of phrasal verbs should be made; — overused adjectives, adverbs, cliches should be avoided; — idioms should be used with care; — features of academic style should be preserved: lengthier and more complex paragraphs; the approach to the material is analytical, objective, intellectual, polemical; the academic writer's tone is serious, impersonal, formal rather than conversational, personal, colloquial; the academic writer makes frequent use of passive forms of the verbs; impersonal pronouns and phrases; complex sentence structures; specialized vocabulary; — one must be aware that there are differences in style and usage between disciplines and topics set. A model paragraph development by contrast: BRITISH AND AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES British and American universities are similar in their pursuit of knowledge as a goal but are quite different in their organization and operation. English universities and colleges, because of their selective intake, are relatively small. American universities, which combine a number of different colleges and professional schools, are large, sometimes with 20,000 to 25,000 students on one campus. Teacher training colleges and polytechnics are alternatives to the university course for some students in England, being established for specific purposes. In contrast, virtually all schools of education, engineering and business studies, are integral parts of universities in the United States. In England universities receive about 70% of their financial support through Parliamentary grants. Similarly, in the United States, public institutions receive about 75% of their funds from local, state, and federal sources, but private colleges and universities receive little or no government support. In England, personal financial aid is provided by the government to over 80% of the students through local educational authorities according to the parents' income. In the US student's aid is administered by the university or the sponsoring agency and is provided by private organizations and the state or federal governments. Obviously British and American universities have similar educational aims but different means of achieving those aims. 14. Buzz group — small groups of 3-5 persons to enact a simultaneous discussion of a motion. Each group has to work out and note down all possible arguments in favour of its motion including defences against points that might be brought up by the opposition. It also has to work out the presentation of this material (who will put which argument and how), using every member of the group. The result of the discussion within a buzz group is to be reported by one of its members to the whole group.  Unit Three TOOLS FOR EVALUATING A STORY Any work of fiction consists of relatively independent elements — narration, description, dialogue, interior monologue, digressions, etc. Narration is dynamic, it gives a continuous account of events, while description is static, it is a verbal portraiture of an object, person or scene. It may be detailed and direct or impressionistic, giving few but striking details. Through the dialogue the characters are better portrayed, it also brings the action nearer to the reader, makes it seem more swift and more intense. Interior monologue renders the thoughts and feelings of a character. Digression consists of an insertion of material that has no immediate relation to the theme or action. It may be lyrical, philosophical or critical. The interrelation between different components of a literary text is called composition. Most novels and stories have plots. Every plot is an arrangement of meaningful events. No matter how insignificant or deceptively casual, the events of the story are meant to suggest the character's morals and motives. Sometimes a plot follows the chronological order of events. At other times there are jumps back and forth in time (flashbacks and foreshadowing). The four structural components of the plot are exposition, complication, climax and denouement. Exposition contains a short presentation of time, place and characters of the story. It is usually to be found at the beginning of the story, but may also be" interwoven in the narrative by means of flashbacks, so that the reader gradually comes to know the characters and events leading up to the present situation. Complication is a separate incident helping to unfold the action, and might involve thoughts and feelings as well. Climax is the decisive moment on which the fate of the characters and the final action depend. It is the point at which the forces in the conflict reach the highest intensity. Denouement means "the untying of a knot" which is precisely what happens in this phase. Not all stories have a denouement. Some stories end right after the climax, leaving it up to the reader to judge what will be the outcome of the conflict. The way a story is presented is a key element in fictional structure. This involves both the angle of vision, the point from which the people, events, and other details are viewed, and also the words of the story. The view aspect is called the focus or point of view, and the verbal aspect the voice. It is important to distinguish between the author, the person who wrote the story, and the narrator, the person or voice telling the story. The author may select a first-person narrative, when one of the characters tells of things that only he or she saw and felt. In a third-person narrative the omniscient author moves in and out of peoples thoughts and comments freely on what the characters think, say and do. Most writers of the short story attempt to create characters who strike us, not as stereotypes, but as unique individuals. Characters are called round if they are complex and develop or change in the course of the story. Flat characters are usually one-sided, constructed round a single trait; if two characters have distinctly opposing features, one serves as a foil to the other, and the contrast between them becomes more apparent. Round and flat characters have different functions in the conflict of the story. The conflict may be external, i.e. between human beings or between man and the environment (individual against nature, individual against the established order/values in the society). The internal conflict takes place in the mind, here the character is torn between opposing features of his personality. The two parties in the conflict are called the protagonist and his or her antagonist. The description of the different aspects (physical, moral, social) of a character is known as characterization when the author describes the character himself, or makes another do it, it is direct characterization. When the author shows the character in action, and lets the reader judge for himself the author uses the indirect method of characterization. The particular time and physical location of the story form the setting. Such details as the time of the year, certain parts of - the landscape, the weather, colours, sounds, or other seemingly uninteresting details may be of great importance. The setting can have various functions in a given story: 1) it can provide a realistic background, 2) it can evoke the necessary atmosphere, 3) it can help describe the characters indirectly. The author's choice of characters, events, situations, details and his choice of words is by no means accidental. Whatever leads us to enter the author's attitude to his subject matter is called tone. Like the tone of voice, the tone of a story may communicate amusement, anger, affection, sorrow, contempt. The theme of a story is like unifying general idea about Life that the entire story reveals. The author rarely gives a direct statement of the theme in a story. It is up to the reader to collect and combine all his observations and finally to try to formulate the idea illustrated by the story. The most important generalization the author expresses is sometimes referred to as the message. The message depends on the writer's outlook, and the reader may either share it or not. There are no hard and fast rules about text interpretation but one is usually expected to sum up the contents and express his overall view of the story. The following questions will be useful in the analysis if a story. COMPOSITION AND PLOT; FOCUS; VOICE What are the bare facts of the story? What is the exposition, complication, climax and denouement? Are the elements of the plot ordered chronologically? How does the story begin? Is the action fast/slow moving? Which episodes have been given the greatest emphasis? Is the end clear-cut and conclusive or does it leave room for suggestion? On what note does the story end? Is the plot of major or minor importance? Does the author speak in his own voice or does he present the events from the point of view of one of the characters ? Has the narrator access to the thoughts and feelings"of all the characters? — Only a few? Just one? Is the narrator reliable? Can we trust his judgement? Is there any change in the point of view? What effect does this change have? Is the narrative factual/dry/emotional? Are the events credible or melodramatic? |