Учебнометодическое пособие Петрозаводск 2010 ббк 81. 2Англ удк 811. 11 Г 613 Рецензенты
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2) Write a summary of the text. 3.16 The President of the USA 1) Do you know who the current President of the USA is? Is he a Democrat or a Republican? Do you know anything about his educational, ethnic or social background? 2) Read and translate the first text into Russian. Do you want to be president of the United States of America? Maybe you can apply for a job. Answer these three questions. Are you a U.S. citizen? Are you thirty five years old or older? Have you been a resident of the United States for fourteen years or longer? Did you say “yes” to all three questions? Then you can take the first steps to the White House. You become President for a term. A term is four years. You can only serve two terms. This means that you can only be President twice. This became law in 1951. Before that, the law was different. In fact, Franklin D. Roosevelt became president in 1933. He was still President when he died in 1945. He was President for twelve years. No one was President longer than he was. As President of the United States, you earn $200,000 a year. You also get extra $50,000 for expenses, tax free. You have your own limousine, jet, and housekeepers, all free. You also live rent free, in the White house, D.C. And you are Head of the richest country in the world. Presidents of the United States are very different people. Twenty two were lawyers, four soldiers, four farmers, four teachers, two writers, two businessmen, one tailor, and one actor. Eight of them didn’t have a college education! 3) Read and translate the second text and indicate the differences between the two texts. Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson, the second President of the United States, even at his best did not make an impressive appearance. Yet, though a very ineffective public speaker, he charmed everybody in conversation, and he wrote with greater literary skill than any president before or since, with the exceptions of Abraham Lincoln and Woodrow Wilson. More than that, he was a genius. Besides being a politician and a diplomat, he was an architect, educator, inventor, scientific farmer, and philosopher-scientist. As a shrewd and practical politician, he was excelled by no other president, though he was equaled by Lincoln and by Franklin D. Roosevelt. 3.17 George Washington 1) What do you know of George Washington? What was he (politician, farmer, military officer, inventor, president, commander-in chief)? How does the country commemorate him? George Washington was the first President of the United States of America. He was born on February 22, 1732 in Virginia. At the age of 20 he became an adjutant in the Virginia militia. In 1759, he married Martha Dandridge Castes, a widow, and settled down as a gentleman farmer at Mount Vernon, Virginia. From 1759 to the outbreak of the American Revolution, Washington managed his lands around Mount Vernon and served in the Virginia House of Burgesses. When the Second Continental Congress took place in Philadelphia in May 1775, Washington, one of the Virginia delegates, was elected Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. On October 19, 1781 the war against British influence was over, but the Nation was not functioning well. So Washington became the prime mover in the steps leading to the Constitutional Congress at Philadelphia in 1787. Two years later he was elected President. He was the head of the country for eight years (1789-1797). George Washington died of a throat infection in Virginia on December 14, 1799. For months the Nation mourned him. 2) Decide which of the following sentences may be included into this text: a) George Washington, the president-elect, had presided at the convention; b) He received the votes of all the presidential electors from the states; c) Washington was inaugurated on April 30; d) The responsibilities of the first president were greater than of any president to follow; e) President Washington selected department heads and other high officials who were qualified by character or experience and who supported the Constitution; f) As President, George Washington thought it was his duty to see that the laws of Congress, if constitutional, were carried out, g) A man of strong will, George Washington was the master of his own administration; h) George Washington, forty-three years old, responsible by nature, had more command experience than any other American-born officer available and he had political as well as military qualifications; i) As early advocate of independence, he was admired and trusted by nearly all the Patriots; j) A Virginian, he had the support not only of Southerners but also of Northerners. He took command in June 1775. 3.18 John Kennedy 1) Put the following paragraphs in the proper order to get a cohesive text. 2) What facts of the Kennedy’s family do you know? Write down a few sentences about the Kennedys. (1) On November 22nd, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed. He was riding in an open car through the streets of Dallas, Texas. (2) After having survived World War II, John Kennedy returned home to Massachusetts. His older brother did not. Joseph Kennedy Junior was killed in the war. The Kennedy family had always believed Joe Junior would someday become President of the United States. After his death, that goal fell to his younger brother. In 1946, John Kennedy was elected to the United States House of Representatives, and served until 1952. Then he was elected senator from Massachusetts. He served in the Senate until 1960 when he was elected President. (3) He joined the United States Navy during World War Two and was commander of a small attack boat in the South Pacific Ocean. A Japanese ship destroyed the boat. Two of the men were killed. The others swam to a nearby island, where John Kennedy spent the next four days searching for help. The crew was rescued. Later, Kennedy was honored for saving the life of one of his crewmen. (4) His death ended the time in American politics that has been known ever since as “Camelot.” Jacqueline Kennedy named the years of her husband’s presidency after the imaginary time of peace and good will in ancient Britain. She said her husband liked the song from the musical play called “Camelot”. (5) John Kennedy graduated from Harvard University in 1940. His final paper became the best selling book, “Why England Slept.” 3) Put the given sentences into the proper places in the text:
3.19 HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES 1) Decipher the abbreviations: A.A., B.A., B.S., M.A., M.S., M.B.A., M.F.A., PhD, M.D. or D.O., J.D., D.V.M. 2) Explain the terms in English: a stipend, tuition-free education, a fund, a scholarship, a student loan, a grant, a scholarship, endowment. According to statistics, the United States have the second largest number of higher education institutions in the world. The US have also the highest number of higher education students in the world. Public universities, private universities, liberal arts colleges, and community colleges all have a significant role in higher education in the United States. Colleges and universities in the US vary in terms of goals: some may emphasize a vocational, business, engineering, or technical curriculum while others may emphasize a liberal arts curriculum. Two-year colleges (community colleges) usually offer the associate’s degree such as an Associate of Arts (A.A.). They often have open admission with low tuition. Four-year colleges (which usually have a larger number of students and offer a greater range of studies than two-year colleges) offer the bachelor’s degree, such as the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor of Science (B.S.). These are usually primarily undergraduate institutions, although some might have limited programs at the graduate level. Many students earn an associate’s degree at a two-year institution before transferring to a four-year institution for another two years to earn a bachelor’s degree. Four-year institutions in the US which emphasize the liberal arts are liberal arts colleges. These colleges traditionally emphasize interactive instruction. They are known for being residential and for having smaller enrollment, class size, and teacher-student ratios than universities. These colleges also encourage a high level of teacher-student interaction at the center of which are classes taught by full-time faculty rather than by graduate student teaching assistants. Most of them are private. Universities are research-oriented institutions which provide both undergraduate and graduate education. For historical reasons, some universities – such as Boston College, Dartmouth College, and the College of William & Mary – have retained the term “college,” while some institutions granting few graduate degrees, such as Wesleyan University, use the term “university.” Graduate programs grant a variety of master’s degrees – such as the Master of Arts (M.A.), Master of Science (M.S.), Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.), or Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) – in addition to doctorates such as the Ph.D. Some universities have professional schools, which are attended primarily by those who plan to be practitioners instead of academics (scholars / researchers). Examples include journalism school, business school, medical schools (which award either the M.D. or D.O.), law schools (J.D.), veterinary schools (D.V.M.), and dental schools. A common practice is to refer to different units within universities as “colleges” or “schools” (what is referred to in other countries as “faculties”). Some colleges may be divided into “departments”– such as an anthropology department within a college of liberal arts and sciences within a larger university. The American university system, like the primary and secondary education system, is largely decentralized. Such a degree of autonomy in higher education is rare. Except for the United States service academies and staff colleges, the federal government does not directly regulate universities, although it can give federal grants to them. The majority of public universities are operated by the states and territories, usually as part of a state university system. Each state supports at least one state university and several support many more. Public universities often have a large student body, with introductory classes numbering in the hundreds and some undergraduate classes taught by graduate students. Tribal colleges operated on Indian reservations by some federally recognized tribes are also public institutions. Many private universities also exist. Among these, some are secular while others are involved in religious education. Tuition is charged at almost all American universities, except 1) the five federally-sponsored service academies, in which students attend free and with a stipend in exchange for a service commitment in the U.S. armed forces after graduation; and 2) a few institutions where offering tuition-free education is part of their mission. Public universities often have much lower tuition than private universities because funds are provided by state governments and residents of the state that supports the university. Students often use scholarships, student loans, or grants, rather than paying all tuition out-of-pocket. Several states offer scholarships that allow students to attend free of tuition or at a lesser cost. Most universities, public and private, have endowments. The largest endowment is that of Harvard University. The majority of both liberal arts colleges and public universities are coeducational; the number of women’s colleges and men’s colleges has dwindled in past years and nearly all remaining single-sex institutions are private liberal arts colleges. There are historically black colleges and universities, both private and public. American universities have developed independent accreditation organizations to vouch for the quality of the degrees they offer. The accreditation agencies rate universities and colleges on criteria such as academic quality – the quality of their libraries, the publishing records of their faculty, and the degrees which their faculty holds. According to numerous surveys, the top US universities include:
The following private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States (called the Ivy League) are also ranked prestigious worldwide – they are Harvard, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Princeton, Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, and Dartmouth College. They are known for academic excellence, selectivity in admission, and social elitism. Strong research and funding have helped make American colleges and universities among the world’s most prestigious, which is particularly attractive to international students, professors and researchers in the pursuit of academic excellence. According to the Ranking of World Universities, more than 30 of the highest-ranked 45 institutions are in the United States. 3) Agree or disagree with the statements: a) The US higher education is more prestigious than the Russian one. b) To become a doctor, one needs to graduate from the university. c) The degree “PhD” means “a physician.” d) Students don’t pay for their higher education in the US public universities. e) A college is smaller than a university in the USA. f) In the USA women and men study separately to get higher education. g) Cambridge is one of the US’ most prestigious universities. 4) Name the difference in the establishment of Russian and American universities. 3.20 CULTURE OF THE UNITED STATES 1) What comes to your mind first when you hear the words “American culture”? What cultures, do you think, influenced American culture most of all? American culture is a Western culture, with influences from Europe, Canada, the Native American peoples, African Americans and young groups of immigrants. The United States has traditionally been known as “a melting pot,” but recent academic opinion is tending towards cultural diversity, pluralism and the image of “a salad bowl” rather than a melting pot. Due to the extent of American culture there are many integrated but unique subcultures within the United States. The strongest influences on American culture came from northern European cultures, most prominently from Germany, Ireland and England. It is important to bear in mind that the United States of America is highly diverse, by way of region. There is also marked diversity within regions, especially in urban areas. The South is entirely different from the Northeast, which is itself in many ways foreign to the Mid-West, which adheres to an entirely different cultural attitude than the West. There really isn’t any single “American” attitude, or “American” style for the simple reason that the country is so extraordinarily diverse. The formative years of the United States were the late 18th century when the country was founded, and a great deal of American culture is couched in the ideals of the Enlightenment. The Declaration of Independence’s mission statement about securing life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; the French Revolution’s ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity; and the national motto “E pluribus Unum” (“From many, one”) reflect the country’s values and social development. Another primary influence on American culture is the constant stream of new immigrants, many of whom have fled persecution or oppression in their home countries, and are seeking freedom (including religious freedom) and economic opportunity, leading them to reject totalitarian practices. By and large, Americans value the ideals of individual liberty, individualism, self-sufficiency, altruism, equality, Judeo-Christian morals, free markets, a republican form of government, democracy, populism, pluralism, feminism, and patriotism. |