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Lesson 8 COLLEGE LIFE

INTRODUCTORY READING AND TALK

The mery-go-round of college life is something that one never forgets. It"s a fascinating, fantastic, fabulous experience, ir-respective of the fact whether one is a full-time or a part-time stu-dent.

Who can forget the first day at the university when one turns from an applicant who has passed entrance exams into a first-year student? I did it! I entered, I got in to the university! A solemn cere-mony in front of the university building and serious people making speeches. Hey, lad, do you happen to know who they are? Who? The rector, vice-rectors, deans, subdeans... and what about those la-dies? Heads of departments and senior lecturers? Okay. Some of them must be professors, some - associate or assistant professors, but, of course, all of them have high academic degrees. And where are our lecturers and tutors? Oh, how nice...

The monitors hand out student membership cards, student record books and library cards - one feels like a real person. First celebra-tions and then days of hard work. So many classes, so many new subjects to put on the timetable! The curriculum seems to be devel-oped especially for geniuses. Lectures, seminars and tutorials. Home preparations; a real avalanche of homeworks.

If one can not cope with the work load of college he or she im-mediately starts lagging behind. It is easier to keep pace with the programme than to catch up with it later. Everyone tries hard to be, or at least to look, diligent. First tests and examination sessions. The first successes and first failures: "I have passed!" or "He has not given me a pass!" Tears and smiles. And a long-awaited vacation.

The merry-go-round runs faster. Assignments, written reproduc-tions, compositions, synopses, papers. Translations checked up and marked. "Professor, I have never played truant, I had a good excuse for missing classes ". Works handed in and handed out . Reading up for exams . "No, professor, I have never cheated - no cribs . I just crammed ".

Junior students become senior. Still all of them are one family - undergraduates. Students" parties in the students" clab. Meeting people and parting with people. You know, Nora is going to be ex-pelled and Dora is going to graduate with honours. Yearly essays, graduation dissertations, finals...

What? A teacher"s certificate ? You mean, I"ve got a degree in English? I am happy! It is over! It is over... Is it over? Oh, no...

A postgraduate course, a thesis, an oral, and a degree in Phi-lology. The first of September. Where are the students of the fa-culty of foreign languages? Is it the English department? Oh, how nice...

1. Say a few words about your university: say what it is called, speak about its faculties and their specializations.

2. Would you compare college life with a merry-go-round or with some-thing else?

3. What do you think of the first months at the university?

4. They say that it is a poor soldier who does not want to become a gen-eral. Name the steps of the social ladder which a student must pass to climb up to the position of the rector. Use the words from the list below, placing one word on one step.

Dean, assistant lecturer, head of department, vice-rector, asso-ciate professor, assistant professor, subdean, professor.

○ TEXT

Ruth at College

(Extract from the book by A. Brookner "A Start in Life". Abridged)

The main advantage of being at college was that she could work in the library until nine o"clock. She was now able to feed and clothe herself. She had, for the moment, no worries about money. In her own eyes she was rich, and it was known, how, she did not understand, that she was not on a grant," did not share a flat with five others, did not live in a hall of residence, and took abundant baths, hot water being the one element of life at home.

There was also the extreme pleasure of working in a real library, with access to the stacks. The greed for books was still with her, al-though sharing them with others was not as pleasant as taking them to the table and reading through her meals. But in the library she came as close to a sense of belonging as she was ever likely to en-counter. 2

She was never happier than when taking notes, rather elaborate notes in different coloured ball-point pens, for the need to be doing something while reading, or with reading, was beginning to assert it-self. Her essays, which she approached as many women approach a meeting with a potential lover, were well received. She was heart-broken when one came back with the words "I cannot read your writing" on the bottom.

She bought herself a couple ofpleated skirts, like those worn by Miss Parker;* she bought cardigans and saddle shoes 3 and thus found a style to which she would adhere for the rest other life.

* Miss Parker - Ruth"s teacher at school.

The days were not long enough. Ruth rose early, went out for a newspaper and some rolls, made coffee, and washed up, all before anybody was stirring. She was the neatest person in the house. As she opened the front door to leave, she could hear the others gree-ting the day from their beds with a variety of complaining noises, and escaped quickly before their blurred faces and slippered feet could spoil her morning. She was at one with the commuters at the bus stop. 4 There would be lectures until lunch time, tutorials in the afternoon. In the Common Room there was an electric kettle and she took to supplying the milk and sugar. 5 It was more of a home than home had been for a very long time. There was always some-one to talk to after the seminar, and she would take a walk in the evening streets before sitting down for her meal in a sandwich bar at about six thirty. Then there was work in the library until nine, and she would reach home at about ten.

"But don"t you ever go out?" asked her friend Anthea. For she was surprised to find that she made friends easily. Needing a foil or acolyte for her flirtatious popularity, she had found her way to Ruth unerringly; 6 Ruth, needing the social protection of a glamorous friend, was grateful. Both were satisfied with the friendship although each was secretly bored by the other. Anthea"s conversation con-sisted either of triumphant reminiscences - how she had spumed this one, accepted that one, how she had got the last pair of boots in Harrod"s sale, how she had shed five pounds in a fortnight - or rec-ommendations beginning "Why don"t you?" Why don"t you get rid of those ghastly skirts and buy yourself some trousers? You"re thin enough to wear them. Why don"t you have your hair properly cut? Why don"t you find a flat of your own? You can"t stay at home all your life.

These questions would be followed rapidly by variants beginning "Why haven"t you?" Found a flat, had your haircut, bought some trousers. It was as if her exigent temperament required immediate results. Her insistent yet curiously uneasy physical presence inspired conflicting feelings in Ruth, 7 who was not used to the idea that friends do not always please.

By the end of the second year a restlessness came over Ruth, impelling her to spend most of the day walking. The work seemed to her too easy and she had already chosen the subject for her disserta-tion: "Vice and Virtue in Balzac"s Novels". Balzac teaches the su-preme effectiveness of bad behaviour, a matter which Ruth was be-ginning to perceive. The evenings in the library now oppressed her; she longed to break the silence. She seemed to have been eating the same food, tracing the"same steps for far too long. 8 And she was lonely. Anthea, formally engaged to Brian, no longer needed her company.

Why don"t you do your postgraduate work in America? I can"t see any future for you here, apart from the one you can see yourself.

Ruth took some of Anthea"s advice, had her hair cut, won a scholarship from the British Council which entitled her to a year in France working on her thesis, and fell in love. Only the last fact mattered to her, although she would anxiously examine her hair to see if it made her look any better. Had she but known it, her looks were beside the point; 9 she was attractive enough for a clever woman, but it was principally as a clever woman that she was at-tractive. She remained in ignorance of this; for she believed herself to be dim and unworldly and had frequently been warned by Anthea to be on her guard. "Sometimes I wonder if you"re all there," 10 said Anthea, striking her own brow in disbelief.

She did this when Ruth confessed that she was in love with Richard Hirst, who had stopped her in the corridor to congratulate her on winning the scholarship and had insisted on taking her down to the refectory for lunch. Anthea"s gesture was prompted by the fact that Richard was a prize beyond the expectations of most women and certainly beyond those of Ruth. 11 He was one of those exceptionally beautiful men whose violent presence makes other men, however superior, look makeshift. Richard was famous on at least three counts. 12 He had the unblemished blond good looks of his Scandinavian mother; he was a resolute Christian; and he had an ulcer. Women who had had no success with him assumed that the ulcer was a result of the Christianity, for Richard, a psychologist by training, was a student counsellor, 13 and would devote three days a week to answering the telephone and persuading anxious under-graduates.

Then Richard would wing home to his parish and stay up for two whole nights answering the telephone to teenage dropouts, 14 battered wives, and alcoholics. There seemed to be no end to the amount of bad news he could absorb.

Richard had been known to race off on his bicycle to the scene of a domestic drama and there wrestle with the conscience of an abusive husband, wife, mother, father, brother, sister.

He was rarely at home. He rarely slept. He never seemed to eat. His ulcer was the concern of every woman he had ever met in his adult life. His dark golden hair streamed and his dark blue eyes were clear and obdurate as he pedalled off to the next crisis.

Into Ruth"s dazed and grateful ear he spoke deprecatingly of his unmarried mothers and his battered wives. She thought him exem-plary and regretted having no good works to report back. 15 The race for virtue, which she had always read about, was on.

So Ruth took more of Anthea"s advice and found a flat for her-self.

Proper Names

Ruth - Рут

Anita Brookner ["ni:t "brkn] - Анита Брукнер

Miss Parker -мисс Паркер

Anthea [n"] - Антия

Harrod"s ["hrdz] - Хэрродз

Balzac - Бальзак

Brian - Брайан

British Council [brt "kansl] - Британский Совет

Richard Hirst ["rd "h:st] - Ричард Херст

Scandinavian [skndnevjn] - скандинавка

Christian ["krstjn] - христианин

Vocabulary Notes

1. ... and it was known, how, she did not understand, that she was not on a grant... - и она не понимала, откуда было известно, что стипендию она не получала...

2. But in the library she came as close to a sense of belonging as she was ever likely to encounter. - Но именно в библиотеке она, как нигде больше, ощущала себя на своём месте.

3. saddle shoes - двухцветные кожаные туфли

4. She was at one with the commuters at the bus stop. - Она вместе со всеми пассажирами стояла на автобусной остановке.

5. In the Common Room there was an electric kettle and she took to supplying the milk and sugar. - В общем зале был электриче-ский чайник, и у неё появилась привычка приносить молоко и сахар.

6. Needing a foil or acolyte for her flirtatious popularity, she had found her way to Ruth unerringly ... - Ей нужна была тень, фон, на котором она, кокетливая и популярная девушка, была бы заметна, и её выбор безошибочно остановился на Руг...

7. Her insistent yet curiously uneasy physical presence inspired con-flicting feelings in Ruth ... - Её постоянное, но до странности беспокойное физическое присутствие вызывало противоре-чивые чувства и было в тягость...

8. She seemed to have been eating the same food, tracing the same steps for far too long. - Казалось, что она слишком долго занималась одним и тем же, слишком долго шла по нака-танной дорожке.

9. Had she but known it, her looks were beside the point... - Знала бы она, что то, как она выглядела, не имело никакого значения...

10. Sometimes I wonder if you"re all there ... - Иногда я думаю, в своём ли ты уме...

11. ... that Richard was a prize beyond the expectations of most women and certainly beyond those of Ruth. - ... что Ричард был слишком хорош для большинства женщин, и ух, конечно, слишком хорош для Рут.

12. ... on at least three counts - ... по крайней мере, по трём при-чинам...

13. ... was a student counsellor - ... был куратором студентов... (Прим.: куратор - советник, воспитатель)

14. ... to teenage dropouts ... - ... подросткам, бросившим шко-лу...

15. ... and regretted having no good works to report back. - ... и жа-лела, что в ответ она не может рассказать о чём-то хорошем, что она сделала.

Phonetic Text Drills

○ Exercise 1

Transcribe and pronounce correctly the words from the text.

Grant, to share, residence, access, to encounter, elaborate, ball-point pen, to assert, cardigan, blurred, commuter, foil, acolyte, flirtatious, unerringly, triumphant, reminiscence, ghastly, exigent, temperament, conflicting, dissertation, post-graduate, scholarship, thesis, ignorance, gesture, makeshift, unblemished, resolute, ulcer, psychologist, counsellor, abusive, battered, exemplary.

○ Exercise 2

Pronounce the words and phrases where the following clusters occur.

Could work, it was known, hot water, at one, satisfied with, that one, would wing, battered wives, good works.

Able, pleasure, table, likely, couple, pleated, saddle, kettle, supplying, entitled, at least, good looks, blue.

Extreme, approach, greeting, electric, streets, would reach, surprised, protection, grateful, trousers, streamed, presence, oppressed, break, tracing, principally, attractive, striking, brow, congratulate, prize,undergraduates, drama, brother, crisis.

4. plosive + plosive

Bought cardigans, made coffee, front door, escaped quickly, would be, would take, had got, fact, refectory, would devote.

○ Exercise 3

Comment on the phonetic phenomena in the following clusters.

1. Chosen the subject, did this, confessed that, all there, be-yond those, assumed that the ulcer.

2. That she, greed for books, bought herself, could hear, blurred faces, slippered feet, asked her friend, found her way, had shed, had your hair, second year, don"t you.

3. Through, three.

○ Exercise 4

Say what kind of false assimilation one should avoid in the following clus-ters.

1. Of being, of working, of belonging, of complaining, of tri-umphant, of boots, of his.

2. Was still, as taking, as close, as she, which she, like those, was stirring, was the neatest.

○ Exercise 5

Transcribe the following words with negative prefixes.

Uneasy, unerringly, disbelief, unblemished, unmarried.

○ Exercise 6

Transcribe and intone the questions. Compare the intonation pattern of a general and a special question.

"But "dont you "ever "go / out?" | asked her friend An,thea. ||

Why dont you "find a "flat of your \own? ||

Comprehension Check

1. What was the main advantage of being at college?

2. Why did Ruth consider herself rich?

3. What did Ruth like about working in the library?

4. What did Ruth do while reading?

5. How did Ruth change her image?

6. When did Ruth leave for the university?

7. How did Ruth spend her day in the college?

8. Why did Ruth and Anthea become friends?

9. What sort of questions would Anthea ask?

10. What change took place at the end of the second year in Ruth?

11. What did Ruth do to find a new style of life?

12. When did Anthea say that she was not sure whether Ruth was all there?

13. What kind of gesture accompanied Anthea"s words and what did it imply?

14. What did Richard Hirst look like?

15. What kind of responsibilities did Richard have?

16. What kind of lifestyle did Richard have?

17. What did Richard speak of into Ruth"s ear?

18. What did Ruth think and do?

EXERCISES

Exercise 1

Find in the text words denoting:

A short piece of writing on one particular subject that is written by a student;

A class, usually at college or university, where the teacher and the students discuss a particular topic or subject;

A long essay that a student does as part of a degree;

Financial aid that the government gives to an individual or to an organisation for a particular purpose such as educa-tion, welfare, home, improvements;

A student at a university or college who has not yet taken his or her first degree;

A person who has a first degree from a university and who is doing research at a more advanced level;

Someone who has left school or college before they have finished their studies;

A long piece of written research done for a higher university degree, especially a PhD*;

Money given to a student to help pay for the cost of his or her education;

A regular meeting in which a tutor and a small group of stu-dents discuss a subject as part of the students" course of study;

A block of flats where students live;

A person who travels to work in town every day, especially by train;

A large dining hall in a university.

* PhD - doctor of Philosophy (an academic degree, approximately equal to "кандидат наук" in Russia).

Exercise 2

Make up all possible derivatives from the stems of the verbs below.

Share, assert, adhere, complain, bore, accept, require, inspire, oppress, prompt, absorb, wrestle, report.

Exercise 3

Pronounce the words correctly and comment on the shift of meaning in the pairs of 1) one-stem nouns and adjectives; 2) one-stem verbs and nouns.

Exercise 4

Pick out from the text 1) nouns, denoting different types of classes at the university; 2) nouns, denoting money support for students; 3) nouns, deno-ting types of written works done by students.

Exercise 5

Give the English equivalents for the following and use them in sentences of your own.

A.

Получать стипендию; студенческое общежитие; страсть к чтению; читать за едой; делать пометки; придер-живаться чего-либо; семинар; немедленные результаты; тема дипломной работы; учиться в аспирантуре; последо-вать совету кого-либо; выиграть стипендию; работать над диссертацией; иметь значение для кого-либо; признавать; по образованию; не ложиться спать целую ночь; погло-щать (знания, информацию); достойный подражания.

В .

Не волноваться о деньгах; вместе жить в квартире с кем-либо; огромное удовольствие; встречать день; помя-тое лицо; ноги в шлёпанцах; испортить утро; войти в при-вычку; пойти куда-нибудь; подружиться; безошибочно; скучать; состоять из чего-либо; требовать; вызывать чув-ства; принуждать к чему-либо; влюбиться; иметь успех у кого-либо.

Exercise 6

Explain the meaning of the following English words or phrases and say how the corresponding notions in Russian differ from the English ones.

A dissertation, a thesis, postgraduate work, a tutorial, a grant, a scholarship, an essay, an undergraduate, a student counsellor, a commuter, a hall of residence.

Exercise 7

Complete the sentences.

1. The main advantage of being at college was that...

2. It was known that Ruth ...

3. There was also the extreme pleasure of ...

4. She was never happier than when ...

5. She found a style to which ...

6. As she opened the front door to leave ...

7. There would be lectures until lunch time ...

8. In the Common Room there was an electric kettle and she ...

9. It was more of a home than ...

10. Needing a foil or acolyte for her flirtatious popularity, Anthea ...

11. By the end of the second year ...

12. The work seemed to her too easy and she ...

13. She seemed to have been eating the same food ...

14. Ruth took some ofAnthea"s advice ...

15. Ruth confessed that...

16. Richard was a prize beyond ...

17. Richard, a psychologist by training, was ...

18. There seemed to be no end to ...

19. She thought him exemplary and ...

20. So Ruth took more ofAnthea"s advice and ...

Exercise 8

Complete the sentences choosing the appropriate word or phrase from the list. Change their form if necessary.

To have no worries about something; in one"s own eyes; a hall of residence; read through one"s meals; to adhere to some-thing; to be at one with somebody; to go out; to make friends; to find one"s way to somebody.; to get rid of something; to need somebody"s company; beside the point; to be on one"s guard; on three counts; no end to something; the concern of somebody.

1. A communicative person ... with other people very quickly and feels at ease in any company.

2. It is important ... a definite style when choosing clothes; otherwise one risks looking strange.

3. Police ask people ... when strangers approach them, try to make contact with them or ask favours of them.

4. Sharing a room with other people, one has ... all bad habits: smoking, scattering things here and there, coming late.

5. Having passed the exam, she grew .... The exam was very difficult and being through with it meant success.

6. The teacher tried... a little boy in primary school; she spoke with him, made him speak and play too, but he remained aloof and constrained.

7. The child seemed not ... ; he liked to stay all by himself, with no companions to play with.

8. Most British students live either in ... or share flats with other students.

9. In the evening most British students .... They go to pubs, discos or just walk around with their friends.

11. The athlete"s physical power was almost.... It was his men-tal discipline that really made him a champion.

12. There was ... her friend"s advice: she always had new ideas and poured them out incessantly.

13. Her success rested ...: she was President of Students" Soci-ety, she had only excellent marks and she won a scholar-ship from the British Council.

14. Hurrying up to the university in the morning, she ... all the rest of the students: she was an integral part of this moving mass.

15. His constant failures soon became ... every lecturer. No-body knew what to do in a situation like this.

16. She ... domestic chores: her mother and grandmother did everything in the house.

Exercise 9

Put in the missing prepositions.

1. The teacher demanded that the students should take notes ... coloured ball-point pens.

2. Being a psychologist... training, Richard devoted his life to solving other people"s problems.

3. Not everyone likes to share a flat ... somebody: it disturbs one"s privacy.

4. Working... her thesis, Ruth learned many interesting facts.

5. The mother always grumbled when her daughter was rea-ding ... her meals.

6. The commuters were at one ... the bus stop, and every per-son felt as if he or she were an integral part of the crowd.

7. Ruth could not understand why a certain restlessness came ... her.

8. Ruth did not have any worries ... money, because she lived at home with her parents.

9. It was very easy to choose subjects ... dissertations; the pro-fessor offered a long list of topics.

10. She would never sit down ... her meal without a book, which, of course, was a bad habit.

11. One day the lecturer returned Ruth"s essay with an inscrip-tion ... the bottom.

12. Ruth"s greed ... books kept her working in the library until nine o"clock.

13. As there was a kettle in the Common Room, some students took ... bringing tea and coffee.

14. The girls were bored ... each other, because they were too different.

15. A lot of students at the university were ... grants, which meant that their studies were subsidized by the govern-ment.

16. The girl decided that she would adhere ... a classical style of dressing; she thought it suited her better.

17. Those who win scholarships from the British Council are usually entitled ... half a year abroad.

18. Ruth remembered the day when she met Richard Hirst ... the rest of her life.

19. The girl"s talks always consisted ... stories, reminiscences and gossip.

20. Richard congratulated all students ... all possible occasions, as he was a student counsellor.

Exercise 10

Find in the text sentences with the words or expressions given below, translate them into Russian and ask your classmates to translate them back into English.

To be on a grant; a hall of residence; greed for books; elaborate notes; to be well received; a tutorial; a seminar; the second year; the subject for one"s dissertation; postgraduate work; to work on one"s thesis; to examine; winning the scholarship; by training; an undergraduate; to stay up for two whole nights; to absorb; to report back.

Exercise 11

Explain in what connection the following sentences and phrases occur in the text.

1. She was now able to feed and clothe herself.

2. She was not on a grant.

3. The greed for books was still with her.

4. She was never happier than when taking notes.

5. Her essays were well received.

6. She found a style to which she would adhere for the rest of her life.

7. It was more of a home than home had been for a very long time.

8. She had found her way to Ruth unerringly.

9. Each was secretly bored.

10. Her exigent temperament required immediate results.

11. A restlessness came over Ruth.

12. She was lonely.

13. Ruth took some ofAnthea"s advice.

14. Her looks were beside the point.

15. She was in love with Richard Hirst.

16. Richard was famous on at least three counts.

17. There seemed to be no end to the amount of bad news he could absorb.

18. She thought him exemplary.

19. The race for virtue was on.

Exercise 12

Read and translate. Use the italicized structures in sentences of your own.

1. There would be lectures until lunch time. She would reach home at about ten. She would take a walk in the evening streets. She would anxiously examine her hair. Richard would devote three days a week to answering the telephone.

2. Ruth was not used to the idea that friends do not always please.

3. Needing a foil or acolyte for her flirtatious popularity, she had found her way to Ruth unerringly; Ruth, needing the social protection of a glamorous friend, was grateful.

4. She seemed to have been eating the same food, tracing the same steps for far too long. He never seemed to eat.

Exercise 13

Work in pairs. Fill in the gap in the dialogue frame with phrases from the list below. Express surprise, annoyance, disagreement. Give your reasons.

Why don"t you ... ?

work in the library, read through your meals, live in the hall of residence, share a flat with five others, go out, choose the subject for your dissertation, do your postgraduate work in America, work on your thesis, take notes in different-coloured ball-point pens, feed and clothe yourself, fall in love, devote three days a week to studying English, take some of some-body"s advice, win the scholarship, find a flat for yourself, stay up for whole nights reading up for exams, congratulate some-body on winning the scholarship, find a style to which you would adhere for the rest of your life.

Possible responses: Список учебников

Ярослава Мудрого (зав. кафедрой , доцент , кандидат филологических наук Е. Ф. Жукова) доцент кафедры английской филологии № 2 Санкт -Петербургского государственного университета М. В. Сорокина...

Today is your first day at the university. You finished school three months ago. You, an applicant, passed the entrance exams (they were certainly competitive) and became a first-year student. Or maybe you worked full-time and you"ve come here to get further education, and start the process that leads to a better job. Is tuition free for you? How lucky you are." Or perhaps you have to pay tuition. Whatever your background is, you have entered the university? The Teachers" Training University? The Medical University? the Technical University? The Art School? Does it make any difference? Congratulations! You"ve got your student membership card, student record book and library card. You feel great! And you do hope you will make a good teacher or a doctor or an engineer or you"ll become a famous painter after graduating from the university.
You meet lots of people at the faculty: first-year students, (they are your fellow-students), second-year students, senior students, postgraduates who sometimes look down on junior students; professors, associate and assistant professors, senior lecturers, lecturers, tutors, heads of departments, subdeans, the dean. What respectable people! To say nothing of the rector or the vice-rectors!
Whether you are a full-time or a part-time student, you are excited and confused. Finding classrooms is a great puzzle. Standing in a queue at the library is a great bore. Or is it great fun? Have you got any problems juggling your class schedule and your social life? The first term means hard work. There are so many lectures, seminars, and tutorials. Homework is a real avalanche. You wonder who developed the curriculum. Based on my own experience and on lots of interviews with successful graduates, I"ve worked out a no-fail system for coping with college life.
Do you know why some students not only succeed in it but also get a scholarship every term, graduate with honours, take a postgraduate course to get a degree in Philology, Pedagogy, Medicine or Science and some students drop out? Anyone who spends at least one term in College notices that students give up their classes. The person who sits behind you begins to miss classes or fails to do the assignment, talks through the lecture, doodles in his notebook during the lecture and everything goes in one ear and out the other. He is happy only during the break. At last he starts lagging behind, He can"t keep pace with the programme and has to catch up with it later. In the end he fails the examination while the others pass it. He doesn"t want anybody to cram him for an examination. His groupmates think he may be expelled from the faculty some day. Who knows? Do you know the difference between students like this and the ones who do well in college? My survey may be non-scientific but everyone 1 asked said the same thing: attitude. A positive attitude to your studies is the key to everything else — getting good marks, handing in all these written assignments: compositions, essays, synopses and other papers on time, coping with the work load of college and looking forward to your teacher handing them out. Getting their papers back students should remember that they are given an A (excellent) for 90-100% correct answers, a B (good) for 80-89%, a C (satisfactory) for 70-79 %, a D (unsatisfactory) for 65-69 %, and it will be an F (failing) for less than 65%.
What does "a positive attitude" mean? It means not only showing up for your class but also doing something while your are there. Really listen. Take notes.

The merry-go-round of college life is something that one never forgets. It"s a fascinating, fantastic, fabulous experience, ir­respective of the fact whether one is a full-time or a part-time stu­dent.

Who can forget the first day at the university when one turns from an applicant who has passed entrance exams into a first-year student? I did it! I entered, I got in to the university! A solemn cere­mony in front of the university building and serious people making speeches. Hey, lad, do you happen to know who they are? Who? The rector, vice-rectors, deans, subdeans... and what about those la­dies? Heads of departments and senior lecturers? Okay. Some of them must be professors, some - associate or assistant professors, but, of course, all of them have high academic degrees. And where are our lecturers and tutors? Oh, how nice...

The monitors hand out student membership cards, student record books and library cards - one feels like a real person. First celebra­tions and then days of hard work. So many classes, so many new subjects to put on the timetable! The curriculum seems to be devel­oped especially for geniuses. Lectures, seminars and tutorials. Home preparations; a real avalanche of homeworks.

If one can not cope with the work load of college he or she im­mediately starts lagging behind. It is easier to keep pace with the programme than to catch up with it later. Everyone tries hard to be, or at least to look, diligent. First tests and examination sessions. The first successes and first failures: "I have passed!" or "He has not given me a pass!" Tears and smiles. And a long-awaited vacation.

The merry-go-round runs faster. Assignments, written reproduc­tions, compositions, synopses, papers. Translations checked up and marked. "Professor, I have never played truant, I had a good excuse for missing classes ". Works handed in and handed out . Reading up for exams . "No, professor, I have never cheated - no cribs . I just crammed ".

Junior students become senior. Still all of them are one family - undergraduates. Students" parties in the students" clab. Meeting people and parting with people. You know, Nora is going to be ex­pelled and Dora is going to graduate with honours. Yearly essays, graduation dissertations, finals...

What? A teacher"s certificate ? You mean, I"ve got a degree in English? I am happy! It is over! It is over... Is it over? Oh, no...

A postgraduate course, a thesis, an oral, and a degree in Phi­lology. The first of September. Where are the students of the fa­culty of foreign languages? Is it the English department? Oh, how nice...

1. Say a few words about your university: say what it is called, speak about its faculties and their specializations.

2. Would you compare college life with a merry-go-round or with some­thing else?

3. What do you think of the first months at the university?

4. They say that it is a poor soldier who does not want to become a gen­eral. Name the steps of the social ladder which a student must pass to climb up to the position of the rector. Use the words from the list below, placing one word on one step.

Dean, assistant lecturer, head of department, vice-rector, asso­ciate professor, assistant professor, subdean, professor.

Exercise 1

The curriculum at the faculty of history consists of several sub­jects which all students must study. Make a list of these subjects. In class speak about your favourites and the ones you dislike(d). Explain to your partners why you enjoy(ed) or don"t (didn"t) enjoy them.

Exercise 2

When do we say the following about people? Give answers, using the pat­tern.

Pattern: She never misses classes.

We say, "She never misses classes" if she attends classes regularly.

1. Nick has a good command of English.

2. Richard has done well in his exams.

3. Donna lags behind the group.

4. Brenda keeps up with the rest of the group.

5. Susan has failed in her exam.

6. Ray is burning the midnight oil.

7. Sara can"t learn English just by picking it up.

8. David and Steve never disrupt classes.

9. Max never cribs at exams.

10. Brandon lacks fluency.

11. Helen is fond of playing truant.

Exercise 3

Name at least two or three situations that cause you feel the emotions listed below.

Pattern: I find talking about things that don"t interest me boring.

Ifind writing long tests annoying.

boring embarrassing depressing confusing exciting amusing worrying annoying

Attending lectures (seminars, classes)

Reading up (for)

Making reports

Writing essays

Doing one"s homework

Correcting mistakes

Translating from Russian into English (from English into Russian)

Rendering texts

Doing exercises

Listening to the tapes

Transcribing and intoning

Working on one"s thesis

Participating in class

Missing classes

Disrupting classes

Coming late to one"s classes (lectures, exams)

Cheating (in exams and tests)

Taking examinations

Failing examinations

Retaking examinations

Continue the list. Compare your answers with those of other students in the class. Discuss these situations and the feelings they cause. Also discuss what activities you think difficult and what - easy.

Exercise 4

Complain about some things or activities at college (at the university) that annoy you. Talk about something that you do not enjoy. Explain why.Work in pairs.

Use :

For complaining:

I"m beginning to get rather tired of...

I"ve had (I have) a lot of trouble with ...

The trouble with ... is that...

I"m sick and tired of...

They should/ought to ...

I"m not at all satisfied with ...

For agreement: For disagreement:

Yes, it is a problem, isn"t it? Really? I can"t say I"ve

Yes, it can be a problem, particularly noticed that...

can"t it? I can see what you mean but..

I think I can understand Oh, come on, it isn"t that bad.

Yes, I know what you mean.

Exercise 4

Speak in class what you feel when:

you get a bad mark; you fall (lag) behind the group; you fail (in) an examination; you read up for an examination late at night; you miss classes; you come late to classes; you keep up with the rest of the group; you catch up with the rest; you have to retake an examination; you work in the library at the week­end; you work on your dissertation on holiday; you spend sleepless nights over a load of books; you look up every word in your dictionary when reading an English book; you are not prepared for the class; you are given virtually no time to digest and remember several chapters; the telephone rings while you are doing your homework; your essay is well-received; another student cheats at an examination or test.

Patterns: I feel like a failure when I fall behind the group.

I feel pleased/confused/bored, etc. when I catch up with the rest.

Exercise5

Guess what the people in the picture feel and why. Use the topical vocabu­lary.

Patterns: He looks satisfied. He must have got a good mark.

S
he looks bored. She must be listening to a boring lecture.

Exercise 6

An old Chinese saying states that "a picture is worth a thousand words". With a partner discuss each of these pictures. Answer the questions below.

1
. What has happened? Why do you think so? 2. What is happening now? Why do you think so? 3. What is going to happen? Why do you think so?