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 col- leges opened their doors to both men
and women. Almost all colleges are now mixed.
Мапу 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 а 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.
13.Cambridge.
The Cambridge Folk Festival. Every year, in summer, one of the biggest
festivals of folk music in arrive in Cambridge for the Festival. Many of
the fans put up their tents to stay overnight. The Cambridge Folk Festival
is always very well organized and there is always good order. However, some
people who live nearby do not like Festival. They say that there is too
much noise, that too much rubbish is left on the ground, and that many of
the fans take drugs. On the other hand, local shopkeepers are glad, because
for them the Festival means a big increase in the number of customers.
The second group of universities comprises various institutions of
higher education, usually with technical study, that by 1900 had sprang up
in new industrial towns and cities such as Birmingham, Manchester,
Sheffield and Leeds. They got to be know as civic or ‘redbrick’
universities. Their buildings were made of local material, often brick, in
contrast to the stone of older universities, hence the name, ‘redbrick’.
These universities catered mostly for local people. At first they prepared
students for London University degree, but later they were given the right
to award their own degrees, and so became universities themselves. In the
mid-20th century they started to accept students from all over the country.
The third group consists of new universities founded after the Second
World War and later in the 1960s, which saw considerable expansion in new
universities. These are purpose-built institutions located in the
countryside but close to towns. Examples are East Anglia, Sussex and
Warwick. From their beginning they attracted students from all over the
country, and provided accommodation for most of their students in site
(hence their name, ‘campus’ universities). They tend to emphasise
relatively ‘new’ academic disciplines such as social science and make
greater use than other universities of teaching in small groups, often
known as ‘seminars’.
Among this group there are also universities often called ‘never
civic’ universities. These were originally technical colleges set up by
local authorities in the first half of this century. Their upgrading to
university status took place in two waves. The first wave occurred in the
mid-1960s, when ten of them were promoted in this way.
Another thirty became ‘polytechnics’, in the early 1970s, which meant
that along with their former courses they were allowed to teach degree
courses (the degrees being awarded by a national body). Polytechnics were
originally expected to offer a broader-based, more practical and vocational
education than the universities. In the early 1990s most of the
polytechnics became universities. So there are now 80 universities and a
further 19 colleges and institutions of higher education in the UK. The
country has moved rapidly from a rather elitist system to one which is much
more open, if not yet a mass system of higher education.
Higher education in England and Wales is highly selective; i.e.
entrance to British universities is via a strict selection process is based
on an interview. Applications for first degree courses are usually made
through the Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS), in
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. After the interview a potential student is
offered a place on the basis of GCE A-level exam results. If the student
does not get the grades specified in the offer, a place can not be taken
up. Some universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge, have an entrance exam
before the interview stage.
This kind of selection procedure means that not everyone in Britain
with A-level qualifications will be offered the chance of a university
education. Critics argue that this creates an elitist system with the
academic minority in society whilst supporters of the system argue that
this enables Britain to get high-quality graduates who have specialized
skills. The current system will be modified by the late 90s and into the
21st century, since secondary system is moving towards a broader-based
education to replace the specialized ‘A’ level approach. The reasons for
this lie in Britain’s need to have a highly skilled and educated workforce,
not just an elite few, to meet the needs of the technological era.
The independence of Britain’s educational institutions is most
noticeable in universities. They make their own choices of who to accept on
their courses and normally do this on the basis of a student’s A-level
results and an interview. Those with better exam grades are more likely to
be accepted. Virtually all degree courses last three years, however there
are some four-year courses and medical and veterinary courses last five or
six years. The British University year is divided into three terms, roughly
eight to ten weeks each. The terms are crowded with activity and the
vacations between the terms – a month at Christmas, a month at Easter, and
three or four months in summer – are mainly periods of intellectual
digestion and private study.
The courses are also ‘full-time’ which really means full-time: the
students are not supposed to take a lob during term time. Unless their
parents are rich, they receive a state grant of money, which covers most of
their expenses including the cost of accommodation. Grants and loans are
intended to create opportunities for equality in education. A grants system
was set up to support students through university. Grants are paid by the
LEA on the basis of parental income. In the late 80s (the Conservative)
government decided to stop to increase these grants, which were previously
linked to inflation. Instead, students were able to borrow money in the
form of a low-interest loan, which then had to be paid back after their
course had finished. Critics argue that students from less affluent
families had to think twice before entering the course, and that this
worsened the trend which saw a 33% drop in working-class student numbers in
the 1980s.
Students studying for the first degree are called undergraduates. At the
end of the third year of study undergraduates sit for their examinations
and take the bachelor’s degree. Those engaged in the study of arts such
subjects as history, languages, economics or law take Bachelor of Arts
(BA). Students studying pure or applied sciences such as medicine,
dentistry, technology or agriculture get Bachelor of Science (BSc). When
they have been awarded the degree, they are known as graduates. Most people
get honours degrees, awarded in different classes. These are: Class I
(known as ‘a first’), Class II, I (or ‘an upper second’), Class II, II (or
‘a lower second’), Class III (‘a third’). A student who is below one of
these gets a pass degree (i.e. not an honours degree).
Students who obtain their Bachelor degree can apply to take a further
degree course, usually involving a mixture of exam courses and research.
There are two different types of post-graduate courses – the Master’s
Degree (MA or MSc), which takes one or two years, and the higher degree of
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), which takes two or three years. Funding for
post-graduate courses is very limited, and even students with first class
degrees may be unable to get a grant. Consequently many post-graduates have
heavy bank loans or are working to pay their way to a higher degree.
The university system also provides a national network of extra-mural or
‘Continuing Education’ Departments which offer academic courses for adults
who wish to study – often for the sheer pleasure of study – after they have
left schools of higher education.
One development in education in which Britain can claim to lead the
world is the Open University. It was founded in 1969 in Milton Keynes,
Buckinghamshire and is so called because it is open to all – this
university does not require any formal academic qualifications to study for
a degree, and many people who do not have an opportunity to be ‘ordinary’
students enroll. The university is non-residential and courses are mainly
taught by special written course books and by programmes on state radio and
television. There are, however, short summer courses of about a week that
the students have to attend and special part-time study centers where they
can meet their tutors when they have problems.
As mentioned above, the British higher education system was added to
in the 1970s, which saw the creation of colleges and institutions of higher
education, often by merging existing colleges or by establishing new
institutions. They now offer a wide range of degree, certificate and
diploma courses in both science and art, and in some cases have
specifically taken over the role of training teachers for the schools.
There are also a variety of other British higher institutions, which
offer higher education. Some, like the Royal College of Arts, the Cornfield
Institute of Technology and various Business Schools, have university
status, while others, such as agricultural, drama and arts colleges like
the Royal Academy of Dramatics Arts (RADA) and the Royal college of Music
provide comparable courses. All these institutions usually have a strong
vocational aspect in their programmes, which fills a specialized role in
higher education.
14.Science
The word “science” comes from the Latin word “scientia”, which means
“knowledge”. Scientists make observations and collect facts in field they
work in. Then they arrange facts orderly and try to express the connection
between the facts and try to work out theories. Then they have to prove the
facts or theory correct and make sufficient and sound evidence. So
scientific knowledge is always growing and improving.
Science has great influence on our life. It provides with base of
modern technology, materials, sources of power and so on. Modern science
and technology have changed our life in many different ways. During the
present century our life changed greatly. Thanks to radio and television we
can do a great number of jobs; it was radio and TV that made it possible to
photograph the dark side of the moon and to talk with the first cosmonaut
while he was orbiting the Earth. On of the wonders of our age is the
“electronic brain”, or giant calculating machine, which can to some extent
duplicate human senses. The desk computer is expected to function as your
personal librarian, to carry out simple optimization computations, to
control your budget or diet, play several hundred games, etc. further
development of the computer is believed to lead to a situation in which
most of the knowledge accepted by mankind will be stored in the computers
and made accessible to anyone with the home computers. It is natural that
the advent of minicomputers with extensive memories and possibilities will
lead to a new higher level in information culture. Among other things, we
shall be able to organize educational process in the country’s colleges and
universities and also in the system of school education on a new basic.
Knowledge is the most valuable wealth, and minicomputers will help us to
make it accessible for everyone. Agricultural scientists develop better
varieties of plants. The development of antibiotics and other drugs has
helped to control many diseases. Studies in anatomy and physiology have let
to amazing surgical operations and the inventions of lifesaving machines,
that can do the work of such organs as heart, lungs and so on. Nuclear
fission when a tremendous amount if energy is setting free is very
important discovery.
Science improved the living standards, communications, promoted
contact between people and government, knowledge and culture, made it
possible to discover and develop new sources of energy, made it possible to
prolong man’s life.
But science also has some disadvantages. It produces mass culture:
painting, music, literature. Some scientific inventions increase the
ecological problems, provide with new diseases like AIDS, increased the
danger of violent death.
The greatest scientists were very persistent and were sure in their
success. Even without any serious education they made great inventions.
Even during times of disappointing experiments and unacknowledgement by
other scientists, they didn’t give up and went on working out theories.
Also they were always ready to begin everything from the very beginning.
They worked a lot, and this work wasn’t for money.
The aim, the main object of the greatest scientists of all times was
always to find out the troth and no personal prejudices can be allowed. So
the science grows and prospers and is the engine of progress.
The problem of learning languages very important today. Foreign
languages are socially demanded especially at the present time when the
progress in science and technology has led to an explosion of knowledge and
has contributed to an overflow of information. The total knowledge of
mankind is known to double every seven years. Foreign languages are needed
as the main and the most efficient means of information exchange of the
people of our planet.
Today English is the language of the world. Over 300 million people
speak it as mother tongue. The native speakers of English live in Great
Britain, the United States of America, Australia and New Zealand. English
is one of the official languages in the Irish Republic, Canada, the South
African Republic. As the second language it is used in the former British
and US colonies.
It is not only the national or the official language of some thirty
states which represents different cultures, but it is also the major
international language for communication in such areas as science,
technology, business and mass entertainment. English is one of the official
languages of the United Nations Organization and other political
organizations. It is the language of literature, education, modern music,
international tourism.
Russia is integrating into the world community and the problem of
learning English for the purpose of communication is especially urgent
today.
So far there is no universal or ideal method of learning languages.
Everybody has his own way. Sometimes it is boring to study grammar or to
learn new words. But it is well known that reading books in the original,
listening to BBC news and English speaking singers, visiting an English
speaking country, communicating with the English speaking people will help
a lot.
When learning a foreign language you learn the culture and history
of the native speakers.
