II. Make up a vocabulary of new words.

III. Ask questions to the content of the text and give short answers.

IV. Define the main sentences in the text to make a brief summary.

TEXT 9

I. Read this text and translate it into Ukrainian.

Technology in the Classroom

The primary components of education are changing. The Internet and video-con­ferencing are emerging as primary tools of education. As the potential of inexpensive, user-friendly technology increases and the platform of available information expands, classroom design is increasingly hinging on technical standards.

Students' access and learning processes also are affected. The newest benefactors of these implications are non-traditional students and students in rural communi­ties, as access can be gained from nearly anywhere at any time. In addition to class­room design, technology is affecting user needs as well, including social interaction and workplace productivity.

However, students in the classroom are also finding gains. The primary impact in the classroom is on how students receive infor­mation and, therefore, learn. Increasingly, lecture information is transferred elec­tronically to students. And, in some class­rooms, students are equipped with elec­tronic workstations.

What does all this mean for classroom design? The whole idea is to view a class­room as a hollow shell ‘wet’ with the Internet and video-conferencing emerging as primary components of education tech­nology. This has caused planners to rethink classroom design at two broad levels: tech­nological infrastructure and space plan­ning created with strategically placed cabling and wiring race-ways. In addition, it is important to incorporate empty con­duit throughout facilities, thereby provid­ing the channels to run future cabling and wiring race-ways. By incorporating this conduit, a classroom becomes a strategic resource, positioning an institution for changes and advancements in technology. Maximizing flexibility is not only impor­tant for planning technological infrastruc­ture, but also it is a primary key for space planning. Creating flexible classrooms means designing spaces with proportions to accommodate a variety of functions, instead of just one specific learning activi­ty that could potentially hinder future pos­sibilities. Designing classroom spaces as column-free space and minimizing per­manently attached hardware – desks, seat­ing and even today's latest technology – also helps to achieve the hollow-shell effect.

II. Write down new words into your vocabulary.

III. Make up a plan of the text in the form of questions.

IV. Give translations to the following words and word-combinations:

to emerge, education, user-friendly technology, to expand, access, interaction, impact, to transfer, electronic workstation, education technology, conduit, facility, to provide, advancement, to achieve.

TEXT 10

I. Read the text and define the main idea of it.

The School Curriculum and Academic Programs

The School Curriculum. We see the cur­riculum in terms of what teachers do and what children learn from it, namely expe­rience and understanding. Our goal is to make children learn and our aim is to provide the ideas and information they will encounter. We teach in order to develop the children's language through both their experience and a stimulating environment, so that they learn to speak fluently, accu­rately and with confidence, to read, write and spell accurately and to think imagina­tively, to question and discuss. We work to engender love to books and a desire to read for pleasure and information.

Academic Programs. The academic pro­grams differ greatly in various universities. Students may concentrate in any academ­ic departments and must take a special number of compulsory courses. However, they may simultaneously be involved in one or more interdepartmental pro­grams. Students are free in selecting all courses available, which provides them with considerable flexibility in creating their own academic programs. Thus, no two identical undergraduate curricula exist, especially in prestigious universities.

Nowadays, most college programs are in the form of what is called liberal arts. In liberal arts education, the emphasis is placed on literacy in science, appreciation of arts, the development of critical think­ing and an understanding of our own and other cultures. It is aimed at giving the stu­dents a broad-based education. This means that over four years students take courses in history and humanities, social and polit­ical sciences, economics and psychology, natural science and mathematics, and even fine arts (music, sculpture, painting). Such liberal education provides an enormous advantage in fierce competition for entrance to the job market or professional and graduate schools, for many employers nowadays look for young people with ana­lytic, problem-solving and interpersonal skills, broad knowledge background and flexibility of mind complemented by the ability to learn and adjust to changes.

The tuition fees alone are rather high (ranging from $10,000 for an academic year at Harvard or Yale to under $1,000 at small public institutions). However, col­leges are eager to help needy students who are able and highly motivated with schol­arships, loans, as well as special programs (e.g. work-study programs, financial assis­tance programs) that are provided by the state and federal governments. In addition, an ever-increasing number of students hold jobs besides studying. These part-time jobs may be either ‘on campus’ (in the dor­mitories, cafeterias, services, in research and teaching) or ‘off campus’ (with local firms, in offices, etc.). In this way, for exam­ple, more than half of all students at Stanford University earn a significant part of their college expenses during the school year and the average scholarship is $4,500 per year. Thus, any student who really wants to can finance his education.

Most universities require mid-semester and final (end-of-semester) examinations. They are usually written. Mid-terms are given during class time, finals are held during the last week of the semester and each lasts three hours. Students may have two finals a day, which means six hours of writing. For class­es like history, literature or even science there are essay questions; for math there are prob­lems to solve. Since it takes time for teachers to grade such written exams, students receive their grades in the mail a month or two later. It is possible, as many students have learned, to ‘flunk out’ of the university that is to be asked to leave because of poor grades. So, many students who have scholarships must maintain a certain grade average to keep their scholarships.