Higher Education in the usa

When a student graduates from high school in the USA, he may go to college if his high school record and test scores are good enough to gain him admittance.

American higher education is provided by more than 6 thousand institutions. They range in size, from very small colleges serving only a few hundred students to huge state universities with student bodies exceeding for thousand. Some are supported privately and some by local and/or state governments. Some admit only men and some – only women, by most are co-educational. Some are called “colleges” which means that they offer only undergraduate courses. Others are called “universities” which means that they have undergraduate, graduate courses and professional schools. Recently more and more junior colleges have been established. They are used by hundreds of students as the first years of a four-year college education. The graduates of junior colleges get Associate Degrees and can work as technicians or assistants or go on with their education in a four – year college.

The students in a four – year college are uniformly known as: the freshman (a first – year student), the sophomore (the second – year student), the junior (the third – year student), and the senior (the fourth – year student). However, fifth year seniors are becoming increasingly common, as many US students change specializations at some time during their studies. All students in a four year college are called “undergraduates”, and the courses they take are called “undergraduate courses”.

The methods of instruction in colleges and universities are as follows: lecture discussion, laboratory work, seminars and practical classes. The first two years are devoted to a general education. At most colleges and universities the academic year is divided into 3 semesters, including the summer session.

During the semester (term) a student will study, concurrently, for or five different subjects. The student’s progress is often evaluated through quizzes (short oral or written tests), term papers and a final examination in each course. In the third year, following general courses studies, a student majors (concentrates) in one field and works in his major during the last two years of college.

The undergraduate can major in any one of a large number of academic fields or disciplines. The undergraduate can major in the fields considered “liberal arts” (Latin, Greek, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, etc.) as well as in a number of professional or applied fields such as nursing, agriculture, education, engineering, or business administration.

After completing four academic years with acceptable grades a student earns a bachelor’s degree (some students complete college in less then 4 years by attending summer sessions).

The candidates for Bachelor of Arts degree (B.A.) study Latin, Greek, English, Philosophy, Political Economy, History, at least one modern European language (French or German) and at least one natural science.

The degree of Bachelor of Science (B.S.) may be learnt in a number of professional or applied fields such as Agriculture, Engineering, Business Administration, Chemistry, Biology, Computer Science, Communication Technologies etc.

Master’s degree (M.A., M.S.) is conferred upon students who enter a graduate school which follows the first four years of college, and after one or two years pass certain prescribed examinations and possibly perform research and write a thesis.

The crowning degree of the university students is that of Ph.D. (doctor of Philosophy). The minimum period of study to accept this degree is three years after obtaining the Master’s degree.

To earn a Ph.D. in almost any field a student must generally pass oral or written examinations in his speciality, produce a long research paper which makes an original contribution to his field of study, and pass reading examinations in one or two Foreign languages.

Comprehension questions:

1. Who supports American high education?

2. What kind of institution is a junior college?

3. How many semesters are there in an academic year in American universities?

4. What fields and disciplines can undergraduate major in?

5. When does majoring start?

Exercise 6. 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.

Exercise 7. Write an essay on one of the following topics.

1. Our College Life Needs Changes.

2. Some Advice for College Students.

3. Why (Psychology/Sociology/...) Is So Popular with Stu­dents.

4. I Would Put Myself in the Group of (Diligent/Lazy/...) Students.

5. Education Reform. To Be or Not to Be?

SEQUENCE OF TENSES (Согласование времен)

Правила согласования времен употребляются в сложно-подчиненных предложениях с дополнительными придаточными предложениями, если в главном предложении сказуемое выражено одним из прошедших времен.

При переводе прямой речи в косвенную в дополнительном придаточном предложении после главного предложения, сказуемое которого выражено глаголом в одном из прошедших времен, время глагола-сказуемого сдвигается в более прошедшее, как указано в следующей таблице.