Л.С. Пасынков Россия - независимое государство (английский язык)

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PART II

EDUCATION IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Russians have always shown a great concern for education. The right to education is stated in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. It is ensured by compulsory secondary schools, vocational schools, and higher educational establishments. It is also ensured by the development of extramural and evening courses and the system of state scholarships and grants.

Education in Russia is compulsory to the 9th form inclusive. The stages of compulsory schooling in Russia are: primary education for ages 6-7 to 9- 10 inclusive; secondary education including intermediate school for ages 10-11 to 12-13 inclusive, and senior high school for ages 13-14 to 14-15 inclusive. If a pupil of a secondary school wishes to go on in higher education, he or she must stay at school for two more years. Primary and secondary school together comprise 11 years of study. Every school has a «core curriculum» of academic subjects, such as Russian, Literature, Mathematics, History, a foreign language and others. Lyceums and gymnasiums offer programme giving a profound knowledge in some field of study.

After finishing the 9th form one can go on to a vocational school which offers programmes of academic subjects and a programme of training in a technical field, or a profession.

After finishing the 11th form of a secondary school, a lyceum or a gymnasium one can go on in higher education. All applicants must take competitive examinations. Higher educational institutions, that is, institutes or universities, offer a 5 - year programme of academic subjects for undergraduates in a variety of fields, as well as a post graduate course. If one finishes a graduate course and writes a thesis, he or she receives the candidate degree, corresponding to the master's degree, or the doctoral degree.

Higher educational establishments are headed by Rectors. Prorectors are in charge of academic and scientific work. An institute or a university has a number of faculties, each specializing in a field of study. Faculties have specialized councils which confer candidate and doctoral degrees.

The system of secondary and higher education in Russia is going through a transitional period. The main objectives of the reform are: to decentralize the higher education system, to develop a new financial mechanism, to give more academic freedoms to faculties and students. All secondary schools, in-

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stitutes and universities until recently have been funded by the state. Now there is quite a number of private fee-paying primary and secondary schools; some universities have fee-paying departments.

1. Practise the reading of the following words and phrases and try to remember their meanings.

to show a great concern for educa-	придавать большое значение
tion	образованию
to be stated	отмечаться
to be ensured by	обеспечиваться
compulsory	обязательный
a secondary school	средняя школа
a vocational school	училище
a higher educational establishment	вуз
an extramural course	заочное обучение
state scholarships and grants	государственные стипендии
intermediate school	средние классы
senior school	старшие классы
junior school	младшие классы
a core curriculum	основная программа
a lyceum	лицей
an applicant	абитуриент
an undergraduate	студент
a post graduate course	аспирантура
a thesis	диссертация
the candidate degree	степень кандидата наук
the master’s degree	степень магистра
the doctoral degree	степень доктора наук
to be in charge of academic and	отвечать за учебную и науч-
scientific work	ную работу
a specialized council	специализированный советник
to confer a degree	присваивать степень
to be funded by the state	финансироваться государством
a fee-paying school	платная школа

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2.Pre-reading task.

a)Speak about the education in the Russian Federation, using the following questions for conversation.

If you can answer the question, mark it with symbol «V»; if you can’t answer, mark with symbol «X».

1.What is the right to education in Russia ensured by?

2.What are the stages of compulsory schooling in Russia?

3.What is a vocational school?

4.What is necessary for entering a higher educational establishment?

5.What degrees can one get at a higher educational establishment?

6.What is the structure of an institute or a university?

b)What do you want to know from the text? Make some notes or ques-

tions.

3.Reading task.

Read the text properly. Check whether you were right or wrong and try to find answers to your questions.

4. Grammar review.

Read the following words and phrases. They are in the Passive Voice. Transform them into the Active Voice and translate.

Passive Voice	Active Voice
to be stated
to be ensured by
to be headed by Rector
to be funded by the State
Transform the following phrases from the Active Voice into the Passive
Voice, translate them.
Passive Voice	Active Voice
	to show a great concern
	to take competitive examination
	to give a profound knowledge

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5.Give your own examples of the Passive Voice. Translate them.

6.Make a back translation, consulting the text in the case of great necessity.

1. Конституция предоставляет право на образование, которому в России придается большое значение.

2.Существуют два этапа обязательного школьного образования в России: начальное и среднее.

3.Обязательное среднее образование в России состоит из двух этапов: средние классы и старшие классы.

4.Во всех школах есть основная программа, лицеи и гимназии предлагают академические программы и программы, дающие углубленные знания в одной из областей.

5.Поступающие в вуз должны закончить 11 классов средней школы и пройти через конкурсные вступительные экзамены.

6.После окончания курса аспирантуры и написания диссертации аспирант получает степень кандидата наук.

7.Во время переходного периода меняется финансовый механизм образования: появляются частные школы и платные отделения института.

CULTURE AND SCIENCE

Russia is famous for its rich and interesting culture and history. It is impossible to describe all famous Russian people and all important events, that took place in Russia. We offer you to read two texts about Russian painters and scientists.

Text A. RUSSIAN PAINTERS

Russian painting is known for its glorious and realistic traditions. Russian painters of the 19th century reflected the real life of common people, everyday scenes with great warmth and poetic feeling. There are many outstanding Russian masters of painting such as Levitan, Shishkin, Aivazovsky, Surikov, Repin and others.

Repin was born in 1844 in the family of a military settler. He liked drawing from his early childhood, so his parents sent him to the Art school. At the Academy of Art in St.Petersburg he met Kramskoi, who influenced Repin greatly.

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«Volga boatmen» and «Arrest of a Propagandist» are among Repin’s best paintings. Repin is also famous for his self-portraits and portraits of Leo Tolstoy, Rubenstein and others, which can be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Vasili Surikov was born in 1848 in Siberia. In 1868 he set out for St. Petersburg on horseback to join the academy. The journey took him a year. On his journey to St. Petersburg V. Surikov made frequent stops in ancient towns of Russia. He was greatly impressed by Moscow and it determined Surikov’s way of life and work.

Surikov was the first Russian painter to turn to the past of Russia for the subjects of his works. V. Surikov expressed the past against the background of ordinary people.

Surikov’s masterpiece «Boyarinja Morozova» (1884) is set in the streets of medieval Moscow. Enormous in size and scale the canvas depicts the persecution of the «old believers» by patriarch Nicon. The painting is very vivid and full of movement. The dynamism of the painting can be traced to the ancient Russian art. Surikov used a colourful palette. The colours and the surface rhythm make the painting alive.

V. Surikov exerted a great influence on all the Russian artists of his time. He died in 1916.

1. Practise the reading of the following words looking at their translations for understanding.

glorious	знаменитый
reflect	отражать
warmth	сердечность
influence	влияние
canvas	полотно
depict	изображать
palette	палитра
frequent	частый
determine	определять
background	задний план, фон
persecution	травля, преследование
vivid	яркий, живой
trace	прослеживать
exert	оказывать
enormous	огромный

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1. Pre-reading task.

Divide the page into 2 parts. Fill in the columns.

What I know about Russian painting and about Repin and Surikov.

What I want to know from the text about Repin and Surikov.

Compare what other members of your group have written.

1. Reading.

Read the text. Try to find the answers to your questions and check whether you were right or wrong. Did you have any questions that weren’t answered? Can you guess the answers?

2. Pair work.

Read the text once again and express your opinions. Work with your partner. Dramatize the dialogue. You’ll find the phrases below helpful.

Student A: Here are some ways in which you might praise someone /or something.

v

I wasery surprised to know, that...

ther ra

The most amazing thing was...

It was interesting to know...

Student B:
Yes, I like it too	Really? What?
I think it’s...	I can’t believe.
fascinating	Never
pleasant	You can’t be serious
very good /fine

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Student B: Here are some ways of expressing your disappointment when someone/something was not what you had expected.

I was		...disappointed that

I’d expected ... to be	much nicer/better
	more interesting
Student A:
That’s a pity.		But I liked it.
Oh, how disappointing.		But I found it interesting/nice/amazing.

1. Creative work.

Find the information about the painter you like. Make a report to your groupmates. Show the pictures to them and give short comments upon them. Ask your groupmates whether they like or dislike them. Write the words on the blackboard to help your groupmates to express their opinions:

Likes: I like /love it/them.	Dislikes: I don’t like it at all.
It’s O’K / all right	I don’t care for it.
I like it very much indeed.	Not very much.
I do very much like it.	Not particularly.
	I can’t say I do.
Text B.	OUR GREATS

Russian nature, spirit and genious come together in the greatest people of our land. Let’s pay tribute to a few of them.

M. Lomonosov was one of them. He was a great thinker, leader of Russian science, a well-know enlightener, an inventor of many technologies, a poet, a translator, a historian. The first Russian University in Moscow was founded according to the project of M. Lomonosov. In 1940 the University was named in honour of him. «Lomonosov was the first university for us» (A. Pushkin).

V. Vernadsky developed the greatest theory of the XX century – biosphere of the environment which created us and which we represent.

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R. Timiryazev was an outstanding botanist. He wrote about evolution in nature. He devoted all his life to photosynthesis of plants.

D. Mendeleev was the creator of his famous «Table of chemical elements».

A. Popov was the creator of radio. In 1895 he gave a working demonstration of the 1st radio receiver in the world and several months later he transmitted the radio message over a distance of 250 meters.

They all founded their inventions on the great ideas of M. Lomonosov. The Cosmos has become a sphere for experiments of the XX century:

biological, ecological, agricultural, industrial and others.

Everybody remembers outstanding scientists of our country: K. Tsialkovsky, S. Korolev and other cosmos scientists who studied the Cosmos and gave the world the first flight round our dear and beautiful earth. We all know the courageous hero – Yury Gagarin.

Glory to all of them dead and living!

1. Practise the reading of the following words looking at their translations for understanding.

enlightener	Просветитель
in one’s honour	в честь кого-либо
creator	создатель
devote	посвятить
message	послание
courageous	смелый
radio receiver	радиоприемник
transmit	передавать
represent	представлять
spirit	дух

1. Pre-reading task.

Fill in the chart:

What I think I know about the Russian scientists:

What I want to know about the Russian scientists from the text:

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1. Reading task.

Read the text. Try to find the answers to your questions. Check whether you were right or wrong. Did you have any questions that weren’t answered? Can you guess the answers?

2. Pair work.

Read the text again. Close it. Work with your partner. Compose the short dialogues.

Use the phrases below:

A. Student A:

I am sure that

I think that

In my opinion

To my mind

I believe that

Student B:

I’m afraid you are wrong I disagree with you

I am sorry but you are mistaken I think you are mistaken

I can’t agree with you That is not true

S. Korolev was an outstanding Russian architect. He designed new types of public buildings: clubs, palaces.

S. Korolev was cosmos scientist.

B. Student A:
I am sure
I believe	that S. Korolev was the cosmos scientist.
I suppose
I think
Student B:
I agree with you	S. Korolev was the cosmos scientist,
You are right	he studied the Cosmos and he was
That is true	one who gave the world the flight
I think so too	round the earth.

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Note: You may use the information below.

Peter Tchaikovski / an outstanding Russian composer/ composed the ballet «Swan Lake», the overture «Romeo & Juliet», etc.

Leo Tolstoi /the writer, whose social and moral ideas spread to all parts of the world /the author of «War and Peace», «Anna Karenina», «The Death of Ivan Ilyich», «The Kreutzer Sonata».

Fedor Dostoevsky /the great Russian novelist/ the author of «Crime and Punishment», «The Idiot», «The Brothers Karamazov».

Nikolai Lobachevsky /a great Russian mathematician and the creator of non-Euclidean geometry /so called «Copernicus in Geometry».

Mikhail Lermontov /a poet and thinker/is famous for the masterpieces: poems «The Demon», «Mtsuri», lyrics, his novel «A Hero of our time», and his play «Masquerade».

Konstantin Melikov /an outstanding Russian architect/the author of the project of Moscow reconstruction /the designer of the monument to Christopher Columbus in Santo Domingo/.

SPORTS IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Russian people have always paid much attention to sport. Sport keeps people fit and healthy and makes them better disciplined in their daily activities.

Numerous kinds of sports, both winter and summer, are popular in the Russian Federation. Millions of citizens of Russia engage in some sporting activities and even in competitions. «Physical training» is a subject on the curriculum of schools and universities. You can hardly find a school or a college without sports grounds. Sports facilities are available at any university or other higher educational establishments.

Sports in this country have traditionally been divided into amateur and professional. The core of professional sports are sporting societies. Millions, from beginners to champions, are members of sporting clubs and societies. There is a number of national sports societies like the Spartak or the Dinamo which have their local branch clubs throughout the country. Youngsters from the age of 7 to 18 are trained in sports schools which are run by the major sports clubs. The schools cover a wide range of sports, from track-and-field and callisthenics to boxing.

Since their debut at the Helsinki Olympic Games in 1952, Russia has been a participant of all the Olympiads. Russian sportsmen and sportswomen