Vocabulary:

to aim – нацеливать;

upbringing – воспитание;

self-determination – самоопределение;

self-actualization – самовыражение, самореализация;

self-government – самоуправление;

to issue – выпускать;

to edit – готовить к печати; редактировать;

eparchy – епархия;

adjacent – расположенный рядом, прилежащий;

to take under patronage – взять шефство;

a conductor – проводник;

an assistant driver – помощник машиниста;

labour exchange – биржа труда;

to facilitate – здесь – способствовать;

competitive – конкурентоспособный.

Questions to the text:

1 What is the aim of pedagogical and social work in the Rostov State Transport University?

2. Who carries out pedagogical and social work with the students?

3. What outside contacts does the University maintain?

4. What festivals and competitions are held in the University?

5. Which way is the professional self-actualization of students achieved?

Railway universities of russia From the history of the Moscow State University of Railway Engineering

The Moscow State University of Railway Engineering is one of the oldest higher educational institutions in our country. Its activities were closely connected with the development of railway transport. Its history dates back to 1896 when on the command of His Imperial Majesty Nicholas II the Moscow Engineering school was founded.

In August 1896, the first 204 young men who were going to become railway specialists took entrance exami­nations. Only 60 of them passed the exams successfully and became students.

In the early days of its existence the Moscow Engi­neering School and its hostel were situated on the upper floors of a building in Tverskaya Street, in the centre of Moscow. The ground floor of that building was occupied by Eliseev's food store so well-known in Moscow. In 1898, a special building for the School was con­structed in Bakhmetievskaya Street later renamed after Academician V.N. Obrastsov.

The course of theoretical study at the Engineering School lasted three years. Then the theoretical course was followed by two-year practical training on the construction sites.

Prominent Russian scientists delivered lectures to the students at the Moscow Engineering School. Among them, for example, Academician V. N. Obrastsov who is famous as an outstanding teacher and scientist in the field of railway design and construction, Academician E.O. Paton who is well-known for his scientific papers on bridge build­ing and welding, professor N E. Zhukovsky, a great Russian scientist who delivered lectures on hydromechanics at the School for a long time. Later, V.I. Lenin called him the father of the Russian aviation.

Some graduates from the Moscow Engineering School became well-known scientists. Academician I.G. Alexandrov was one of the first graduates from the Moscow Engineering School. He worked in the field of railway electrification and was a member of the GOELRO Commission. It was I.G. Alexandrov who designed the Dneproges.

In 1913 for great achievements in training railway specialists the Moscow Engineering School was turned into the Moscow Railway Transport Institute. It changed its names several times (in 1924, 1931, 1933, 1993) and gained its status of the University in 1993.