Билет 19. Big, tiny developments (pop.-scient. Art.)

1) the structure of the title and the way it correlates with the main idea of the text.

2) the text mentions Harvard medical school. What associations does Harvard bring up? Can you quote any other big names in the same field?

The Ivy League is an athletic conference composed of sports teams from eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group.[2] The eight institutions are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University. The term Ivy League also has connotations of academic excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social elitism.

The term became official after the formation of the NCAA Division I athletic conference in 1954.[3] The use of the phrase is no longer limited to athletics, and now represents an educational philosophy inherent to the nation's oldest schools.[4] Seven of the eight schools were founded during the United States colonial period; the exception is Cornell, which was founded in 1865. Ivy League institutions, therefore, account for seven of the nine Colonial Colleges chartered before the American Revolution.

Ivy League schools are viewed as some of the most prestigious, and are ranked among the best universities worldwide.[5] All eight Ivy League institutions place within the top fifteen of the U.S. News & World Report college and university rankings, including the top four schools and six of the top ten. A member of the Ivy League has been the U.S. News number-one-ranked university in each of the past 12 years: Princeton University five times, Harvard University twice, and the two schools tied for first five times.[6]

The Ivies are all in the Northeast region of the United States. Each school receives millions of dollars in research grants and other subsidies from federal and state government.

Undergraduate enrollments among the Ivy League schools range from about 4,000 to 14,000,[7] making them larger than those of a typical private liberal arts college and smaller than a typical public state university. Overall enrollments range from approximately 6,100 in the case of Dartmouth to over 20,000 in the case of Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, and Penn. Ivy League university financial endowments range from Brown's $2.2 billion to Harvard's $32 billion,[8] the largest financial endowment of any academic institution in the world.[9]

Билет 20.

1) discuss the language the author uses to describe scientist’s activities, progress etc and the effect it produces.

2) would you say the Americans/the brits are health-conscious nations?

Билет 21. The fiction in biography (Essay)

1) Typical features of the genre

2) cultural stereotypes of the british

“ A life without theory is music to the ears of an Englishman”.

Билет22. Brain, courage and integrity (Tom Gehreis) – pop-scient.

1) the organization of the text in view of the author’s aim (compos.)

2) the cultural potential of the text

Билет 23. Self-destruction, self-control – pop-scient.

1) The expressive elements (imagery)

2) US/UK magazines and newspapers

UK Newspapers are traditionally categorized into two types in the United Kingdom. Broadsheets which are larger in size and are seen as being more intellectual and upmarket; and tabloids which are smaller in size and seen as being more downmarket than broadsheets, containing more stories about celebrities or gossip. However, some broadsheet papers, such as The Times, and The Independent have recently switched to a smaller size, preferring to call themselves compact rather than be stigmatised by the tabloid label.

The Daily Telegraph - - quality newspaper – very influential - The Daily Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in 1855. Excepting the Financial Times, it is the only remaining daily newspaper printed on traditional newsprint in the Broadsheet format in the United Kingdom. The Financial Times (FT) is a British international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London that has had a strong influence on the financial policies of the British government.

Magazines

A bewildering range of magazines are sold in the UK covering most interests and potential topics. Famous examples include Private Eye, Hello!, The Spectator, the Radio Times

Private Eye is a British satirical magazine-newspaper, published every two weeks. the magazine has been well-known in the UK as a prominent critic of public figures deemed incompetent, inefficient or corrupt, and has become a self-styled "thorn in the side" of the British establishment, though it also receives much criticism and ire, both for its style and for its willingness to print defamatory and controversial stories. Such is the long-term popularity and significance of the magazine that many jokes and cultural miscellanea from its pages have entered popular culture.

The Spectator - The Spectator is a British magazine founded in 1828 and published weekly. Its principal subject area is politics, about which it generally takes a robustly conservative editorial line. The magazine also has extensive arts pages on books, music, opera, and film and TV reviews.

USA

Newspapers

Newspapers have declined in their influence and penetration into American households over the years. The U.S. does not have a national paper per se, although the influential dailies the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal are sold in most U.S. cities. The Times has a liberal stance, while the Journal is moderate-right and is strongly pro-business.

Although the Times' primary audience has always been the people of New York City, the New York Times has gradually become the dominant national "newspaper of record." Apart from its daily nationwide distribution, the term means that back issues are archived on microfilm by every decent-sized public library in the nation, and the Times' articles are often cited by both historians and judges as evidence that a major historical event occurred on a certain date. The Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal are also newspapers of record to a lesser extent.

Most general-purpose newspapers are either being printed one time a week, usually on Thursday or Friday, or are printed daily. Weekly newspapers tend to have much smaller circulation and are more prevalent in rural communities or small towns. Major cities often have "alternative weeklies" to complement the mainstream daily paper(s), for example, New York City's Village Voice or Los Angeles' L.A. Weekly, to name two of the most well-known. Major cities may also support a local business journal, trade papers relating to local industries and papers for local ethnic and social groups.

Apart from the newspapers just mentioned, all major metropolitan areas have their own local newspapers. Typically, a metropolitan area will support at most one or two major newspapers, with many smaller publications targeted towards particular audiences. Although the cost of publishing has increased over the years, the price of newspapers has generally remained low, forcing newspapers to rely more on advertising revenue and on articles provided by a major wire service, such as the Associated Press or Reuters, for their national and world coverage.

With a very few exceptions, all the newspapers in the U.S. are privately owned; or in a situation that is increasingly rare, by individuals or families.

Magazines

Thanks to the huge size of the English-speaking North American media market, the United States has a large magazine industry with hundreds of magazines serving almost every interest, as can be determined by glancing at any newsstand in any large American city..

The U.S. has three leading weekly newsmagazines: TIME, Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report. Time and Newsweek are center-left while U.S. News tends to be center-right, although all three (in theory, at least) strive to provide objective news reporting and limit personal bias to the opinion pages. Time is well-known for naming a "person of the year" each year, while U.S. News publishes annual ratings of American colleges and universities.

The U.S. also has over a dozen major political magazines (the exact number is debatable, of course), serving every part of the political spectrum from left to right.

Newsweek is an American weekly newsmagazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence, Newsweek is published in four English language editions and 12 global editions written in the language of the circulation region.

Cosmopolitan Magazine, Vogue etc…

Achtung! Mass Media in the US are BIASED! =)

Media bias in the United States is the description of systematically non-uniform selection or coverage of news stories in the United States media. Claims of bias in the media include claims of liberal bias, conservative bias, claims of mainstream bias, and claims of corporate bias. There are a variety of one watchdog groups that attempt to find the facts behind both biased reporting and unfounded claims of bias, and research about media bias is a subject of systematic scholarship in a variety of disciplines

Билет 24. The first death of her life (Elizabeth tailor – short story)

Билет 25. The rock fish (Leam O’Flaherty) – short story

1) dominating prose systems and their significance

2) popular Br/Am. pastimes that you associate with different social groups.

Popular pastimes in the UK, US

Britain.

The weekends are a time for families in Britain. Often the parents are not at work having worked a five day week from Monday to Friday. Saturdays are a busy time for many families going shopping. Sundays used to be a very special day of the week in Britain. It was the one day of the week for 'worship and rest'. The shops were closed and most people were at home or at church. Popular leisure activities on Sunday used to be going to church and doing odd jobs around the home such as gardening. Until a few years ago shops were not permitted to open on a Sunday. Sundays today are becoming like any other day other week with shops open. Some families will now spend their time shopping rather than going to church or they will combine the two activities.

Britain is becoming a far less Christian country with fewer people regularly attending Church.Many Christian's believe that Sunday should be kept special, as a time given to worshipping God. They think it is important for Christians to meet together, listen to readings from the Bible and celebrate Holy Communion. Others believe that it is important that families have time to be together. (The shopping hours on a Sunday are less than on any other day of the week.) People enjoy various indoor and outdoor activities in Britain.

A recent Euro survey, the EU's statistical office, discovered that people in Britain spend about 45% of their free time watching television, 24% of their free time socializing, 22-23% on sport and hobbies, and 10% on other activities. Other popular leisure activities are listening to the radio, listening to pre-recorded music, reading, gardening, eating out and going to the cinema.

The most common leisure activity in the UK is watching television.  The average viewing time is 25 hours per person per week. Almost all households have at least one television set.Many television programmes are about wildlife, animals, holidays, cooking and gardening. All these things are much cherished by British people.

The Brits are known as a nation of gardeners. Most people have a garden on their property. Gardening has been a popular pastime since Roman times.Many people in Britain are proud of their houses and gardens. They want their houses and gardens to look nice. Every town in Britain has one or more DIY (Do it Yourself) centres and garden centres. These are like supermarkets for the home and garden. These places are very popular with British home-owners at the weekends.

Sports and physical recreation have always been popular. Local governments provide cheap sport and leisure facilities such as swimming pools, tennis courts, parks. People go to watch other people play sports like football or take part in sports themselves.

The word pub is short for public house. There are over 60,000 pubs in the UK. One of the oldest pubs, Fighting Cocks in St. Albans, Herts, is located in a building that dates back to the eleventh century. Pubs are an important part of British life. People talk, eat, drink, meet their friends and relax there.

Pubs often have two bars, one usually quieter than the other, many have a garden where people can sit in the summer. Children can go in pub gardens with their parents.

Groups of friends normally buy 'rounds' of drinks, where the person whose turn it is will buy drinks for all the members of the group. It is sometimes difficult to get served when pubs are busy: people do not queue, but the bar staff will usually try and serve those who have been waiting the longest at the bar first. If you spill a stranger's drink by accident, it is good manners (and prudent) to offer to buy another drink. Most pubs belong to a brewery (a company which makes beer) but sell many different kinds of beer, some on tap (from a big container under the bar) and some in bottles. The most popular kind of British beer is bitter, which is dark and served at room temperature (not hot, not cold). British beer is brewed from malt and hops.

More popular today though is lager, which is lighter in colour and served cold. Guinness, a very dark, creamy kind of beer called a stout, is made in Ireland and is popular all over Britain.

In the West of England, cider made from apples, is very popular. Like wine, it is described as sweet or dry, but is drunk in beer glasses and can be stronger than beer.

Most pubs offer a complete range of beers, local and imported, with German, Belgian and French beers being in demand.

Although most people think pubs are places where people drink alcohol, pubs in fact sell soft drinks (non alcoholic) drinks too. Nearly all pubs sell pub lunches. One of these is the Ploughman's Lunch which is a great wedge of Cheddar cheese, some bread, some pickle, and an onion. Other typical pub foods are scampi (kind of shellfish) and chips (fried potatoes), pie and chips, and chicken and chips. Various games, especially darts, are common features of pubs; many of the old country pubs continue to promote traditional games, such as 'Bat and Trap' (played in Kent) which have been played for hundreds of years.

Licensing Laws

The legal age to purchase alcohol is 18. People aged 16 and 17, with the licensee's permission, may consume only 1 glass of wine, beer or cider with a table meal in specific areas of the premises, providing they're with an adult and the adult orders it (England & Wales only, Scotland no adult required to be present).

It is illegal to sell alcohol to someone who already appears drunk. You may not buy alcohol for a drunk person on licensed premises. All off-sales are advised to ask for photographic ID if the person looks under 21. Purchasing alcohol on behalf of a minor will result in an £80 on-the-spot fine.

Fourteen-year-olds may enter a pub unaccompanied by an adult if they order a meal. Children may enter a pub with their parents until 9 p.m., which lets families enjoy reasonably priced pub meals together, and allows pubs to continue in their traditional roles as community centers.

Legal age for drinking alcohol at home

The legal age for drinking in one's home is 5 provided parental consent is given. Children under 5 must not be given alcohol unless under medical supervision in an emergency.

Customs in British pubs differ from those in American bars. In Britain, you must go to the bar to order drinks and food and pay for your purchase immediately, there is no table service. Bartenders are called "landlords" and "barmaids" and they do not expect frequent tipping. To tip a landlord or barmaid, it is customary to tell him to "would you like a drink yourself?"

Sports play an important part in the life in Britain and is a popular leisure activity.

Many of the world's famous sports began in Britain, including cricket, football, lawn tennis, golf and rugby.

Sports for the rich.

Golf is considered a hobby for rich people because when it first started only country clubs were able to afford to keep up with the grass, the golf carts, equipment. A wide range of equipment exists for playing golf, ranging from golf clubs, balls, tees, gloves, and shoes. Scotland is traditionally regarded as the home of golf. There are over 400 golf courses in Scotland alone. The most important golf club in Scotland.

Horseracing, the sport of Kings is a very popular sport with meetings being held every day throughout the year. The Derby originated here, as did The Grand National which is the hardest horse race in the world.

Horse racing and greyhound racing are popular spectator sports. People can place bets on the races at legal off-track betting shops. Some of the best-known horse races are held at Ascot, Newmarket, Goodwood and Epsom.

Ascot, a small town in the south of England, becomes the centre of horse-racing world for one week in June. It's called Royal Ascot because the Queen always goes to Ascot. She has a lot of racehorses and likes to watch racing.

Another equestrian sport is polo, brought to Britain from India in the 19th Century by army officers. It is the fastest ball sport in the world.Polo is played with four men on horses to a team. A ball is hit with a stick towards the goal. Polo clubs can be found throughout the Country. Ascot Park Polo club is the largest polo training centre in the world and arguably has the best international reputation. The club welcomes over 2500 people a year through the gates to come and pick up a polo stick for the first time.

Hunting is also popular with the elite. Traditionally Boxing Day is a day for fox hunting. The huntsmen and huntswomen ride horses. They use dogs too. The dogs (fox hounds) follow the smell of the fox. Then the huntsmen and huntswomen follow the hounds.

Before a Boxing Day hunt, the huntsmen and huntswomen drink hot wine. But the tradition of the December 26th is changing. Now, some people want to stop Boxing Day hunts (and other hunts too) They don't like fox hunting. For them it is not a sport - it is cruel.

US

Про американское времяпрепровождение ничего не нашла. Но я думаю, про телек, шоппинг и вечеринки - это всё к ним тоже относится… богатые также играют в гольф и поло (это из своих фоновых знаний).

Думаю можно добавить про yacht racing. (it might also refer to the British Establishment)

These days, yacht racing is common participant sports around the developed world, particularly where favourable wind conditions and access to reasonably sized bodies of water are available. Most yachting is conducted in salt water, but smaller craft can be - and are - raced on lakes and even large rivers.

Whilst there are many different types of racing vessels, they can generally be separated into the larger yachts, which are larger and contain facilities for extended voyages, and smaller harbour racing craft such as dinghies and skiffs.

Larger yachts are also raced on harbours, but the most prestigious yacht races are point-to-point long distance races on the open ocean. Bad weather makes such races a considerable test of equipment and willpower just to finish, and from time to time boats and sailors are lost at sea. The longest such events are "round-the-world" races which can take months to complete, but better-known are events such as the Fastnet race in the United Kingdom and the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race along the east coast of Australia. As well as a first-past-the-post trophy (called "line honours"), boats may race under a handicap system that adjusts finishing times for the relative speeds of the boats' design, theoretically offering each entrant an equal chance.

Cruising - yachting as a lifestyle

Cruising involves traveling on a boat. It could be a trip to the other side of the bay or across the oceans to the islands of the South Pacific. Safe cruising across long distances requires a degree of self sufficiency and a wide range of skills beyond handling the boat. Knowledge of navigation, meteorology, mechanical and electrical systems, radio, first aid, sea survival, nutrition and more are needed and can be life saving when cruising to distant shores. In the UK a system of certification is run by the Royal Yachting Association which includes a range of courses, both theoretical and practical, covering these areas.

Билет 26.The snake (Stephan Craine)- short story

1) features that indicate the level of formality in syntax and diction

2) names of plants are used in the text. name plants that have cultural associations

Билет 27. Two for mirth (Charles McLean)

1) speak about the means the writer uses to build up the atmosphere of the story and how it helps him to get across the message.

2) the story mentions “a Welsh dresser” as a piece of furniture in the kitchen. Set phrases – countries/nationalities ( см билет 4)

Билет 28. Crypto (Steven Levy)

1) effect by question and the use of informal language

2) quote a few examples of the way technics has become an inalienable part of everyday life in the US/the UK.

Билет 29. Leaves (John Abdike)

1) discuss the way the writer organizes his text. the role of literary allusion in the text.

2) What did the narrator’s wife go to Boston? associations with Boston.

Massachusets, Harvard, the Boston Marathon

Билет 30. Departure (Sherwood Anderson) – short story

1) Syntactical peculiarities and the effect they produce

2) Why do young Americans/brits move away from home. in what way are they different from their Russian counterparts?

Билет 31. Archipelago earth (Time, November 1997)-pop.-scient.

1) expressive words, expressions, structures and their role

2) The contribution of the American lifestyle and culture to Mc Lugan’s global village.

Билет 32. New ways to intervene when the body attacks itself (Time, January 15, 2001)-pop-scient. article

1) the imagery used to describe the human immune system

2) Comment on the phrase: “checks and balances” and the effect it creates. what does this phrase mean in reference to the branches of Government.

A system that limits power within a political system, group or organization in which no single part of it can become too powerful, because it needs the agreement of the other parts for its actions to be legal

Билет 33. The power of negative thinking (the Economist, December 18th 1999)

1) genre features-most prominent of them

2) state medical programs in the USA

Health insurance Medical Insurance [ If you are looking for Medical Insurance for visitors, click here]

You must have a medical insurance, if you are going to be in USA, as medical insurance is a basic necessity here. Without it you cannot survive, even a simple blood test may cost you 100's of dollars.

If you are going to be employed in USA, your employer should provide you a medical insurance. Some companies provide it for your spouse and children too, otherwise you should buy a insurance for them.

1. Different Health insurance Plans

2. HMO plan

3. PPO Plan

4. FAQ about health Insurance

5. Primary Care Physician?

6. Urgent Care and Emergency Services?

7. How to get medicines from a pharmacy?

Insurance Plan:

There are three kinds of medical insurance you can get viz. HMO, PPO and POS plan. The basic difference between these plans is the cost, and the flexibility in choosing a physician.

1. What is HMO?

HMO stands for Health Maintenance Organization. HMO is a company that offers health plans, which provides medical care from an approved network of doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies. The patient needs to pay some set minimum fee per visit. These fees are usually much lower than PPO (Preferred Provider Organizations).

Advantages of HMO:

• Nil or very low deductibles.

• Comprehensive benefits.

• Preventive care is often good.

Disadvantages of HMO:

• HMO plan includes only a particular chain of hospitals and doctors.

• The patient must see doctors within the network.

• The patient must get permission from the primary physician to see a specialist, or the HMO may not pay for the services.

• HMO's often refuse to pay for the emergency visits, if they don't consider it as a true emergency.

2. What is PPO?

PPO stands for Preferred Provider Organization. PPO allows patients to see a specialist without a referral from a Primary Care Physician. They have a wider range of doctors to choose from. The direct access to specialists is good for people who have chronic illness, or in case of urgent care and emergencies. Patients can get appointments with their preferred specialists as and when required.

Usually, a PPO will pay a greater percentage of the cost for a preferred provider, and less for a non-preferred provider.

Advantages of PPO:

• Patient can visit any doctor and hospital. They are categorized as preferred and non preferred providers.

• PPO covers all preferred providers according to their policy.

Disadvantages of PPO:

• For all non preferred providers PPO covers only 80% of all the expenses, depending on your insurance company rules. And rest has to be paid by you.

3. What is POS?

POS stands for a Point of Service plan, which combines the cost savings of a HMO with the flexibility of a PPO. Find out the details and rules from your medical insurance company.

Билет 34. Is there nowhere else where we can meet (short story)

1) the use and role of similes.

2) can you spot any politically incorrect terms in the text. What do you know about political correctness?

Билет 35. The elements of style (pop-scientific)

1) the title of the text and its relation to the message

2) the cultural potential of the text

Билет 36. Never (H.E. Bates)

1) the role of repetitions (never)

2) place names. What associations do they call up?

Билет 37. The secret of dried life (Paul Simons)- pop-scientific article

1) Speak about some characteristic style features that can be traced in the text.

2) the text makes reference to the university of California. Can you name any other US/Br. universities. How does one get into the US/UK university.

Билет 38. Safe, not sound (Robert wright) – decomposition of a set phrase

1) is the author explicit or implicit in expressing his attitude towards the subject matter?

2) Md, Ark, Ky, Ore – what do they stand for? Name other abbreviations of that kind.

Maryland, Arkansas, Kentucky , Oregon.

CA California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, and Arizona to the southeast, as well as by Baja California in Mexico to the south. The most populous U.S. state, California's capital city is Sacramento, and its four largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco. California is known for its varied climate and geography, as well as for its ethnically diverse population. The state is divided into 58 counties.

The California Gold Rush began in 1848, dramatically changing California with a large influx of people and an economic boom. The early 20th century was marked by Los Angeles becoming the center of the entertainment industry, in addition to the growth of a large tourism sector in the state.

In terms of socio-cultural mores and national politics, Californians are perceived as more liberal than other Americans, especially those who live in the inland states. In some ways, California is the quintessential Blue State-- accepting of alternative lifestyles, not uniformly religious, and preoccupied with environmental issues.

California is home to Hollywood, the center of the American film industry, which has given rise to the popular fashion movie-star image and stereotypical beach dwelling surfers.

Los Angeles is the most populous city in California and is located in the southern half of the state. It is a great and very diverse city; from Hollywood to East L.A. you can find every possible lifestyle represented in this microcosm. Los Angeles is home to traffic jams, smog, and political power in the state.

The San Francisco Bay Area is home to the cities of San Francisco, San Jose, the 3rd largest California city and the nations 10th largest city, and Oakland. San Francisco is best known for its picturesque Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars and the former prison on Alcatraz Island. Generally seen as one of the most liberal places on the planet, the Bay area also boasts the Silicon Valley, home to a multitude of high-tech companies and venture capitalists and Stanford University, legacy of capitalist titan and former California Governor Leland Stanford.

San Diego is located on the southern end of the state and offers good beaches and water-based sports.

Southern California is also known for its theme parks: Disneyland, California Adventure, Knott's Berry Farm, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Universal Studios, and many more. These places are very fun to visit, and continue bring in tourists by the millions every year.

FL Florida (IPA: /ˈflɒrɪdə/) is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. Most of the state is a large peninsula with the Gulf of Mexico on its west and the Atlantic Ocean on its east. Capital City: Tallahassee. Tourism makes up the largest sector of the state economy. Warm weather and hundreds of miles of beaches attract about 60 million visitors to the state every year. Florida's beaches are ranked as some of the best in the country for beauty, accessibility and facilities. Amusement parks, especially in the Orlando area, make up a significant portion of tourism.

Florida (The Sunshine State - 1970)

At one time, back in the 1860s, Florida was known as The Peninsula State, for obvious reasons. Later in the 19th century, it also became known as The Everglades State. Florida is a large producer of oranges which led the state to be known as The Orange State (and in one reference, The Citrus State),the meaning of the state's name ("flowery") led to The Flower State and its location on the east of the Gulf of Mexico led to The Gulf State. For many years, Florida appears as The Sunshine State on its licence plates, but this name was only given official status in 1970 when it was officially adopted by the legislature.

NY New York (is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States, and is the country's third most populous state. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and shares a water border with Rhode Island as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario.

New York City, which is both the largest city in the state and in the United States, is known for its history as a gateway for immigration to the United States and its status as a financial, cultural, transportation, and manufacturing center.

New York City is the leading center of banking, finance and communication in the United States and is the location of the New York Stock Exchange, the largest stock exchange in the world by dollar volume. Many of the world's largest corporations are based in the city.

New York

The state motto is "Excelsior", and some have called New York the Excelsior State. The trousers worn by the early Dutch settlers resulted in the Knickerbocker State It has also sometimes been known as the Gateway to the West. But, when George Washington referred to New York state as "the seat of Empire" in 1784, he set the seed for the state's long-term nickname which appeared in around 1820 - the Empire State. It is this which appears on state licence plates.

Texas is a state geographically located in the south-central part of the United States Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population. Houston is the largest city. Dallas is the third largest city in Texas

Due to its long history as a center of the American cattle industry, Texas is associated throughout much of the world with the image of the cowboy.

In addition to Texas's traditional culture, immigration has caused Texas to become a melting pot of different cultures around the world. Texas's diverse and international culture is partly due to its academic institutions and strong biomedical, energy, manufacturing and aerospace industries.

The rodeo is a large part of the Texas culture. The annual Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is the largest rodeo in the world. The event begins with trail rides that originate from several points throughout the state, all of which convene at Reliant Park. The World’s first rodeo was held in Pecos, Texas on 4 July 1883.

Texas (no official nickname)

Probably no state has a more well-known nickname than Texas - the Lone Star State (which is how it is described on its licence plates). It represents the symbol on the 1836 Texas Republic flag (itself based on history going back to the "Long Expedition" in 1819), and on the state flag and seal of today. Despite its prominence, the nickname is purely traditional and has not been enshrined in legislation. Many attempts have been made to apply other nicknames to the state, with various levels of success. Its huge cattle "industry" led it to be known as the Beef State for a while, and its size gave it the Jumbo State. In 1961, the New Yorker called it the Super-American State, and others have tried for the Banner State, and the Blizzard State.

Билет 39. A good night’s sleep – impossible dream? (The Millenium Notebook,2000) – Pop.-scient.

1) Linguistic and non-linguistic means used to build up the reader’s interest

2) Round-the-clock entertainment options (cable TV and the internet). Trad. pastimes which are still popular in the UK/the US.

Билет 40. O’Henry – The robe of peace

1) expressive diction and syntax, its relation to message

2) cultural and social associations the best-dressed man calls up.

Билет 41. The fat of the lands (the economist, February 21, 2002, Boston)

1) idioms and the effect they produce

2) the system of higher education in the USA

Students who have completed a first degree are eligible to undertake a postgraduate degree, which includes:

• Master's degree (typically taken in one year)

• Doctorate degree (typically taken in three years)

Postgraduate education is not automatically financed by the State, and so admission is in practice highly competitive.

Post-secondary education in the United States is known as college or university and commonly consists of four years of study at an institution of higher learning. Like high school, the four undergraduate grades are commonly called freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior yearsю Students traditionally apply to receive admission into college, with varying difficulties of entrance. Schools differ in their competitiveness and reputation; generally, the most prestigious schools are private, rather than public. Admissions criteria involve the rigor and grades earned in high school courses taken, the students' GPA, class ranking, and standardized test scores (Such as the SAT or the ACT tests). Most colleges also consider more subjective factors such as a commitment to extracurricular activities, a personal essay, and an interview. While numerical factors rarely ever are absolute required values, each college usually has a rough threshold below which admission is unlikely.

Once admitted, students engage in undergraduate study, which consists of satisfying university and class requirements to achieve a bachelor's degree in a field of concentration known as a major. (Some students enroll in double majors or "minor" in another field of study.) The most common method consists of four years of study leading to a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), a Bachelor of Science (B.S.), or sometimes another bachelor's degree such as Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.), Bachelor of Social Work (B.S.W.), Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.,) or Bachelor of Philosophy (B.Phil.) Five-Year Professional Architecture programs offer the Bachelor of Architecture Degree (B.Arch.)

Unlike in the British model, degrees in law and medicine are not offered at the undergraduate level and are completed as graduate study after earning a bachelor's degree. Neither field specifies or prefers any undergraduate major, though medicine has set prerequisite courses that must be taken before enrollment.

Some students choose to attend a community college for two years prior to further study at another college or university. In most states, community colleges are operated either by a division of the state university or by local special districts subject to guidance from a state agency. Community colleges may award Associate of Arts (AA) or Associate of Science (AS) degree after two years. Those seeking to continue their education may transfer to a four-year college or university (after applying through a similar admissions process as those applying directly to the four-year institution). Some community colleges have automatic enrollment agreements with a local four-year college, where the community college provides the first two years of study and the university provides the remaining years of study, sometimes all on one campus.

Entrance into graduate programs usually depends upon a student's undergraduate academic performance or professional experience as well as their score on a standardized entrance exam like the Graduate Record Examination (GRE-graduate schools in general), the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), or the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT). Many graduate and law schools do not require experience after earning a bachelor's degree to enter their programs; however, business school candidates are usually required to gain a few years of professional work experience before applying.

The vast majority of students (up to 70 percent) lack the financial resources to pay tuition up front and must rely on student loans and scholarships from their university, the federal government, or a private lender. All but a few charity institutions charge all students tuition, although scholarships (both merit-based and need-based) are widely available. Generally, private universities charge much higher tuition than their public counterparts, which rely on state funds to make up the difference. Because each state supports its own university system with state taxes, most public universities charge much higher rates for out-of-state students. Private universities are generally considered to be of higher quality than public universities, although there are many exceptions.

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United States

American high school students apply to either four-year liberal arts colleges or universities, which include both undergraduate or graduate students. Others attend community colleges, who admit all students with high school diplomas, in preparation for transfer to a four year university. Non-traditional students are usually students over the age of 22 who pursue studies in higher education. Students may apply to many institutions using the Common Application. (The Common Application (informally known as the Common App) is an undergraduate college admission application that applicants may use to apply to any of 315 member colleges and universities in the United States. It's managed by the staff of a not-for-profit membership association (The Common Application, Inc.) and governed by a 13-member volunteer Board of Directors drawn from college admission deans and secondary school college guidance counselors. Its mission is to encourage college "access" by promoting holistic admission (the use of subjective criteria like essays and recommendations alongside objecttive criteria). It promotes holistic admission by limiting membership to institutions that have committed to using holistic admission for their entire undergraduate full-time applicant pool, and then streamlining the college application process for students choosing to apply to those colleges. The questions on the Common App include factors such as the home life of the student, academic achievements, standardized test scores and other information that colleges use to evaluate students for admission.

There is no limit to the number of colleges or universities to which a student may apply, though an application must be submitted for each. Fees are generally charged for each admissions application, but can be waived based on financial need.

Students apply to one or more colleges or universities by submitting an application which each college evaluates by its own criteria. The college then decides whether to extend an offer of admission (and possibly financial aid) to the student. The majority of colleges admit students to the college as a whole, and not to a particular academic major, although this may not be the case in some specialized programs such as engineering and architecture. The system is decentralized: each college has its own criteria for admission, even when using a common application form.

The International Baccalaureate (IB) offers high quality programmes of international education to a worldwide community of schools. There are more than 609,000 IB students at 2,293 schools in 127 countries.

The International Baccalaureate Organization's original intent was to provide schools with a curriculum which would be universally acceptable to all institutions of higher learning throughout the world. This idea led to the creation of the IB Diploma Programme in 1968 at the International School of Geneva. The Middle Years Programme and Primary Years Programme were created in 1994 and 1997, respectively, allowing the IBO to offer educational programmes from the age of three to the end of the secondary level.

The IBO functions on fees charged from schools who wish to implement one or more of the organization's educational programs. Traditionally, the schools offering the programmes were private international schools, but the number of state schools (public schools in the U.S.) is increasing. Today, over half of all Diploma Program students are from these schools and there are currently 1,903 schools in 124 countries implementing the organization's programs to more than 500,000 students aged 3 to 19 years.

Students will be permitted to enter the final examination only if they have ‘duly performed’, usually known as attaining a ‘DP’ (and sometimes even as attaining a ‘DP certificate’ although in practice there is no physical certificate issued).

In exam results there is a distinction, merit, pass. Я так понимаю, что это оценка успехов на экзамене, как удовлетворительно, хорошо, отлично. Но полной уверенности нет:( Не могу нигде найти!

Билет 42. Here we go again (popular-scientific article)

1) How does the author’s attitude come through in the text? (point out words and phrases)

2) US/UK magazines/newspapers you know.

Билет 43. Maugham – The escape

1) 1) authhor’s attitude to his subject and the way it comes through in the text. How does the title contribute to the text?

2) Can you place the characters socially? What are the main status symbols for people of their social standing?

Билет 44. (Saki Monroe) Fillboid Studge, the story of a mouse that helped.

3) discuss the attitude of the author towards his subject and the way it comes through in the text.

4) “A Turkish bath” is mentioned in the text. idioms- countries/nationalities.

Билет 45. O’Henry – Witcher’s Loaves

1) means of character drawing

2) Stereotypes: how do they come through in the text

Билет 46. Hemingway – a canary for one

1) how does the narrator comes through in the story.

2) comment – “I had started to say suspenders and changed it to the brases in the mouth to keep my English character’. Br-am equivalents

Билет 47. Hemingway – The end of something

1) Role of the dialogue

2) popular Br/Am. pastimes that you associate with different social groups.

Билет 48. O’Henry – After 20 years (short story)

1) Composition. its role in the overall impact on the reader.

2) New York and Chicago – associations

Chicago (Listeni/ʃɪˈkɑːɡoʊ/ or /ʃɪˈkɔːɡoʊ/), a city in the U.S. state of Illinois, is the third most populous city in the United States and the most populous city in the American Midwest, with approximately 2.7 million residents. Its metropolitan area (also called "Chicagoland"), which extends into Indiana and Wisconsin, is the third-largest in the United States, after those of New York City and Los Angeles,[4][5][6] with an estimated 9.8 million people. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County,[7] though a small portion of the city limits also extend into DuPage County.

Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837, near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed.[8] Today, Chicago is listed as an alpha+ global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, and ranks seventh in the world in the 2012 Global Cities Index. The city is an international hub for finance, commerce, industry, telecommunications, and transportation, with O'Hare International Airport being the second-busiest airport in the world in terms of traffic movements.

In 2008, Chicago hosted 45.6 million international and domestic visitors.[9] Among metropolitan areas, Chicago has the fourth-largest gross domestic product (GDP) in the world, just behind Tokyo, New York City, and Los Angeles, and ranking ahead of London and Paris.[10] Chicago is one of the most important Worldwide Centers of Commerce and trade.

Chicago's notability has found expression in numerous forms of popular culture, including novels, plays, films, songs, various types of journals (for example, sports, entertainment, business, trade, and academic), and the news media. The city has many nicknames, which reflect the impressions and opinions about historical and contemporary Chicago. The best-known include: "Chi-town," "Windy City" and "Second City." [n 1]