1. Match the columns and reproduce the context:

1.religiously	a) service
2.a residential	b) researchers
3.to tolerate	c) literature
4.enrolment	d) edge
5.advanced	e)criteria
6.overly	f) the liberal arts
7.in-house	g) environment
8. recruiting	h) affiliated
9. preset	i) fear
10.stained	j) degrees
11.a male	k) possibilities
12.a bias against	l) imbalance
13.majoritarian	m) college
14.old atavistic	n) glass
15.gender	o) boredom
16.dating	p) concerned

2. Paraphrase the following vocabulary items:

1) to raise concerns; 2) the population tipped towards women; 3) the thatcher, the baker, the candlestick maker; 4) less committed to higher education; 5) confluence of factors; 6) modest means; 7) intercollegiate sports; 8) to entice male applicants; 9) to be heavy toward women; 10) a critical mass; 11) a mindset… more generous to the men;12) to develop a sense of unease; 13) to thrive on gender imbalance; 14) to take somebody on; 15) to have one’s pick of women; 16) off campus.

3. Give synonyms and antonyms (if possible) to the following words:

1) the liberal arts; 2) domain; 3) to recruit; 4) to outnumber; 5) a skew; 6) to persist in school; 7) to pose a challenge; 8) the highest-performing women; 9) mindset; 10) an edge.

4.Which words collocate with the following vocabulary items?

1. officials, standards, policies;

2. majoritarian, inclusive, diverse;

3. male, female.

5.Give English equivalents to the following words and expressions:

Основной предмет специализации; гуманитарные науки; перекос; интернатура; установка; предубеждение; преимущество; пугать, угрожать; придать более привлекательный облик; снижать планку; привлекать; бросать учебу; зарегистрированный; склоняться; разрыв между мужчинами и женщинами; слишком (чрезмерно); территория университета; статистические показатели; одновременное действие; скромного достатка; принимать вызов, мериться силами.

6. Confirm or refute the following statements:

1.Dominance of women in all the academic spheres of the US higher education system raises concerns.

2.The gender gap can be easily bridged, and, in fact, it’s getting smaller and smaller.

3.Men are genetically more intent on going on to higher education but women are more intelligent, brighter, which accounts for the existent gender imbalance.

4.Men are psychologically different from women: they are overly concerned about financial matters, without thinking of how higher education may contribute to their income.

5.African-Americans demonstrate worse academic performance than whites for the reason of their genetic peculiarities.

6.The men-women ratio should be 50-50 at any higher education institution for the latter to function properly.

7.The behaviour of higher-performing women in colleges depends on the level of men’s scholastic achievement, which is natural.

8.To entice male and female applicants the same means of recruiting won’t work at all.

9.The male advantage at Harvard, Yale and Princeton is tremendous.

10.Men adapt easily to a majoritarian female environment. In fact a man fears other men more than women.

11.Women’s institutions are lesser institutions.

12.The decrease in dating possibilities that results from gender imbalance at colleges and grad schools is a surmountable obstacle for women.