Comprehension check

1. Why do some species of animals and plants disappear from the Earth?

2. What can you say about global warming?

3. What caused the “greenhouse effect”?

4. Has anything been done to solve ecological problems?

5. What will happen if nothing is done to protect the environment?

Work and jobs Warming-up questions

1. What professions do you know?

2. What are well-paid jobs in our country?

3. Which of them require the knowledge of foreign languages?

There may be different types of work.

You work with your hands if you do manual work, and then you are called a blue-collar.

Blue-collar workers do manual work, work in factories, or build things.

Manual workers often work outdoors, for example as gardeners or road builders.

People who work in a factory or a shop get wages, the money paid every week by their employer.

If you do office work (and work in an office), then you are called a white-collar.

White-collar workers have jobs in offices, banks, company management and so on.

They are called employees, because they are paid to work for someone else.

Employees, especially people in a profession (such as a teacher or a lawyer), get a salary.

It is the money paid every month by their employer.

Both in an office and in a factory you can work with people, and then your job involves a lot of contact with people and not just machines.

If you work in a team, you work together with other people in a group and not alone.

You can work both part-time or have a full-time job.

Someone who has a part-time job works for only part of each day or week.

Someone who works full-time, works for all the hours of a week during which it is usual for people to work or study.

Some people work independently for different companies and are not employed by one particular company.

They are called freelancers.

Others are self-employed – they work for themselves and are not employed by a company.

There are some positive aspects of work, like job satisfaction and job security – when you get enjoyment from doing your work and are not in danger of losing your job.

Other positive aspects of work are: a pay rise – an Increase in the amount of money you are paid for your job, a bonus – money added to your wages as a reward for good work, perks – something that you get legally from your work in addition to your wages, such as goods, meals, or a car, and other fringe benefits – additional services or advantages given with a job besides wages.

Paid holiday, pension contributions and sick pay also add to job satisfaction.

However, there are also negative aspects of work such as work-related stress, discrimination m the workplace, understaffing and unsocial hours.

Comprehension check

1. What’s the difference between manual work and office work?

2. Who are called freelancers?

3. What are positive aspects of work?

4. Are there any negative aspects of work?

5. Would you like to work independently? Why?

My future profession Warming-up questions

1. What are your future plans?

2. Why did you decide to study at our academy?

3. Would you like to work abroad?

While at school I changed my mind many times and couldn’t decide what to choose: psychology, history, law, languages… There are many opportunities and many interesting and useful professions. Finishing school is the beginning of the independent life for school leavers. And we must understand that choosing a profession or career for our future life is a serious problem. If it is difficult for you to make the right choice, then follow the advice of your parents.

As for me I’ve make my choice long ago. My dream is to become a lawyer and I hope that this profession will be my future occupation for a long time. Law is a very useful and important subject because it deals with people and their behaviour.

I’ll try to do my best to be helpful for people in trouble and for our society. To my mind the job shouldn’t be only a matter of future wealth but it should also be interesting and useful for society. I know that my interest in the chosen subject insufficient but if I am lucky, I’ll have a chance to study different aspects of law, listen to experienced lectures, attend seminars of practical lawyers, famous professors. I realize that it’s a difficult task and I have to work twice as hard as others. I took a prepatory course at Rostov State Economic University, where we were given lectures and seminars on social sciences, Russian and English languages. I’m looking forward to becoming a student. If I fail at the exams, I’ll make another attempt next year. Nevertheless if it were not for hope, the heart would break. I really want to be a student, it is so interesting! I want to take part in all student’s events and amateur activities.

Comprehension check

1. Why do you think this profession is important today?

2. Who helped you to choose your future profession?

3. What are your ambitions about your future career?

4. What is law for you?

5. Why do we need today a lot of law specialists?

IN THE USA: THE MEDIA

Warming-up questions

1. How often do you watch the news on television? Which channels do you watch?

2. What are the big stories at the moment?

WHAT’S ON TV?

On the average, American viewers watch TV four hours a day, and usually tune to one of the national commercial networks: ABC, NBC, CBS, or Fox Broadcasting Company. These stations attract about 98 percent of TV audiences. During a sixty-minute TV program, they show about twelve minutes of commercials.

The commercial networks broadcast a variety of shows: news, drama, soap operas, comedy, sports, music, movies, children’s programs, game shows, and talk shows. There is a lot of competition for viewers, especially during prime time, from 7 to 11 P.M.

PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) is the only noncommercial network. It is supported by government and private funding and broadcasts more serious drama, performing arts, science, public-affairs documentaries, and educational children’s programs. All five networks broadcast twenty-four hours a day.

Some viewers pay to receive a wider selection of programs on cable television. There are up to 500 cable stations. Two well-known ones are HBO (Home Box Office), which shows movies, and CNN, which specializes in news.

ON THE AIR

Across the United States there are more than nine thousand radio stations. Almost all of them are commercial, except for National Public Radio stations. Listeners can tune into all kinds of stations: pop or classical music, news, sports, or community radio. Talk radio shows are very popular. Listeners call in and ask the talk show host or guests questions about anything from cooking or car repair to politics or health.