2.29 Read the text and tell your partner about your group and studies. Our group and our studies

There are twenty-five students in our group. Most of us entered University just after leaving school. We have both boys and girls in the group. Our group is friendly and we like spending time together.

Many of us live in the hostel. Our hostel is not far from the University. It takes us about ten minutes to get to the University on foot (by bus, by tram, by metro). There is a library and a reading room in our hostel.

At the University we have lectures, seminars, classes and laboratory works. In the first year we have higher mathematics, physics, chemistry, the history of Russia, science of materials and some other subjects. In the first two years we have foreign languages, either English or German. Some of the students learn French. By the way, I am good at history but maths doesn’t come easy to me.

Most of my groupmates get basic grants and three of us get increased grants. All of us take part in social activities. We all go in for sports. I go in for rowing.

The academic year is divided into two terms: the autumn term and the spring term. At the end of each term students take examinations and if they work hard enough, they pass them successfully.

2.30 Answer the following questions and then tell the group about your activity at the University.

1. How many students are there in your group? 2. Did you enter the University just after leaving school? 3. Did you work anywhere after leaving school? 4. Do you live in the hostel? 5. How do you get to the University? 6. How long does it take you to get to the University? 7. What subjects do you have in the first year? 8. What foreign language do you learn? 9. Do you take part in social activities? 10. What sports do you go in for? 11. Where would you like to work after you graduate from University?

2.31 Read and pay attention to prepositions of position: in, on, at.

a) 1. There’s nobody in the room. 2. They are walking in the park. 3. I met Tom in the street. 4. Who is the woman in that photograph? 5. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. 6. Robert lives in a small village in the mountains. 7. Look at the girl swimming in the sea / in the river!

b) 1. Write your name at the top / at the bottom of the page. 2. Jack’s house is the white one at the end of the street. 3. Who is that man standing at the bus-stop / at the door / at the window? 4. I couldn’t see very well because I was standing at the back. 5. She studies medicine at university. 6. I’ll be at work until 5.30 but I’ll be at home all evening.

Note: We say arrive in a country or town:

When did he arrive in Britain / in London?

We say arrive at with other places (buildings etc.) or events:

What time did he arrive at school / at work / at the hotel / at the party?

We say arrive home (without a preposition):

When did he arrive home?

c) 1. Don’t sit on the floor / on the ground. 2. The book is on the table. 3. There’s a report of the football match on page 7 of the newspaper. 4. In Britain they drive on the left. 5. Our flat is on the second floor of the building. 6. London is on the river Thames. 7. We stopped at a pretty village on the way to London.