4 курс
Education for national minorities. The problem of bilinguism in the USA and Russia.
The principal tasks of higher education
100 ways to avoid studying
If you do not learn to think when you are young, you may never learn.
Achievement provides the only real pleasure in life.
Genius is 1 per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration.
Education isn’t play and it can’t be made to look like play. It’s hard work but it can be made interesting work.
Problems in higher education in the USA and in Russia.
Law is developing, isn’t’ it?
What do you think is the most appropriate way for society to encourage good behaviour?
Summarize the arguments for not allowing young children to stay with their mothers in prison.
Some people prefer only classical music and find contemporary music to be cocaphony.
A man who was happy
How a piece of advice changed my life
There is no point in making students repeat a school year if they fail their exams.
Should students be judged only by their results in end-of-year exams?
Family traditions in the urban communities and in the country.
The continuity of folk tradition in modern world (pros and cons)
The advantages and problems of multinational states for the development of national traditions.
5 курс
You must run very fast to stay where you are.
The more you do the more you can do.
What is a play?
Acting is basically entertainment, the actor isn't there to instruct, he's there to amuse.
Interview a teacher, a schoolchild and your group mates on the question of "what makes a good teacher". Then write an article based on your survey for a newspaper or a popular magazine.
Imagine that you are a successful, popular writer. You sell well your fame is unanimous. Give tips to young writers on how to write a bestseller.
Choose a book that you'd like to be made into a film Imagine that you are the director of the future film. Cast the actors for the main parts the place where the film will be shot, adapt the plot. Make the presentation of your scenario in class.
Write the review of the last theatre performance you saw. Write about the play itself, the directing the choice of the cast, the setting etc, whether you recommend your group mates to see it or not.
Travel as I see it.
Tourism as organized travelling: advantages and inconveniences.
Диалог и монолог:
- знать необходимый лексический материл для говорения на заданную тему;
- составить краткий план монолога;
- знать грамматические конструкции, речевые образцы для правильного оформления высказывания;
- владеть разными видами дискурса: характеристикой, определением, объяснением, сравнением, оценкой, интерпретацией, комментированием, резюме, аргументацией и их сочетанием;
- владеть навыками построения беседы, интервью;
- обосновать актуальность темы.
Задания на диалог:
3 курс
Get your fellow-student to give you information about his \ her favourite museum. Try to get as many details as you can.
One of you has recently returned from England. The other is questioning him \ her on the impressions of the National Gallery/ the Tate Gallery.
One of your flat-mates (room-mates) is always listening to records of opera on your hi-fi. Last night it woke you up at 2 a. m. You hate opera. Also, he/she never does his/her share of the washing-up and cleaning. Tell your friend how angry you are.
Your friend is late and in a bad temper. Find out what's the matter and try to calm him/her down.
You have a toothache. And a headache. It's Sunday. And it's pouring with rain. And your girlfriend/boyfriend has left you. You had an argument and she/he left the city and you can't contact her/him to make it up. Tell your friend about it.
This time it's your friend who's depressed. Ask what's wrong and listen sympathetically. Try to cheer your friend up. Perhaps offer some advice or suggest something to take your friend's mind off his/her problems. When your friend seems happier discuss what you did with the rest of the class.
You feel fine today. It's a sunny day and you're enjoying yourself. Your friend doesn't seem so cheerful, though. Find out what the matter is and be sympathetic.
Try to interest your friend in these plans: going to the cinema; spending some time studying together; reading a good book you've just read; helping you with some shopping; watching TV this evening; going to a museum. When you have succeeded in arousing his/her interest, discuss what you did with the rest of the class.
Listen to your friend's ideas and pretend to be indifferent. All your partner's plans seem really boring to you. Even talking to other people in the class bores you to death.
Discuss your ideal partners: what features you would appreciate in a wife / husband?
4 курс
Discuss examinations in Russia and England and the USA.
Formal versus informal teaching
Exams are not an accurate measure of a person’s ability.
A mixture of exams and coursework is a good idea.
What is an intelligent person?
Teacher and a pupil: norms of behaviour.
The stricter the punishment, the lesser the crime rate, or is it?
What do you think is the effect of punishment on people who have committed crimes?
Read through a list of punishments which are used in various countries for different types of crime. Discuss what sort of crimes you think they are most appropriate for. Are there any that should never be used? Punishments: solitary confinement, community service, imprisonment, hard labour, fines, corporal punishment, death penalty, life imprisonment, suspended sentence, probation.
Are there any crimes in your country that receive a great deal of media attention?
Can you think of any crimes that are seen as less serious than they were in the past?
“No furniture is so charming as books, even if you never open them and read a single word” (Sydney Smith)
There is an art of reading as well as an art of thinking and an art of writing. Isaac D’Israeli.
Reading to the mind is what exercise to the body.
All books are divided into two classes: the books of the hour and the books of all time.
There is only one way to come to understand music by learning to play a musical instrument whether an external one like the piano or flute or by training the human voice to become an instrument.
Music can be used as the lines of communication between people.
What happens to family life as a result f family members’ involvement with television?
What are the possible future achievements of TV?
National customs and traditions have been historically associated with seasonal changes of the year. The celebration of the magic force of the first day can be seen in the pagan tradition of marking the first day of winter, spring, having festivals in honour of natural forces - the Sun, the Moon (e. g. Sunday, Monday). Pancake Day (Maslyanitsa) in Russia dates back to the ancient Slavic tradition of saying farewell to winter and welcoming spring by singing, dancing, burning the straw effigy of Maslyanitsa and eating pancakes, which represent little images of the Sun.
Do you know about any other folk holidays marking the seasonal changes? What is the role of such holidays in the cultural development of a nation and in securing the continuity of national customs and traditions?
Celebrations like Olympic Games, Youth Festivals, Neighbourhood Festivals, Russian Winter festival, etc. have appeared only recently. Some of them have obviously roots in the cultural heritage of the peoples, others emphasize the modern problems and aims.
What in your opinion is the cultural, political (emotional, moral, psychological, etc.) impact and message of such new festivities for the younger generation?
Some young people refuse to observe the old rituals and have a wedding party considering it a terrible nuisance and a waste of money. What is your idea of celebrating a wedding? Should the old customs and traditions be observed or should it be held in an absolutely new manner?
A school teacher is sure to take part in organizing celebrations of different kinds. What do you think a school teacher's opinion should be on the role holidays, traditions and rituals play in the education and character-shaping of the younger generation?
You may remember or know, that decorating a New Year tree was considered to be a superstition in the twenties in Soviet Russia. How do you account for that attitude and what in fact is the meaning of the New Year tree to children and adults?
What part do you think the national cuisine plays in the celebration of different holidays and festivals? Can you describe some Russian (or English, French, German, etc.) special dishes associated particularly with celebrations?
5 курс
Discuss the values and attitudes of young people, compare with the same things of older people.
What is reading after all? A source of information? A refuge for the lonely? A pastime? Say what reading is to you after all.
Are there books that you can read twice, that would remain a source of permanent enrichment to you? If so, what books could you name among them?
Though the habit of reading is justly called "the most delightful habit in the world", there are people who buy books with jackets to match their wallpaper or draperies. Do you think such people really own books? What kind of person do you think can be called a true owner of books?
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
"No reading is worthwhile unless you enjoy it." (S. Maugham)
"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." (F. Bacon)
Video and cinema. The effect of the future availability of video productions on the cinema.
Video and television.
Video and book-reading.
The actor should convey to the audience his own vision of his part and not what he thinks they expect from him.
Acting is an art.
Acting consists in communication.
The actor must always be himself. Acting has nothing to do with imitation. The actor is not supposed to adjust himself to every new role.
Stage acting is a lost art; it has been ruined by films and TV.
Modern ways of travel.
Environmental protection as a crucial problem of today.
The best way to spend a holiday.
The educational value of travelling.
Love of nature as an essential part of a child's upbringing.
Задания на монолог:
3 курс
The devil is not so black as he is painted.
What is the style? What techniques and materials did the artist use?
How would you explain the fact that, historically speaking, there are more prominent men than women in the arts?
Your favourite traits of character in a person.
The traits of character you detest.
Your own chief characteristics.
What traits of character are required to make a good interpreter or a translator?
Is the appreciation of pictures a special faculty which only a few can possess?
A great painting enriches our experience of life, just as a great poem does of a great musical composition.
"Aesthetic effects" make art especially engaging and illuminating.
What are the essential factors that help to mould a person's character?
What are the ways and means by which a person's character is revealed and estimated?
What role does natural environment play in our life?
4 курс
The advantages of mixed schools
Students should share the responsibilities in a university and enjoy equal rights with the faculty. The vital question is to what extent and in what ways?
We should publicize the names of criminals so as to deter other people from committing crimes.
The most painful time is adolescence with intense feelings, lack of confidence and rebellion against authority.
Children are not supposed to have their own opinion, but if they do, the adults should ignore them.
There is never a problem child, there are only problem parents.
Novel appeals in the same way that a portrait does – through the richness of its human content.
The classics are boring.
The classics never die.
Media produce more negative effects than positive.
Media form distorted representation of the world.
Internet is the best source of information.
No power can destroy national traditions which are rooted in centuries of history.
Short visits to foreign countries are more likely to mislead than to educate.
Folk traditions should be preserved in modern world.
Multinationalism may result in extinction of national traditions.
Divorce is morally wrong and marriage should be preserved at all costs.
However good recorded music might b, it can never really take the place of a live performance. To be present at an actual performance is half the enjoyment of music.
Marriage restricts freedom.
The most painful time is adolescence with intense feelings, lack of confidence and rebellion against authority.
The variety of holidays and festivals in all social communities is determined by the diversity of their characters. One can talk about international, national, political, cultural, religious, ethnic, etc. holidays. Please, give examples of these holidays and say which of them is your favourite and why.
The origin of May Day as the international day of working class solidarity can be traced back to the end of the 19th century. After the brutal suppression of demonstrations for the eight hour working day in the US on May 1, 1886, American trade unions and the Socialist International decided in 1889 to hold such demonstrations everywhere. Since then, May Day has been the symbol of the working class unity. Do you happen to know that May Day is not a public holiday in many countries? Can you speak about the attitude to May Day in Russia now?
There is no need to deny that the celebrations of the International Women's Day have acquired new features and developed modern customs in the course of time. Do you approve of these new customs? How will you explain them to your British or American friend emphasizing its difference from Mother's Day in their countries?
5 курс
Literature is the art of writing something that will be read twice; journalism - what will be read once. (Cyril Connolly)
Better to write for yourself and have no public than to write for the public and have no self. (Cyril Connolly)
Editor: a person employed by a newspaper whose business it is to separate the wheat from the chaff, and to see that the chaff is printed. (Elbert Hubbard)
There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies.
Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have (Sir Winston Churchill)
Classic music is the kind that we keep thinking will turn into a tune (Frank McKinney Hubbard)
Early to rise and early to bed makes a man healthy and wealthy and dead (Hunter S. Thompson)
Neurosis is the way of avoiding non-being by avoiding being. (Paul Tillich)
A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read. (Mark Twain)
Marriage is the waste-paper basket of the emotions. (Jane Austin)
I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl. (Sir Charlie Chaplin)
A man travels the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it. (George Moore)
To live for a time close to great minds is the best kind of education. (John Buchan)
Education has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading, an easy prey to sensations and cheap appeals. (G.M. Trvelyan)
Truth is the most valuable thing we possess. Let us economize it. (Mart Twain)
Good breeding consists in concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person. (Mark Twain)
Movies should have a beginning, a middle and an end. - Certainly, but not necessarily in that order. (Jean-Luc Godard)
Television has brought back murder into the home - where it belongs. (Alfred Hitchhock)
It's not the voting that's democracy, it's the counting. (Tom Stoppard)
The poet is the priest of invisible. (Wallace Stevens)
All men are creative but few are artists. (Paul Goodman)
Why should people go out and pay to see bad movies when they can stay at home and see bad television for nothing? (Sam Golwyn)
Law is a reflection and a source of prejudice. It both enforces and suggests forms of bias. (Diane B. Schulder)
We all know is the most powerful of schools for imagination. No poet ever interpreted nature as freely as a lawyer interprets the truth. (Jean Giraudoux)
Good music is that which penetrates the ear with facility and quits the memory with difficulty. (Sir Thomas Beecham)
A musicologist is a man who can read music but can't hear it. (Sir Thomas Beecham)
The desire to take medicine is perhaps the greatest feature that distinguishes man from animals. (Sir William Osier)
To talk of illnesses is a sort of Arabian Nights entertainment. (Sir William Osier)
In Examination those who do not wish to know ask questions of those who cannot tell. (Sir Walter Raleigh)
Children begin by loving their parents. After a time they judge them. Rarely, if ever do they forgive them. (Oscar Wilde)
The actor and the problems of play-acting.
Dialogue. Its role in the play.
Scenery and music. Their role in the play.
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