Notes to the Text

Read the following text and try to understand its general meaning. Make up and write down your own story about your family and studies. Make use of the words and word-combinations given in the brackets.

STUDENTS’ LIFE

Let me introduce myself. My name is ______. I am seventeen (eighteen, nineteen) years old. I was born in 1991 in the city of Kharkiv (in the town of …, in the village of …).

My family is large (small, neither large nor small). It consists of seven persons: my father and mother, grandmother and grandfather, brother and sister. My father is forty-seven. He is a worker (a farmer, a businessman, a manager, an employee, a teacher, a builder, an officer, a driver). He works at the plant (at the office, at the research institute, on the farm). My mother is forty-five. She is a doctor (a nurse, a librarian, an economist, a book-keeper, a shop-assistant, a cook, a house-wife). She works at the hospital (at the shop, at the library, at the canteen, at school. She doesn’t work. She takes care of children). My sister is eleven. She is a school-girl. My brother is nineteen. He serves in the Army. My grandparents are retired.

My family is very friendly. We often spend time together but every member of my family has a hobby of his own. My father is fond of fishing (hunting, driving, playing tennis). My mother likes knitting, sewing and gardening. As for me, I am keen on modern music (drawing, dancing, reading interesting books and magazines, watching TV, playing computer games, etc.).

At the age of six I went to school. After finishing secondary school I passed entrance exams to Kharkiv G.S. Skovoroda National Pedagogical University. Now I am a first-year student at the faculty of physics and mathematics (natural sciences, primary education).

We study six days a week. The students study in two shifts. My working day begins early: the first lecture starts at eight o’clock in the morning. We usually have three or four double periods with breaks between them. During these breaks students can go to the canteen to have a snack or have a look at the notice board. There we can read various kinds of notices, our time-table, to learn what is going on at the University, etc.

When our daily programme is over, some students hurry home, but some stay behind to read up for the next classes in the reading hall or to participate in social and academic work. The students take exams three times a year: in December, April and June. The number of exams is never greater than five.

We have holidays in winter, spring and summer. In summer students have a rest and work at various enterprises. Some of them spend their holidays working with children in summer camps.

I try to study well and take an active part in the social life of the faculty and the University.

Post-reading Activities

1. Find in the text you have composed the answers to the following questions:

1) When and where were you born?

2) Is your family large or small?

3) How many persons does your family consist of?

4) How old are your parents?

5) What are your parents?

6) Do you have any brothers or sisters? If you have say a few words about them.

7) Do you have grandparents? How old are they?

8) What is your hobby?

9) Do your parents have any hobbies?

10) When did you go to school?

11) When did you finish secondary school?

12) Where do you study?

13) How many days a week do you study?

14) How many double periods do you have every day?

15) When does your first lecture begin?

16) When are your classes over?

17) What can you do during breaks?

18) What do students do after their classes?

19) When do students take exams?

20) How many times a year do they have holidays?

21) Where can students work in summer?

2. Practise the above questions with your group-mate. Work in pairs!

3. Translate the following words and phrases from Ukrainian into English. Make up ten sentences with the English equivalents of the following words:

середня школа

скласти вступні іспити

першокурсник (першокурсниця)

перерва

дошка об’яв

розклад

читальна зала

брати участь у суспільній роботі

працювати на різних підприємствах

літній табір

4. Translate the following sentences from Ukrainian into English:

1) Моя родина складається з п’яти осіб.

2) Мій батько працює у дослідному інституті, а моя мати – вчитель.

3) Його бабуся та дідусь не працюють, вони – пенсіонери.

4) Моя сестра пішла до школи, коли їй було шість.

5) Після закінчення школи мій брат працював будівельником, а потім служив в Армії.

6) Студенти вчаться шість днів на тиждень.

7) Перша лекція починається о восьмій годині ранку.

8) Наша денна програма закінчується о третій годині.

9) Ми складаємо іспити тричі на рік.

10) Влітку студенти відпочивають та працюють у літніх таборах.

5. Read and translate the following dialogue about students’ life:

Jane: Hello, Mary!

Mary: Hi, Jane!

Jane: Haven’t seen you for ages. How are you?

Mary: Fine, thank you. And what’s about you?

Jane: I’m fine. You know, I finished secondary school in June, had a short rest and then …

Mary: Sorry for interrupting, but I’m sure you took your entrance exams to a university or academy, didn’t you?

Jane: You are quite right. I have always dreamt of becoming a teacher. And my dreams have come true. I have passed entrance exams to Kharkiv G.S.Skovoroda National Pedagogical University. Now I’m a first-year student.

Mary: My congratulation! What a surprise! I’m a student of the same University too. It’s strange I didn’t meet you during entrance exams … And what faculty do you study at?

Jane: I study at the faculty of Physics and Mathematics. My major is Informatics.

Mary: I see. It’s but natural. As far as I know, you’ve always been crazy about computers. As for me, I hate sciences. I’m fond of drawing and love small kids. So I chose the Faculty of Primary Education. I’ll be a teacher of primary school. Besides, I’ll specialize in arts and drawing.

Jane: Is it difficult to study at your faculty?

Mary: No. As for me, the first months at the University were a fun …

Jane: Excuse me, I must be going. The second double period will begin in a few minutes.

Mary: I’m in a hurry too. I hope we’ll meet one of these days and discuss our student’s life in detail. Good-bye, Jane!

Jane: So long, Mary. It was a pleasure to see you.

6. Make up your own dialogue about students’ life making use of the text, questions and the dialogue above.

7. Decide if the following statements are true or false according to the text „Students’ Life”:

	true	false
1) Students don’t study on Sundays. 2) Students have six double periods every day. 3) The third double period is over at 12.40. 4) Students take exams once a year. 5) The first lecture starts at seven o’clock in the morning.   6) A break between double periods lasts for forty-five minutes. 7) Students have holidays three times a year.

8. Read and translate (using the notes to the text) the following report of Ukrainian students’ summer activities. The text was originally published in the weekly „English. Language and Culture” (2007, № 31-32).

to relax – відпочивати

to improve – удосконалювати

to represent – представляти

experience – досвід

tireless – невтомний

to inspire – надихати

For the second time students from Ukraine, Canada, Poland, and the USA came to Kosiv to relax, meet new friends and improve their English or Ukrainian. The camp was organized by Professor Roman from Winnipeg, Canada, and by his coordinator from Ukraine, Oksana Ruda, the former director of the private school „Persha Lastivka” from Ivano-Frankivs’k. Students who came to the camp represented different regions of Ukraine and provinces of Canada. They didn’t know each other before they met but by the end of their stay in the camp they became friends and were one big family of nearly 100 students.

All the students were happy to be in the camp – both those who had never been there and the ones who came for the second time said that it was the best experience of their lives. They had a lot of fun: interesting activities were prepared by a tireless, energetic and inspiring teacher – Oksana Androshchuk, who came from Austria to be with her friends. The campers liked the morning exercises prepared by Vitaliy Rediuk, a student from Ivano-Frankivs’k and they enjoyed trips to different places, sports competitions and parties.

It was not easy to say goodbye on our last day in the camp, students and teachers were crying and didn’t want to leave. We came to the camp knowing only a few people, but at the end we all became friends and now we get letters and e-mails from different parts of the world. The person who has a friend is said to be rich and what about the one who has a hundred friends?

9. Find the answers to the following questions in the above text:

1) What countries did the students come to Kosiv from?

2) Who was the director of the private school ”Persha Lastivka”?

3) Where did Oksana Androshchuk come to the summer camp from?

4) What did Vitaliy Rediuk prepare?

5) What can you say about various activities of the campers?

10. Read and translate (using the notes to the text) the following stories of the first-year students of various British universities. The text was originally published in the British youth magazine „Current” (2001, № 32).

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