Text D. Our UniversityThe Far-Eastern State Technical University is the largest and the oldest higher educational establishment in the Far-East of Russia. It was founded as a Polytechnic Institute in the building of the former Oriental Institute in 1918. The mission of the Institute was to provide the population of Russia’s Far-East with the opportunity of getting higher technical education. The founders of the Polytechnics, outstanding professors and scientists, made a great contribution to the development of the Institute they dreamt about. In 1993 the Institute was officially renamed to the Far-Easten State Technical University (FESTU). The FESTU trains qualified specialists, Bachelors of Arts and Masters in 16 institutes, such as Civil Engineering, Marine and Mining ones, the institutes of Radio Electronics, Computing and Electrical Engineering; Economics and Management; Politics and Law; Humanities; Mechanics, Automatics and Advanced Technologies and others. The students at the University are provided with modern facilities for study and research. There are the necessary laboratories equipped with up-to-date instrumentation and a rich library, the volume of which being more than 2.5 million books. Many students participate in research projects, which are supported by grants. The complete period of training lasts for 5 years. Students carry out course projects and, finally, submit a thesis. The academic year begins in September and ends in June. There are two semesters in the year. Twice a year students take exams. The FESTU involves above 14 buildings and has convenient classrooms, labs, lecture halls, students’ activity areas, dining halls and libraries. A new campus was built in one of the most picturesque places in Vladivostok – “Golubinaya Pad”. In the campus there are new premises for the University and dormitories for out-of-town students. The University has its own cultural centre, the Pushkin Theatre, which everybody who works and studies in the University is proud of. There are museums of history, geology and arts in the FESTU. The student life in the FESTU is interesting and diverse. Different students’ organizations work there, including sports and recreational, social and professional ones. Every student can take part in sports. There are some gymnasiums, equipped with weight and exercise rooms, basketball and tennis courts. Specialists who graduated from the FESTU consider that they are well trained for working under new market relations. Exercise 1. Choose the subjects you studied at school:
Exercise 2. Did you study any other subjects not included in the list given above? Exercise 3. Look through the list of subjects once more and answer the questions: A. Which were you best at? B. Which did you enjoy most? Why? C. Which are you still studying or interested in? D. Which are helpful in life? Why? Exercise 4. State your point of view on some controversial aspects of education. What is your own personal experience of them? Private education or public schools School uniforms University grants Single-seх or co-educational schools Examinations
Exercise 5. Write an account of your own school life. Describe your progress. What subjects did you enjoy and so on. Look again at exercise 3 for ideas. Exercise 6.Write a letter to Valerie Morton, explaining how teachers are trained in Russia. Exercise 7. Read the dialogues. Try to reproduce them in pairs. Variations are welcome.
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