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Complete the sentences according to the text.
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1. The oldest Universities in Britain are.... 2. There is a sharp division between.... 3. New universities became popular because.... Every university is independent, and responsible only to.... Students who pass exams after three or four years of studies get.... 6. There is a tendency to expand....
3.4. Fill in the gaps with the following words: British, Oxford, Britain, Oxford and Cambridge, Open University, to build, British.
1. There are 47 universities in.... 2. The oldest universities are.... 3. The history of... began in 1249. 4. These two universities are different from all other... universities. 5. Redbrick universities were built to give technological training. 6.... universities are private institutions, but they receive financial support from the state. 7. The British government does not think … new universities. The most interesting innovation is...
Are these statements true or false? Correct the false.
1. All British universities are private institutions. 2. The admission to the University is by examination or selection. 3. The Department of Education and Science controls appointment of staff. 4. The number and type of faculties is the same at all British universities. 5. Students never work in summer; they work during the academic year. 6. The first postgraduate degree is that of Master. 7. Universities are centres of research.
Answer the following questions.
1. How many universities are there in Great Britain? 2. Whatare the oldest British universities? 3. What Redbrick universities can you name? 4. Why did «the new universities» quickly become popular? 5. All British universities are private institutions, aren't they? 6. What university degree do you know? 7. Are universities centres of research?
Read the text to know more about Oxford University.
OXFORD UNIVERSITY
The University of Oxford may be said to date from 1214, when the first charter was granted by the Pope, but long before this date there had existed in the town a number of religious communities and these were the real beginning of the University.
The college corporate institutions with special rules and privileges came into being during the Middle Ages, but at first only graduates were full members of them and it was not until the 16th century that all undergraduates were admitted to them.
The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries saw many quarrels between the students and the townsfolk culminating in the riots on St. Scholastica's Day. Subsequently the King gave his support to the University which gained considerable influence over the town and its trade. In 1672 the Test Act required all students to subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England, a requirement which was not abolished for another 200 years.
Academic life in Oxford is full and varied. Some of the occasions are solemn, some exciting, and a few unashamedly frivolous. The three principal annual events are Commemoration, Congregation and Convocation, concerned with the conferring of Honorary Degrees.
Every college of the University has its own Library, and many of them are very large and comprehensive. Oxford is not only one of the two oldest university cities of Great Britain, but a thriving industrial town as well. Its history can be traced as far back as the eighth century, when the earliest monastic foundation was already in existence. Oxford is also famous for its architecture.
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What is it like, being a student at Oxford? Like all British universities, Oxford is a state university, not a private one. Students are selected on the basis of their results in the national examinations or the special Oxford entrance examination. There are many applicants, and nobody can get a place by paying a fee. Successful candidates are admitted to a specified college of the university: that will be their home for the next three years (the normal period for an undergraduate degree), and for longer if they are admitted to study for a post-graduate degree. They will be mostly taught by tutors from their own college.
Teaching is pleasantly informal and personal; a typical undergraduate (apart from those in the natural sciences who spend all day in the laboratories) will spend an hour a week with his or her 'tutor', perhaps in the company of one other student. Each of them will have written an essay for the tutor, which serves as the basis for discussion, argument, the exposition of ideas and academic methods. At the end of the hour the students go away with a new essay title and a list of books that might be helpful in preparing for the essay.
ORAL PRACTICE
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