N. Kryazheva - The United States and the United Kingdom. Past and Present (pdf), страница 22

Wewill not be able to see everything there is worth seeing in one day.It is very interesting to visit the University Botanic Garden. It was founded in 1621 and is the oldestgarden in Britain. The Garden has the largest plant collection in the world - 90 per cent of the world's plantfamilies.The University Cathedral of St. Mary is the most visited church in England, it receives about 300,000visitors a year.The Oxford Central Library - the oldest and the largest library in Europe -has about 7 million books.

Thelibrary sprawls across several buildings all of which are masterpieces of architecture. Some readingrooms have not changed for 500 years. Students and scholars still take an oath not to remove books fromthe buildings.The Museum of Art and Archaeology with fine collections of Eastern and European art and MiddleEastern archaeology, it was founded in 1683.The best way to see all interesting places in the city is to take a walk down the Broad Street- thecentral street of Oxford.

With every step you plunge deeply into history. A short stroll takes us past theObservatory where an astronomer Edmund Halley discovered his comet, the library where ChristopherWren drew his plans for St. Pauls's Cathedral, the pub where a teacher of English literature J. R. R.Tolkien liked to take a glass of beer after work and wrote his famous trilogy "The Lord of the Rings". Andright opposite is there is another pub where Tolkien's fellow C.S. Lewis passed his free time and workedon his books about Narnia.CAMBRIDGECambridge is the second oldest university in the UK after the University of Oxford.Your visit to Cambridge will be a very interesting experience you will walk around this quiet place andfeel a sense of peace and scholarship.Here you will feel the past, the present and the future at the same time.

The story of University goesback to 1209 when several hundred students and scholars arrived in the little town of Cambridge afterthey had left Oxford. These stu-Bents and their teachers had to go away from Oxford after a strangeaccident, a skirmish which left one person killed. The Mayor of Oxford arrested three stu-Eents and theywere sentenced to death. In protest their friends rioted and many №f them decided to move to anotherplace.

Some teachers supported them and this way the University of Cambridge came into being.Today Cambridge is a system of faculties, departments, and 31 colleges which are separated from oneanother but are all parts of one institution of higher education.The Colleges stand on the banks of the river Cam.

If you go through a college gate, you will findyourself in a square the size of which varies from college Bo college. The square is surrounded by halls ofresidence where the students live and the lecture halls where they study. There is also a small church practically every college has its own patron saint - a library and a dining-hall. Since in Britain Church isnot separated from the State, religion plays an important role in IBhe system of education.

There is aspecial service in church every Sunday - the attendance is compulsory for all students.The most famous scientist who worked and taught at Cambridge is undoubtedly Isaak Newton. Amongfamous graduates of Cambridge are: the leader of the English Revolution Oliver Cromwell, the poet JohnMilton; the scientist and creator of the evolutionary theory Charles Darwin. Besides, all kings of thereigning Windsor dynasty studied at Cambridge: Edward VII and George VI. Charles, Prince of Wales andheir to the throne of the United Kingdom, graduated from Cambridge in 1970.At present there are about 11,000 students at Cambridge. In Cambridge you lean visit very interestingplaces: Fitzwilliam Museum, founded in 1816, houses a •brilliant collection of archaeological object;Sedgwick Museum of Geology; Scott wPolar Research Institute named after Captain Scott who undertookseveral expe-I ditions to the South Pole.And do not forget to visit King's College Church, a 15th century building, famous for the beauty of itsarchitecture.All is all, to visit Cambridge is very interesting, exciting and mind-broadening!OXBRIDGEOxford and Cambridge are the oldest and most prestigious universities in Great Britain.

They are oftencalled collectively Oxbridge. Both universities areindependent. Only the education elite go to Oxford or Cambridge. Most of their students are formerpublic school leavers.The normal length of the degree course in three years, after which the students take the Degree ofBachelor of Arts (B.A.). Some courses, such as language or medicine, may be one or two years longer.The students may work for other degrees as well. The degrees are awarded at public degree ceremoniesOxford and Cambridge cling to their traditions, such as the use of Latin at degree ceremonies.

Fullacademic dress is worn at examinations.Oxford and Cambridge universities consist of a number of colleges. Each college is different, but inmany ways they are alike. Each college has its name, its coat of arms. Each college is governed by aMaster. The larger ones have more than 400 members, the smallest colleges have less than 30. Eachcollege offers teaching in a wide range of subjects.

Within, the college one will normally find a chapel, adining hall, a library, rooms for undergraduates, fellows and the Master, and also rooms for teachingpurposes.There are now twenty-four colleges for men, five for women and another five which have both men andwomen members, many from overseas studying for higher degrees. Among the oldest colleges areUniversity College, All Souls and Christ Church.THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDONThe University of London is a federal University and is one of the oldest, largest and most diverseuniversities in the UK.

Established by Royal Charter in 1836, the University is recognized globally as aworld leader in Higher Education.It consists of 19 self-governing Colleges of outstanding reputation together with the prestigious Institute ofthe School of Advanced Study and a number of other central academic activities.

From its very beginning,the University has been a unique instruction. Its Colleges and Institutes each have their own illustriousand distinctive history.It has an outstanding international reputation for the quality of the teaching and research at ourColleges and Institutes. Whatever you want to study, we offer virtually every subject covered in anyuniversity curriculum.Subjects can be studied at various levels and lead to the award of foundation, undergraduate, taughtpostgraduate and research degrees, or to diplomas or certificates.The Colleges of the University differ in size, age and tradition as well as in the courses of study theyoffer.

Some are multi-faculty institution with large student populations, whilst others are specialist andsmaller in size.The School of Advanced Study brings together the specialized scholarship and resources oftenacclaimed postgraduate research institutes; it offers opportunities and facilitation for research across andbetween a wide range of subject fields in the humanities and social sciences.If you are unable to come to London to study because of work or personal commitments, theUniversity of London External System offers a flexible way to study wherever you are in the world.The University has a Central Administration which supports the federal Uni-/ersity and the centralactivities.Academic dress in the University of London has been prescribed since the riid 19th century and hasbeen modified and added to over the years.THE UNIVERSITY OF ST.

ANDREWSThe University of St. Andrews is the oldest university in Scotland and the third oldest in the Englishspeaking world, having been founded between 1410 and 1413. The University is situated in the town ofSt. Andrews, in Fife, on the gast coast of Scotland. It is a renowned centre for teaching and research anda member of the 1994 Group, a network of smaller research-intensive British universities.Independent school intake is high, but the university has a widening participation policy. The library andmany university departments are spread around the town centre. The town's population of 16,000 isboosted considerably by tie University's 8,000 students.