a) Skim the text below and time your reading. It is good if you can read it for 6 minutes (70 words per minute).

TEXT I B

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF

If you go on an excursion to the Pavlov Biological Station at Pavlovo near St. Petersburg, you will see a very interesting monument there. It is a monument to the dog. The dog, as you know, played a very important part (роль) in all Pavlov's experiments. Pavlov wanted to thank the dog, so this monument was set up (установлен).

Then, if you go to see Pavlov's room in which great scientist worked for so many years, you will see another dog, a toy one, standing on the bookcase. This toy dog has a very interesting history. It comes from Cambridge, one of the oldest universities in the world.

Once a group of students stopped before the window of a toyshop (иг­рушечный магазин) in Cambridge and looked at the toy dogs there. "There's the thing we want," said еже of them, and he pointed to a white dog in the shop window, They entered the shop and soon came out with the big white dog they had seen in the window. Then laughing (смеясь) and talking they went to their professor and showed the dog to him.

The professor did not understand what it was all about until one of the students told him about their plan to give Pavlov the present (подарок) of the toy dog.

"Where did you get the idea from?" asked the professor. "I think it's an excellent (отличная) one."

**We got it from the grandson of Charles Darwin, who is now a student here," they answered. '"When Darwin got his doctor's degree (степень) at Cambridge, the students gave him a toy monkey (обезьянка). That was how they showed that they supported (поддерживать) his theory of the origin of man "

The next day was a great holiday at Cambridge. Thousands of students came to the University to see the foreign scientists receive their diplomas. The students watched the ceremony from the gallery, It was Pavlov's turn (очередь) to receive his diploma. As he was going forward under the gallery, the students let the dog right down into his arms. He looked up, saw all the young smiling faces above him and understood that they wanted to show him that they supported his theory.

At that moment an old professor on the other side of the hall said to his friend: "Look, the students are giving Pavlov a toy dog. Did you see Darwin get his diploma? So you remember (помнить) him standing there with a toy monkey in his hands nearly forty years ago? History repeats itself, doesn't it?"

b) Arrange the pictures illustrating the contents of the text in the right order.

Текст 1В

Истории свойственны повторения.

Если вы ходили на экскурсию на биологическую станцию Павлова в Павлове недалеко от Санкт-Петербурга, вы должны были увидеть там интересную статую. Это статуя собаки. Собака, как вы знаете, сыграла очень важную роль во всех экспериментах Павлова. Павлов хотел отблагодарить собаку, так была установлена эта статуя.

Затем, если вы ходили смотреть комнату Павлова, в которой великий учёный работал так много лет, вы бы увидели другую собаку, игрушечную, стоящую на книжной полке. У этой игрушечной собаки очень интересная история. Она привезена из Кембриджа, одного из старейших университетов мира.

Однажды группа студентов остановилась рядом с витриной игрушечного магазина в Кембридже и стала смотреть на игрушечных собак там. “Эту вещь мы хотим,” – сказал один из них и он указал на белую собаку в витрине магазина. Они вошли в магазин и скоро вышли с большой белой собакой, которую они увидели на витрине. Затем, смеясь и разговаривая, они подошли к их профессору и показали собаку ему.

Профессор не понимал что это значит, пока один из студентов не рассказал ему об их плане сделать подарок Павлову в виде игрушечной собаки.

“Откуда вы взяли эту идею?” – спросил профессор. “Я думаю, она отличная”.

“Мы узнали это от внука Чарльза Дарвина, который теперь здесь студент”, - они ответили. “Когда Дарвин получал свою докторскую степень в Кембридже, студенты подарили ему игрушечную обезьянку. Именно так они показывали, что поддерживают его теории о происхождении человека”.

На следующий день был большой праздник в Кембридже. Тысячи студентов пришли в университет посмотреть на иностранных учёных, принимающих их дипломы. Студенты наблюдали церемонию с галереи. Настала очередь Павлова получить свой диплом. Поскольку он проходил прямо под галереей, студенты кинули собаку вниз прямо в его руки. Он посмотрел наверх, увидел все улыбающиеся лица над ним и понял, что они хотят показать ему, что поддерживают его теорию.

В тот момент старый профессор на другой стороне зала сказал своему другу: “ Посмотрите, студенты подарили Павлову игрушечную собаку. Вы видели, как Дарвин получал свой диплом? Помните его стоящим там с игрушечной обезьянкой в своих руках почти сорок лет назад? Истории свойственны повторения, не так ли?”

a) Read the text to find answers to given question.

TEXT 1C

SCHOOLING IN ENGLAND

1. How many days a week is school open?

Every child in Great Britain between the ages of five and sixteen years must attend school. There are three main types of educational institutions: primary schools, secondary schools and universities. State schools are free (бесплатный) and attendance is compulsory. Morning school begins at nine o'clock and lasts for three hours until twelve o'clock noon. Afternoon school begins at two o'clock and lasts for two and a half hours until half-past four School is open five days a week. On Saturdays and Sundays there are no lessons.

2. What subjects do children learn in the Junior school?

In the primary schools, where children study from five to eleven years, the first two years are mainly taken up with learning to read, write and do simple arithmetic, bi addition, the children draw, paint, model and sing. The first two years of the primary school are called the Infant school (шко­ла для малышей).

At seven the pupils are transferred to the Junior school (начальная школа для детей от 7 до 11 лет) which is usually situated in another section of the same building. At this age level the following subjects appear in the study programme: English, history, geography, nature study, music and others. At the age of eleven the pupils finish the primary school and continue their education at one of the secondary schools.

3. What kind of secondary schools are there in England?

There are different types of secondary schools in England. This system of secondary education has developed since the Act of 1944 according to which on leaving the primary school a pupil may go either to a secondary Modem, Technical, Grammar or Comprehensive school.

The Secondary Modem School (средняя современная школа) is attended by pupils between the ages of eleven and sixteen. It is a state school which has a practical trend. Such courses as secretarial, trade and commerce, agriculture, gardening, cooking are taught there. These schools are usually well equipped with workshops for woodwork, metalwork, cooking, etc,

On leaving this school the pupils who wish to continue their education may attend evening classes which

prepare them for entering a college or a university.

4. In what fields of national economy do the leavers of the Secondary Technical School work?

The Secondary Technical School gives a general technical education, ft is attended by those pupils who are more mechanically inclined (склон­ный) The pupils have the opportunity to try their hand at the machines in the workshops. More time is given to such subjects as mathematics and science (естественные науки), hi other words, this school gives a good foundation to work in die fields of industry and agriculture.

5. What do the pupils receive on finishing the Grammar School?

The Secondary Grammar school (классическая школа) is attended by the pupils between the ages of eleven and sixteen or eighteen. Some of them are state schools and some are private or independent schools. Most of them have two sides: a classical side, specializing in ancient languages (Greek and Latin), history and philosophy; and a modem side, specializing in modem languages, natural science and geography. The leavers of this school receive the General Certificate of Education (аттестат зрелости). On receiving this certificate a pupil may either leave the school or continue his studies for another two years in what is called the "Sixth Form" to receive the same certificate but at the advanced level (продвинутый уро­вень). In order to enter a university a boy or a girl must pass examinations in five subjects, two of which must at least be at the advanced level,

Among the private schools there are some very old and famous ones, such as Eton, Harrow, Rugby, etc. The fees at these schools are rather high, so usually rich parents send their children there.

6. Till what age do the pupils study according to the general programme?

Comprehensive schools (единая средняя школа) are state schools which combine three types of schools: grammar school, secondary modem school and technical school. The pupils study there according to the general programme till the age of thirteen or fifteen, after that they have special courses depending on their inclination. The number of comprehensive schools is rather great and it is constantly growing.

TEXT4A

MARIE CURIE AND THE DISCOVERY OF RADIUM

1. Marie Curie was born in Warsaw on 7 November, 1867. Her father was a teacher of science and mathematics in a school in the town, and from him little Maria Sklodowska — which was her Polish name - learned her first lessons in science. Maria's wish was to study at the Sorbonne in Paris, and after many years of waiting she finally left her native land in 1891.

2. In Paris Maria began a course of hard study and simple living. She determined to work for two Master's degrees - one in Physics, the other in Mathematics. Thus she had to work twice as hard as the ordinary student. Yet she had scarcely enough money to live on. She lived in the poorest quarter of Paris. Night after night, after her hard day's work at the University, she got to her poorly furnished room and worked at her books steadily for hours. Sometimes she had no more than a bag of cherries. Though she was often weak and ill, she worked in this way for four years. She had chosen her course and nothing could turn her from it.

3. Among the many scientists Maria met and worked with in Paris was Pierre Curie, Pierre Curie, born in 1859 in Paris, was the son of a doctor, and from early childhood he had been fascinated by science.

At sixteen he was a Bachelor of Science, and he took his Master's degree in Physics when he was eighteen. When he met Maria Sklodowska he was thirty-five years old and was famous throughout Europe for his discoveries in magnetism. But in spite of the honour he had brought to France by his discoveries, the French Government could only give him a very little salary as a reward, and the University of Paris refused him a laboratory of his own for his researches.

4. Pierre Curie and Maria Sklodowska, both of whom loved science more than anything else, very soon became the closest friends. They worked together constantly and discussed many problems of their researches. After little more than a year they fell in love with each other, and in 1895 Maria Sklodowska became Mme. Curie. Theirs was not only to be a very happy marriage but also .one of the greatest scientific partnerships.

Marie had been the greatest woman-scientist of her day but she was a mother too, a very loving one. There were their two little girls. Irene and Eve, 106

5. By this time Mme. Curie had obtained her Master's degree in Physics and Mathematics, and was busy with researches on steel. She now wished to obtain a Doctor's degree. For this it was necessary to offer to the examiners a special study, called a thesis.

For some time Pierre Curie had been interested m the work of a French scientist named Becquerel. There is a rare metal called uranium which, as Becquerel discovered, emits rays very much like X-rays. These rays made marks on a photographic plate when it was wrapped in black paper. The Curies got interested in these rays of uranium. What caused them? How strong were they? There were many such questions that puzzled Mane Curie and her husband. Here, they decided, was the very subject for Mane's Doctor's thesis.

6. The research was carried out under great difficulty. Mme. Curie had to use an old store-room at the University as her laboratory - she was refused a better room. It was cold, there was no proper apparatus and very little space for research work. Soon she discovered that the rays of uranium were like no other known rays-

Marie Curie wanted to find out if other chemical substances might emit similar rays. So she began to examine every known chemical substance. Once after repeating her experiments time after time she found that a mineral called pitchblende emitted much more powerful rays than any she had already found.

Now, an element is a chemical substance which so far as is known cannot be split up into other substances. As Mme. Curie had examined every known chemical element and none of them had emitted such powerful rays as pitchblende she could only decide that this mineral must contain some new element.

7. Scientists had declared that every element was already known to them. But all Mme Curie's experiments pointed out that it was not so. Pitchblende must contain some new and unknown element. There was no other explanation for the powerful rays which it emitted. At that moment Pierre Curie stopped his own investigations on the physics of crystals and joined his wife in her effort to find those more active unknown chemical elements.