Questions

How does a promotion ladder look like in American universities?

Match the university teachers positions in America to their equivalents in Russia?

What have you learned about a tenure position in America? Do you know how a university teacher can get a tenure position in Russia?

Ex. 2. Make up English-Russian pairs of words equivalent in meaning:

to publish, sphere, research, to include, importance, to develop, to collaborate, enterprise, scientific adviser, scientific degree, to be awarded, department, to encounter, branch, research team, data, to participate, to take post-graduate courses, to prove a thesis (dissertation);

защищать диссертацию, обучаться в аспирантуре, опубликовать, область, быть награжденным, включать, (научное) исследование, важность, кафедра, встречать(ся), исследовательская группа, данные (информация), разрабатывать, сотрудничать, участвовать, ученая степень, научный руководитель, предприятие, отрасль.

Ex. 3. Find synonyms in the list below, arrange them in pairs:

1) device, research, technology, branch, obtain, importance, collaborator, team, scientific adviser, to enable, thesis, journal, to prove a thesis, to collect, data, to encounter, to be engaged in, to be through with, scientific papers, rapidly;

2) quickly, publications, instrument, technique, to finish, to be busy with, field, to get, significance, to come across, information, to gather, coworker, group, supervisor, to defend a dissertation, scientific magazine, dissertation, to allow, investigation.

Ex. 4. Find antonyms in the list below, arrange them in pairs:

1) theory, to obtain, rapidly, experimentator, to finish, to increase, new, experienced, unknown, wide, passive, to enable, high, complicated;

2) simple, low, practice, to give, to disable, active, slowly, theoretician, narrow, famous, to start, to decrease, old, inexperienced.

Ex. 5. Agree to the statements of your friend:

Use the following expressions of agreement: You are right; You are quite (absolutely) right; It is quite true that …; What you say is correct…; I agree entirely with you…; N is definitely right when saying that ….

Example:

- Mike is a post-graduate student at the statistics department of the Orenburg State University.

- You are quite right. He is a post-graduate student

You work under Dr. Petrov, don't you?

You have graduated from the St. Petersburg State University, haven't you?

You take part in the research carried on in your department. Am I right?

You have published several research papers in journals, haven't you?

You collaborate with your colleagues. Is it true?

You have obtained valuable information, haven't you?

Ex. 6. Disagree to the statements of your friend:

Use the following expressions of polite disagreement: I'm afraid you are wrong (mistaken); As a general rule you are quite right, but in this case I think…; What you say seems to be general opinion, but…; I agree with you to a certain extent, but…; A large part of what you say is true, but…; I disagree with your assessment…

Example:

-This research student has already passed all his candidate examinations, hasn't he?

- I'm afraid you are mistaken. He has only passed his exam in philosophy.

1 His friend has finished the experimental part of his dissertation, hasn't he?

2 Your colleagues do not assist you in your research. Am I right?

3 The article doesn't contain any valuable information, does it?

4 He has taken part in many international scientific conferences, hasn't he?

5 My coworker is rather an experimentator than a theoretical, isn't he?

6 He didn't use any new method in his research. Do you agree with me?

Ex. 7. Agree or disagree to the following statements:

Example:

- I know (that) University trains post-graduate students.

- Yes, you are right. Besides, our University does research.

- No, I see you are misinformed. Our University does not train postgraduate students. It trains only undergraduates.

1 I found that almost all collaborators of your department combine activities in research with experimental work.

2 I believe you base your experiments on theoretical considerations.

3 A doctoral thesis (dissertation) is a serious effort and it must mark a considerable advance in a given sphere of knowledge.

4 This branch of knowledge has been rapidly developing in the last two decades.

5 Doctoral candidates are not supposed to pass their examination in a foreign language.

6 I always discuss the obtained data with my research adviser.

7. My friend works in close contact with the scientists of the Russian Academy of Sciences. And what about you?

Ex. 8. Ask your friend:

1 … what the subject of his thesis is.

2 … if he has published any articles.

3 … where and when he published them.

4 … if there is much or little material published on the subject of his investigation.

5 … if he/ she is going to take part in a scientific conference for young researchers.

6 … if he/she is engaged in making an experiment.

Ex. 9. Make up questions to which the following phrases are the answers. The dialogue is between a research student and his scientific adviser:

Scientific adviser: …?

Research student: Yes, I did. I tried hard to find the necessary information in various journals. But I could find nothing.

Scientific adviser: …?

Research student: Yes, of course. I also looked through English literature. But my knowledge of English still leaves much to be desired …!

Scientific adviser: …?

Research student: Of course I will! I‘m going to improve my English by attending the English language courses at the university.