Read and translate this text.
Higher education in Great Britain
The independence of Britain’s educational institutions is most noticeable in universities. They make their own choices of who to accept on their courses. There is no right of entry to university for anybody. Universities normally select students on the basis of A-level results and an interview. Those with better exam grades are more likely to be accepted.
Officially, all universities are equal in status. But they differ greatly in reputation and public image. In general the older the university is, the higher its status. So the most prestigious are the most ancient ones – Oxford and Cambridge.
The availability of higher education has increased greatly in the second half of the 20th century. In 1960 there ware less than twenty-five universities in the whole of Britain. By 1980 there were more than forty and by 1997 there are well over a hundred institutions which have university status.
Nevertheless, finding a university place is not easy. Universities only take the better students. Because of this, and also because of the relatively high degree of personal supervision of students which the low ratio of students to staff allows, nearly all university students complete their studies – and in a very shot time too! In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, it is only for modern languages and certain vocational studies that student take more than three years. In Scotland, four years is the norm for most subjects.
Another reason for the low drop-out rate is that “full-time” really means full-time. Students are not supposed to take a job during term time (normally thirty or thirty-four weeks of the year). Unless their parents are rich, they receive a stage grant of money which is intended to cover most of their living expenses. This includes the cost of accommodation. A large proportion of students live “on campus”, or in rooms nearby, which tends to mean that the students is surrounded by a university atmosphere.
Find the English equivalents for the following words and word combinations; memorize them.
1. принимать на университетский курс
2. поступление в университет
3. доступность высшего образования
4. низкий уровень отсева
5. в учебное время
6. получать денежную субсидию
7. покрывать расходы на жизнь
8. стоимость проживания
9. проживать на территории университета.