Read the Article and Answer the Questions (1-13) Based on It

МОСКОВСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ИНСТИТУТ

МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫХ ОТНОШЕНИЙ

АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ЯЗЫК В МАГИСТРАТУРЕ

СБОРНИК МАТЕРИАЛОВ

СОСТАВИТЕЛИ: БАГДАСАРОВА Н.А., ДУБОВСКАЯ О.В.,

КАРАВАЕВАЕ.М.,

КОНОНОВИЧО.Н.

МОСКВА 2010

UNITONE

READING

Read the article and answer the questions (1-13) based on it.

Young people - coping with an unpredictable future

Young people here in Asia and indeed in every continent are facing new challenges at an unparalleled pace as they enter the global economy seeking work. But are the young in all parts of the globe fully equipped to deal with the unforeseen hazards of the twenty-first century?

With the globalization not just of commerce, but all knowledge itself, young graduates in India, Pakistan, or China are just as prepared for the future as their counterparts in any other nation. Except for one thing, that is. Young people wherever they are still lack something of paramount importance. There was a time when those companies or nations with the most knowledge had the edge on their competitors. That is now almost gone.

In future, the success of all nations and companies, and indeed the success of young workers, will depend not on analytical thinking as has been the case until now, but on creativity and flexible thinking. This will have huge implications on the way companies and people function.

Knowledge has now become like the light from the light bulb. It is now available to all of us, East and West, North and South. We can now 'switch it on' in India, China, or Korea as easily as in, say, Franceor Australia. Knowledge is also packaged into systems that allow professionals of any kind and level to move around the world in the employ of multinational companies much more easily than in the past. So it matters less and less where people are from, where they are working, or where they move to. The same rules and systems apply to all.

With this knowledge-based industry now firmly established, mainly as a result of the Internet, economies and people have to move on to another level of competition. What will make or break the economies of the future in Asia and the West is not workforces equipped with narrow life skills, but the more creative thinkers who can deal with the unknown. But the world is still churning out young workers to cater for knowledge rather than creativity-based economies. Edward de Bono has long championed lateral thinking and his work has found its way into many companies and conservative institutions.

More recently, Daniel Pink in A Whole New Mind (2005), a book about the mindset needed for the coming century, has predicted that success in the future will depend on creative thinking, not analytical thinking - more use of the right side of the brain as opposed to the left.

Knowledge-based professions which control the world like banking, management, etc. Pink argues, will wane as more and more jobs are replaced by computers, a prospect governments must wake up to or they will have hordes of young people trained for a redundant world system. The analytical brain types that have dominated job interviews in recent years have had their day. Those who see the bigger picture at the same time, i.e. those who use the right side of their brain as well or more than the left or can switch between the two at will, are about to come into their own.

The most prized individuals will be those who think outside the analytical boxes. If governments are sleep-walking into this situation, young people need not do so, but can prepare themselves for this dramatic evolution. Broadly speaking, young people are much more flexible and prepared to adapt to new situations than their older counterparts. Their very familiarity with ever-changing technology and the processes that go with it equips them to be proactive, and to develop their skills beyond the purely analytical. Take the gigantic leaps that have been made in the economies of South-East Asiain recent years. Advanced transport infrastructures and systems for knowledge transfer are more evolved than in many so-called advanced western countries which are lagging behind their eastern counterparts.

Businesses, rather than universities, can provide opportunities that introduce elements of unpredictability and creativity into aspects of training or work experience to teach employees to cope with the shifting sands of the future. The young will be encouraged to do what they do best, breaking out of existing systems and restructuring the way things are done. Older people will need to side with them in their readiness to remould the world if they are to survive in the future workplace. We may be in for a bumpy ride, but whatever else it may be, the future does not look dull.

Questions 1-7. Complete the summary below using the list of words, (A-K) from the box below.

Young people everywhere are having to overcome new (1)....as they look for work. The ubiquity of knowledge means that companies and young workers need something else to stay ahead of their (2) ………. Workers, no matter where they are from, can plug into systems. This has huge (3) ………. . With the end of knowledge-based industries, Daniel Pink has forecast that success in the future will depend on (4) ……… , not analytical. The power of professions like banking, management, etc. will, it is argued, take on a (5) ………….. as more jobs are carried out by computers. Young people who use the right side of their brain as well as their left are about to assume a (6)…………., so more work-based training involving the (7)………… ofuncertainty is in order.

A / spread / G / Goals
В / greater role / H / creative minds
С / obstacles / I / results
D / consequences / J / Value
E / lesser role / К / Rivals
F / management

Questions 8-10. Choose three letters, A-F.Which THREE of the following predictions are made by the writer of the text? Tick them (✓).

A / The role of creative thinkers will become more important.
B / South-East Asia will develop more advanced systems for knowledge transfer.
C / The use of technology will reduce people's creative abilities.
D / Older people will find it hard to adapt to future workplace needs.
E / Businesses will spend increasing amounts of money on training.
F / Fewer people will enter knowledge-based professions.

Questions 11-13. Choose the correct letter, А, В, С or D.

11. According to the writer, some systems are more advanced in South-East Asia than in the West because

A managers are more highly qualified.

В the business environment is more developed.

С the workforce is more prepared to adapt.

D the government has more resources.

12. According to the writer, training for the developments that he describes will be provided by

A governments. В universities. С schools. D businesses.

13. The writer concludes that

A older people will have to be more ready to change.

В businesses will have to pay young people more.

С young people will not need work-based training.

D university lecturers will not have to adapt their courses.

LISTENING

Choose the correct letter (A, B, or С).

1 What will the head of science probably do?
A arrange the visit to the festival

В confirm the school placements

С provide information about the festival

2 The student teachers should arrange visits that last
A one or two days.

В two or three days.

С all three days.

3 The most important purpose of festival visits is to
A get better exam grades.

В create enthusiasm for science.

С enable students to have fun.

4 The central features of our scientific age are
A inventions and improvements.

В interesting and unusual events.

С interest and enthusiasm for science.

5 What kind of specialists are teaching maths?

A physicists

В biologists

C chemists

Listen to the recording. Write the correct letters (A-E) next to the questions (6-10).

A / a show
В / an event of local interest
С / a technical demonstration
D / an open discussion
E / an interactive event
6 / Waterworld .....
7 / Transport 2050 ....
8 / Science in a suitcase .....
9 / Ropes and hangings .....
10 / Paper and time .....

ACADEMICVOCABULARYINUSE

Read the following text and decide which answer (A,B,C or D) best fits each gap.

Why Can't Our Children Read?

The new national reading programme for beginners, aimed at reversing the decline in literacy, emphasizes rules and sounds of individual words. Traditionalists will no doubt heave a …(1)… of relief at what they will regard as a turn to the good old …(2)… . Their opponents argue, however, that the texts used for this purpose years ago …(3)… no relationship to real life and …(4)… short of the basic requirement for any learning materials: they should …(5)… interest in what is being taught. Educators must not lose …(6)… of the fact that teaching rules without taking this into account will not solve the problem.
1 / A groan / B sob / C sigh / D breath
2 / A period / B days / C times / D years
3 / A bore / B carried / C held / D kept
4 / A dropped / B fell / C ran / D failed
5 / A arise / B arouse / C raise / D rise
6 / A grasp / B regard / C vision / D sight

Underline the correct word to complete each sentence.

All applications must include the names and addresses of two academic referees/arbitrators/evaluators.
The overseer/supervisor/administrator of your thesis will advise you on what kind of content is appropriate for your introduction.
As a travelling/visiting/touring professor in sociology he spends much of his time abroad.
If you think your work has been graded unfairly, file a complaint with the head/chief/leader of the department.
Students’ performance will be judged by external prefects / graders / assessors to ensure objectivity.
Your careers director / analyst / adviser is there to help you make the best choice for your future.
As an office trainee / learner / novice, she was expected to follow the lead of the more experienced secretaries.
The successful entrant / applicant / finalist will serve a three-month trial period before being offered a permanent position.

Use the word in capitals to form a word that fits into the space.

Illiteracy
While the number of adults who remain illiterate are fewer than ever, it is becoming …(1)… clear that they are more …(2)… than such people were in the past. Nowadays the written word is so important that without it much information that is vital for the running of our everyday lives becomes …(3)… . Ashamed to admit it, illiterate adults often become …(4)… to concealing their ignorance, and …(5)… many do so with remarkable success. This may be one of the reasons why Bristol’s ‘Literacy for You’ scheme has been received rather less than …(6)… . Not surprisingly, adults have some …(7)… about coming forward and openly admitting that they find …(8)… a page of print that a child of seven could read without effort. Programmes for teaching basic literacy skills to adults need to be sensitively assembled so as not to discourage or humiliate the learner, who is probably already experiencing high levels of frustration on a day to day basis. Reading materials need to be graded carefully in terms of …(9)… and some authentic texts may require considerable …(10)… before the learner is able to handle them. / (1)INCREASE
(2)CONVENIENT
(3)ACCESS
(4)CUSTOM
(5)SEEM
(6)ENTHUSIASM
(7)RESERVE
(8)COMPREHEND
(9)COMPLEX
(10)SIMPLE

SPEAKING

Speak on one of the following topics for 2 min. Two minutes’ preparation time is allowed.

Management

the importance of training and development of the personnel

Recruitment

how to select the right person for the job

Technology

the role of digital technology in modern life

•your answer should consist of the main parts that are semantically and logically connected (introduction, development and conclusion)
•read the rubric carefully. speak to the point

WRITING

The widespread use of the Internet has given people access to information on a level never experienced before. How does this increase in the availability of information influence life in today’s world?

Write an essay using specific reasons and examples to support your view. Write about 180 words.

Take a stand

After reading the prompt, think about what position you will take. Go with your instincts or “gut feeling”, about which side you can argue more effectively. Remember, though, that your personal opinion isn’t relevant; what matters is what side you can make a better case for. With which position can you be more convincing?

Write down the stand you’ll take in clear-cut language. It is critical that your thesis directly responds to the prompt.

Make a list

List 4 ideas that you can use to support your position. One of those ideas can be a counter-argument to a view opposite to your “stand”, position, or thesis. Each of those elements could serve as the main idea of the paragraphs of the body of your say.

Decide on the order of your ideas

Place your “strongest” idea first in the order, your second “strongest” last. These ideas should be supportable with facts and/or references to your own core beliefs and values.

UNIT TWO

READING

You are going to read an article about verbal skills. Seven paragraphs have been removed from the article. Choose from the paragraphs A-H the one which best fits each gap (1-7). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.

It began with grunts and very soon it may end with them. Excess hours in front of the television together with parents who work long hours are robbing our children of humanity's most precious evolutionary attribute: language - 'the dress of thought', as Samuel Johnson described our capacity for intelligent speech.

In other words, we face a world in which intelligible communication is likely to become a rarity. A logical conclusion, perhaps, but it must be borne in mindthat the death of language has been predicted many times in the past by such respected figures as George Bernard Shaw. Nevertheless, most parents would find it hard not to agree with Wells's basic message.

It is a worrying trend, not just for those who lose an ability to use language, he says, but for the fate of the planet as a whole. Robbed of an ability to follow and sustain complex arguments, more and more humans will simply give up trying to understand or influence the world around them, including the key international challenges we face like global warming and cloning.

Indeed, it is a particularly alarming prospect for a species that is distinguished by its communication skills. Language has been found in every one of the thousands of societies documented by scientists and is used by every neurologically normal member of humanity. As Steve Parker, director of the Centre of Cognitive Neuroscience at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says: 'Language is so tightly woven into human experiences that it is scarcely possible to imagine life without it.'

The observation suggests that the root of human language is social, not intellectual, and that its usefulness in communicating complex notions came relatively late in our evolutionary history. For most of our time on Earth, language has had the equivalent role of grooming among monkeys, strengthening social bonds between individuals and cementing tribes together.

Only relatively late in the story of Homo Sapiens has language emerged in its current mature version. Recent work by Simon Fisher at the Welcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics in Oxford and Svante Paabo, at the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, has dated key mutations in genes involved in neurone activity to about 200,000 years ago. These, they say, may have been crucial to our acquisition of sophisticated speech.

It is precisely at this time, of course, that modern Homo Sapiens evolved in an area of sub-Saharan Africa. Armed with a new linguistic sophistication, they poured out of Africa and by 40,000 years ago had reached the edge of Europe, then the stronghold of massive, cold-adapted Neanderthals, who nevertheless succumbed to these African interlopers, even though the continent was then in the grip of the last Ice Age. Above all, it was our ability to exchange complex data that gave us an advantage in those harsh days.

In short, language has been a mixed blessing for humanity. But it is what defines us as a species and it is hard to imagine us losing our prowess in the long term. In any case, just because our kids grunt at us, it doesn't mean to say they cannot communicate,' says Dunbar. 'It probably just means they don't want to talk to adults.'

A It is a worrying vision, summed up by one senior education expert - Alan Wells, director of the government's Basic Skills Agency - who warned that youngsters now communicate in monosyllables, mainly because parents have lost the art of talking and playing with their children. 'At the age when they come into school, many children have very few language skills at all and that clearly has an impact on their learning,' he told an education conference.

В 'I have got to admit that I feel more than a twinge of sympathy,' said linguistic expert, Professor Robin Dunbar of Liverpool University. 'Judging from my own kitchen table, intelligent speech does sometimes seem to be at a premium among youngsters these days.'