Topics for the second-year students

Topics for the first-year students

(the 1^st term)

Topic 1

MY VISITING CARD

My name is Boris Ivanov. I am Belarusian. I was born on the 6^th of April 1987 in the village of Bakino, Slutsk district, Minsk region. Three years ago our family moved to Minsk where I live now together with my parents. My father’s name is Igor Petrovich. He is 45 years old. He works at a big plant as an engineer. My mother’s name is Olga Petrovna. She is 43. She is a doctor and she works at a hospital. My mother always has a lot of work to do about the house and at the hospital. She is a busy woman and we all help her. We are four in the family. I have a younger sister. Her name is Lusy. She has blue eyes and lovely fair hair. She is a very good-looking girl. Lusy is fifteen. She is a schoolgirl. She does well at school. Our family is very united.

In May I finished school No 45 in Minsk. I always did well at school and studied with great interest. Now I am a first-year student of the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics. I study by correspondence. I try to be a good student and I do well in all subjects. But my favorite subject is mathematics. I spend much time on it. I like reading. I like detective stories.

I have many friends. We spend much time together, go for a walk, talk about music, discuss our problems.

I like to listen to modern music, but sometimes I like to listen to some classical music. I haven’t much time to watch TV but sometimes I spend an hour or two watching an interesting film or a news programme. I like fresh air and exercise, but I have not much time to go in for sports.

Topic 2

BELARUS

Belarus is situated in the center of Europe. The territory of Belarus is 207,600 square kilometers, its population is less than 10 million people. Belarus borders on Russia, Poland, the Ukraine, Lithuania and Latvia.

The landscape is flat but thanks to numerous lakes, rivers and forests it is very beautiful. The major rivers are the Dnieper, Nieman, Prypiat and West Dvina. The climate of Belarus is temperate continental. The country has 10,000 lakes. The major cities of Belarus are its capital Minsk and its region centers Gomel, Mogilev, Vitebsk, Brest and Grodno.

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus adopted in 1996 it is an indivisible democratic law-governed state. The government of Belarus is of the presidential type. The President acts as head of the state.

Belarus is both agricultural and industrial country. Agriculture accounts for about 25 per cent of total net material product. Live-stock breeding and dairy farming contribute more than half of all agricultural production, but crop cultivation is also important.

Industry was almost completely destroyed in World War II, but it recovered rapidly in postwar years. It now accounts for about 50 per cent of total net material product. Belarus produces motor vehicles, chemicals, lumber products, machinery, and consumer goods, such as televisions and bicycles. Also important is the manufacture of linen, woolen, and cotton fabrics.

Belarus is a republic of ancient culture and traditions. Skaryna, Goosovsky, Kupala, Kolas, Karatkevitch, Bykov, Vaschenko, Shagal and many others are world famous now.

Belarusian opera and ballet companies have long-standing reputations. The leading drama theatre is the Yanka Kupala Belarusian State Academic theatre founded in 1920.

The citizens of Belarus are proud of their land. Belarus actively develops its cultural, humanitarian, social and economic relations with other countries.

Topic 3

GREAT BRITAIN

Great Britain is the largest island in Europe, it consists of England, Scotland and Wales and together with Northern Ireland it forms the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland which is the official title of the country. England is the largest part of Great Britain,. Wales is in the west and Scotland is in the north. Northern Ireland is located in the northeast corner of Ireland, the second largest island in the British Isles. Great Britain covers the total area of about 90,000 square miles. The UK is washed by the North Sea, the Irish Sea, the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel.

Due to the warm waters of the Gulf Stream the climate of Britain is mild throughout the year. The surrounding waters moderate temperatures all year round, making the UK warmer in winter and cooler in summer.

There are many rivers and lakes in the British Isles. The largest river of Great Britain, the Severn, is 390 km long. Among other important rivers are the Trent, Tyne, Clyde, Thames and others. The largest lakes in Great Britain are Loch Lomond and Loch Ness. The mountains are mainly situated in Scotland and Wales. The highest mountain is Ben Nevis (1343) in Scotland.

The population of the country is about 60 million.

The capital of the United Kingdom is London. It is the industrial and political centre of the country. Today Britain is a major producer of industrial goods and provider of services as well as a centre of world trade and finance. In Britain highly developed are such industries as shipbuilding, coal, iron and steel, aircraft, textile, engineering, food processing, etc. British agriculture is very intensive and highly productive. More than half of the farms are devoted to livestock farming-raising cattle for dairy products or beef, or raising sheep for wool and meat.

The United Kingdom (UK) is a constitutional monarchy which means that the head of the state is a monarch with limited powers. The present monarch is Queen Elizabeth II. The political structure of the country comprises two Houses of Parliament: the House of Lords and the House of Commons.The main political parties of the UK are the Labour and the Conservative parties. The Liberal Democratic party forms the third major force in Parliament today.

Topics for the second-year students

(the 3^rd term)

Topic 6

AT THE UNIVERSITY

Now I am student of the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics.

On September 1, 1964 Minsk Radioengineering Institute admitted students for the first time. The youngest Institute of the Republic was established on the basis of the oldest Polytechnic Institute of the Republic of Belarus. It was assigned to meet the demand of the Republic in highly qualified specialists for evolving national radioelectronic industry.

In 1993 Minsk Radioengineering Institute was granted the status of university and celebrated its 30th anniversary as the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics. Within this period BSUIR has trained thousands of engineers, doctors and candidates of science.

Over 11 thousand students from the country and outside study at its 9 faculties: the Faculty of Computer-Aided Design, the Faculty of Information Technologies and Control, the Faculty of Radioengineering and Electronics, the Faculty of Computer Systems and Networks, the Faculty of Telecommunication, the Faculty of Engineer Economics, the Faculty of Extramural, Evening and Distance Education, the Pre-University Preparation and Occupational Guidance Faculty, the Military Faculty.

Now BSUIR prepares engineering staff on 22 specialities in the field of computer facilities, computer science, radio engineering, microelectronics, telecommunications automated systems, artificial intelligence, medical electronics, and economy.

The educative process and scientific research are conducted by highly competent teaching staff that consists of professors, assistant professors, lecturers and teachers. They give lectures, hold seminars and have practicals with the students in various subjects: physics, higher mathematics, descriptive geometry, technical drawing, etc. Special attention is given to such subjects as computing technology, impulse techniques, analogue and digital computers, theoretical foundations of electroengineering. Nobody can deny vital importance of mastering foreign languages nowadays. English, French, German and Spanish are taught at the University. Students also have an opportunity to study a second foreign language and to advance in one of the foreign languages and to acquire the speciality of a translator.

The University has all necessary facilities for teaching including up-to-date computers and laboratory equipment, robots, closed-circuit TV. A large electronic library is at the students’ disposal.

To sum up, the University provides a good engineering education. The graduates of the University work at computer centres, design offices, industrial enterprises, research laboratories and institutes, joint ventures and banks.

So, I take radio engineering at the University. As I am a correspondence student, I do not attend lectures every day. I have lectures only in September, January and June. In January and in June I also have my terminal examinations. From September to January and from January to June I study by myself, I get tasks and tests at the university or by mail, read my notes of lectures, study text-books in the library, consult my teachers and professors and fulfill these tests and send them back to the University. My short-term classes and lectures held in autumn, winter and in summer begin at 8 o’clock and finish at 10 p.m. It’s difficult to study by correspondence but I am not afraid of hard work. I am young and my practical experience helps me a lot in my studies.