Academic and Technical English

Knowledge is power.

There is no knowledge which is not valuable.

If you want to be on top, don’t let education stop.

 

General and Academic English are different in a number of ways. In Academic English:

– sentences are longer, sometimes much longer:

1. If to take an extreme, fanciful but, it is hoped, not unfair example, the situation [ that ] we faced was either to kill a rare wild flower or a (plentiful) human being, and if the flower, as a “team member”, would contribute more to the “integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community” than the human, then presumably we would not be doing wrong if we killed the human and saved the flower. (70 words)

2. It is perhaps surprising that contrary to the theory of Freud, the well-known psychologist, who believed the children of violent parents become non-violent adults, a significant number of children, brought up by violent parents, become violent adults. (37 words)

– fixed word order in English sentences is most important for the academic and professional language. As a result, we find a part of speech in a sentence by analyzing its word order. Study the examples in a and b to see how the same word may be a different part of speech:

a)	1. Go up. (adv) 2. He is up the hill. (prep) 3. She is up. (adj) 4. He is on an up. (n) 5. They would like to up their offer by 5%. (v) 6. He helped her up. (v)
b)	1. Police police police. 2. Don't trouble trouble until trouble troubles you. 3. Too good is not good too. 4. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like bananas.

– 80% of words in sentences are nouns. In particular, it is because of noun chains in which the number of words can be up to eight. A noun chain often starts with an article, preposition, pronoun and ends in a noun. The words between them have a role of adjectives, i.e. they describe the noun:

1. the University student(s) conference protocol

2. an exhibition visitor ticket

3. high-quality cylinder head components

4. power dissipation figures

5. a bicycle factory pay cut strike

6. a city center reconstruction project

7. the IMarEST / Globallast 2nd International Ballast Water Treat­ment Research and Development Symposium

– an academic English sentence is analytical by nature and the role of the verb group is crucial. As a result, to understand such a sentence, we should analyze its structure, i.e. identify its parts such as the verb (Active or Passive), the full subject, the full object, noun chains, linkers and others. This helps us to divide a long sentence into simpler shorter parts:

These two methods | remain | the only commonly used anti-pollutant devices | available for at sea incidents.

Thus, | a series of movable and fixed discs | provided with blades | which change the direction of the steam each time | it strikes a blade | causes the steam to impart energy to the rotating arrangement | several times | before it leaves the turbine.

 

UNIT 1. POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION

Vocabulary

1. applicant n – кандидат, абитуриент

2. graduate from University – окончить университет

3. graduate n – выпускник вуза

4. undergraduate n – студент

5. postgraduate (student) n – магистрант, аспирант

6. Master / PhD student – магистрант / аспирант

7. enter university – поступить в университет

8. take a Master / PhD course – учиться в магистратуре / аспирантуре

9. correspondence/distance course – заочное обучение

10. department n – кафедра; факультет

11. scientific advisor – научный руководитель (диссертации)

12. course fee(s) / tuition fee(s) – плата за обучение

13. grant / scholarship n – стипендия

14. attend / miss a lecture, seminar, class, conference – посещать/ пропускать лекцию, семинар, занятие, конференцию

15. final exams / state finals – выпускные / государственные экзамены

16. qualification exams – экзамены для получения диплома / степени

Useful Phrases

1. get a place at university / be admitted to university / be enrolled at university – поступить в университет

2. do / study subjects at university / do a degree (in a field of science / engineering) – учиться в университете (в какой-либо области науки / техники)

3. study for a Bachelor of Arts / a Master of Science – учиться на степень бакалавра гуманитарных наук / магистра естественных наук

4. the first degree: an Engineering degree/ a Specialist degree; a Bachelor of Arts (a BA), a Bachelor of Science (a BSc) – степень / диплом инженера, специалиста; бакалавра гуманитарных наук, бакалавра естественных наук

5. the second degree – a Master degree (a MA, MSc, MEng) – степень / диплом магистра

6. give / deliver a lecture – читать лекцию

7. read / report a (scientific) paper / give a report – делать доклад

8. read technical information/literature – читать техническую лите­ратуру

9. look for / through thesis-related information – искать / просматри­вать литературу по теме диссертации

10. have / take / do // pass // fail an examination in a subject – сдавать// сдать // не сдать экзамен по предмету

11. a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy), the third degree in Russia or the highest degree in the UK – ученая степень кандидата наук (доктора фи­лософии), третья ученая степень в России или высшая в Британии

12. do research on / into some particular theme – проводить исследова­ние по какой-либо теме

13. complete and defend a graduation work / degree work / research / thesis / dissertation / qualification project – написать и защитить выпускную / дипломную работу / исследование / диссертацию / дипломный проект

14. to find / get / have a job in technical / industrial / scientific sectors – найти / получить / иметь работу в технической / промышленной / научной сфере

15. university degree in computer engineering – диплом инженера по вычислительной технике

16. award a degree – присуждать ученую степень

17. have / hold / have got a degree / diploma in physics from a University – иметь университетский диплом по физике

18. have academic qualifications – иметь диплом о высшем образо­вании

19. the first class diploma – диплом с отличием («красный»)

20. employ v – нанимать на работу

21. science and technology (engineering) – наука и техника

1.1   Match English phrases with their Russian equivalents.

1) look through 2) take exams 3) give a report 4) pass exams 5) fail exams 6) think over 7) applicant 8) do research 9) do a degree in physics 10) employ 11) attend a lecture 12) take notes

a) обдумывать b) посещать лекцию c) проводить исследования d) не сдать экзамены e) изучать физику в университете f) конспектировать g) сдавать экзамены h) сделать доклад i) просматривать j) кандидат, абитуриент k) сдать экзамены l) нанимать на работу

1.2   Choose the correct option in each sentence.

1. I graduated from / finished University last year.

2. I’m studying for a Master diploma / degree.

3. We have to read a lot of special / specialist literature.

4. I hope I’ll be awarded / given a Master degree next year.

5. I am going to get married when I’ve done / made my course.

6. We are to take qualification / final exams in Philosophy and English in June.

7. I’d like to get a higher degree in / on science.

8. He asked for / applied to the university to take a further degree course involving both exams and research.