Take/ do/ sit an exam

resit an exam – take it again because you did badly first time

pass an exam – get the minimum grade (mark) or more

do well in an exam – get a high grade

fail an exam – do not get the minimum grade

do badly in an exam – fail or don’t do as well as expected / as well as you wanted

Before an exam it’s a good idea to revise for it. If you skip classes / lectures, you will probably do badly in the exam.

In universities there are lectures (large classes listening to the teacher and taking notes), seminars (10-20 students actively taking part in discussion etc).

A professor is a senior university academic who is a well-known specialist in his/her subject. University teachers are usually called lecturers.

■ Correct the mis-collocations in these sentences:

1 I can’t come out. I’m studying. I’m passing an examination tomorrow.

2 Congratulations! I hear you succeeded your examination!

3 You can study a lot of different careers at this university.

4 I got some good notes in my continuous assessment this term.

5 She’s the professor in a primary school.

6 He gave an interesting 45-minutes conference on Goethe.

7 When I was 12, we started having French seminars at school, and I fell in love with the language.

1.13 What questions could you ask to get these answers?

1 No, they have to finance their own studies.

2 I’ve been revising / studying for an exam.

3 No, I was ill. I didn’t miss this lecture deliberately.

4 The course of study runs for five years.

5 A student who does well in his/her exams gets a scholarship.

1.14 Answer the following questions:

1 What Institute do you study at?

2 How many departments are there at your Institute? Name them.

3 What is the teaching staff of the Institute?

4 Who is the Director of your Institute?

5 Who is responsible for the attendance of lessons and for the students’ progress?

6 What subjects are the students taught?

7 Should students attend lectures and seminars? Why?

8 Who does badly in the exams?

9 What must a student do to acquire much knowledge?

10 What possibilities have the graduates of the Institute?

11 Are you proud of studying at this Institute?

1.15 Think over short dialogues for the following situations:

1 Your friend studies Law. He urges you to join him. Reject his proposal and tell him that mathematics (geography, etc.) is your dream.

2 Next year you graduate from the University. Tell your friend what you would like to do next year. Remember how interesting it was to study at the University.

3 You are going to enter the educational program of …. Your friend is a second-year student of this program. Ask him everything about the study.

Use the following conversational formulas:

Would you like to…? I’m afraid, I can’t...

Would you mind…(-ing)? Is it necessary (for me) to…?

Why don’t you…? Do I have to…?

I think you should… No, you don’t

I advise you to… That’s (not) a (very) good idea!

You’d better… You shouldn’t do that

That’s (quite) possible Sorry, I don’t know

That’s impossible I have no idea

I (don’t) think so I can’t help you

I doubt it I have doubts about the…

Why don’t we…? I am not at all sure about this

How about …ing? I object to…

I believe (think, feel) that… I wish I could agree with you that…

In my opinion… I want to point out that…

I agree with you I should like to stress the importance of…

I think you are right Have you thought about…?

As far as I know… I’ll try to explain…

You are wrong. You’ve made it quite clear

That’s true. I see / I understand

I prefer / I hope I get the idea of…

1.16 Comment on the academic degrees. Explain which course you are taking, which degree you are going to receive in a few years and which degree you would like to have. Use the diagram: