Учебное пособие представляет собой ресурсный курс, с помощью которого студенты самостоятельно совершенствуют навыки устной речи на английском языке в процессе выполнения заданий по анализу цитат и тематически связанных с ними видео. Пособие охватывает темы, содержащиеся в базовом учебнике V. Evans и J. Dooley “Upstream proficiency”. Особый акцент делается на подготовке к экзамену по разговорной практике английского языка, который включает неподготовленный монолог по цитате. Оно способствует развитию навыков критического мышления, поскольку наводящие вопросы помогают глубоко вникнуть в суть афоризмов, интерпретировать их и аргументировать свою позицию. Задания по видео дают студентам возможность расширить свои познания по темам, изучаемым в рамках базового учебника. Пособие рассчитано на студентов старших курсов, обучающихся по направлению 45.03.02 «Лингвистика». Оно может использоваться для систематической подготовки к экзамену по разговорной практике английского языка, на котором проверяется степень сформированности речевой и социокультурной компетенций учащихся.

• Introduction
• Unit 1. Complaining
  • 1. Paraphrase the quotation by completing the following template:
  • 2. Look at Randy Pausch’s biography. Did he consider complaining as a viable strategy? Why (not)? Why was he preoccupied with the thought about the fact that people have finite time and energy? You can conclude from his biographical entry that he had ...
  • 3. In Randy Pausch’s opinion, complaining is a waste of time and energy, and it doesn’t help people achieve their goals. What counterarguments can you put forward? In what situations is it worth complaining? How can complaining improve the quality of ...
  • 4. What would happen if nobody complained and everyone put up with inferior quality of goods and services? How would such consumer behavior affect quality of everything? How would it influence prices? Randy Pausch says that complaining does not work a...
  • 5. What sort of complaining can be regarded as whining? In what situations is complaining really counterproductive? What do you think of people who complain about everything instead of dealing with their problems? Who or what do they usually blame for...
  • 6. Look at the list of advantages and drawbacks of complaining below.
  • 7. Randy Pausch says that complaining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals, and it won't make us happier. To what extent do you agree with this quotation? In what situations can complaining be helpful? When does complaining appear to be a destruct...
  • Look at the quotation by Randy Pausch and watch the video “How to really deal with chronic complainers” again. According to the quotation, complaining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. Do we come to the same conclusion when we watch the video?...
• Unit 2. Communication
  • 1. According to the biographical entry, Epictetus was a Stoic philosopher. Read the definition of Stoicism and make conclusions about his personality traits and ideas. Was he talkative or quiet? Did he prefer to hide his emotions rather than direct hi...
  • 2. Paraphrase the quotation. Does Epictetus think that it is better to speak as much as possible in social situations or to let other people speak out and express themselves?
  • 3. Look at this story from the book by Dale Carnegie:
  • 4. Does your choice as to whether to listen or to speak yourself depend on whether the person you are talking to has something interesting to say? (Justify your answer).
  • 5. According to the quotation, people should listen rather than speak. If everyone listened and nobody spoke, would the world plunge into silence? According to the quotation and the information about stoicism, should we only listen to people? Could Ep...
  • 6. What conclusion can we come to if we look at the quotation again? Why should a good communicator listen rather than speak?
  • Look at the quotation by Epictetus and watch the video “Morse Code – How it was Invented”.again. Morse code was the invention that led to further innovations in the field of communication. Do you think that all these innovations will teach people to b...
• Unit 3. Education
  • 1. Look at Cicero’s biography. In the biographical entry he is labeled as an academic sceptic (a person who doubts the truth or value of scientific ideas or beliefs). Why, do you think, he might have challenged the authority of those who teach? What f...
  • 2. Read the definition of the word “authority”: “The power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience”. Who has the authority over the students who want to learn in modern society?
  • 3. Do you think that kids should be encouraged to learn if they don’t want to? Think of such a famous musician as W.A. Mozart. His father was a famous violinist, and Mozart got a lot of encouragement from him. J.S. Bach’s father, Johann Ambrosius, was...
  • 4. What can young people do if they feel that the authority of those who teach is an obstacle to them, and if they want to choose their own educational and career path? Should they confront their teachers or keep quiet about their intentions?
  • 5. Read the definition of critical thinking: “the process of thinking carefully about a subject or idea, without allowing feelings or opinions to affect you”. How can critical thinking help young people surmount the obstacles posed by the authority of...
  • Look at the quotation by Marcus Tullius Cicero and watch the video “Do schools kill creativity?” again. According to this video, in what way is the authority of those who teach an obstacle to those who want to learn? Ken Robinson says that all childre...
• Unit 4. Mass Media
  • 1. Look at the biographical note about Jacques Ellul. What can you say about his scope of interests? Why do you think he was concerned about the influence of mass media on society?
  • 2. Read the definition of Christian anarchism. What conclusion can you come to about Jacques Ellul’s attitude to mass media? Was he a supporter of mass media or its opponent?
  • 3. Look at the following definition of propaganda from Wikipedia:
  • 4. According to Jacques Ellul, the emergence of mass media makes possible the use of propaganda techniques. Actually, the history of mass media can be traced back to the days when dramas were performed in various ancient cultures. This was the first t...
  • 5. Look at the extract about the Overton Window theory.
  • Look at the quotation by Jacques Ellul and watch the video “Citizen Journalism is Reshaping the World” again. In this video, Brian Conley says that everybody has a story, and somebody wants to listen to it. Why would it be much more difficult for Brit...
• Unit 5. Cars And Transport
  • 1. Look at Steven Magee’s biography. What country does he come from? Why is he so skeptical about the USA automobile industry?
  • 2. You can come to the conclusion that human health was one of Steven Magee’s concerns. What other topical issues is the author preoccupied with according to this quotation?
  • 3. What deaths does Steven Magee refer to in his quotation? How can authorities regulate the USA industries? What standards and specifications does the airline industry (the industry which refers to companies that offer air transport services to payin...
  • 4. Read the following opinions and answer the questions below.
  • 5. Read the following answers to the question Are airplanes more dangerous to travel on than trains or cars?
  • 6. According to Steven Magee, is automobile safety regulated sufficiently in the USA? Do you think that tough government regulation alone can solve the problem of safety? In what other ways can the problem be addressed? Is Steven Magee serious about s...
  • 7. How can governments encourage people to use public transport instead of their private cars? Why will this measure result in the decrease in the number of fatalities? How can communities benefit from getting the locals to use the public transport in...
  • 8. Do you agree with Steven Magee’s statement about the extent to which road transport is much more dangerous than airplanes? Is it possible to make automobiles less dangerous by heavy regulation of this industry?
  • 9. How would you address the problem of road safety if you were a decision-maker? Would you deploy technologies, introduce guidelines or discourage people from using private transport?
  • Look at the quotation by Steven Magee and watch the video “Is Public Transportation the Answer?” again. According to Ellen Emeric, what steps should be taken to improve the transport situation apart from regulating the automobile industry in the same ...
• Unit 6. Health And Medicine
  • 1. Paraphrase the quotation. What does Andrew R. Robinson mean by “knowing what kind of patient has a disease”? Why is it even more important than finding out what kind of disease the patient has?
  • 2. What information should the doctor collect about the patient, apart from age? (Think of the patient’s daily routine, housing conditions, the people he/ she lives with, the patient’s lifestyle / lifestyle changes, personality traits, childhood, pres...
  • 3. Why is it necessary to collate the patient’s subjective opinion about his / her own state with such objective data as blood pressure, temperature, etc.)? Why might the patient’s mood and attitude to his / her own disease be more important than the ...
  • 4. What might happen if the doctor does not know anything about the patient and just tries to treat the disease? Look at the answer to the question: “What does ‘treat the patient, not the disease’ mean?”, given by Victoria Hanashiro, who studies Medic...
  • 5. Read a scene from “The Citadel” by A.J. Cronin, in which the two doctors eradicate the infectious enteric disease in a very unconventional way.
  • 6. Study the examples below and answer the questions.
  • 7. Look at the list of factors that influence a person’s health in question #2. Which of them are the most crucial? Which ones are beyond the doctor’s control? Which ones are beyond the patient’s control? Divide these factors into groups, for example,...
  • 8. Why might it be a good idea for doctors to work in tandem with professional psychologists? Why can psychological counselling be even more important than medical care?
  • 9. Read the information about family doctors and answer the questions below:
  • 10. Do you generally agree with the quotation by Andrew R. Robinson? If you were a doctor, would it be easier for you to make decisions if you had the background information about your patients? If you were a patient, would you prefer to be treated by...
  • 11. Can you give any anecdotal evidence or examples from literature that could illustrate the point about the importance of finding out what kind of a patient has the disease?
  • Look at the quotation be Andrew R. Robinson and watch the video “Let’s talk about healthcare in 2030” again. What does Dr. Marcus Ranney say about the future of medicine? Will the doctor-computer-patient relationship make it possible to ascertain what...
• Unit 7. Sport
  • 1. According to Ken Doherty’s biographical entry, he is a professional snooker player. Snooker is one of the most popular types of billiards played on a large billiard table and with a lot of balls. Which of the personality traits mentioned in the quo...
  • 2. Complete the following table with the notes about the five S’s of sports training:
  • 3. Look at the following definition of stamina from Merriam-Webster online dictionary: “the bodily or mental capacity to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity”. Is mental endurance in sport as important as physical endurance? Stamina helps ...
  • 4. HIIT training improves cardiovascular endurance (the ability of a person’s lungs, heart and blood vessels to support rhythmic exercises) as well as muscular endurance (the ability of a person’s muscles to sustain repetitive movements under a given ...
  • 5. Speed can be defined as the ability to move quickly across the ground or move limbs rapidly to grab or throw. What role does speed play in athletic performance? Speed insport is a combination of reaction time, acceleration, maximum speed and speed ...
  • 6. Cambridge online dictionary defines strength as “the ability to do things that need a lot of physical or mental effort”.By muscular strength we mean how much weight a person can carry or lift or how many push-ups he / she can do during a workout. W...
  • 7. Wikipedia defines a skill as the learned ability to act with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both. Why are drills necessary to improve skills? An athlete must be coached until he / she has mast...
  • 8. According to Ken Doherty, spirit is the most important component of sports training. Cambridge online dictionary defines spirit as “a particular way of thinking, feeling, or behaving, especially a way that is typical of a particular group of people...
  • 9. How should athletes with a strong spirit behave when they face challenges? Should they see them as obstacles or as opportunities? Why is it important for athletes to overcome challenges and manage stress? Why is a spiritually strong person better t...
  • 10. Give an example of a goal an athlete can set. (A skater can set a goal to perfect a combination of a triple axel and a triple toe loop or a cascade of triple Lutz). How can setting goals and trying to achieve them help an athlete to develop a stro...
  • 11. Competitiveness, which is an inherent part of a strong spirit, can be defined as the desire to win or to be more successful than other people. The competitive spirit contributes to continuous self-improvement. It helps an individual who wants some...
  • 12. Another component of a strong spirit is self-motivation, i.e. the ability to keep yourself motivated without the need for external help. If an athlete lacks self-motivation, he is unlikely to achieve his goals and become a world champion. Self-mot...
  • 13. Perseverance, which is defined as continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition is also an inherent part of a strong spirit.
  • 14. What obstacles did Kiel Reijnen have to overcome on his way to success? Which of the obstacles was the most unsurmountable? At what points was he about to give up? What role did confidence play in his success? What is the correlation between confi...
  • 15. In terms of sport, concentration is the ability to focus on sensory or mental events coupled with mental effort. It means that an individual selectively processes some sources of information while ignoring others. Why do you think archery, golf, t...
  • 16. Self-confidence is an individual’s expectations of performance and self-evaluations of abilities and prior performance. It is the courage to know yourself, believe in yourself, and act on your beliefs. What can undermine an athlete’s self-confiden...
  • 17. Interpersonal skills are the skills that are applied to communicate or interact with individuals, small groups of people or large audiences. These are the individual’s patterns of behavior during exchanging our thoughts, ideas, knowledge, informat...
  • 18. How can an athlete develop the ability to manage stress and overcome challenges? Why do athletes experience stress? What sports are the most stressful? What challenges do athletes face? Why can’t athletes manage stress and overcome challenges if t...
  • 19. Is Bjorn Borg’s life story a perfect example of inability to manage stress and overcome challenges? Do you agree that his spirit isn’t strong enough? Can we say that although stamina, speed, strength and skill helped this tennis player become the ...
  • Look at the quotation by Ken Doherty and watch the video “Sport psychology – inside the mind of champion athletes” again. According to Ken Doherty, spirit is more important for an athlete than stamina, speed, strength, skill, and spirit. Does Martin H...
• Unit 8. The World Of Entertainment
  • 1. Paraphrase this quotation using the following template: Not a single form of entertainment can … for a long time. After… people have to come back to their everyday routines. On the other hand, if someone is really happy, their life…
  • 2. Look at Amit Kalantri’s biographical entry. What do you think his everyday life is like? Does he pursue his passion? Has he made his dreams come true? People can start out a career of a writer, a mentalist or a magician as a side-hustle. Why does i...
  • 3. Think about the career of a writer. Can a career of a writer be a source of permanent happiness? (Being a writer means that you can be your own boss. You can start and finish your work in accordance with your built-in biological clock (early birds ...
  • 4. Apart from being a writer, Amit Kalantri is also a mentalist. Look at the definition of a “mentalist”:
  • 5. Look at the following definition of “entertainment” from Wikipedia:
  • 6. Do you agree that entertainment is temporary happiness? According to Wikipedia, entertainment comes in the following forms: banquets, music, games, literature, comedy, performance, storytelling, theater, cinema, dance, entertainment involving anima...
  • 7. What types of happiness are you familiar with? Read the text below to find out. Which of the two types mentioned in the text has a more lasting effect and is more likely to be a source of permanent happiness? Look at the types of entertainment give...
  • 8. What can a person do to cultivate happiness? Do not think necessarily about entertainment. Instead, think about things like an interesting job, starting a business, volunteering, travelling, entertaining other people, adopting a healthier lifestyle...
  • 9. Why is it necessary to learn to enjoy each and every moment of your life? How can it be achieved? Look at the extract below – do you agree with the author?
  • 10. Do you agree with Amit Kalantri that all forms of entertainment bring just temporary happiness? Is it possible to find lasting happiness which will provide permanent entertainment? Does the fact that entertainment industries still prosper mean tha...
  • Look at the quotation by Amit Kalantri and watch the video “Citizen Kane: Crash Course Film Criticism” again. What films can be referred to as a source of “permanent entertainment”? Is Citizen Kane one of such movies? Why do some film critics label it...
• Unit 9. Racial Issues
  • 1. Paraphrase the quotation by completing the gaps in the summary below:
  • 2. Look at the biographical entry below. What social issues did Eric Holder address while he was serving as U.S. attorney general? Do you think that Eric Holder feels inferior to his white peers just because he is African-American? Do you think his in...
  • 3. What modern race-related issues are you familiar with? Think of stereotyping, racial prejudice, unequal treatment. African Americans were described as lazy, submissive (покорный), backward (отсталый), lewd (развратный, распутный), treacherous, and ...
  • 4. Read the text below about the stereotypes which emerged when the first African slaves were delivered to America. Even though they are not as powerful nowadays as they used to be, but some of them are still alive.
  • 5. The predominant modern stereotypes are the violent, brutish African-American male and the dominant, lazy African-American female. Why are whites likely to hold these stereotypes? Why is there an obvious trend in this society to discriminate against...
  • 6. Although much has changed since the days of Sambo, Jim Crow, the Savage, Mammy and Aunt Jemimah, it can be argued convincingly that similar stereotypes of African-Americans exist. Moreover, the whites who hold negative stereotypes of African-Americ...
  • 7. The text below contains some recommendations about building relationships with people from other cultures. Which suggestions are the most constructive and valuable?
  • 8. Now answer the following questions about yourself:
  • 9. Americans are reluctant to talk about racial issues even though they occupy a significant portion of their political discussion. Are there similar issues in your country? Do people in your country avoid talking about them? Many people tend to devel...
  • 10. Why are racial problems still unresolved in the USA? According to Eric Holder, average Americans do not talk about racial issues. Would people abandon their deep-rooted beliefs if they spoke their minds freely? Would resolution occur on the commun...
  • Look at the quotation by and watch the video “Color blind or color brave?” again. Does it support the point made by Eric Holder, who claims that “there remain many unresolved racial issues because average Americans do not talk enough with each other a...
• Unit 10. Work
  • 1. Look at Confucius’s biography. Did he immediately find a job he loved? On the basis of his biography, make some deductions about the reasons why Confucius might have attached great importance to getting a good job.
  • 2. Paraphrase the quotation by completing the following template: “According to Confucius, if a person really enjoys …, he doesn’t … as routine drudgery. On the contrary, he perceives it as …”.
  • 3. Do some fieldwork. Interview a few people who work and write their answers in accordance with the sample below. Then analyze the results by speaking about each participant in the third person singular: “My Dad is a sailor. He spends most of his lif...
  • 4. How can you find a job you love? Read the recommendations below. Do you find them useful? Why (not)?
  • 5. If you were looking for a job and followed the recommendations given in the text above, how would you describe your interests, top skills, and logistical items?
  • 6. Give a detailed description of your dream job. What are its most important characteristics? Are you more interested in the earning potential or in the excitement of doing something you really love?
  • 7. Do you think that if your job is just a way of making a living, you will never earn much money? Why (not)? Why do many people stay in dead-end jobs for years instead of doing something that they have distinct leaning towards? Is it important to fol...
  • 8. Read the text below about some people who turned their hobbies into work. Do you think that in this way they chose a job they loved? How did such a move change their life? Do you think that when they turned their hobbies into work, they started to ...
  • 9. Do you agree with the quotation: ”If you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to build theirs”? If you work for an employer, can your career be a dream job? Is it essential to start your own business in order to perceive your work as ...
  • 10. What can turn your work into drudgery? Think about paperwork, fixed working hours, commuting to work, rules and guidelines you have to comply with, being treated like a disposable cog, ungrateful boss. If you were your own boss, would you enjoy yo...
  • 11. According to Confucius, if a person chooses a job he loves, he will never have to work a day in his life. To what extent do you agree with this maxim? Does doing your favorite job mean that you don’t have any commitments and that you don’t do any ...
  • 12. What advice would you give people who can’t find their calling? According to the definition given in Merriam Webster dictionary, a career is a profession for which one trains and which is undertaken as a permanent calling. How important is it to g...
  • Look at the quotation by Confucius and watch the video “How to find work you love” again. According to Confucius, if you choose a job you love, you will never have to work a day in your life. How can Scott Dinsmore’s three-step passionate work framewo...
• Unit 11. Environmental Protection
  • 1. Paraphrase the quotation by completing the following template:
  • 2. Look at Mahatma Gandhi’s biographical entry. How did his upbringing influence his political views and his mindset in general? You can conclude that his interests were outside the realm of environmental protection. What political movements did he l...
  • 3. Read the definition of the word greed:
  • 4. Mahatma Gandhi says that Earth cannot satisfy every man's greed. What greed might he have meant? Can we say that the developed countries which exploit the developing countries’ natural resources can be referred to as “greedy’? Why (not)? Mahatma Ga...
  • 5. Carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide emissions associated with all the activities of a person or another entity. It includes direct emissions, such as those that result from fossil fuel combustion in manufacturing, heating, and transpor...
  • 6. In 2016, during an interview with Larry King of the Larry King Now talk show, world-renowned physicist and cosmologist, Stephen Hawking said: “Humankind is greedy, stupid and the greatest threat to Earth.” Speak about multinational corporations. Wh...
  • 7. Analyze the lifestyle of a person from a developing country. What food does he consume? How does he get around? Does he often travel over long distances? What does he do in his leisure time? Why doesn’t his lifestyle put much strain on the environm...
  • 8. The quotation by Mahatma Gandhi only states the problem, but the Indian political leader doesn’t come up with any viable solutions. If neither greedy multinational companies nor common folk are interested in environmental protection, what steps can...
  • Look at the quotation by Mahatma Gandhi and watch the video “Saving the Environment from Consumerism” again. What does the quotation by Mahatma Gandhi have in common with the idea of a consumer-driven economy and a material-driven society? How do big ...
• Used sources