Read the text.

MY FUTURE PROFESSION
When a person leaves high school, he understands that the time to choose his future
profession has come. It is not easy to make the right choice of future profession and job at
once. Leaving school is the beginning of independent life and the start of a more serious
examination of ones abilities and character. As a result, it is difficult for many school leavers
to give a definite and right answer straight away.
This year, I have managed to cope with and successfully passed the entrance exam and
now I am a freshman at Moscow Lomonosov Universitys Mathematics and Mechanics
Department, world-famous for its high reputation and image.
I have always been interested in maths. In high school my favourite subject was
Algebra. I was very fond of solving algebraic equations, but this was elementary school
algebra. This is not the case with university algebra. To begin with, Algebra is a multifield
subject. Modern abstract deals not only with equations and simple problems, but with
algebraic structures such as groups, fields, rings, etc; but also comprises new divisions
of algebra, e.g., linear algebra, Lie group, Boolean algebra, homological algebra, vector
algebra, matrix algebra and many more. Now I am a first term student and I am studying the
fundamentals of calculus.
I havent made up my mind yet which field of maths to specialize in. Im going to
make my final decision when I am in my fifth year busy with my research diploma project
and after consulting with my scientific supervisor.
At present, I would like to be a maths teacher. To my mind, it is a very noble
profession. It is very difficult to become a good maths teacher. Undoubtedly, you should
know the subject you teach perfectly, you should be well-educated and broad minded. An
ignorant teacher teaches ignorance, a fearful teacher teaches fear, a bored teacher teaches
boredom. But a good teacher develops in his students the burning desire to master all branches
of modern maths, its essence, influence, widerange and beauty. All our department graduates
are sure to get jobs they would like to have. I hope the same will hold true for me.

Comprehension check
1. Are these sentences True (T) or False (F)? Correct the false sentences.
a. The author has successfully passed an entrance exam to enter the Mathematics and
Mechanics Department of Moscow Lomonosov University.
b. He liked all the subjects of maths when he was at high school.
c. Maths studied at university seems new for him.
d. This year hes going to choose a field of maths to specialize in.
e. He has a highly valued teaching career.
f. A good teacher of maths will bring to students a strong desire to study maths.
2. Complete the sentences below.
a. To enter a college or university and become a student you have to pass.....................
b. Students are going to write their..........................in the final year at university.
c. University students show their essays to their............................

3. Look at the words and phrases expressing personal qualities.

sense of humour
good knowledge of maths
sense of adventure
children loving
patience
intelligence
reliability
good teaching method
kindness
interest in maths
What qualities do you need to become a good maths teacher?
4. Answer the following questions.
a. Why should everyone study maths? What about others people?
b. University maths departments have been training experts in maths and people take it
for granted, dont they?
c. When do freshmen come across some difficulties in their studies?
d. How do mathematicians assess math studies?

Read the text below.

In 1952, a major computing company made a decision to get out of the business of
making mainframe computers. They believed that there was only a market for four
mainframes in the whole world. That company was IBM. The following years they
reversed their decision.
In 1980, IBM determined that there was a market for 250,000 PCs, so they set up a
special team to develop the first IBM PC. It went on sale in 1987 and set a world wide
standard for compatibility i.e. IBM-compatible as opposed the single company Apple
computers standard. Since then, over seventy million IBM-compatible PCs, made by
IBM and other manufacturers, have been sold.
Ask and answer questions about the text.
Example: What did IBM company decide to do in 1952?
- They decided to get out of the business of making mainframe computers.
Grammar questions
- Why is the past simple tense used in the text?
- How do we form questions?
- How do we form negatives?

PRACTICE
5. Grammar
The present simple or the past simple. Put the verbs in brackets in the correct
forms.
a. The problem of constructing a regular polygon of nine sides which ..
o
(require) the trisection of a 60

b.

c.

d.
e.

f.

angle (be) the second source of the famous

problem.
The Greeks (add) the trisection problem to their three famous unsolved
problems. It (be) customary to emphasize the futile search of the Greeks for
the solution.
The widespread availability of computers (have) in all, probability
changed the world for ever. The microchip technology which (make) the PC
possible has put chips not only into computers, but also into washing machines and
cars.
Fermat almost certainly (write) the marginal note around 1630, when he
first (study) Diophantuss Arithmetica.
I (protest) against the use of infinitive magnitude as something completed,
which (be) never permissible in maths, one (have) in mind limits
which certain ratio .. (approach) as closely as desirable while other ratios may
increase indefinitely (Gauss).
In 1676 Robert Hooke .(announce) his discovery concerning springs. He
..(discover) that when a spring is stretched by an increasing force, the
stretch varies directly according to the force.

6. Writing
Put the sentences into the right order to make a complete paragraph.
WHAT IS MATHEMATICS ?
The largest branch is that which builds on ordinary whole numbers, fractions, and
irrational numbers, or what is called collectively the real number system.
Hence, from the standpoint of structure, the concepts, axioms and theorems are the
essential components of any compartment of maths.
1

Maths, as science, viewed as whole, is a collection of branches.

These concepts must verify explicitly stated axioms. Some of the axioms of the maths
of numbers are the associative, commutative, and distributive properties and the
axioms about equalities.
Arithmetic, algebra, the study of functions, the calculus differential equations and
other various subjects which follow the calculus in logical order are all developments
of the real number system. This part of maths is termed the maths
of numbers.

Some of the axioms of geometry are that two points determine a line, all right angles
are equal, etc. From these concepts and axioms, theorems are deduced.
A second branch is geometry consisting of several geometries.
Maths contains many more divisions.
Each branch has the same logical structure: it begins with certain concepts, such as the
whole numbers or integers in the maths of numbers or such as points, lines, triangles in
geometry.

7. Speaking Mathematics Expressions

Learn how to say these following in English.
1

a=b

a =b c

10

a2b2=

11

( ab ) ( a+b )= D

12

1
2

13

0.675

14
15

3
5

17.8

c
d