A Farewell to Arms (1957)

A Farewell to Arms is a 1957 American DeLuxe Color CinemaScope drama film directed by Charles Vidor. It's the second feature film adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's 1929 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. In general it's the story of an affair between an English nurse an an American soldier on the Italian front during World War I.

Let me give you the brief reconstruction of events. Frederic Henry (Rock Hudson), a young American, joins the Italian army as an ambulance driver. On the Italian front, Henry is seriously wounded in the knee and sent to a hospital in Milan where he falls in love with his English nurse, Catherine Barkley (Jennifer Jones). Frederick's friend, the doctor, convinces the army that Frederick's knee is more severely wounded than it actually is and the two continue their romance but never get married.
Catherine discovers she is pregnant but after sneaking alcohol into the hospital for Frederick, the head nurse Miss Van Campen (Mercedes McCambridge) discovers the duplicity and separates them. She informs Frederick's superiors that he has fully recovered from his wounds and is ready for active duty. During their separation, Catherine comes to believe Frederick has abandoned her. Frederic deserts from the army, finding his way back to Stresa, to which Catherine has been transferred. Catherine and Henry flee to Switzerland in a boat. Claiming to be tourists trying to evade the war, the two are allowed to remain in neutral Switzerland. Catherine's pregnancy progresses but due to the conditions around them, the pregnancy becomes complicated and Catherine is hospitalized. However, finally both Catherine and the child die. Frederic walks away alone in the rain alone in the world.

Speaking about the stars I can't say that they are perfect, but in general I like how Rock Hudson makes Fredric Henry, the idealistic man who volunteers on the Italian front as an ambulance driver to experience war so he can write about it when it's over.
Jennifer Jones' excellent portrayal of a reluctant lover who is perhaps suffering from too many demons to actually fall in love completely, the way she wants to. She is riddled with insecurities, conflicts and possibly guilt, making her like the the stereotypical guy who can't commit. Meanwhile Rock Hudson plays a character more like the stereotypical lovesick schoolgirl.

As for the effects I like the way director shows battles. Thу war moments of the movie is perfectly done. But, in general the colour of the film is grey and brown, I soon get tired of it, it's really uneasy to watch smthing in such colours. 

In conclusion I'd like to say that this film is a good sourse of  WWI events. I like the way film director depict the war scenes, for 1957 the effects are great. In general the film is too long and too detailed, to my mind some moments could be omitted. 

Review #3 In Love and War

The topic under consideration is based on the film "In Love and War". In Love and War is a 1996 romance drama film based on the book, Hemingway in Love and War by Henry S. Villard and James Nagel. The cast of the filn is Mackenzie Astin as Henry Villard, Chris O'Donnell as Ernest 'Ernie' Hemingway, Sandra Bullock as Agnes von Kurowsky. This film takes place during World War I, and is based on the World War I experiences of the writer Ernest Hemingway. It was directed by Richard Attenborough. 

Now, let me represent the brief reconstruction of the events. Reporter Ernest Hemingway is an ambulance driver in Italy during World War I. While bravely risking his life in the line of duty, he is injured and ends up in the hospital, where he falls in love with his nurse, Agnes von Kurowsky. She promises to marry him after the war ends. After the treatment Ernest moves to the USA and  Agnes stays at the hospital as a nurse. She decides to write a letter to Ernest where she reports that their love was a mistake. She is going to marry another man, but she changes her decision and returnes to the USA where she meets Ernest.  Agnes tells him about her feelings but he rejects them, because he can't forgive her for her deeds. They have never meet again. 

Speaking about the acting, I can't but mention Sandra Bullock. Her role as Agnes von Kurowsky is amazing! She could wonderfully convey all the feelings Agnes has to Hemingway. Their relations are very complicated in the consequences of war, but at the same time how gentle they are! 

As for the directing, I can't say that I like it, but I don't know how to show love and war simultaneously. I think it's not an easy thing. Music helps us to understand it better. Outdoor scenes have majestic sounds full of horns and worthy of a vast symphony. In interior scenes we are treated to intimate violin serenades.

In conclusion, I'd like to say that the film is captivating. I like such genre of movies, because it bases on the real life of well-known person. "In Love and War" I found Hemingway as very proud, strong and hard person. I think “In Love and War” is closer to the truth of the writer’s life. It helped me to imagine what kind of a person he was and what influenced his creative talent.

Higher Education in Britain and the USA

1. What are the admission requirements to the colleges and universities in the USA/Britain?

In the USA common criteria includes ACT or SAT scores, some extracurricular activities; In the UK entrance to universities is via a strict selection process based on an interview. Some universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge, have an entrance exam before the interview stage.

2. What are the three types of schools in higher education?

There are institutions, universities and colleges.

3. What degrees are offered by schools of higher learning in the USA/Britain? What are the requirements for these degrees?

UK: BA(Bachelor of Arts) or BSc (Bachelor of Science); a master’s degree or a doctorate.

USA: bachelor’s degree, associate’s degree

The highest grade is A; the lowest is F, which means that the student has failed the course and will not get credit for taking it. To check a student’s overall progress, the university calculates a grade point average (GPA).

4. What is a credit in the US system of higher education? How many credits must an undergraduate student earn to receive a bachelor’s degree? How can they be earned?

Students are given grades at the end of each course. The highest grade is A; the lowest is F, which means that the student has failed the course and will not get credit for taking it. To check a stu­dent’s overall progress, the university calculates a grade point average (GPA).

5. What steps do students have to take to enroll in a college/university for admission? Speak about the exams they take – PSAT, SAT, ACT.

American high school students who want to study at a college or university have to take a standardized test, e.g. the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) or the ACT (American College Test). Students from countries outside the US who are not native speakers of English must also take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). Each college or university decides on the minimum score it will accept, though test scores are never the only factor taken into account.

6. What financial assistance are applicants eligible for? What is college scholarship, grants, loan? Explain and bring out the essence of student financial aid.

Students in Britain formerly had their tuition fees paid by the state and received a government grant to help pay their living expenses. Now, they receive only a loan towards their expenses, and from 1999 most will also have to pay £1 000 a year towards tuition fees. The new arrangements have caused a great deal of concern both among students and among members of the public who believe that education should be free.

7. What is a GPA (Grade Point Average)?

To check a student’s overall progress, the university calculates a grade point average (GPA). he highest grade A receives 4 points, В is 3, С is 2, D is 1 and F is 0.

8. What is the role of a student’s counselor? Specify the function of career development and job placement within a university.

They are professionals who help students at the high school or college level. Students don’t usually have a job during term time because the lessons, called lectures, seminars, classes or tutorials (small groups), are full lime. Many students now have to work in the evenings to supplement their grants.

9. What are the sources of funding for universities and colleges (both public and private)?

Most universities receive some money from the state.

10. What is an undergraduate student? A graduate student?

Graduate (infml. grad) – a person who has completed a university degree course. Undergraduate (undergrad) – a student who is doing a university course for a Bachelor's degree.

11. Are you for written or oral examinations? Which ones are more objective?

I’m for oral form of exam (students may show their creative abilities) This form is more objective.

12. What examinations (oral or written) are more popular with Russian students? Describe the psychological types of students of your group.

The form of the exam depends on the faculty. Written form is more convenient for exact sciences such as maths, physics and chemistry. Oral form is appropriate for Arts: history, psychology, philosophy. We are in panic, as we are afraid of our examiner, always.

14 Would you like to study in the USA or Great Britain? Why? Why not? What are the requirements for foreign students to study in the USA or Great Britain?

I wanna study in the USA, it gives me a lot of opportunities in my life. Students from countries outside the US who are not native speakers of English must also take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language).

15. What aspects of American or British higher education system would you like to introduce into our system?

It’s good that students may choose subjects for studying.

Lab works

HIGHER EDUCATION

 Lab. Work 1

1.      You’ll hear five speakers talking about problems they or their relatives face while studying. Fill in the chart with the information given in the recording. Be especially precise with the column “Your solution to the problem”; here, you’re supposed to give your personal advice to avoid or ease the problems mentioned by the speakers.

Speaker	Problem	Signs of the Problem	Your Solution to the Problem
1	exams	we also need to assess the ability to learn: this type of exam or learning license (tests this ability) would be more useful for students, employers and society in general. It shows which candidates are good at engineering, but it also shows actually which can think as an engineer.	I think it’s not bad to take the exam in the form of learning license. It is convenient to check both theoretical knowledge and basic practical skills in such a way.
2	Father worries about his daughter’s state	She is studying for 3 A-levels preparing for medical school. She works nights and weekends to prepare for her exams. She works hard. She dedicates her life to studying. As a result she has tired face, sleepless nights etc.	I think it’s not a reason for anxiety. It’s her choice- the choice to study all day and night. It’s her decision to connect her life with medicine. To my mind parents shouldn’t interfere in the life of their children.
3	Exhaustion during the preparation for entrance exams	He lost his weight, he has big black rings under his eyes. He sleeps for 3 or 4 hours a day. He didn’t sleep at all during the last 3 or 4 days.	Every student should do their best to be good at the entrance exams. But at the same time they should pay special attention to their health: spend the time at the fresh air, consume more fruits and vegetables, try to stay unworried.
4	The lack of confidence while writing the exam.	He has never thought of himself like a highflyer, he has never excepted such high results. -lack of confidence	Before the exam particularly every student has the lack of confidence, it’s normal, I suppose. So I suppose that sometimes it can be helpful to feel unconfident. Nevertheless, if the person loses all his sureness and certainty it may lead to the fiasco. The best way to overcome this is to stay cool, collect yourself and be ready for any kinds of results.
5	Using technology while conducting exams.	The results would be able to get much faster, 40% of all exams will be conducting electronically in a couple of years, online tests and registration will follow.	On the one hand electronic exams are good, because they safe our time. Still exams conducted electronically can cause different problems: firstly the results can be wrong, secondly any digital device lacks an ability to assess creativity. So I think that only electronic registration can be used in schools or universities as a new challenge.

2.      Have you ever experienced problems while studying?  What were these problems like? How did you cope with them?

I faced the problems with my new life in the Institute. First off all a new tempo of life: I tried to organize my timetable properly. The lack of time: in our faculty the students have no free time. We should read and analyze, read and analyze, read and analyze…all day and night! It’s not an easy thing! My decision is to reduce the time with my friends and dedicate the most part of my life to studying.

3.      What are other difficulties that contemporary university students face while studying? When do the problems usually occur? Are there special stresses that cause them? Do you agree that the quality learning is “the travel of hardships”? Give account of about 100 words on the questions mentioned.

There are a lot of problems that students face during the process of their studying. First of all ,it’s the lack of parental support. As a rule our parent are far from our place of studying. The second problem is that without friends students feel lonely. It’s not an easy thing to feel confident without any support.  Before the exams most students feel depressed. Moreover, when studentshave lots of work to do, they have no time to relax. So, it is very important to know how to cope with it and to be more confident. I agree with the statement “the travel of hardships” because you can't achieve anything until you work hard.

Lab. Work 2

Listen to a talk given by a university advisor to a group of students and answer the following questions:

1.        What is the standard grading system in the USA

 Historically, the grades were A, B, C, D, and F—A being the highest and F, denoting failure, the lowest.

2.        What are the ‘special grades’ that the speaker mentions in the recording?

They are satisfactory (S) and unsatisfactory (U) grades.

3.        Comment on the standard grading system in your country?

5-grade system:5 is exc, 4-good, 3-satisfactory, 2 – unsatisfactory.

4.        Do schools and colleges practice non-standard grading systems? What are they?

Yes, they do. The system of credits in the UK and the USA.

5.        Give examples of other grading systems throughout the world? Which of them do you think are efficient for the students’ academic assessment?

France

They have 20 step grading system

France	Russia
20-17	5
16-14	4
13-10	3
9-7	2
7-…	1

Ukraine

In the Ukraine, they’ve gone in the opposite direction. Whereas they used to use a simple Russian 5-step grading system, in 2000, they introduced the 12-step grading system which goes like this:

12 - given only for significant achievements or exceptionally creative work

11 - the equivalent of an ‘A’ in the U.S.

10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1 – complete fail

Lab. Work 3

Listen to a talk by a student advisor on campus. Answer the following questions.
1. What are the rules for dropping a course in the talk provided?
You can drop the course within the first three week of the semester. First, you need to get the signature of the professor whose course you want to drop on the official drop card/ Then you need to go to a student advisor on campus to get the signature of your adviser

2. What warnings does the student advisor give?
You can not officially drop the course after the first three weeks of the semester. If you are having problems in a course and you decide to let it run if you want to drop the course – it is impossible to do so. If you stop attending a course without going through the official drop procedures, the course will remain on your schedule and you will receive a failing grade.

3. How can you avoid getting a failing grade, according to the recording?
It is important to understand these procedures and follow them. If you do so, you will not have any problems.

4. What are the official drop procedures for the elective courses in your country? 

There are no official drop procedures for the elective courses in Russia.

Lab. Work 4

Listen to a talk given on a college campus.
1. What are the places of a college campus that the speaker mentions in the recording?

The Library; the Students’ Center: bookstore, post office, a bank, a theatre, a coffee shop, a travel agency, bowling alley; the Administration complex: offices of the university administrators, the students’ records office

2. Can you find the similar campus places in your college/university? What are other places that are worth mentioning? Characterize them briefly.
We can find the similar campus places in our institute. But, there is no theatre, travel agency and bowling alley.

Library with a reading room

This place in our institute is the most quiet and comfortable for studying.

Cafeterias

There are some food-service areas: a major cafeteria (ground floor) and a smaller deli (first floor). There is also a little shop where students can buy some snack.

Hall of residence

It’s a place where most of students out of Kolomna live.

The college copy center

 Sometimes students may be required to provide multiple copies of an assignment for a class or other documents. 

The big concert hall

A place for important events and activities.

3. 
Pick out the places from the previous task and make a similar tour around your college/university to inform the freshmen about the campus.
It’s a new city full of new people and new experiences. So there's your residence hall, the nearest dining center, and of course your classrooms. Those places, you'll be going to all the time because...well...that's why you're here. But of course, you don't want to only go there.
There are two halls of residence on the territory of campus for those students who live far away from the institute.
There are five floors in our institute.
There is the big concert hall for important events and activities and the ballroom where students have discos and little performances.
If you need a quiet place for studying go to reading room. The Library is located near and moreover there are much convenient study space as well as computers equipped with access to the Internet, a photocopier, colour printing and much more.
Sometimes students may be required to provide multiple copies of an assignment for a class or other documents. In this case you should go to the college copy center
In the bookstore you can buy there not only the necessary books but also it’s the source of many items that a student may need or want.
There are some food-service areas: a major cafeteria (ground floor) and a smaller deli (first floor). There is also a little shop where students can buy some snack.