Secular celebrations
Secular celebrations include the following national holidays: January 1 is New Year's Day; March 8 is International Women's Day, honoring the contribution of women to society; May 1 is Labor Day, celebrating the significance and the contribution of the working class and including a parade of citizens; Victory Day, celebrated on May 9, commemorates the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. Independence Day is celebrated on July 3 and signifies the liberation of Minsk from the Nazi troops during World War II. The October Revolution Holiday, commemorating victory of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, is celebrated on November 7.
What are the Belarusians like?
First of all, let us see what has been influencing the formation of the Belarusian national character. We'll start with the natural and climatic conditions.
There is a precise definition for our climate, “moderate". We have no heat or bitning frosts, no high temperature jumps in the summertime and winter. Lithuania is not far away from Belarus, but it is a maritime area, where land and sea meet, while the sea is quite different a life. They’ve got storms, winds and unpredictability there. And the characters there are different: austere and businesslike, they are formed by a transition from one element to the other. Sharp contrasts outside, inside and in the souls are not typical for Belarus.
Now to the landscape. Our rivers are flat, calrn and not very deep. They are homely and dear. All the rest landscape feature follow the same pattern. Hills, rather than mountains. Fields, rather than deserts and prairies. The Belarusian character has no somberness and tense readiness for unexpected dangers. The nature of Belarus does not know storms or any cataclysms in general. Therefore, the Belarusians are trustful and on the whole optimistic, they never expect a misfortune.
The Belarusians are accustomed to work hard, so as to produce something on this soil, sand or clay, that is why they are patient and hardworking. "Uparty Belarus", or an "obstinate Belarusian" is a very precise definition. The environmental peculiarities require our universality. We must be able of doing much, if not everything. Diligence and universality are the qualities that have been and still are helping us to survive. Moreover, the Belarusians are undemanding and, modest. To a certain degree they are accustomed to poverty. A Belarusian does not need very much any external demonstrations, he is more oriented at internal work.
The Belarusian music, songs and folklore may also say a lot about the national character. They are merry, but no horrible Russian misery. The word "destiny" is often mentioned in our vocabulary, although the Belarusians can hardly be named fatalists. Due to his calm and reserve a Belarusian is more conservative and stable in his styles and ways of life.
Read the text below and choose the invention which from your point of view can change our life drastically.
Inventions have the power to change the world. Breakthrough can often come from unexpected fields, as Dolly the cloned sheep proved to be a stunning invention in 1997. Little-known scientists and engineers are working in laboratories and academic institutions in hope of being able to revolutionise the way we live in the next century. Helped by leading figures in the scientific community, The Sunday Times has identified those who could shape the 21st century. Some are likely (вероятно) to become future Nobel prize-winners and they all are working to expand the frontiers of human knowledge.
Mark Humayun
Eye surgeon and biomedical engineer who has restored limited sight to the blind by linking (подсоединить) a microchip to the human retina (сетчатка), transforming electronic images into electrical impulses that are transmitted via the optic nerve to the brain. Humayun, who is based at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, America, is now working on the creation of a permanent implant. "Within 10 years, I believe we will have a chip that will allow (позволит) a blind person to be able to walk around in a room independently," he says.
Takeo Kanade
Head of the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in America, Kanade specialises in developing machines that can function without human control, such as autonomous cars and helicopters. He is currently (в данный момент) working with surgeons to develop “smart” tools capable of performing operations better than a human physician. "The 21st century will be the age when robots become as much a part of our lives as computers have become today," he says.
Steve Young
The world's foremost expert in computer speech recognition, whose systems will form the basis for global electronic communications based only on the spoken word. Young, professor of information engineering at Cambridge University, is spearheading new generations of computer that can understand the human voice without error, ending the need for telephone dialling or keyboard typing as the main gateways (доступ) to electronic communication.
James Thomson
Biologist based at the University of Wisconsin who found the key to future transplant technology by isolating embryonic stem cells and keeping a culture of them alive in a laboratory for a year. Thomson's work, if combined with cloning techniques, raises the prospect of organ banks. Because embryonic stem cells are capable of developing into any of the specialised cells that make up the human body, a person could have a lifetime's supply of spare parts to draw on in case of a medical emergency - for example, pancreatic cells for treating diabetes or neurons for Parkinson's disease.
Ray Crane
British engineer whose insights into aerodynamics have been central to the design of the world's tallest buildings. Crane has solved some fundamental problems in cutting the vibration that such high structures can suffer in strong winds, and expects to be involved in the process of constructing even taller skyscrapers in the future.
Жизнь студентов
1. To have the privilege to study at the University you are to pass entrance examinations. The examinations are held on a competitive basis and those who have passed them successfully are enrolled and become students. The tuition for them is free of charge. But there also exists a paid form of education for those who haven’t managed to meet the competition requirements. After the enrolment you get your identification card and record book and may fully enjoy all the rights of a student.
2. The University training course for full-time students lasts 5 years. The semester system divides the academic year into two almost equal terms of approximately 18 weeks each. During a semester students must attend lectures and practical classes and prepare for them regularly, participate actively in seminars, fulfill written assignments, do laboratory work. At the end of each semester students take examinations. The examination period lasts approximately 3 weeks.
3. The first two years of University studies are to give students a sound background for obtaining their professional knowledge. So first and second-year students take classes in a number of general and basic subjects: physics, higher mathematics, chemistry, technical drawing, computer engineering etc. They also study social sciences and foreign languages.
4. Later, usually beginning with the third year, students take classes in their special subjects and engage in practical training in the field of their specialization. Professional skills are acquired at the laboratories and the experimental works of the University and at schools and other educational establishments of our republic.
5. Students’ progress is evaluated through oral or written tests, through participation in class discussions, through term papers, credit tests and a final examination in each course. If students do well and receive good and excellent marks they are given state grants.
6. Upon completion of the academic program and practical training students are to submit their graduation papers (diploma) and prove them in the State Examining Board. They are to show that they have not only mastered thoroughly a lot of useful theories and data, but also learnt to think analytically and independently, to interrelate various facts and phenomena, to make decisions and to express their ideas clearly.
7. If students work hard from the beginning and develop good study habits, they will certainly be successful in their studies – and still have time for relaxation, for social and other activities. As to cultural and recreational activities at the University, they are quite various, and to a great extent arranged by students themselves. They participate in concerts, parties, discos, in the variety of folk orchestras, in the choreographic ensembles, in the vocal music group, etc.
8. A good many students do sports volley-ball, basket-ball, skiing, skating and others.
9. During summer vocations students can work on collective farms and at construction sites and thus they can earn some money in addition to a rather modest student’s budget.