NAMES OF INSTITUTIONS

SCHOOLS

59. English schools have names, not numbers. Soviet students
and teachers are often puzzled by the variety of names used
in England, and wonder what they mean. The two most com­
mon are:

(1) geographical

These are taken from the name of the town, district, vil­lage or street in which the school is situated.

e.g. Manchester Grammar School City of Bath Girls' School Wandsworth Comprehensive School Wandsworth is a district of London. Bratton County Primary School В ration is a small town. (For the use of county see unit 10.) Abbey Road Junior School

(2) named after a well-known person

Some schools are named after the founder, or some other person connected with the school.

e.g. Mary Hampden Junior School George Dixon Grammar School

Other schools have names which presumably had some significance at the time they were chosen, but this significance has been lost, or is understood only by those who know the history of the school or town. However, even if the name has little real significance now, most people prefer it to a number, since it seems to them in some way more personal, more indi­vidual.

Some secondary schools, usually independent, were given at their foundation a name which included the word college. They have kept that name, although they are not really col­leges, but schools.

e.g. Eton College

Winchester College (see unit 21)

When speaking of the above institutions, one would refer to them as (public) schools.

60. When speaking about Soviet schools, there is no need to
include the word number.

e.g. / did my teaching practice at school 250.

although it can be included for emphasis, especially in for­mal style.

INSTITUTIONS OF FURTHER AND HIGHER EDUCATION

Universities

61. The official name of most British universities has the def­
inite article and of followed by the name of the city, town or
county.

e.g. the University of Oxford/Manchester/Sussex

This is used in formal situations, particularly in writing. The definite article may be omitted in headings, lists, and in other cases where there is not a complete sentence, but it is implied, and is included in complete sentences. For ex­ample, a degree certificate may have the heading:

University of Oxford but one would say, or write:

The degree was awarded by the University of Oxford. Omission of the article is a sort of abbreviation, which is not acceptable in a complete sentence.

In less formal style the following form is used, with no article:

Oxford/Manchester/Sussex University

e.g. a. Manchester University was founded in 1880.

b. John Barrington lectures at Sussex University.

The form *the Oxford/Manchester/Sussex University, etc. is incorrect.

The City University, a technological university in the City of London, has only one form of its name, with the defi­nite article.

Two of the recently-formed technological universitites are named after famous people. They are:

(1) Brunei University, at Uxbridge, in Middlesex, named

after the famous 19th-century civil engineers Brunei (father and son).

(2) Heriot-Watt University, in Edinburgh, named after George Heriot (1563-1642), founder of Heriot's Hospital, Edinburgh (now a day school), and James Watt (1736-1812), famous Scottish engineer and inventor of the steam engine. (Remember that there is also an older university in Edinburgh, called the University of Edinburgh or Edinburgh University.)

Note that the name of the person is placed before the com­mon noun university and that there is no article. These names have only one form.

When the context makes it clear that a university is meant, the word university itself is usually omitted in non-formal style.

e.g. a. My brother was at Leeds.= studied at Leeds Uni­versity

b. His father wanted him to go to Oxford, because he was at Oxford himself.

е. (Of a university teacher) — Dr. Williams used to be at Heriot-Watt, but last year he was offered a lec­tureship at Manchester.

(For the use of to be at and to go to in the sense of "to study at" see unit 406.)

The use of at with the name of a city, as opposed to in, usually indicates that the university of that city, rather than the city itself, is irreant.

e.g. d. My brother is at Cambridge. = studying at Cam­bridge University

е. My brother is in Cambridge. = living in the city of Cambridge, or visiting it at the moment.

62.In the case of collegiate universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and London (see units 29, 31), each college has its own name, which is generally connected with its founder or the circumstances of its foundation.

e.g. Balliol College, Oxford

Trinity College, Cambridge King's College, London

Note that the word university is not usually included, at least in non-formal situations; one is supposed to know that the university is meant and most educated English people do

in fact kntw the names of the more well-known Oxford, Cam­bridge and London colleges.

The pronunciation of the names of some Oxbridge colleges is a trap for the uninitiated, the most striking examples be­ing:

Caius College, Oxford

Magdalen College, Oxford

The word college is usually omitted in non-formal style when the context permits. For example, it is customary to say:

a. He's/He was at Balliol.

b. Trinity is bigger than any other Oxbridge college,

63. When translating the names of Soviet universities, the following forms can be used:

(name of city)
The, University of.................. — in formal style

e.g. the University of Leningrad (name of city)

or..................................... University — in less formal style

e.g. Leningrad University

The definite article can be omitted from the first form in headings, lists, etc., but should always be included in com­plete sentences. No article should be used with the second form.

Some English people use the translation state university in formal style (mainly written), for example, Leningrad State University. This usage can be justified as a translation from Russian; on the other hand, the significance of state here would probably not be understood by an English person or an Amer­ican unfamiliar with Russian usage. In England state in the context of education is used in contrast to independent or private (see unit 1) and is not applied to universities (see unit 28), In the USA a state university is one maintained by a partic­ular state ("штат").

If a university (or other institution) is named after a famous person, the name should be put before the word uni­versity (institute, etc.)

e.g. (The) Patrick Lumumba University, Moscow

This sounds quite natural, because the name Patrick Lumumba distinguishes that university from the other university in

Moscow. The latter can be called the Lomonosov University to distinguish it from (the) Patrick Lumumba University, al­though it is usually called Moscow University, or, in formal style, the University of Moscow. When there is only one uni­versity in a city, the inclusion of a person's name sounds un­usual, superfluous.

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 1245