Exercise 1.4 How much can you remember? Try to answer these questions or complete the sentences without looking at the opposite page

ВОЛГОГРАДСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ ТЕХНИЧЕСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ

(ВолгГТУ)

Кафедра иностранных языков

Методические указания по теме «Образование»

Английский язык

Волгоград, 2005

Методические указания по теме «Образование». Английский язык. Составители: Митина А.М., Пустовалова Н.В., Янушкевич И.Ф. – Волгоград, ВолгГТУ, 1994. – 18с.

Представлены тексты, связанные с высшим образованием в России, для перевода, пересказа и обсуждения. Работа предназначена для студентов всех специальностей 1-2 курсов.

Печатается по решению редакционно-издательского совета

Волгоградского государственного технического университета.

Рецензент: канд. филос. наук, доцент О.В.Леднева

I. My School

Exercise 1.1. Now you are first-year students. You passed your entrance exams thanks to the knowledge you gained either at school, or at a vocational school or at a technical college. Speak on the educational institution you studied at before entering the university. Present information on:

1) the type of school you studied at;

2) the place it is situated;

3) the age you began to attend it;

4) compulsory and optional courses there were at your school in chemistry, in drawing, in history, etc.;

5) the language teaching was carried out;

6) how many times a week you had your lessons of English;

7) your favourite subjects and why;

8) the entrance exams you passed before entering the university;

9) what you like and what you don’t like about your school.

Exercise 1.2.

a) Complete the texts with the words from the list.

boarding schools; private schools; state schools; head; uniforms; mixed; nuns; pupils; priests.

In a typical school system in many countries, there are two kinds of schools: ¹, which are run by thte government, and ². Private schools are often stricter than state schools, and in many of them the ³ (schoolchildren) have to wear ⁴.

Both state and private schools are often ⁵ (for boys and girls) or are for boys or girls only. There are also some schools, usually private, where the pupils sleep at school, which are called ⁶.

The ‘boss’ of a school is called the ⁷ (teacher). In some religious schools there are also ⁸ (women) and ⁹ (men) who work as teachers.

b)Explain the difference between the following notions:

1) a primary school / a secondary school

2) a state school / a private school

3) your exams / your marks

4) a pupil / a student

5) do an exam / pass an exam

c) What do you call …?

6) the qualification you get when you finish university

7) the parts of the school year

8) a school for children under three

9) a school where pupils live and sleep

10) the work scientists do at universities.

US Education: school

K-12

In the U.S., K-12 means "kindergarten through twelfth grade (the last year of high school)" for public schools [free education]. In most states, school is compulsory [you have to go] from age 6 to 16, and most children follow this route in school:

Approximate age Kind of school

3 or 4 Some go to nursery school (not compulsory). 5 Most children start kindergarten (compulsory in some states, optional in others), which is the first year of elementary school (usually kindergarten and grades 1-6). At age 6, all children must attend first grade. 10, 11, or 12 Some children go to middle school, grades 5-8 or 6-8. Those who don't attend [go to] middle school go to junior high school, grades 7-9. 15 Students go to high school / secondary school (grades 9-12 or 10-12). Regular high schools offer academic and vocational programs. Vocational high schools offer training for a job, e.g., auto mechanic, beautician. Specialized high schools are for students with special interests, e.g., music, business. 18 They graduate [finish school successfully] and get a job or go to college for higher education. Those who leave school without graduating are called dropouts. [They drop out of school.]

Note:

• Students go to school and go to college to study (not go to the school / the college). In the U.S., go to college can mean university, college, or community college.

• There are also private schools and parochial [religious] schools. Neither is free, and some can be expensive.

• Some states now have charter schools [public schools that parents can choose to send their children to] as an alternative to traditional public schools. Parents and teachers in charter schools have more freedom to choose the curriculum.

A school schedule

Class schedules and courses can be very different from state to state, and even from school to school. However, certain core subjects [most important areas of study] are taught in most schools, e.g., reading/English, writing, math [an abbreviation of mathematics], science, and social studies [the study of society, including history, politics, and economics]. A schedule for one day in a typical high school might look like this:

8:00 Science

8:55 Math

9:50 English

10:45 Elective(music, art, etc.)

11:40 Lunch

12:30 History

1:25 PE [physical education] / Computers

2:20 Foreign language

Note: Some words in English that end in -s look plural, but in fact they are singular, e.g., mathematics, politics, physics: "Physics is my favorite subject."

Exercise 1.3 Here are some school subjects, but the letters are mixed up. What are the subjects?

Example: TREPCUMOS ...computers....

1. TAHM

2. IRTHOSY

3. CNECSEI

4. NISGEHL

5. RAT

6. SIMCU

Exercise 1.4 How much can you remember? Try to answer these questions or complete the sentences without looking at the opposite page.

1. What does K-12 mean? kindergarten through twelfth grade

2. At what age do children go to nursery school?

3. At what age do they start elementary school?