Day schools VS Boarding schools

The majority of modern public schools in the UK and state schools in the USA — schools
that offer free education— are co-educational day schools. Children that attend these schools
remain in family settings with family support and nurture that helps to reduce the stress of
 (A) any school for a child. They are able to retain contacts with friends and neighbours.

Being less expensive, these schools offer a wider (B) of courses and activities. On the other hand, these schools have larger classes and lower academic standards as compared to more
selective schools.

Pupils there have a greater (C)
of encountering bad social trends: drug culture, gangs, anti-intellectualism. Of course, much depends on the regional location and the
administrative policy of each school.

Boarding or recreational schools have smaller classes with more individualized instruction; can often (though not always) boast higher academic standards that are focused (D) making students more independent thinkers; encourage them to make many decisions on their
own. Graduates of such schools may have an advantage when applying at more popular
universities.

Students of such schools (E) lifetime friendships and the so-called ‘old school tie’ —the system of after school, lifelong support and lobbying former schoolmates — can be truly
applied in this case.

But there is the (F) side of the medal: missed opportunities for parents to educate

their children on values; disruption of family: homesick kids, parents missing their children;
narrower and less-diverse (G) contacts; expensive tuition.

A. 1) entering 2) starting 3) going 4) getting

B. 1) group 2) collection 3) mixture 4) selection

C. 1) ability 2) opportunity 3) chance 4) prospect

D. 1) on 2) at 3) for 4) to

E. 1) assemble 2) build 3) construct 4) design

F. 1) another 2) other 3) different 4) optional

G. 1) social 2) sociable 3) society 4) civil

Education in the UK: Modern schools

The 1976 Education Act abolished the Tripartite System in favour of a system of free Comprehensive Schools that were (A) to provide Grammar School education for all. In the UK today, schools reflect elements of both the Tripartite and the Comprehensive models.

The UK system of state schools is complex and (B) the following types: Primary Schools (ages 4-11), Secondary Schools (ages 11-16), Sixth Form Colleges (non-compulsory, ages
16-18), Special Schools for children with physical, emotional and behavioral learning needs,
City Technology Colleges (CTCs) and City Colleges for the Technology of the Arts (CCTAs) (ages
11-18). These schools provide a broad secondary education with special emphasis on science and
technology and offer a (C) range of vocational qualifications.

Grammar Schools remain and continue to select almost all of their pupils (D) reference to high academic ability. Independent Schools are private schools that obtain most of their finances from (E) paid by parents and income from investments. Some of them are selective but many are not. Some of the larger independent schools are (F) as Public Schools. Most Independent Schools are Church Schools.

Most state schools (primary and secondary) are co-educational day schools, but some
secondary schools accept boarders. Independent Schools include day and boarding schools and
are mostly single-sex, although an increasing number of junior and some senior schools are co-educational. There has been a sharp increase in the number of children (G) Independent Schools, owing to the increasing dissatisfaction with academic standards at State Comprehensive Schools.

A. 1) intended 2) aimed 3) offered 4) proposed

B. 1) fits. 2) includes 3) engages 4) composes

C. 1) high 2) intensive 3) extensive 4) wide

D. 1) by 2) at 3) for 4) about

E. 1) costs 2) bills 3) fees 4)taxes

F. 1) famous 2) known 3) notorious 4) familiar

G. 1) accepting 2) entering 3) going 4) attending

Christmas

As a small child I loved almost everything about Christmas. The excitement of Christmas
Eve was almost unbearable. We’d go from house to house singing Christmas carols and be given hot mince pies and other (A).

Before bed our parents would read us stories and eventually put us to bed with warnings that Santa Claus would not come if we stayed awake. Before (B) into bed we would leave out a mince pie for Santa and something for his reindeers as a “thank you”: For me Santa was the great hero and I never (C) that he would come down our chimney to deliver my presents.

I loved, as I mentioned before, “almost everything”. Immediately after Christmas I was told by my parents that I had to write “thank you letters”. As a six your old, writing (D) one letter was a task, but several made a mountain — pressing down on my small world. “Why”
I argued to my Mum “should I write to grandparents, aunts and uncles? Santa brought me all
my presents”.

And my mother would lie to her son. (E) lies of how Santa helped Granddad choose my toy car and with the help of elves and reindeer delivered it for Granddad — but that
still I should thank Granddad for the small part he played in it. The following year her lies were even more devious as she tried to (F) me convinced. As I eventually solved this annual 
mystery, I of course lost all (G) for not writing the “Thank you letters” as the realisation dawned that Granddad had managed everything by himself.

A. 1) surprises 2) treats 3) presents 4) souvenirs

B. 1) getting 2) going 3) putting 4) lying

C. 1) hesitated 2) suspected 3) mistrusted 4) doubted

D. 1) only 2) yet 3) even 4) still

E. 1) Vague 2) Elaborate 3) Complete 4) Formless

F. 1) hold 2) stay 3) keep 4) remain

G. 1) reasons 2) defenses 3) motives 4) excuses

David Bowie

British Singer David Bowie was always famous for changing his appearance and his musical styles throughout his career. At the beginning, in the late 1960’s — he was compared (A) fifties singers like Tommy Steele and Anthony Newley. Then he grew his hair and became
“Major Tom” — a weird, futuristic space traveller — for his number one album called “Space
Oddity”: His appearance made more remarkable for having one eye blue and one brown (the
result of a childhood (B)).

As the years passed he continued to change his appearance — often with fabulous and dramatic costumes that (C) each new stage character. After the “space phase” he created the character “Ziggy Stardust”. At this stage Bowie was the most important artist in the early
70’s glam rock era: His costumes sparkling in silvers, reds and golds and his bright orange hair
feathered out like a flaming (D). Then he became “Aladdin Sane” with a bizarre lightening flash motif painted on his face. Soon after this his hair was again short but wavy, he
wore (Е) size suits and became an “American” soul singer before transforming again into yet another character - a central European “Thin White Duke”.

Probably of all British pop stars — he has become the one most (F) with change and transformation. Even now after 40 years in the business, he continues to (G) strange and original music for his countless fans worldwide. Some believe his 1972 hit song “Changes”
predicted all this. It is a song about change and time and the inevitable conflict between one
generation and the next.

A. 1) to 2) for 3) on 4) at

B. 1) incident 2) event 3) thing 4) accident

C. 1) described 2) named 3) defined 4) recognized

D. 1) lamp 2) torch 3)lantern 4) light

E. 1) above 2) over 3) extreme 4) upper

F. 1) related 2) fixed 3) combined 4) associated

G. 1) shape 2) form 3) make 4) do