Text 2 and 3

Read the texts 2 and 3 on American and British school systems and complete the table

age	US	Britain
3-4	nursery school, day care center, kindergarten
5-11	… school	….school
11-14/15	… (….)high school	secondary school; take…...exams
14/15-16	…school; take… examinations
17-18		secondary school, colleges of further education, 6th form colleges; take …,…,… exams

Text 2 American School System

The American educational system differs considerably from that of England and Russia. Even terms that at first glance may seem identical represent quite different concepts and institutions.

Let's start at the beginning. A small child may go to a nursery school or day care center, a kindergarten (детский сад). The day care center can provide care throughout the workday, while the other institutions generally provide care for only a few hours a day. At the age of six the child starts attending elementary school, which runs from first to sixth grade. The required elementary and high school/ secondary school curriculum/a varies a good deal from state to state; the curriculum lists all subjects to be taught and the number of hours devoted to each. Despite the variations, all elementary schools teach basic reading, writing and elementary mathematics skills.

A highly talented student may enroll in a school for gifted children. If, on the other hand, he needs special assistance, he may study at a school providing special assistance programs for children with various kinds of learning deficiencies.

An educational institution such as a high school or college may be restricted to only boys or girls, or it may be coed (coeducational), accepting both. A school in which the student lives is a boarding school. And high school students are called exactly that – students. The word pupils which was formerly used for elementary school students is now rather outdated in the US.

The school may be public or private. Public schools are run by city and state Boards of Education, not by the Federal government. Public schools are free while private schools charge fees for tuition. In the United States, the ages for compulsory education vary by state, by usually start between the ages of five and eight and end at the ages of seventeen to eighteen.

After finishing elementary school a child will start junior high school (also known as middle school - the names and systems vary from state to state) in the seventh grade and continue through the eighth or ninth. From the ninth or tenth through the twelfth grade he attends high school. (And a tenth-grader will say, "I'm in the tenth grade," never "I'm in the tenth class.") Upon successful completion of twelfth grade he is awarded a high school diploma.

Both elementary and high schools are headed by a principal, and instruction is given by teachers. The students move from classroom to classroom for each class period. The English teacher has her own classroom, the history teacher another room, and the chemistry teacher usually gives instruction in the laboratory. Students are given homework, assignments to be done at home and handed in to the teacher the next day. If the student starts cutting classes, he is said to be playing hooky (прогуливает уроки). In that case even if he crams (зубрит) for his final exams he is likely not to pass but rather to fail/flunk the exam, test or quiz (контрольная работа). The verb can be used both to mean that the student has not passed the exam or that the teacher did not pass the student.

Anne failed/flunked the test. She needed 65 to pass (passing grades 65–100) but since she only got 62 the teacher failed/flunked her.

If the student answers all the questions correctly – "got everything right" – we can say that "he aced the exam" (сдал блестяще). In both high school and college, exams are written, not oral. Grades usually go from "A" to "F," corresponding to the Russian system of 5 to 0. Many exams are graded from 1 to 100 (a perfect score), and the student gets a certain number of points for each correct answer. A very good student gets excellent grades or high marks (these terms are synonymous). A four-point scale GPA (grade point average) is used to describe a student’s overall academic performance. The teacher may require a mid-term or a final exam and/or term paper, a fairly long composition usually involving library research. Report cards with the student's grades and teachers' comments are usually sent home every semester for signature by parents.

During the fall semester of twelfth grade, the student who wants to continue his education applies to several colleges and universities. The application process for admission to college can be long and hard, particularly if the student wants to attend one of the top private colleges such as Harvard or Yale. The college's admissions committee first considers the student's grades (the list of courses and grades, for both high school and college, is known as a transcript) Also very important for admission are extracurricular activities including participation in various clubs, sports activities and school athletic teams and community service. The latter might include volunteering at a soup kitchen or helping to tutor children in overcrowded schools. The applicant is asked to write essays on various subjects to show his intellectual abilities and interests and must have letters of recommendation from his teachers and other people who know him well. He must also have high scores on the SAT (Scholastic aptitude test) examinations. This is not a competitive exam for admission to a university; it consists of a series of questions in English and mathematics designed to test the student's aptitude rather than his knowledge and achievement. A personal interview may also be required. A student who has been accepted by a college is accepted by or admitted to that institution, e.g. Fred was accepted by/admitted to Harvard, but was rejected by/didn't get into Columbia.

Since the annual tuition of many private colleges is well over $15000, most senior year students also apply for scholarships, a process that can be just as intricate as the college application process. Besides, he or she can apply to a two-year community college or junior college. These institutions are much less demanding of students both in terms of admission requirements and the program of study. A student who wants to receive technical training for a field such as electronic technology or carpentry can apply to a vocational school.