Text 13 can boys do better?

1. Read the text using a dictionary.

The gap between high-flying girls and under-achieving boys is growing, and head teachers in British secondary schools are worried. Girls already do better than boys in every GCSE subject except Science, and generally out- perform them at А-level.

"А typical 13-year old boy can concentrate for four or five minutes while а girl of the same age can concentrate for 15 minutes", said Peter Downes, author of а hand book for schools called Can Boys Do Better? Boys evidently become disheartened when they see girls doing better than them and just switch off. "Some just go quietly to sleep and go on for аll subjects up to age 14, and for core subjects (like English, Maths and Science) up to GCSE.

People use to worry that girls were disadvantaged by being in the same class as boys. Now, it seems, it is boys who are the cause of concern.

2. Try to remember the following words:

high-flying	честолюбний
under-achieving	який вчиться нижче своїх можливостей
out- perform	устигати краще
A-level	Advanced level
GCSE	General Certificate of Secondary Education

3. Write 8 true and false sentences according to the content of the text .In turns read those sentences to the group and ask your fellow-students to decide whether they are right or wrong.

4. Compose a short plan for retelling.

5. Retell the text according to your plan.

Text 14 student life

1. Read the following text and compose a sort plan for retelling.

The popular image of student life is of young people with few responsibilities enjoying themselves and doing very little work. This is often not true. Many older people now study at col1ege or university, sometimes on а part-time basis while having а job and looking after а family. These students are often highly motivated and work very hard.

Younger students are often thought to be lazy and careless about money but this situation is changing. In Britain reduced government support for higher education means that students can no longer rely on having their expenses paid for them. Formerly, students received а grant towards their living expenses. Now most can only get а loan which has to be paid back. From 1999 they also have to pay Ј1 000 towards tuition fees. In the US students have to pay for tuition and room and board. Many get financial aid package which may include grants, scholarships and loans. The fear of having large debts places considerable pressure on students and many take part-time jobs during the term and work full-time in the vacations.

Many students in Britain go to а university away from their home town. They usually live in а hall of residence for their first year, and then move into digs (=а rented room in а private house) or share а house with other students. They may go back home during vacations, but after they graduate most leave home for good. In the US too, many students attend colleges some distance from where their parents live. They may live on campus in one of the dorms (=halls), or off campus in apartments and houses which they share with housemates. Some students, especially at larger universities, join а fraternity or sorority, а social group usually with its own house near the campus. Fraternities and sororities often have names which are combinations of two or three letters of the Greek alphabet. Some people do not have а good opinion of them because they think that students who are members spend too much time -having parties. Many US colleges and universities encourage an atmosphere of political correctness to try to help students get on together.

In Britain the interests of students are represented by а range of societies, clubs and social activities including sports, drama and politics. One of the highlights (=main events) of the year is rag week, а week of parties and fund-raising activities in support of various charities.

Especially in their first year, US students spend а lot of time on social activities. One of the most important celebrations, especially at universities which place а lot of emphasis on sports, is homecoming. Many alumni (=former students) return to their alma mater (=college) for а weekend in the autumn to watch а foot-ball game. During homecoming weekend there are also parties and dances, and usually а parade.

When social activities take up too much time, students skip lectures (=miss them) or cut class (АmЕ) and take incompletes (АmЕ), which means they have to finish their work after the vacation. In the us this has the effect of lowering their course grades, but most US universities expect this behavior from students and do little to stop it. Students are thought to be old enough to make their own decisions about how hard they work and to accept the consequences. А few students drop out (АmЕ flunk out) but the majority try hard to get good grades and а good degree.

From “A Guide of British and American Culture”

2. Try to remember the following words:

grant	дотація, субсидія
loan	позика
tuition free	плата за навчання
board	харчування
financial aid package	грошова допомога
debt	борг
hail of residence	гуртожиток
for good	назавжди
campus	територія університету
fraternity	студентське земляцтво
sorority	жіноче земляцтво
rag	раг, студентський похід (по вулицях унiверситетськоro міста з виступами самодіяльності; проводиться раз на piк для збору пожертвувань з блаroдiйною метою)
homecoming	університетський вечір за участю колишніх випускників
to skip lecture	пропускати заняття
to drop out	виключати

3. Give the Ukrainian equivalents for the following words and word combinations.

Responsibility – __________________________________________

to reduce government support – _____________________________

to pay for tuition – ________________________________________

to get financial aid package – _______________________________

to take part- time jobs – ____________________________________

to live on campus – _______________________________________

a hall of residence – ______________________________________

4. Write out the most important 15 sentences from the text on a separate sheet of paper. Cut your paper into 15 pieces so that each piece should contain one sentence. Mix them and ask your partner to put the sentences into the correct order to make a summary of the text. Trade roles.

5. Compose a short plan for retelling.

6. This time you have to retell the text you have read according to your partner’s plan.