- •Contents
- •Chapter 1. School Education.
- •School education in the uk
- •1. Complete the chart with the words below. Some words may be used more than once.
- •2. Listen again . What do the terms mean? Are they the same in Britain and the usa?
- •3. Use the table to speak about the school system in England and the usa. Then make a similar story about the school system in your country.
- •1. Read the story of a girl’s first school day. Complete the gaps with the missing verbs. My First Day of School
- •Chapter 2. School Memories and Experiences.
- •Remember the Days of the Old Schoolyard
- •2. How does the writer of the song feel about his schooldays? Were they a completely happy time? What words / lines tell you this? Compare your opinions in a group.
- •1. Read the text about school days’ memories.
- •2.Look at the words in bold in the above text and try to explain them.
- •3. Fill in the sentences with the correct words from the list below:
- •4. Complete the phrases with the correct word(s) from the list below.
- •5. Fill in the phrases with the correct preposition from the box. Then choose any five items and make sentences.
- •6. Problem verbs corner
- •1. Translate the sentences from the text:
- •2. Choose the right verb:
- •1. Match the word(s) in a with their English equivalents in b and their Russian equivalents in c.
- •2. Fill in the gaps with the word(s) from the list:
- •3. Consider the situation and answer the questions.
- •1. You will hear Tim Moores, who went to Harrow, one of the most famous public schools in Britain, in the 1950s. He was sent there at the age of twelve and ran away four years later.
- •2. Listen to the text once and discuss the following:
- •3. Use the words in the list below (taken from the text) to complete the following summary.
- •4. Writing task.
- •Chapter 3. Leaving School.
- •1. Read the text about education in Russia.
- •2. Fill in the gaps with the synonyms from the text:
- •3.Answer the questions:
- •4. Discussion. Discuss these questions with a partner. Share your ideas with the rest of the class.
- •5. What do you remember about the system of school education in Great Britain? How does it differ from Russia?
- •1.Answer the questions.
- •2. Match the words with their definitions:
- •3. Find in the text the equivalent to the following Russian word(s):
- •4. Use some of the above words to complete the sentences:
- •1. Read the text and compare your list with what you can find in the text. Unified State Examination in Russian Federation
- •2. Read the statements and decide if they are true or false.
- •3. Find the English equivalents in the text:
- •4. Match the words in bold type in the text with their synonyms.
- •6. Do Russian and British systems of testing the school leavers’ knowledge have anything in common? What are the differences?
- •High School Crisis in the United States
- •1. Match the word(s) or expression(s):
- •Exams: a Survival Plan
- •1. Find the English equivalents for the following expression:
- •2. Fill in the phrases with the correct word(s) from the box.
- •3. Fill in the gaps with the right preposition(s) from the box.
- •5. Discussion. Discuss these questions with a partner.
- •2. Try to guess if the following statements are True or False:
- •3. Read the text and check your predictions.
- •4. Discussion. Discuss the following in groups:
- •Chapter 4. University Education.
- •1. You can normally do these subjects at university but not always at school:
- •2. Read the statements spoken by university students. What is each person studying?
- •1. Match the verbs on the left to the nouns on the right. Some verbs can be used more than once. Translate the phrases into your language.
- •2. Replace the underlined word with its synonym(s) from the previous exercise.
- •3. Answer the questions:
- •Studying at a British university.
- •1. Answer the questions:
- •2. Compare the system of higher education in the uk to your country. Answer these questions:
- •1. Match the words in a to their definitions in b:
- •2. Complete the sentences using the vocabulary from the previous exercise.
- •3. Read the text and decide if the statements below are true or false. What’s a university education worth?
- •4. Discuss the questions with your partner:
- •1. Discuss these questions with a partner. Share your ideas with the rest of the class.
- •2. Match the words in a to their definitions in b:
- •3. Now listen to the programme and answer the questions:
- •4. Read the statement and decide if they are true or false. Correct the false ones.
- •1. Answer these questions with a partner.
- •2. Read the information about universities in the usa and say which university:
- •3. Now read the text again and fill in the table with the information about the universities:
- •4. Prepare a report about a world famous university. Include the following information:
- •Chapter 5. Starting University Life.
- •1. Read the article which gives advice to students embarking on their university career. Match the headings 1-10 below to the paragraphs a-h.
- •Freshmen Survival Advice for Life
- •2. Vocabulary work. Find the English equivalents in the text for the following words and phrases.
- •3. Match the words in a and b to make phrases and use them in the sentences below.
- •4. Fill in the gaps with the right preposition and give the Russian equivalent.
- •5. Fill in the missing parts of speech. Some of the answers come from the text.
- •6. Discuss the advice in the article in small groups or pairs. Consider the following:
- •1. Discuss these questions with a partner. Share your ideas with the rest of the class.
- •2. Use the words and phrases in the box to complete the sentences below.
- •3. Listen to the students. Put the experiences and tips about student money in the order you hear them.
- •4. Discuss the tips you heard.
- •1. Read the text and answer the questions below. Who Needs a Degree? No number of letters after your name can teach you about life.
- •2. Read the statement and decide if they are true or false. Correct the false ones.
- •3. Match the words from the text with their definitions.
- •4. Find the English equivalents for the following Russian words and phrases.
- •5. Discussion. Discuss in the questions groups.
- •6. Writing. Choose one of the quotations you feel you are most capable to write on.
- •References:
1. Find the English equivalents for the following expression:
одинаковые знания и способности
более высокая оценка
сдача экзамена
момент прекращения работы
ключевые вопросы
пролистать записи
дважды проверить
ответ на экзамене
день экзамена
сразу, одним ударом
проверить задания
типичные ошибки
определить важные слова в вопросе
подчеркнуть, обвести в кружочек или даже выписать
неразборчивые каракули
орфографические ошибки
отклониться от темы
2. Fill in the phrases with the correct word(s) from the box.
a failure to a treat academic answer common disturb invigorating last lay out make refresh vary |
_______ one’s concentration
_______ your memory
_______ one’s diet
_______ performance
_______ sure
give yourself _______
_______ errors
_______ chance
_______ one’s equipment
_______ walk
_______ the question
_______precisely
3. Fill in the gaps with the right preposition(s) from the box.
from out (x2) through about on(x2) at with in for (x2) |
written _______ illegible scrawl
learn _______ mistakes
_______ the end of the exam
write _______ the key instructions
arrive _______ the exam
lay _______ one’s equipment
read _______ the exam paper
check _______ misspellings
be clear _______ something
spend time _______ a question
be faced _______ pile of scripts
move _______ to the next examination
5. Discussion. Discuss these questions with a partner.
Which of the advice do you find the most useful / the least useful?
Do you have your own piece of advice concerning exam sitting?
Task12. Reading. Gap year.
1. Do students in your country go directly to university or college after school or do they have a break first? Taking a gap year between school and university is quite common in the UK, and there are lots of different ways to spend your time. What are some of them?
2. Try to guess if the following statements are True or False:
A gap year is a time to take a break from your studies to travel or work. Universities and employees think that taking a gap year is a good idea.
If you want to take a gap year you must do it between achool and university.
Most students ask their parents to finance their gap year.
Taking a gap year was a positive experience for Julie Taylor.
University courses are more expensive than in the past.
3. Read the text and check your predictions.
What is a gap year?
A ‘gap year’ is a period of time, usually an academic year, when a student takes a break from formal education. It is often spent travelling or working.
Why?
People used to think that taking a gap year was negative. In the past you took a gap year if you had to retake exams or had problems between finishing school and starting higher education and then starting a career. But now, universities positively encourage a gap year, and employers are happy to give jobs to students who take a gap year. A year out between school or college and higher education or employment, or between higher education and a job, can give young people useful learning experiences, help them pick up new skills and make them more independent. Employers and universities want to see evidence of enterprise, maturity and commitment both in and outside formal education.
When?
Young people in formal education usually take a gap year when they are about eighteen years old, before going to university. They can also be taken at a different time, for example, by someone who wants to break up their degree course or to do something different before a postgraduate course.
Where and what?
Many gap year students choose to do voluntary work. This could include teaching in the mountains in Nepal, a conservation project in Madagascar, an expedition in Costa Rica or an internship in Japan. There are plenty of gap year volunteer work options to choose from. There is also voluntary work closer to home for British students - both geographically and culturally - including the UK, Europe and North America.
Popular gap year activities for young people looking for adventure include surfing in Hawaii, wake boarding in Italy, kite surfing in Egypt or bungee jumping in New Zealand.
Lots of gap year students just want to see more of the world. According to the British government’s Gap Year website, the top 5 gap year travel destinations for 2011 were Tibet, Indonesia, Taiwan, Eastern Europe and Canada.
What about money?
Most students who are planning a gap year take on a part-time job to save up for the trip. Some young people look for work when they get to their destination if they need to earn money to pay for accommodation, food, etc. Popular jobs include bar work, fruit picking and being a tour guide. A gap year doesn’t have to be a full year travelling or having adventures. Some students travel for three or six months then work for the rest of the year.
Organising a gap year
Because the gap year is so popular and needs to be cheap, travel companies now offer structured gap packages where your entire trip is worked out for you. There are three main categories of a structured gap year activity:
Expeditions, often with a conservation element and usually to developing countries
Courses to learn a skill such as a language or something that they can later teach others to do, for example windsurfing
Voluntary work in the UK and abroad.
An African experience
Julie Taylor graduated from Hull University in 2010. She now works as a manager in an international company. Julie tells us about her gap year:
‘During my gap year, I taught in a primary school in Kenya. I spent 4 months teaching children aged 8 - 18 in English, Art, Physical Education, and I coached the school’s netball team. As well as working, I also travelled the country and even climbed Mount Kenya. The trip was one of the best experiences of my life. I’m very happy that I didn’t head off to university straight after school because I learnt a lot about myself in my year out. I was able to get by on very little money and to deal with problems without the support of my family and friends. My trip to Africa also looks great on my CV. I worked to save up for the trip which showed my employer that I had good self-motivation and organisational skills, which are essential in any job. My interviewers were really interested in how I managed to teach classes of 88 children (with lots of enthusiasm and promises of netball after class!). Employers see that climbing to an altitude of 4,985m up Mount Kenya shows self-motivation, strength and determination. Not everybody can put that on their CV.’
The future.
The British government has recently put up tuition fees for university degree courses. Students may have to pay up to £9000 a year for their education. That’s a big increase! How do you think will these changes affect the gap year for future British students?