Tasks to the text:

Task 1. Find in the text the equivalents for the following words and expressions:

платное образование	общественные фонды
заочный курс	учебный план
взаимодействие	ежегодный отчет
беспроцентная ссуда	школьные органы самоуправления
соответствовать Госстандарту	учиться на дневном отделении
правительственные меры	назначать персонал
оплата за обучение	опыт работы
быть доступным	государственные школы
отдавать предпочтение	посещать школу

Task 2. What do we call:

1. a school for children aged between 11 and 18?

2. the qualification you get when you successfully finish a course at university?

3. education at a university or similar institution?

4. someone who has already taken one degree and is studying for another, more advanced degree?

5. a part of a school year (5 months)?

6. a long talk on a subject, given by a teacher at college or university?

Task 3. Answer the questions about education in Great Britain.

1. At what age do the children of Great Britain get full-time education?

2. What are the levels (grades) of school education in GB?

3. Is school education free or fee-paying in GB?

4. Are the parents in Great Britain free to choose a school for their children? How do they manage it?

2. Read the text and do exercises after it. Education in the usa

Education in the USA is free and compulsory for children aged 5 through 16. The majority of children complete their high school education at grade 12 (age 17 or 18), but they can leave school at the age of 16.

There are two significant influences on American education which give it its present character, its size and its great variety on all levels. The first influence is legal, the second is cultural. The US does not have a national system of education. Education is considered a matter for the people of each state, as a result, each of the 50 states legislatures is free to determine its own system for its own public schools. State constitutions give actual administrative control of the public school to the local communities. School boards, made up of several individuals, elected from each community, oversee the school in each community.

The major result of this unusual situation is that there is an enormous amount of variety and flexibility on all levels of education. Today 88% of American children attend public (free) schools, and 12% go to private schools.

After high school, students seek vocational or technical training or enter a university.

Student must pay tuition for education, and some colleges are very expensive. Because of this, students work part-time or full-time, to help pay their tuition.

Tasks to the text:

Task l. Find in the text the English equivalents to the following Russian words and expressions:

• бесплатное и обязательное образование;

• ступень обучения, класс;

• две важные черты (американского образования);

• дело граждан каждого штата;

• законодательство;

• осуществлять административный контроль;

• контролировать школы;

• большое разнообразие и гибкость всех уровней образования;

• выбирать общее профессиональное или техническое образование;

• поступать в университет;

• работать по совместительству;

• степень бакалавра (бакалавриат);

• первокурсник;

• второкурсник;

• студент третьего курса;

• студент выпускного курса;

• после вузовское образование.

Task 2. Look through the text again and complete the following sentences. Translate the sentences into Russian.

1. American education is very flexible and various in its ... .

2. Each state's ... determines the curriculum and methodology of school.

3. A school board is a group of individuals, elected from the local....

4. Students who want to learn a trade, have to get some ... training.

5. All American universities are paid, but the size of the ... varies from one university to another.

6. If you want to make a good living you have to work ....

Task 3. For each word on a list find a suitable context in the following dialogue:

• confidence

• classics

• the commonest

• public

• sake

• institution

• boarding

• school

A Little More Gossip

• I hear that the new people at number thirty-five send their boy to a private ____ instead of the local school. What snobs they are!

• They are, aren't they? I wouldn't dream of sending my little boy away to some strange ______ for months on end every year. I think it's cruel.

• It is, isn't? It would break my heart every term. And the thing is that these private schools are often not as good as _______ state schools.

• They aren't, are they? My nephew only went to his local grammar school and he's just been awarded a scholarship to study _______at Oxford.

• The Williams only send their boy away for the _____. of appearances. They just like to show off.

• Yes, they do, don't they? Of course, some people say that a boarding-school education is good for children because it teaches them to have ____ in themselves and they learn to be less dependent on their parents .... But I think it only turns them into snobs.

• It does, doesn't it? Still, I don't know what I'll do with my Trevor next year. I don't want him to go to that big new school. The children of all ________ people in the area go there.

• Well, they're closing all the old schools. If you don't like the new state school, you'll just have to pay to send him to a private school, won't you?