Vocabulary – education

Task 1. Fill in the gaps in the following sentences with the words from the box

playground truant cheat heart correct term give absent break university headmaster report board hard degree

1. Our teachers ______ our homework in the evening and _____ it out the next day.

2. My brother tried to _____ in the exam, but he was caught and sent to the ____ .

3. I like to play football in the _____ with my friends during the lunch _____ .

4. She got a very good school _____ because she worked so _____ this _____ .

5. I’d like to go to _____ when I finish school and do a _____ in Economics.

6. The teacher wrote the rules on the _____ and told us to learn them by _____ .

7. Were you _____ for a good reason yesterday or were you playing _____ ?

Task 2. Read the following text and choose the correct alternative in each case

I started school when I was 5 and I went to the local nursery/primary school. I liked it very much; the classes/lessons were small and the teachers/professors were very friendly. At 11 I changed and went to the sixth form college/secondary school. Things didn’t go so well here. I hated studying subjects/courses like Biology and Physics and I got terrible points/marks in tests. My parents tried to teach/learn me the things I didn’t understand, but it was no good. I used to get very worried about my end-of-year exams and one year, even though I spent a lot of time revising/reviewing, I knew I wouldn’t pass/succeed. In the end I was right ‑ I failed/missed all the exams and had to retake/remake them all a few months later. That was the worst tear of my school life, but it didn’t stop me having a good course/career as an engineer.

Task 3. Read the opinion of three students about the exams and compare them

Exam fever

1. I’ve always been terrible in exams, what is probably why I can’t stand them! I don’t know what it is exactly, but I just seem to go to pieces. I forget everything I’ve learnt. I think it’s really unfair because I write really slowly ‑ when I look around the exam room, everyone else has usually written twice as much as me! The other thing is that it all depends on luck. I mean it’s all right if the questions you have revised come up, but sometimes they don’t and then it’s a disaster. I must say I hate revising ‑ it’s so boring!

2. I think exams are much better in a way than coursework. I’d prefer to just have exams at the end of the year. As far as I’m concerned, the problem with coursework it that the pressure is on you all the time and nearly everything you do counts towards your final stages. I think exams are Ok… in the end I think they generally give a pretty accurate picture of how much you know about the subject. In fact, I quite like revising for exams. I find it brings together all the different things I’ve been learning and I suddenly begin to understand what the teachers have been going on about. I like to get up early and go through my notes on the day of the exam. That way everything is fresh in my mind.

3. In my country we have to repeat our school year if we fail the end-of-

year exams, so they are pretty serious. In fact, most people repeat a year at some point or other. Something which is a bit different to England is that we quite often have oral exams where you see your question a few minutes in advance and then you have to go and speak your answers to a group of professors, for example. Another thing which happens sometimes is that exams can be competitive, so only a certain percentage will pass. That makes it hard if you happen to be taking the exam at the same time as a lot of very good students!

Task 4. Work in a group with other students and discuss whether you agree or disagree with the following statements. Give reasons.

1. Exams are not an accurate measure of person’s ability.

2. A mixture of exams and coursework is a good idea.

3. You should repeat a school year if you fail the exams.

4. You should be told the questions a little time before you go into the exam.

5. Exams should involve an oral and a written part.