Практичне заняття № 2 "Освіта в Великій Британії та сша"

Education in the USA

TASK 1. Match the following English words from the word combinations.

1) undergraduate 2) to attend 3) assignments and 4) to receive 5) specialized 6) technical 7) per

8) a three-credit 9) basic 10) an academic ANSWERS: a) lectures b) skills c) course

d) studies e) year f) applications g) students h) similarities i) week j) examinations

TASK 2. Read, translate and retell the following text.

Education in the GB and the USA

Education is compulsory from the age of five to sixteen, and there is usually a move from primary to secondary school at about the age of eleven, but schools are organized in a number of different ways.

The United States does not have a national system of education. Yet, there are enough basic similarities in structure among the various schools and systems to give some general comments. Most schools start at the kindergarten level at the age of 5. The elementary school (or grade school) goes from age 6 to 11 or, 12 (grades 1 to 5 or 6). This is usually followed by a middle school (grades 6-8) or Junior High School (grades 7-9). High schools include 3 or 4 years, usually until the age of 18 (unless a student “drops out” and doesn't graduate, that is earn a high school, diploma).

Out of more than three million students who graduate from high school each year, about one million go on for higher education. A college at a leading university might receive applications from high school graduates, and then accept only one out of every ten who apply. Successful applicants at such colleges are usually chosen on the basis of a) their high school records; b) recommendations from their high school teachers; c) their scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SATs).

The system of higher education in the United States comprises three categories of institutions: 1) the university, which may contain a) several colleges for undergraduate students seeking a bachelor's (four-year) degree and b) one or more graduate schools for those continuing in specialized studies beyond the bachelor's degree to obtain a master's (2 years) or a doctoral degree in both the arts and sciences (2 years beyond the Master's degree level), 2) the technical training institutions at which high school graduates may take courses ranging from six months to four years in duration and learn a wide variety of technical skills from hair styling through business accounting to computer programming and 3) the two-year, or community college, from which students may enter many professions or may transfer to four-year colleges.

Any of these institutions may be either public or private, depending on the source of its funding. The most selective are the old private north-eastern universities, commonly known as the Ivy League, including Harvard Radcliffe, Yale University, Columbia College, University of Pennsylvania, etc. Semesters usually run from September to early January and from late January to late May.

As for credits, they are earned by attending lectures (or lab classes) and by successfully completing assignments and examinations. One credit usually equals one hour of class per week in a single course. A three-credit course in Linguistics, for example, could involve one hour of lectures plus two hours of seminars every week. Most students complete 10 courses per an academic year and it usually takes them four years to complete a bachelor's degree requirement of about 40 three-hour courses or 120 credits.

In the American higher education system credits for the academic work are transferable among universities.

The University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge (informally Cambridge University or Cambridge) is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world (after the University of Oxford), and the seventh-oldest globally. In post-nominals the university's name is abbreviated as Cantab, a shortened form of Cantabrigiensis (an adjective derived from Cantabrigia, the Latinised form of Cambridge).The university grew out of an association of scholars in the city of Cambridge that was formed in 1209, early records suggest, by scholars leaving Oxford after a dispute with townsfolk. The two "ancient universities" have many common features and are often jointly referred to as Oxbridge. In addition to cultural and practical associations as a historic part of British society, they have a long history of rivalry with each other.

Cambridge is a collegiate university, meaning that it is made up of self-governing and independent colleges, each with its own property and income. Most colleges bring together academics and students from a broad range of disciplines, and within each faculty, school or department within the university, academics from many different colleges will be found.

Teaching involves a mixture of lectures, organised by the university departments, and supervisions, organised by the colleges. (Science subjects also involve laboratory sessions, organised by the departments.) The relative importance of these methods of teaching varies according to the needs of the subject. Supervisions are typically weekly hour-long sessions in which small groups of students (usually between one and three) meet with a member of the teaching staff or with a doctoral student. Students are normally required to complete an assignment in advance of the supervision, which they will discuss with the supervisor during the session, along with any concerns or difficulties they have had with the material presented in that week's lectures. The assignment is often an essay on a subject set by the supervisor, or a problem sheet set by the lecturer. Depending on the subject and college, students might receive between one and four supervisions per week. This pedagogical system is often cited as being unique to Cambridge and Oxford (where "supervisions" are known as "tutorials").

Cambridge ranks first in the world in both the 2010 and 2011. Graduates of the University have won a total of 65 Nobel Prizes, the most of any university in the world. In 2009, the marketing consultancy World Brand Lab rated Cambridge University as the 50th most influential brand in the world, and the 4th most influential university brand, behind only Harvard, MIT and Stanford University.