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A. Education in the United States of America
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A. EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Exercise 1. Connect with the topic.
a) Analyze the table and describe the system of education in the USA.
b) In what ways does the state education system in your country differ from that in the USA? Pay attention to the following:
– Do you have to wear a uniform?
– Are there many rules and regulations?
– What exams do you have to take?
– Can you choose the subjects you study?
Exercise 2. Match the words (1-10) with their definitions (a-j).
| 1. responsibility | a. the money you pay for service from schools, universities, doctors |
| 2. compulsory | b. money that something /somebody lends you |
| 3. available | c. the state or fact of being accountable or to blame for something |
| 4. to attend | d. to go to or be present at a place |
| 5. to complete | e. that must be done by rules, law |
| 6. fee | f. owned, done or organized by a person or company, and not by the government |
| 7. private | g. to start an organization or institution |
| 8. to measure | h. to finish something |
| 9. to be founded | i. that you can get, buy, use |
| 10. loan | j. to find the size, weight, etc. of somebody/something often using an instrument |
Exercise 3. Fill in the gaps with the words from Exercise 2.
1. The prices for education are _______ in our country.
2. You should take ______ for this accident.
3. Samara State Technical University _____ in 1914.
4. He _____ his PhD next year.
5. The length of the wire _____ during the previous experiment.
6. He didn’t _____ classes and failed his exams.
7. Our daughter goes to a _____ kindergarten.
8. They decided to take a huge_____ from the bank for their new business.
9. Some subjects are _____ in the curriculum.
10. Tuition ______ increase due to inflation.
Exercise 4. Read the text about the system of education in the USA and point out the key ideas of American education.
Education plays a very important role in American society. It often determines a person's social role and standard of living. Education is a state responsibility. No wonder then that the laws and standards of education provided in individual states differ.
In most states, education is compulsory from the age of 6 to 16. The atmosphere at elementary schools is usually friendly. Teachers keep to the idea that children's happiness and interest are the two most important things.
Full secondary education up to the age of 18 is available to everyone and the number of young people, who stay at school until they are 17 or 18 is relatively high. Schools are comprehensive and are called high schools. Pupils can choose all kinds of subjects, from Development Reading to Problems of Democracy or Public Speaking. State schools prevail; not many pupils attend private schools.
While secondary education is based on the idea of mass education with equal opportunity for all, higher education is extremely competitive and selective. It is not enough to have a high school diploma and an interview to be admitted to a college or a university. (Colleges provide undergraduate education leading to the bachelor's degree, while universities provide both undergraduate and graduate education leading to the master's and doctor's degrees. ) There are two tests, which are used by universities as standards for comparison: the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test, which measures aptitudes in verbal and mathematical fields) and the ACT (American College Testing program, which measures skills in English, mathematics, and the social and natural sciences).
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Because there are many colleges and universities in the United States, quite a large number of high school graduates do have an opportunity to get a higher education. But completing university studies is very difficult. On the average, only about half of the bachelor degree students complete full four-year courses.
Tuition fees are rather high at American universities, especially at private ones, and federal loans are not very big. That is why a majority of the students take on part-time jobs.
Harvard, Yale and Princeton are the most prestigious private universities in the Eastern United States. On the West Coast, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) are held along with Stanford University in Palo Alto near San Francisco.
The oldest American school is Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near Boston. It was founded in 1636 by John Harvard, who was born in London and whose parents came from Stratford-upon-Avon in England.
Exercise 5. Find in the text English equivalents to the following words and word combinations.
Образование, уровень жизни, доступный, общеобразовательная школа, среднее образование, возможность, способность, общественные науки, закончить, престижный, отличаться, естественные науки, плата за обучение, навык, работа неполный рабочий день, закон, преобладать, в среднем.
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