Read the sentences paying attention to the intonation.

1. School attendance is required in all 50 states.

2. Many parents are involved in working for better quality education in the United States.

3. High school students can take vocational courses that prepare them to perform specific jobs.

4. Tests showed that student achievement in science and mathematics, which had declined during the 1970s, improved during the 1980s.

5. Corporations have also given grants to universities to improve teacher education.

6. Most states and school districts have passed new, more demanding standards that students must meet before they can graduate from high school.

Practise reading the following words and word combinations.

Preschool, nursery, kindergarten, elementary schools, elementary schools, middle school, junior high school, secondary school, high school, public school, private school, require, parents, university, college, high school, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Scholastic Aptitude Tests, Europe, Japan, U.S. Department of Education, the United States National Commission on Excellence in Education, issue.

Grammar exercises

Read the sentences and translate them into Russian. In each sentence point out the Subject and the Predicate.

1. Students may attend either public schools or private schools.

2. Special education (for the handicapped student) is offered in most schools.

3. In nine other states, the minimum age for leaving school is 17.

4. How are American schools changing?

5. The U.S. leads the world in the percentage of the population that receives a higher education.

6. The quality of education in the United States has often been debated in the course of American history.

7. Business organizations, realizing that their future employees needed skills that could be learned in schools, pitched in to help.

8. Educators believe that these and other methods improving education are beginning to show results, and that U.S. schools are at least reversing the previous decline.

9. High school students can take vocational courses that prepare them to perform specific jobs, such as that of a carpenter or an automobile mechanic.

10.Most states and school districts have passed new, more demanding standards that students must meet before they can graduate from high school.

5. Ask questions to the following sentences: a) general; b) special; c) tag-question; d) alternative.

1.The typical American student spends six hours a day in school.

2.Students may attend either public schools or private schools.

3.The quality of education in the United States has often been debated in the course of American history.

4.In Boston the business community offered jobs and scholarships to students graduating school.

5.Students are writing computer programs and creating charts, art and music on computers.

Choose the correct pronoun to complete the sentences.

1. American students spend six hours a day. … study five days a week. (They, them, their)

2. The minimum age for leaving school is 17. But in some states … is 18. (He, she, it)

3. The business community helped students. … offered … jobs and scholarships. (He, him; it, them; it, him)

4. Many parents are involved in working for better quality education. … help … children keep schools in good repair. (Their, they; they, their; they, them)

5. The student studies four or five major subjects per year. If … fails a course, … repeats only that course. (He, he; he, its; its, he)

6. … was necessary to improve the system of education. (He, its, it)

7. Public schools are free. … are supported by the government. (They, we, it)

8. In the USA there are many universities. The most famous of … are Harvard, Princeton and Yale. (They, their, them)

9. The state colleges charge a free for tuition. … fee is higher for … who come outside the state. (This, those; this, that; these, those)

10. Corporations give grants to universities. … money must improve teacher education. (These, its, this)

11. Students can take advanced courses. … courses prepare students for university study. (This, those, these)

12. The major aim of … or … method of teaching is to improve education in general. (This, that; these, those; that, this)

Insert prepositions.

System of education in the USA

The general pattern … education in the USA is an eight-year elementary school, followed … a four-year high school. It is preceded, … many localities, … nursery schools and kindergartens.

The elementary schools are usually small. The high schools are generally larger and accommodate pupils … four or five elementary schools. A small town generally has several elementary schools and one high school. Admission … the American high school is automatic … completion of the elementary school. Students must complete a certain number of courses … order to receive a diploma, or a certificate of graduation.

Institutions of higher learning supported … public funds are not absolutely free. The state colleges and universities charge a fee … tuition or registration. This fee is higher for those who come … outside the state.

Usually there is no admission examination required by a state university for those who have finished high school … the state. Sometimes a certain pattern of high school studies is necessary, however, and some state universities require a certain scholastic average, or average … high school grades.

Private colleges and universities, especially the larger, well-known ones such as Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, have rigid scholastic requirements … entrance, including an examination.

It usually takes four years to meet the requirements … a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree. A Master of Arts or Master of Science degree may be obtained … one or two additional years. The highest academic degree is the Doctor … Philosophy. It may take any number of years to complete the original research work necessary to obtain this degree.