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8.Do you prefer exams or continuous _____?

9.Do you always _____ to all your lectures?

10.Does the college _____ training in computer skills?

3. Choose the correct collocations.

1.I’m happy to say that you have all sat/taken/passed your maths test.

2.Will the teacher give/provide/make us some feedback on our essays?

3.The university agrees/recognizes/takes the school-leaving exams of most other countries.

4.It isn’t compulsory to assist/attend/listen all the lectures at this university.

5.How long will it take you to complete/carry out/fulfil your degree?

6.You must submit/send/write your application in before the end of June.

7.Several students have decided to withdraw/go/leave the course this year.

8.I want you all to write/hold/keep a vocabulary notebook.

4. Work in pairs. Answer these questions about education.

1.At what age do children in your country sit their final school exams?

2.How long does it take in your country to do a degree in medicine?

3.Give one advantage you think continuous assessment has over traditional exams.

4.What sort of feedback might a teacher give a student who has given a presentation in class?

5.Give one advantage for a learner of English of doing homework.

6.What advice about keeping a vocabulary notebook would you give to someone starting to learn English?

7.What is the difference between further education and higher or tertiary education?

8.What would you expect to be the difference between the first draft of an essay and the final draft?

3. Practice

1. Types of schools.

Complete the sentences with appropriate words. The first letter has been given.

1.My granddad was sent to a b___ school at the age of nine. He hated leaving home.

2.My little brother’s just four years old. He goes to n____ school.

3.Joe’s parents have decided to send him to an i___ school as they are critical of state education. Now they have to pay school fees.

4.If you want to train to be a mechanic, go to a v____ school.

5.In some systems, there’s a m___ or j___ h___ school between primary and high school.

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2. The education system.

Match the sentence beginnings and endings.

1.Education is compulsory.

2.The school year.

3.There’s a syllabus for every subject.

4.Some subjects are optional.

5.In most schools.

6.At the end of secondary school.

a)is divided into terms;

b)students take external exams and receive a certificate;

c)there are also extra-curricular activities;

d)until the age of eighteen;

e)which means you don’t have to take them;

f)which says what teachers are supposed to teach.

3. School subjects and school work.

Match the subjects to the homework set in each of them.

4. Assessment and examinations.

Choose the two words which can complete each sentence.

1.Robert took / passed / did the driving test last week, but he failed it.

2.How many points did you score / get / achieve in the French test?

3.Julia failed the history exam, so she’ll have to repeat / retake / resit it next month.

4.Exam results will come out / be announced / appear next week.

5.Matura is a(n) external/internal / school-leaving exam.

5. Complete the sentences with the words from the box.

We’re going to have (1) _____ exams soon to check how well we’re prepared for the real ones. We’ve been going over a lot of (2) _____ papers this week to practice. Everyone remembers how last year our History teacher (3) _____ an exam which was so difficult that 75 per cent of the class (4) _____ it. Mind you, the teachers are going to have a hard time too: they’ll have to (5) _____ dozens

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of exam (6) _____ . Personally, I don’t like exams. And I really hate the thought of having to take (7) _____exams to college.

6. At university.

In what order do these things happen? The first and last one have been numbered for you.

How To BECOME A DISTINGUISHED ACADEMIC

A.At the end of the first term, you write a brilliant term paper and get outstanding grades. _

B.You become a university lecturer and continue publishing research pa-

pers. 10

C.At the end of the first academic year, you have the highest grade-point average in your year. You get a scholarship. _

D.You continue your research and do a PhD. _

E.You decide to do a postgraduate course. _

F.You get a place at university. You are now an undergraduate. A rich uncle agrees to pay your university fees. _

G.You get an MA or MSc. _

H.You graduate. You get your first degree. You are now a BA or BSc. _

I.You apply to a university. 1

J.Your PhD thesis gets published in an academic journal. _

7. Phrasal verbs.

Complete the text with the correct prepositions. Dear Grace,

I’m in so much trouble! I always used to do reasonably well at school. My reports generally said ‘well done, keep (1) ____ the good work … until last term I was (2) ____ school for two months because of a serious illness. When I returned, I tried to catch (3) ____ with the rest of the class, but I had fallen

(4) ____ so badly that it was really difficult. I felt discouraged and often couldn’t get (5) ____ to work in the evening. I started handing (6) ____ homework late or not at all. I’ve also got concentration problems: I find it difficult to pay attention and note (7) ____ what the teachers are saying in class. And, if truth be told, I started to skip lessons because I feel so bad at school. I’m terrified. I don’t want to be one of those kids who drop (8) ____ of school at fifteen and never get an education! Please help me – what should I do?

Chloe

8. Word building.

Complete the text with words formed from the words in brackets.

When I was eight years old, my primary school teacher told my parents I had learning (1) ___ (DIFFICULT). My reading was slow and I found it hard to

(2) ___ (MEMORY) things. My mum took me to an educational (3) ___ (PSY-

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CHOLOGY). That woman changed my life. She gave me a lot of tests to measure my (4) ___ (ABLE) in different areas. She showed me pictures and played music to me. Then she told my mother I was slightly (5) ___ (DYSLEXIA). She said I might not achieve outstanding (6) ___ (ACADEMY) results, but I was

(7) ___ (GIFT) and talented in other ways. She said I couldn’t do standard tests and the school should use other, pupil-friendly forms of (8) ___ (ASSESS). Finally, she suggested sending me to dance and drama classes to let me develop

(9) ___ (ARTISTIC). Now I’m twenty-five and I’m a professional dancer. I always think with gratitude of the specialist who believed (10) ___ (CREATE) was no less important than literacy.

9. Listening.

Track 1 (Exam Accelerator. Longman, Unit 3)

Do you know any stories of famous people who did badly at school or at college? Tell them to the class.

You are going to hear people talking about famous individuals who did badly at school and in exams.

What do you think they might say about the following?

•the syllabus • report cards • exams • dyslexia • dropping out of college

•class sizes

You’re going to hear a radio programme about famous people who got poor exam results. Match speakers 1–4 to statements A–E. There is one extra statement that you do not need.

A.People with certain learning difficulties find certain types of exam tasks difficult.

B.Talented people may not be interested in what is taught at school.

C.Teachers do not give personal attention to unusual students.

D.Pupils with problems could be helped more effectively if classes were not so large.

E.Original thinking does not help you to do well in exams.

How far do you agree with the following ideas expressed by the speakers? Discuss your views in pairs or small groups.

Gifted people get poor exam results because they’re bored by what’s in the syllabus.

Most exams only measure the ability to memorise and repeat information and they don’t suit people with original ideas.

In order to give students more personal attention, we need smaller class

sizes.

Some exams are unfair to dyslexics.

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10. You are going to read about an unusual school. The following ideas come from the text. In pairs, try to guess what role they might play in the school.

•trapped in a cloud of bubbles;

•flying off;

•creating school buildings;

•a Japanese Zen garden;

•experiments with giant pendulums.

Read the text and complete gaps 1–6 with sentences A–G. There is one extra sentence that you do not need to use.

a)and learn how to build their confidence by leading discussions;

b)whenever you want;

c)before introducing them to the real world;

d)in which more than five million players worldwide create a virtual so-

ciety;

e)what they are trying out in the virtual world today;

f)when you don’t have facial expressions to help you;

g)without waiting for permission.

Would you like to take part in the Schome project? Which elements appeal to you? Which don’t? Why? I Why not?

Complete these questions with verbs from the text in the correct form. Then discuss them in pairs.

1. Do you think it’s important to _____ the established rules? Why / Why

not?

2.What sort of experiences and activities can _____ your confidence?

3.What was the most impressive experiment you’ve ever _____ in a science lesson?

4.For you, what is the most comfortable environment in which you can

_____ through problems?

* Language culture

The Open University is a distance learning university funded and run by the UK government. Its aim is to provide access to higher education to people who cannot attend a traditional university. About seventy per cent of the students are adults in full employment; others include people who are disabled, in prison, abroad or looking after family members. The OU follows an open entry policy, which means no previous academic achievements are required for entry to most undergraduate courses. Since its foundation in 1969 (the first students enrolled in 1971), over three million students have taken OU courses.

A second look at school life

The first day at a new school is never easy. You’re wearing new clothes but you’re not sure if the astronaut helmet matches your kilt. Your teacher hov-

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ers above the floor, waiting for the final stragglers to arrive. A missing classmate eventually turns up twenty minutes late: she’d been trapped in a cloud of bubbles. Welcome to school life – in Second Life.

Second Life – the online 3D computer game (1) ____ is being used to teach teenage pupils as part of “Schome’: a project set up by Peter Twining, director of the centre for curriculum and teaching studies at the Open University. The main aims of Schome (School – Home) are to overcome the problems with-

in the current education system and to develop a better way of learning for the 21st century.

Initially, Dr Twining and his colleagues spent six months trying to get young people to suggest creative ideas for new education systems, but the results were disappointing. Then they realised that the virtual world of Second Life offers a better way to test new designs and ideas (2) ____. In a traditional classroom, everyone knows what the rules are, what the teachers and pupils are supposed to do. But in a school in a virtual world you can challenge the established rules, and students can control what they do in a way that would be too expensive or difficult in reality.

Schome Park is a private island in Teen Second Life, which is restricted to those under the age of eighteen. In a conventional workshop the kids turn up and wait to be told what to do; but in workshops in Schome Park, the kids might come in, stay for a while to see if they’re interested in the subject, and if not, fly off (3) ____. They’re not just skipping lessons, they’re busy: creating school buildings and scripting scenarios for other workshops and activities. As a result, the classes are quite unusual: Archaeology classes which take place on a recreation of Hadrian’s Wall (117-kilometre fortification built by the Romans in what is now the north of England), Physics experiments to calculate the value of gravity within Second Life, and Philosophy seminars set in a Japanese Zen garden .

In Schome Park nobody knows who you really are. You can change the appearance of your avatar – the character you play in the world (4) ____. This anonymity means that the students are less worried about making mistakes and so feel free to be more creative, and this, in turn, builds their confidence. ‘I have never met any of these children in real life; says Dr Twining. ‘All I know is their avatar. My guess is those children are projecting themselves as something they’re really not. And that’s very liberating.’

Reaction from the pupils has been overwhelmingly positive. They have discovered that learning isn’t just a teacher talking at a class; that clear communication is vital (5) _____; and that teamwork is essential. They can also run experiments that in real life would be impossible, for example with giant pendulums. One SParker wrote ‘Everyone has their own ideas and contributions and Schome Park allows everyone to make these contributions with confidence. Scripting and building both encourage you to think through problems and to try new ways of doing things.’

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And that is just what Schome is: a new way of testing ideas for a new type of education. And (6) ____ may well be what we’ll all be doing in the real world tomorrow.

11. Have you ever heard of homeschooling or home education? In small groups try to recall everything you know about it. Then read the text. Does the idea appeal to you? Read the text below and choose the correct answers.

A day in the life of a homeschooler

ON A FARM IN WEST VIRGINIA ABIGAIL, 13, and her brother Ethan, 15, have just got up. They’re feeding their horses. After breakfast they’ll go bird-watching. They’ll then write down their observations in their journals and spend the rest of the morning (1) _____ the books they’ve chosen this month: Macbeth (Abigail) and Catch 22 (Ethan). After lunch, Abigail is going to work on her painting of Lady Macbeth and Ethan will carry on (2) _____ a new web site for their riding club.

Abigail and Ethan aren’t on holiday. They belong to the steadily growing group of children and teenagers who are being educated at home, or homeschooled. Their mother recalls how their family made the decision (3) _____ the children to school: ‘After checking out the schools in our area, my husband and I became convinced that we (4) _____ teaching Abby and Ethan better than any of them. We believed that with an individual approach, our children would have a chance to excel at their best subjects and receive enough help in the weaker areas. Once we tried, we discovered it was even better than we’d expected. It’s thrilling to be able to witness and guide your child’s development.’

Who decides what (5) _____? Some families follow the same curriculum as a school would, and use the same books. Others choose materials that fit their needs from the wide range provided by homeschooling organisations. Some create their own curriculum.

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Many homeschooling families join together in ‘homeschool co-ops’. They organise some lessons together especially those which require expensive resources; but most importantly, co-ops give children The (6) _____ to socialise and make friends.

12. Listening.

Track 2 (Listening Extra Unit 13.3)

No more school!

1.Work in groups of three/four and discuss what is Home schooling. Why would parents choose to educate their children at home? Work our the advantages and disadvantages of home schooling.

2.You are going to listen to two parents talk about their decision to educate their child, Simon, at home. You should listen to see if you hear any of your ideas.

3.Now you will hear Simon give his opinion of home schooling. Look at the worksheet and complete the answers.

1.What didn’t Simon’s parents like about the local schools?

2.Which organization helped Simon’s parents establish their home schooling programme?

3.In what ways do Simon’s parents say his character has changed?

a____________ b____________ c____________

4. Find six advantages of home schooling Simon mentions. 5. Answer true (T) or false (F) for the following statements.

a. Simon was happy when his parents told him they were going to educate him at home.

b. Other children envy Simon when he says he doesn’t go to school. c. Simon’s parents are very religious.

6. Tick ( ) which of these adjectives you think can be inferred from the passage.

Simon’s parents are…

controlling__ ambitious__ caring__ protective__ selfish__ Simon is…

trusting__ disadvantaged__ lonely__ fortunate__ hard-working__

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13. What is education for?

1.Work in pairs and discuss the following: What are or were your favourite school subjects?

What is or was the most useful part of their education?

What would you like to change about your education if you could?

2.Experts in education have many different ideas about what education is. Look at the definitions and discuss them in pairs. Which do you agree with most and why?

3.Look at the three adverts and match them with the definitions.

4.All three schools are for students aged 16 to 18. Think what subjects would probably be taught at each place. Compare the schools and discuss which you would prefer to attend and why.

5.You are going to be school head teachers. Choose together two of the schools to manage. Plan weekly timetable for the schools, include suitable subjects for each period, or choices of subject; free study periods, or periods when students can do research on a given choice of topics; project titles, a school trip to a suitable place, lesson times and lengths. Remember that after age 16 in the UK, no subjects are compulsory. Use your imagination to produce interesting and unusual timetables.

6.Work in groups of four and present the educational attitudes of the schools. Compare your ideas.

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Complete the timetables

14. A preparation for life.

1. Work in pairs and discuss the following: What schools did you attend?

What rules did you have at school? Were there any you wanted to change or add? Which ones seemed the strangest?

Think of specific features of the school that might be useful or you would like to change.

2.You are going to read about real but unusual schools. Work in groups of three and read different texts. Tell each other about the school you read (type of school, type of students, daily routine or programme, unusual features, positive features, possible problems, most surprising features and why).

3.Discuss the following questions:

What are the main similarities between the school? What is the most surprising feature and why?

How do the schools compare with your own experiences?

Which school do you think is likely to be the most successful an why? Which school would you like to have attended and why?

Text A

Sands School, in the town of Ashburton, is a day school for children aged 10 to 18. It is based on the value of school equality between students and staff, and has few rules. Sands believes that the well-being of a child is more important than academic success. It offers a variety of lessons and activities for students to choose from, and free time for children to follow their own interests. Classes are small and based on the individual needs of each child. The timetable is fixed, but democratically decided, and students are expected to attend.

The weekly school meeting is at the centre of the Sands is organized. It makes all the decisions that affect the school, including rules, the timetable and

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