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accepting or rejecting new students and teachers. Participating in these meetings gives the children an understanding of democratic decision-making, and helps them develop their skills of argument and persuasion. The most important advantage of the school meeting is that it shows the children that the school is really theirs. They have the right to decide on changes, and the schools success or failure depends on their decisions and their behavior.

Sands employs no cooking or cleaning staff; these jobs are done by the students and teachers. Decorating and simple repairs are also done by the students. There are three reasons for doing this. Firstly, it saves money, so that school fees can be kept as low as possible. Secondly, it gives people the opportunity to learn practical skills in a practical way that is more memorable than a lesson. Finally, the school feels that it is wrong to encourage the idea that there is a social group or level of people in society whose job is to serve. For the school to truly belong to those who it, they must take responsibility for its maintenance.

Text B

Brockwood Park School is a boarding school set in beautiful English countryside for students aged 14 to 20. It was founded by the philosopher and educator Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986) in 1969. The intentions of the school include giving students an appreciation of the natural world, out place in it and responsibility for it. It also encourages students to explore freedom and responsibility in relationship to other people in society. Physical, psychological and spiritual health are among its aims.

Each school day begins before breakfast at 7.45 am with the morning meeting. All students and staff sit quietly together for ten minutes to encourage self-reflection. Sometimes someone plays music or reads a poem. The intention of morning meeting is to begin the day quietly together. Everyone is required to attend.The day end at 9.30 pm, and students should be in their rooms at

10.00pm.

Having a maximum of 60 students gives the school a relaxed family feel-

ing. It has a number of ‘Agreements’, which are similar to rules, but reviewed every day by staff and students and can change. Students also help with the day- to-day decision-making, and everyone assists in the care of the grounds and buildings, and with other small jobs like washing the dishes after meals. One Agreement is that all staff and students are vegetarian, and a great deal of attention is given to preparing meals. Many ingredients are grown in the school’s large vegetable garden, which students help care for.

Another Agreement is that students must follow a balanced educational programme which they and the school consider reasonable. Students cooperate with teachers in planning their individualized study programmes, where environmental education, human development, visual and performing arts are equally as important as maths, sciences and languages. There are classes every morn-

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ing and afternoon, and in the early evenings there are also classes, meetings and other activities.

Text C

Albany Free School is based on freedom and democratic principles, with students and staff taking decisions together at weekly meeting. But unlike many similar schools, this one is also open to children of the poor. It has children aged 2 to 14, and nobody is rejected for financial reasons. It is located in a racially and socio-economically mixed neighbourhood of central New York. About half of the children come from the inner city, a quarter from richer neighbourhoods, and the remainder from surrounding suburbs and towns. Approximately 80 per cent of them are poor enough to qualify for free or reduced price breakfast and lunch.

In some ways Albany Free School is like a normal school with books, computers and other equipment. Some rooms even have blackboards and desks. In other ways it is very different. There are no tests either. External rewards or threats are less motivating than an inner desire to learn. There is generally more noise than quiet, with children moving around constantly and playing freely.

Learning certainly happens at Albany Free School, but differently. Daily maths and reading classes are provided for those who want them, but there is no typical day at the school. Every develops according to any number of influences, from spontaneous ideas for activities or outings to world events. There are ongoing projects too, often in the surrounding city or doing work for charity organizations. The school runs a small farm on the block, where students learn the basics of working with animals and growing flowers, herbs and vegetables. Older students take part in a wide ranging training programme, working with actors, magicians, chefs, carpenters, midwives, lawyers, vets, archeologists, computer programmers and even pilots.

15. Schools in Britain.

Every parent wants to send their child to the best school. But which schools are best – private schools or state schools?

State schools are free; government pays for everyone.

Public schools are private and parents pay; public schools spend four times more on each pupil than state schools but they are very expensive.

DO PUBLIC AND STATE SCHOOLS TEACH THE SAME THING? Public schools have similar subjects to state schools and pupils take the

same exams. Public schools don’t have to follow the National Curriculum.

WHAT IS A BOARDING SCHOOL?

Pupils live there and go home in the holidays. Most public schools are boarding schools but there are private day schools too.

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WHICH IS BETTER: PRIVATE OR STATE? BECKY

I go to a state school but I’ll send my kids to a boarding school because I plan to have a career. They can have a social life and do school work in the same place.

ROB

Private schools are better because there are so activities. In my school there is a cadet force (a junior military training group), film studies and drama classes. Students are more likely to go to a good university.

HELENA

You get more attention at a private school but state schools are better because you learn to mix with different people. Also most state schools are mixed (boys and girls) and it’s good to be with boys and girls.

THOMAS

Public schools get better exam results. The people who go there are not just from rich families. My friend’s parents work hard to pay for him to go to public school to give him better chances in life.

HARRIET

Just because public schools have more money doesn’t mean that the pupils are more intelligent. There are drug problems in public schools as well as in state schools.

You can find out more about English schools on the Internet on www.britishcouncil.org/education/system/index.htm

Public Versus Private

1. Read what the five teenagers say about public and state schools and match the descriptions to the names. If you think they prefer public schools, put a ‘P’ in the box. If they prefer state schools, put an ‘S’.

A. ... thinks that public schools are good because the pupils work much harder. Some poor people work hard to earn enough money to send their children to public schools. ____

B. ... thinks public schools are good for parents who have busy jobs. Pupils in public schools have a good time with lots of friends and also do a lot of school work too. ____

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16.The Cool School.

1.Lead-in.

What is a ‘cool school’? Discuss this question with your partner. Which subjects would they study at school if they had the choice? Make a list.

2. Work in pairs to complete activity Vocabulary crossword.

3. Reading for gist.

As you read compare your lists with the subjects students can study at the Brit School. Are the lists similar or very different?

The Cool School

Love arts? Fanatical about film? Mad about music? The Brit school just outside London in the UK is a place where lots of kids fulfil their greatest dreams.

If you want fame

When people ask you what you want to be in the future, they seem pleased if you say ‘a doctor’ or ‘financial consultant’. But if you say ‘an actor’ or ‘a dancer’ or ‘a DJ’ they often laugh and say ‘no chance!’ The Brit School takes such ambitions seriously: everything is done to make sure talented kids fully explore their passion for the creative arts.

What you study there

The Brit School centres its studies on the performing arts. Singing, dancing, acting, music, theatre, TV and film production are all on the curriculum, as well as academic subjects like Maths and English. The staff stress the importance of continuing academic studies. Students enter the school when they are 14 and 16. There is a strict selection process because there is a lot of competition for each place. Entrants at 14 have an interview, and at 16 there is also an

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audition. The procedure is tough because the school is Britain’s only non feepaying entertainment school.

Different from ordinary school

The main thing that makes the Brit School like other schools is that it takes academic study seriously. But in other ways, the atmosphere could not be more different. The teachers are called ‘guides’ and speak to the kids in a more informal way than many are used to. There are no uniforms and no bell at the end of the lesson. The school also makes sure that no one lives more than an hour away from the school so they don’t get too tired. This is important because having lessons in radio production, theatre and video-recording as well as regular lessons is very hard work. The terms are eight weeks long, with 2-week breaks in between and only four weeks in the summer, so it involves much more attendance than an ordinary school.

How the kids feel about it

Everyone who goes there is incredibly enthusiastic about it. Even though the school’s curriculum and hours make it very demanding for them, they don’t mind. Monique, 18, said she found it a bit strange at first because it was so unlike her old school. “Everyone seems so creative here so I don’t stand out much. Everyone’s an individual, independent and single-minded and we don’t all wear the same sort of clothes”. Most of the students are outgoing, and shy students say that being there makes them more confident.

Website: http://www.brit.croydon.sch.uk

4. Reading comprehension.

Discuss the school with your partner. Do they think it is a ‘cool school’? Why/why not? What are the advantages and disadvantages of going to the Brit School? Would they like to go there? What careers does the Brit school prepare people for?

Answer the questions:

According to the text, are the following statements true or false?

If you are younger than 14, you are too young to go to the Brit School. Everyone who wants to go to the Brit School has to have an audition. Parents have to pay to send their children to the Brit School.

The students don’t have to study maths or English.

The students have shorter holidays than students at ordinary schools. No one has to wear a uniform.

Shy students at the school feel unhappy.

5. Follow-up activities.

My ideal career (writing)

Discuss your ambitions. What would their ideal careers be? What could they/their parents/their school do to help them achieve their ambitions? Write about your ideal job and how you hope to achieve it.

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II. THE MERRY-G0-ROUND OF COLLEGE LIGE

The merry-go-round of college life is something that one never forgets. It’s a fascinating, fantastic, fabulous experience, irrespective of the fact whether one is a full-time or a part-time student.

Who can forget the first day at the university when one turns from an applicant who has passed entrance exams into a first-year student? I did it! I entered, I got in to the university! A solemn ceremony in front of the university building and serious people making speeches. Hey, lad, do you happen to know who they are? Who? The rector, vice-rectors, deans, subdeans... and what about those ladies? Heads of departments and senior lecturers? Okay. Some of them must be professors, some-associate or assistant professors, but, of course, all of them have high academic degrees. And where are our lecturer sand tutors? Oh, how nice...

The monitors hand out student membership cards, student record books and library cards – one feels like a real person. First celebrations and then days of hard work. So many classes, so many new subjects to put on the timetable! The curriculum seems to be developed especially for geniuses. Lectures, seminars and tutorials. Home preparations; a real avalanche of homeworks.

If one can not cope with the work load of college he or she immediately starts lagging behind. It is easier to keep pace with the programme than to catch up with it later. Everyone tries hard to be, or at least to look, diligent. First tests and examination sessions. The first successes and first failures: “I have passed!” or “He has not given me a pass!” Tears and smiles. And a long-awaited vacation.

The merry-go-round runs faster. Assignments, written reproductions, compositions, synopses, papers. Translations checked up and marked. “Professor, I have never played truant, I had a good excuse for missing classes”. Works handed in and handed out. Reading up for exams. “No, professor, I have never cheated – no cribs. I just crammed”.

Junior students become senior. Still all of them are one family – undergraduates. Students’ parties in the students’ club. Meeting people and parting with people. You know, Nora is going to be expelled and Dora is going to graduate with honours. Yearly essays, graduation dissertations, finals...

What? A teacher’s certificate? You mean, I’ve got a degree in English? I am happy! It is over! It is over... Is it over? Oh, no...

A postgraduate course, a thesis, an oral, and a degree in Philology. The first of September. Where are the students of the faculty of foreign languages? Is it the English department? Oh, how nice...

1. Say a few words about your university: say what it is called, speak about its faculties and their specializations.

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2.Would you compare college life with a merry-go-round or with something else?

3.What do you think of the first months at the university?

4.They say that it is a poor soldier who does not want to become a general. Name the steps of the social ladder which a student must pass to climb up to the position of the rector. Use the words from the list below, placing one word on one step.

Dean, assistant lecturer, head of department, vice-rector, associate professor, assistant professor, subdean, professor.

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III. RUTH AT COLLEGE

(Extract from the book by A. Brookner “A Start in Life”. Abridged)

The main advantage of being at college was that she could work in the library until nine o’clock. She was now able to feed and clothe herself. She had, for the moment, no worries about money. In her own eyes she was rich, and it was known, how, she did not understand, that she was not on a grant1, did not share a flat with five others, did not live in a hall of residence, and took abundant baths, hot water being the one element of life at home.

There was also the extreme pleasure of working in a real library, with access to the stacks. The greed for books was still with her, although sharing them with others was not as pleasant as taking them to the table and reading through her meals. But in the library she came as close to a sense of belonging as she was ever likely to encounter2.

She was never happier than when taking notes, rather elaborate notes in different coloured ball-point pens, for the need to be doing something while reading, or with reading, was beginning to assert itself. Her essays, which she approached as many women approach a meeting with a potential lover, were well received. She was heartbroken when one came back with the words “I cannot read your writing” on the bottom.

She bought herself a couple of pleated skirts, like those worn by Miss Parker (Ruth’s teacher at school); she bought cardigans and saddle shoes3 and thus found a style to which she would adhere for the rest other life.

The days were not long enough. Ruth rose early, went out for a newspaper and some rolls, made coffee, and washed up, all before anybody was stirring. She was the neatest person in the house. As she opened the front door to leave, she could hear the others greeting the day from their beds with a variety of complaining noises, and escaped quickly before their blurred faces and slippered feet could spoil her morning. She was at one with the commuters at the bus stop4. There would be lectures until lunch time, tutorials in the afternoon. In the Common Room there was an electric kettle and she took to supplying the milk and sugar5. It was more of a home than home had been for a very long time. There was always someone to talk to after the seminar, and she would take a walk in the evening streets before sitting down for her meal in a sandwich bar at about six thirty. Then there was work in the library until nine, and she would reach home at about ten.

‘But don’t you ever go out?’ asked her friend Anthea. For she was surprised to find that she made friends easily. Needing a foil or acolyte for her flirtatious popularity, she had found her way to Ruth unerringly6; Ruth, needing the social protection of a glamorous friend, was grateful. Both were satisfied with the friendship although each was secretly bored by the other. Anthea’s conversation consisted either of triumphant reminiscences – how she had spurned this

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one, accepted that one, how she had got the last pair of boots in Harrod’s sale, how she had shed five pounds in a fortnight – or recommendations beginning ‘Why don’t you?’ Why don’t you get rid of those ghastly skirts and buy yourself some trousers? You’re thin enough to wear them. Why don’t you have your hair properly cut? Why don’t you find a flat of your own? You can’t stay at home all your life.

These questions would be followed rapidly by variants beginning ‘Why haven’t you?’ Found a flat, had your haircut, bought some trousers. It was as if her exigent temperament required immediate results. Her insistent yet curiously uneasy physical presence inspired conflicting feelings in Ruth7, who was not used to the idea that friends do not always please.

By the end of the second year a restlessness came over Ruth, impelling her to spend most of the day walking. The work seemed to her too easy and she had already chosen the subject for her dissertation: “Vice and Virtue in Balzac’s Novels”. Balzac teaches the supreme effectiveness of bad behaviour, a matter which Ruth was beginning to perceive. The evenings in the library now oppressed her; she longed to break the silence. She seemed to have been eating the same food, tracing the’ same steps for far too long8. And she was lonely. Anthea, formally engaged to Brian, no longer needed her company.

Why don’t you do your postgraduate work in America? I can’t see any future for you here, apart from the one you can see yourself.

Ruth took some of Anthea’s advice, had her hair cut, won a scholarship from the British Council which entitled her to a year in France working on her thesis, and fell in love. Only the last fact mattered to her, although she would anxiously examine her hair to see if it made her look any better. Had she but known it, her looks were beside the point9; she was attractive enough for a clever woman, but it was principally as a clever woman that she was attractive. She remained in ignorance of this; for she believed herself to be dim and unworldly and had frequently been warned by Anthea to be on her guard. ‘Sometimes I wonder if you’re all there10,’said Anthea, striking her own brow in disbelief.

She did this when Ruth confessed that she was in love with Richard Hirst, who had stopped her in the corridor to congratulate her on winning the scholarship and had insisted on taking her down to the refectory for lunch. Anthea’s gesture was prompted by the fact that Richard was a prize beyond the expectations of most women and certainly beyond those of Ruth11. He was one of those exceptionally beautiful men whose violent presence makes other men, however superior, look makeshift. Richard was famous on at least three counts12. He had the unblemished blond good looks of his Scandinavian mother; he was a resolute Christian; and he had an ulcer. Women who had had no success with him assumed that the ulcer was a result of the Christianity, for Richard, a psychologist by training, was a student counsellor13, and would devote three days a week to answering the telephone and persuading anxious undergraduates.

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