| 1) private university | a) |
| 2) applicant | b) |
| 3) undergraduate | c) |
| 4) optional | d) |
| 5) be idle | e) |
| 6) finals | f) |
| 7) to calm the nerves | g) |
| 8) on the basis of the examination results | h) |
| 9) entrance exams | i) |
| 10) seminars | j) |
Ex. 9. Answer the questions.
1. How are students selected? 2. Are there many applicants? 3. Whom will the students be taught by? 4. What can you say about the quality of teaching? 5. What is an essay? 6. Is it necessary to attend all the lectures and seminars? 7. How do the students spend their free time? 8.How do the students take finals?
Ex.10. Fill in the table and compare student life at Oxford and Aca-demy.
| Oxford | BSAA | |
| 1) how students are admitted | ||
| 2) teaching | ||
| 3) attendance of lectures and seminars | ||
| 4) free time | ||
| 5) finals |
Ex. 11. Role Play Your attitude to examinations. First, read the text (it will help you to discuss the problem).
Text C
Modern examinations
Most teachers and students would probably agree that examinations spoken or written are unsatisfactory. Students dislike taking them, teachers dislike giving them and scoring students' answers. During examinations teachers and students are expected to act like machines, there is nothing very human about the examination process.
Success or failure in spoken examinations greatly depends upon the examiner's feelings at the time of the examination. If he is feeling tired or bored, the student may receive a lower mark than he should. Very often attendance is taken into account, too.
From this standpoint written examinations give the student a fairer chance.
Two types of tests are commonly used nowadays. The first type is sometimes called an "objective" test (or multiple choice questions). To make it up the teacher writes a series of questions, each of which has only one correct answer. Along with each question the teacher writes the correct answer and also three statements that look like answers to the students who have not learned the material properly. The student must recognize the correct answer and circle it (or copy the letter/number on his examination paper).
For testing some kind of learning, however, such a test is not satisfactory: a lucky student may guess the correct answer without really knowing the material.
To get a clear picture of what the student knows, most teachers use "essay" tests, which require students to write long answers to broad general questions. One advantage of the essay test is that it reduces the element of luck. Another advantage is that it shows the examiner more about the student's ability to put facts together into a meaningful whole. Sometimes, though, essay tests have disadvantages. Some students are able to write rather good answers without really knowing much about the subject, while other students who actually know the material have trouble expressing their ideas in essay form.
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As you see, written examinations also have their pros and cons. So what alterations and improvements can you suggest?
Ex. 12. Act out a 20-minute students' radio-debate devoted to the problem of examinations at schools and colleges.
a) Do you consider modern examinations to be fair and objective? What alterations and improvements can you suggest? (These are the questions which need to be answered as a result of the discussion.)
b) Split into three groups:
Group 1 is in favour of written examinations (multiple choice questions and essay tests);
Group 2 is convinced that the spoken examination gives the student a fairer chance;
group 3 is still in two minds (or has a different opinion altogether).
C) Remember that this is a formal meeting, you may not know the other participants very well. So the language will be formal and you will be very polite even if you disagree.
D) The meeting is chaired by a radio-reporter. He has to make sure everyone gets a chance to speak and avoid the discussion being dominated by one or two strong characters. He will try to sum up at the end.
