In American high schools there is a formal ceremony for GRADUATION (=completion of high school). Students wear a special CAP and GOWN and receive a DIPLOMA from the head of the school. Students often buy a class ring to wear and an yearbook, containing pictures of their friends and teachers. There are also special social events at American schools. Sports events are popular, and CHEERLEADERs lead the school in supporting the school team and singing the school song. At the end of their junior year, at age 17 or 18, students attend the junior-senior PROM, a very formal dance which is held in the evening. The girls wear long evening dresses and the boys wear TUXEDOS.
In Britain, there are no formal dances or social occasions associated with school life. Some schools have a SPEECH DAY at the end of the school year when prizes are given to the best students and speeches are made by the head teacher and sometimes an invited quest. However, in many British schools students organize informal dances for the older students.
Words and word-combinations.
gown
cap
diploma
cheer leader
high school
GCSE
SAT
higher school
A-level
o-level
a speech day
SCE
graduation
National Curriculum
reception class
sixth form college
polytechnic
Unit IV.
Exercises.
Translate the following into English.
( ) - (alternative schools) , . , . . , , , (street academies or storefront schools), , , , , . academy. academy , , , . , academy , , .
, (pilot schools).
( : ).
Make up a list of topical vocabulary.
2
IV .
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7
IV .
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, 2006
CONTROL WORK 7.
Family Life.
I. LUCYS RIVAL by G. Henderson
Part_1.
When Lucy married Nicolaus she was well aware of the fact that there were pitfalls in marriage. Her mother had told Lucy that it wasnt at all a bed of roses. Mens eyes wandered & men wore holes in their socks, then men demanded cooked meals even on hot days & sometimes men shouted, even when there wasnt much to shout about.
Well at least Lucys father had been like that, & it was only common sense to assume that most men were the same. Lucy, having been warned, made up her mind in the very beginning that she was going to be such a good wife that none of these pitfalls would occur. Then there was this business of looking at other women.
Now every bright girl knows that if she comes to her breakfast table in curlers & a sloppy dressing gown, her husband is bound to begin comparing her with the chic young things he sees going to work, good-looking girls with their hair combed perfectly & wearing pretty freshly- ironed dresses.
It sounded rather depressing to Lucy who didnt like ironing cotton dresses that creased as soon as she wore them, but she did what she was supposed to do.
She combed her hair as soon as she got up, brushed her teeth, put on lipstick & an attractive dress which was a terrible nuisance on the days she wanted to go back to bed.
But Lucy was not one to do things by halves. As for socks & cooked meals, Lucy darned the holes as soon as they appeared & she liked cooking meals, so that was no problem.
And Lucy & Nicolaus never shouted at each other as her mother said that no man could stand a wife who shouted. Women, if they hornestly wanted their marriage to work, kept all their temper inside themselves until they could perhaps take it out on the paper boy if he delivered the papers late.
No intelligent girl told her husband off. Lucys mother said so &, after 28 years of married life, she ought to know.
There had been a few times when Lucy had been tempted almost beyond her strength to protest loudly over some little things, but she had always bitten her tongue hard & swallowed her words &, for all Nicolaus knew, she had a perfect disposition which, of course, was exactly what she wanted him to think. So, it really looked, with all the advice Lucy had received & the careful way she had followed it, as if hers was a marriage that couldnt be shaken.
Lucy used to look at some of the couples she knew & lislened to some of the girls complaining about the way their husbands behaved & she felt rather smug.
Sometimes she felt she couldnt bear to be so happy & she wondered what she had done to deserve someone like Nicolaus, who kissed her so hard every morning that he took off all her lipstick.
Then it happened, Lucy met her first big setback & all her smugness was shattered. Only it wasnt another woman that did it. It was of all the absurd things in the world - a TV-set.
It had all started when Nicolaus came home from work with his eyes shining.
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Guess what, he said after he had kissed Lucy. Guess what.
You have got a rise, guessed Lucy.
Nothing like that. This is exciting.
So a rise wouldnt be exciting, Lucy thought but she didnt say it. Men didnt care for sarcasm,her mother often reminded her. Well, tell me, she said, Dont just stand there grinning.
You know Peter Bronnan, Nicolaus began.
Did Peter get a rise?, Lucy suggested.
Dont try to be funny, said Nocolaus, this has nothing to do with money.
She began to feel relieved, which probably showed in her face, because he hastily amended his statement.
Well, anyway, not much, he said.
What is it then?
Peter won a TV-set, Nicolaus announced jubilantly.
Good for him, Lucy murmured & started for the kitchen.
Nicolaus grabbed his hand. No, wait,he said, thats not the exciting part. The exciting part has to do with us.
Us? Is Peter going to give us the set? Nicolauss face fell a little, & all the glow went out of his eyes. Lucy immediately repented.
I was only joking, darling, she said, but tell me. I cant guess.
Well of course Peter isnt giving us the set he won. That would be ridiculous. But hell sell his old one to us. Cheap.
How cheap?
Really cheap. Its a very good set, only 2 years old & hell let us have it for 20 pounds, as a favour.
Whats wrong with it? Lucy asked.
Oh, really you are so suspicious. Nothing is wrong with it. Peter is a friend of mine. He had a stroke of luck, so is very kindly letting me share in it.
20 pounds is 20 pounds, Lucy said, but she knew she was weakening. Nicolaus looked so eager & so happy that she hadnt the heart to refuse him.
All right, she said, & he kissed long & hard. Suddenly from the kitchen came the smell of burning fat. She broke away from him & just managed to save the chops.
