The headmasters blues егэ

TecT 2.
Education and Learning

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AynnpoB’dHHe

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1.            
Rules and freedom may go along quite successfully.

2.            
Students’ preferences in subjects have changed.

3.            
Teachers can both improve and spoil your future.

4.            
Internal assessment ensured better results in external
examinations.

5.            
I don’t like a particular subject because of the bad teacher.

6.            
I see the earlier system of young children’s education as
beneficial.

7.            

My
Math teacher struck terror m me.

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A.         
Home education is more popular in Britain.

B.         
Deborah agrees that parents can teach their children at home
better than teachers do at school.

C.         
Harry and Deborah are unsure about how wise it is not to send
children to traditional school education.

D.         
Harry suggests that home education provides more tuition for core
subjects.

E.          
According to Deborah, students may receive better exam
preparation at home.

F.          
Harry disagrees that traditional schools are unwilling to develop
analytical thinking.

G.         
Harry and Deborah both agree that home education may encourage
the development of less favorable character traits.

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Why did Anne Mansfield Sullivan join the Kellers’ household?

1)       
She was half-blind and could help Helen.

2)       
She was recommended by Alexander Graham Bell.

3)       
She was a graduate of the Perkins Institute.

OTBenr••

What impressed Helen most on the day Anne arrived?

1) The doll she received.

2) The
manual alphabet. 3) The finger play. OTBeT:

When did Helen realize that
everything around her had names? 1) When Anne took her to the well-house.

2) When Anne
taught her the meaning of the word ‘mug’. 3) When she learned to finger-spell.
OTBeT:

Why was the word ‘love’ difficult for Helen to understand?

1)                
She couldn’t touch it.

2)                
She had never experienced it before. 3) She didn’t know what the
heart was. OTBeT:

Helen finally understood the meaning of the word ‘love’ when

1)                       
Anne compared love to the clouds.

2)                       
Anne expressed her love to Helen.

3)                       
Anne made Helen feel the warmth of the sun. OTBeT:

When Anne finger-spelled the
word ‘think’ 1) Helen was holding the string of beads. 2) Helen touched her
forehead.

3) Helen at once realized its
meaning.

OTBeT•.

Anne as a teacher can be best
described as 1) insensitive.

2)       
demanding.

3)       
determined.

OTBer•

Pa3neJ1 2. ^I-ITenne

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	1. Love at first sight	5. Changing rooms are not safe
	2. Great damage	6. Big days, big friends
	3. Low attention span can cause problems	7. Regrets
	4. False accusation	8. Unforgettable experience

A.        
My best school day was when James Bond put a Band-Aid on my
finger. Once James Bond, or rather the actor who plays him, talked about the
importance of a good education. He admitted not being a good student skipping
classes and doing badly in exams. I really fancied him. While he was speaking,
I was playing about with some scissors. I was so distracted that I cut my
finger and bled on my desk. That’s when James Bond gave me first aid.

B.         
This happened at primary school in the playground during playtime.
Aidan, my mate, had fireworks in his schoolbag and some matches in his pencil
case. I lit one of the fireworks which shot out of his hands, went through a
window into the deputy head’s office and caused a fire, which burnt down half
the school. We were put in horrible temporary classrooms. We felt so bad about
what we had done that we confessed. We were lucky not to be expelled.

C.         
I’m twenty-seven but my most memorable school day happened only
last week. As a teenager I was a rebel. So having sat my final exams, I walked
out of the door and decided I’d never go back. The graduation ceremony in
America is a big deal but it isn’t compulsory so I refused to go. Last week
there was a school reunion, exactly ten years after graduation, where I had a
great time. I wish I had gone to the original ceremony.

D.        
I was always a good student. Then one day my parents sent me to a
private boarding school. I hated it. I got bullied for being a swot. One guy,
Jasper, couldn’t pass an exam without cheating. He wanted to copy from me. I
said no. So he stole money from someone’s bag in the changing rooms and put it
in my locker. The head teacher was going to expel me. Luckily a security camera
had caught Jasper so they expelled him instead.

E.         
My first day at DaVinci International School stands above all
others. I was standing there, dressed in my newly-bought clothes, in front of
the school wooden gates with lots of other people sharing the same experience,
rushing in full of pleasure. The principal, ‘Mike’, welcomed me and accompanied
me to my classroom. Though I didn’t really know much about the school yet, my
gut feeling was that it had already become my second home, which turned out to
be the absolute truth.

F.          
Since we were little, we were barely allowed to go to malls, so
Friendship Days that we had in school became so special that they had to be
celebrated no matter how. It was always on a Sunday, we would meet and tie
bands. Then we would always count who got the most. In most of the schools,
these bands were not allowed. But we used our stealth and wore them anyway!

G.        
It is sometimes hard for me to stop thinking about our school trip to
Colombia. Many of the places I had been before with my school friends include
China, Japan, Singapore, Australia and each has an unforgettable memory that I
store in my head and in my heart. But I will never forget my vacation in
Colombia, because I had a chance to meet my father’s family, experience a
different culture, and view some of the greatest most spectacular panoramic
sights in the world.

OTBeT:

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Effective Education

My mum is Finnish. When I was ten, she
divorced with my dad and decided to return to her homeland with my brother and
me.

I was bilingual and had visited the country regularly but
anxiety was still high. Having read that A      , I worried I wouldn’t be able
to keep up with others. I imagined strict rules, tests and punishments, but
eventually it all came as a shock.

My school life in Finland was very
relaxed. The first thing I noticed was the absence of ringing bells. Somehow,
my Finnish schoolmates knew where they had to be and when without anyone
telling them and B  The
next shock was no homework on the first day and very little for the whole year.

c I wasn’t the weakest
student though I did receive extra help with reading in Finnish and with
Finnish history’. My knowledge of the English kings and queens Dwas
unfortunately irrelevant.

Another surprising thing was
that there were no student contests. In England, schools were desperate to
climb league tables, E In
Finland, schools all knew they were good and had the respect of the community
so they didn’t need to prove anything.

My parents’ divorce was a painful time but my life would
have been very different

1.      
if they had stayed together in England

2.      
much to my surprise

3.      
lateness was never a problem

4.      
I had always been so proud of

5.      
Finnish education was the best in Europe

6.      
a bit like a public school in England

7.      
like football teams

OTBeT:

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6b16paHHOMY Bantu gapuaHmy omæma.

You are
Clever! Put on a Green Tie!

The school tie evolved in England where
schools in the 1920s began requiring neck ties in the school colors. The school
tie became the very symbol of a school. Although the school tie came to be a
central part of the school uniform, it is fairly recent in origin. Even after
graduating, old boys of a school would wear their school ties as adults to
identify their school. The tie while it came to be widely worn was especially
identified with England’s elite public schools, like Eton. Many schools awarded
special ties to distinguish the senior boys who served as prefects or won their
school colors. St. Matthew’s was exactly this type of school in Sussex. Boys at
St. Matthew’s preparatory school wore their ties all day, even for some outdoor
activities. Junior boys wore solid color ties, but the prefects and boys who won
their «school colors» got to wear distinctive ties.

On my first day at my new secondary school, St.
Matthew’s College, I kept my tie in my pocket until I got through the school
gates. My parents had proudly announced the week before that thanks to my academic
results I had been assigned to ‘Buckingham’ school, home of the brightest
schoolchildren at St. Matthew’s College. As a result, I had a green tie and a
green badge on my blazer. Less gifted pupils wore the orange tie of ‘Holyrood’
or the red tie of ‘Windsor’ schools.

As soon as I entered the green-painted
Buckingham building, I put on my tie. There was no risk of students from the
other schools seeing me now. They had separate buildings, painted orange or
blue, and separate playgrounds. We ate lunch in the school canteen at different
times and we did not share any lessons in any subjects.

The head teacher had explained to my
parents that separating children into different levels was better than
mixed-ability classes. It allowed the teaching staff to design lessons to match
their pupils’ abilities and it led to better behaviour and less bullying. My
mum smiled and said, «It is just like a public school!»

But to me, it was just like attending any
other school. Student behavior certainly did not seem that great. Kids were shouting
and messing about in the classrooms and corridors. And like anywhere else, some
students turned up late.

I had lunch with some new classmates. I asked them if
Buckingham students looked down on the others. Laughing, one boy said,
«Yeah, they are our enemies.» But another kid disagreed. He pointed
out that everyone came together for sports and music events. «Just because
we wear different colors, does not mean we cannot be friends.»

I asked them if they disliked anything about the
school. At first, they seemed reluctant to offer any criticism. But eventually
they admitted that not everything was perfect. «The timetables are too
restricted and it is almost impossible to move from one school to
another,» said one girl. «My sister wants a degree in neuropsychology
but she is in Windsor and they do not have enough Science subjects so she
cannot get into university. It’s not fair!»

That was not the only thing about St.
Matthew’s that seemed unfair to me. I just do not think it is right to split
children up according to their exam results. On my way home, my tie was in my
pocket again.

Why did school ties appear in the 1920s?

l) They distinguished the school elite.

2)               
They were part of school uniform for boys.

3)               
It was the requirement of most English schools. 4) Schools in
England needed special symbols.

OTBeT:

Which is NOT true about St. Matthew’s?

l) It is a school for boys.

2)        
It has several departments for more and less talented students.

3)        
It has different ties for different purposes.

4)        
Perfects go to Buckingham College at St. Matthew’s. OTBeT:

Why did the author keep his tie in the pocket until he
entered the school gates?

1)        
He felt shy to wear the tie.

2)        
He felt ill at ease to put on a green tie and a green badge.

3)        
He thought he would be a black sheep if he didn’t

4)        
He was less gifted than Holyrood or Windsor pupils. OTBeT:

What is TRUE about the schoolchildren of Buckingham?

1)         
They were the brightest students.

2)         
They had lunch whenever they wanted.

3)         
They studied in three separate buildings

4)         
They were the only students who wore uniform. OTBeT:

The writer’s mother exclaimed
«It is just like a public school!» because 1) her son would not
suffer from bullying any longer.

2)
she felt privileged that her son went to a private school.

3)
she didn’t want to pay for her son’s education in a prestigious
public school. 4) she wanted her son to be approached individually by the
teaching staff.

OTBW•

What kind of relationships were there between Buckingham
students and those from the other schools?

1)         
Buckingham students disliked and disrespected the others.

2)         
They were on friendly terms with each other.

3)         
They shared sports activities.

4)         
They enjoyed messing around together. OTBeT:

What is the author’s overall opinion of the school?

1)         
He was certain there was injustice towards studentship.

2)         
He disapproved of the level of teaching there.

3)         
He was reluctant to either criticize or praise it.

4)         
He found rigid scheduling rather discomforting. OTBeT:

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The Headmaster’s Blues

	a school principal isn’t always easy these days. Two generations ago, things were simple. If a student did badly in the exam, he failed. If he cheated, youhim for dishonesty. Today westudents; we think of ways to help them. If a student gets poor results, you call it special educational needs and organize remedial classes. If they misbehave, it’s ADHD. If they skip classes, you talk to them about why they feel unhappy and help them overcome problems. It’s hard work! But, having said that, I wouldn’t like to go back to the ‘ good old days. ‘ Nowadays, the authorities of Six Oaks School are truly committed to providing alearning environment for students of all abilities. Gifted and talented students always to excel and they do. Students with learning difficulties, though they are in the minority, receive the support they need, both from their classmates and the school staff. We prideon our high academic standards, but we BE EXPEL NOT BLAME THAT GOOD ENCOURAGE WE

also believe in the value of all-round
development. Six Oaks School encourages artistic creativity and participation
in sports. This is why I believe that our individual approach to each student
really is the right way.

Full Marks Impossible in Tests

Oxford High School for Girls, the oldest girls’ school, is
a leading

	day school for girls aged 4 — 18. The school is a unique community where each student is nurtured as an indi’.idual, whilst experiencing learning opportunities, within and beyond the curriculum. The and dynamic environment enables the students to achieve academic results and they leave the school as interested and interesting young women prepared to play their part in an everchanging world. Recently the school authorities announced they are planning to introduce tests in which it is impossible to get 100%. The school is said to be considering such tests in Maths. The idea is to prevent students ‘         with being ‘Little Miss Perfect’. Pupils aged 1 1 will take the online test in which the questions become harder and harder. When a girl reaches the top of her ability, she then faces questions she isto answer to show that it is ‘fine not DEPEND STAND SUPPORT EXCEPT OBSESS ABLE

to get everything right. ‘

The day school, which charges fees of almost
E4,000 a term and last year had an eighty-nine per cent A-A pass rate at
A-Levels, will be the first to run the initiative which could then be rolled
out to other girls’ schools across the country.

Going to
University in the UK

The names of British university degrees
are relics of the medieval university system and may be confusing to a
foreigner. The titles Bachelor ofArts and Master ofArts don’t mean a person has
studied art, or even ‘the liberal arts’, the humanities. It is possible to have
a BA in history, an MA in geography or a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) in physics
or any other subjects.

Students in the first three years are
called undergraduates. Apart from attending lectures and seminars, they have to
produce several@ papers. At the end of the undergraduate course every student
writes a thesis to get a degree: BA, BSc (Bachelor of Science) or BEd (Bachelor
of Education). Graduates who wish to stay on in education take a postgraduate
course, write a dissertation and become an MA or a PhD.

Student tuition to attend university in
Britain are rising in progression. Eventually, over 80% of students in England
and Wales now  a student loan in order to go to university.
They use the loan to pay for their tuition, books and living . Although the
interest rate is quite low, it begins as soon as the student receives the loan.
As a result, students are graduating with larger and larger debts.

You might think that a
British person with a degree will find it easy to get a well-paid job. However,
most people in white-collar jobs seem to have a degree these days, so
competition is extremely tough. British companies tend to work experience over
a piece of paper. Graduates usually have to start at the bottom and work their
way up. That can be very frustrating since they are often over-qualified for
the work they are doing.  life after university being quite disappointing for
a lot of graduates.

Before 1800 the word ‘umbrella’ meant

1)  the same as the word ‘parasol’.

2)  nothing: it simply did not exist.

3)  ‘a device protecting you from the rain’.

4)  any kind of shade of any shape.

Umbrellas

Ha, ha, ha! How they laughed that day in the 1790s when a man first walked the streets of London holding an umbrella.

Some people got angry and began shouting that to carry such a contraption was ungodly because it ‘defied the heavenly purpose of rain’ (which is to get uswet).

Drivers of Hackney carriages soon realised umbrellas posed a threat to their trade, and insulted chaps who carried them by yelling: ‘What’s wrong – are you a Frenchman?’ It was a grievous insult (and still is today), but the umbrella was not

to be denied.

Eton schoolboys took to carrying them, much to the annoyance of their headmaster, John Keats. “An effeminate innovation,” he thundered. “We are degenerating into a girl’s school.”

Early umbrellas were not impenetrable to rain. Their coverings of cotton, or even silk, were coated with oil, varnish or melted wax, which soon cracked. They featured all kinds of gimmicks. Some had windows, or whistled when open. There was an umbrella with a gutter, which drained rain down a tube. A variation on this caught rain in a flask for use as drinking water.

It was not until about 1800 that umbrellas and parasols achieved separate identities in Britain. Since ancient times there have been umbrellas to keep off the sun, but the word umbrella had nothing to do with rain. It is derived from Latin ‘umbra’, meaning shade.

Until the early 1850s umbrellas had heavy whalebone frames which tended to crack. But then Samuel Fox came on the scene, and from his factory in Stockbridge, Sheffield, he revolutionised the umbrella world. In 1852, he patented a lightweight metal frame which was to make him a fortune and set the standard for umbrellas we know today.

The first umbrellas came to Britain from France but by the time of the battle of Waterloo in 1815 it was the French who were laughing at the British for using them. Napoleon’s General Lejeune was highly amused that English officers rode across the field of battle holding aloft umbrellas and parasols. It might have looked ridiculous, but the British won!

That was not the only instance of umbrellas being used by the British army. The British Major Digby Tatham-Warter, veteran of WWI, and a commander of a parachute brigade during WWII, always carried an umbrella into battle. This not only provided some British humour in otherwise very serious and frightening circumstances, but was even used by the brave major to fight the Germans. Once he disabled a German tank by pushing the umbrella through the observation slit and wounding the driver in the eye.

Some collectors believe that now is a perfect time to start collecting antique umbrellas and parasols, as they are reckoned to be underpriced, a situation which could easily change if more people got the idea of collecting them. Parasol styles seemed to change every few months in the 19th century, so there are plenty to choose from. Beautiful parasols made in Victorian times can be bought for as little as 30 to 100 pounds, but even a rare Georgian umbrella with carved ivory grip might be unlikely to exceed 500 pounds at an auction.

Задание 28 на подготовку к ЕГЭ по английскому. В тексте имеются пропуски слов. Для каждого пропуска даны несколько вариантов. Определите, какой вариант верный.

ЗаданиеОтвет

All Alone

A sickly grey invaded the evening sky and infused with the dusky blue from the afternoon’s thunderstorm. In the musky air there seemed to be a sweet scent lingering, along with the choking smell of cigarette smоke. Fireflies dangled in the air like puppets, their colour almost drowned out from the rain. Their amber hue seemed to be the only source of light.

Charlotte dragged her feet across the leaves on the ground while swallowing the dreary landscape she had just walked a mile to. She inhaled. Heavy air filled her lungs and caused her to splutter in the dark. Silence crept in, and it haunted her. There was nowhere to ASK / LOOK / SEARCH / SEEK help.

Where were the others? She LOOKED / SCANNED / SKIMMED / STARED every ledge, every forest entry, every sharp rock. She acknowledged that the scene was just perfect for another practical joke. How surprising that they’d abandoned her here. They JOKED / LAUGHED / PICKED / TEASED on her not just because she was the biggest loser in school; skinny, asthmatic, anti-social, afraid of everything, but mostly because she was liable to fall FOR / ON / OVER / WITH the same tricks over and over again.

Panicking, Charlotte’s hands trembled as her eyes jolted back and AHEAD / FORTH / FORWARD / ONWARD across the horizon. How fitting it was that she should be afraid of the dark. Maybe she should never have agreed to go. She was CAUTIOUS / DOUBTFUL / OPPOSED / RELUCTANT to answer ‘Yes’. Why were the popular ones asking her to hang out? Why wasn’t it the science geeks or the library nerds? She was told there was a first for everything, but she’d always be a loner.

Her eyes fixed on a moving figure, too dark to know if it was human, and too scared to know it as anything else. She looked around, and realised she had been standing under a jagged ledge, threatening to engulf her in a sea of knife-edged rocks. In the dark she could’ve sworn it was a giant claw. She turned around and planned an escape ROUTE / ROAD / WAY / COURSE.

All Alone

A sickly grey invaded the evening sky and infused with the dusky blue from the afternoon’s thunderstorm. In the musky air there seemed to be a sweet scent lingering, along with the choking smell of cigarette smоke. Fireflies dangled in the air like puppets, their colour almost drowned out from the rain. Their amber hue seemed to be the only source of light.

Charlotte dragged her feet across the leaves on the ground while swallowing the dreary landscape she had just walked a mile to. She inhaled. Heavy air filled her lungs and caused her to splutter in the dark. Silence crept in, and it haunted her. There was nowhere to SEEK help.

Where were the others? She SCANNED every ledge, every forest entry, every sharp rock. She acknowledged that the scene was just perfect for another practical joke. How surprising that they’d abandoned her here. They PICKED on her not just because she was the biggest loser in school; skinny, asthmatic, anti-social, afraid of everything, but mostly because she was liable to fall FOR the same tricks over and over again.

Panicking, Charlotte’s hands trembled as her eyes jolted back and FORTH across the horizon. How fitting it was that she should be afraid of the dark. Maybe she should never have agreed to go. She was RELUCTANT to answer ‘Yes’. Why were the popular ones asking her to hang out? Why wasn’t it the science geeks or the library nerds? She was told there was a first for everything, but she’d always be a loner.

Her eyes fixed on a moving figure, too dark to know if it was human, and too scared to know it as anything else. She looked around, and realised she had been standing under a jagged ledge, threatening to engulf her in a sea of knife-edged rocks. In the dark she could’ve sworn it was a giant claw. She turned around and planned an escape ROUTE.

Drivers of Hackney carriages insulted people who were using umbrellas because

1) they wanted to sell umbrellas themselves.

2) they were trying to save their business.

3) the owners of umbrellas were French.

4) they didn’t like what umbrellas looked like

Umbrellas

Ha, ha, ha! How they laughed that day in the 1790s when a man first walked the streets of London holding an umbrella.

Some people got angry and began shouting that to carry such a contraption was ungodly because it ‘defied the heavenly purpose of rain’ (which is to get uswet).

Drivers of Hackney carriages soon realised umbrellas posed a threat to their trade, and insulted chaps who carried them by yelling: ‘What’s wrong – are you a Frenchman?’ It was a grievous insult (and still is today), but the umbrella was not

to be denied.

Eton schoolboys took to carrying them, much to the annoyance of their headmaster, John Keats. “An effeminate innovation,” he thundered. “We are degenerating into a girl’s school.”

Early umbrellas were not impenetrable to rain. Their coverings of cotton, or even silk, were coated with oil, varnish or melted wax, which soon cracked. They featured all kinds of gimmicks. Some had windows, or whistled when open. There was an umbrella with a gutter, which drained rain down a tube. A variation on this caught rain in a flask for use as drinking water.

It was not until about 1800 that umbrellas and parasols achieved separate identities in Britain. Since ancient times there have been umbrellas to keep off the sun, but the word umbrella had nothing to do with rain. It is derived from Latin ‘umbra’, meaning shade.

Until the early 1850s umbrellas had heavy whalebone frames which tended to crack. But then Samuel Fox came on the scene, and from his factory in Stockbridge, Sheffield, he revolutionised the umbrella world. In 1852, he patented a lightweight metal frame which was to make him a fortune and set the standard for umbrellas we know today.

The first umbrellas came to Britain from France but by the time of the battle of Waterloo in 1815 it was the French who were laughing at the British for using them. Napoleon’s General Lejeune was highly amused that English officers rode across the field of battle holding aloft umbrellas and parasols. It might have looked ridiculous, but the British won!

That was not the only instance of umbrellas being used by the British army. The British Major Digby Tatham-Warter, veteran of WWI, and a commander of a parachute brigade during WWII, always carried an umbrella into battle. This not only provided some British humour in otherwise very serious and frightening circumstances, but was even used by the brave major to fight the Germans. Once he disabled a German tank by pushing the umbrella through the observation slit and wounding the driver in the eye.

Some collectors believe that now is a perfect time to start collecting antique umbrellas and parasols, as they are reckoned to be underpriced, a situation which could easily change if more people got the idea of collecting them. Parasol styles seemed to change every few months in the 19th century, so there are plenty to choose from. Beautiful parasols made in Victorian times can be bought for as little as 30 to 100 pounds, but even a rare Georgian umbrella with carved ivory grip might be unlikely to exceed 500 pounds at an auction.