Notes and Commentary

Harvard University (Massachusetts, 1636), College of William and Mary (Virginia, 1693), Yale University (Connecticut, 1701), University of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania, 1740), Princeton University (New Jersey, 1746), Washington and Lee University (Virginia, 1749), Columbia University (New York, 1754), Brown University (Rhode Island, 1764), Rutgers College (New Jersey, 1766), Dartmouth College (New Hampshire, 1769) — Гар­вард, Колледж Уильяма и Мэри, Йельский университет, университет Пенсильвании, Принстон, университет Вашин­гтона и Ли, Колумбийский университет, университет Брау­на, Рутгерский колледж, Дартмутский колледж (все перечис­ленные университеты — частные)

TEXT 5

COMPARING EDUCHTION

Task. Read and translate the text.

Debates about education will never end. Some people consider our educational system to be close to perfect; others say that it is too hard and that it is unnecessary to study all the school subjects. Comparisons of the American and Russian educational systems are usual, as they represent different kinds of philosophies.

In Russian schools children have to study about 15-17 subjects - not more and not less, as they are re­quired. Very rarely do schools have in the schedule special or professional subjects. In the United States, drama, jour­nalism and photography are as important as chemistry and history. In our schools the curriculum is strict. In the USA you can choose what to study; but government, history, English and math are obligatory. There are also a number of subjects, like geography, Spanish, chemistry, physics, trigo­nometry, biology and computer classes, that you have to take during a year or a half-a-year during your high school years. You can also take one of these subjects at an ad­vanced level. A program of chemistry at the advanced level of a graduate class is common with our 9th grade program. In Russia we can't study management or TV-production at school.

Such democracy in choosing subjects according to your own preferences makes school life easier and calmer. Ameri­can students don't usually have much homework - half an hour of homework is too much for them. On the other hand, they have holidays only twice a year, and their summer vacations are only two and a half months long, while our children don't study in the summer at all. Americans study at school for 12 years, while we study only 11.

The average level of education in America is lower than in Russia, but at school they have the opportunity to study advanced subjects that they would take at a university. So it is very hard to say which the best way of studying is. Is it better to have students choose their own subjects and make studying pleasant, or create a non-flexible schedule for a more effective educational process? This is a problem for the new generation to solve.

TEXT 6

SUMMER SCHOOL

Task. Read and translate the text.

Students in American schools generally attend classes from August or September until the following May or June. After that, most educational systems provide summer school.

Traditionally, if students had to attend summer school, it meant they had failed in their required schoolwork. They had to study in the summer so they could move on to the next grade in school. For example, a high school student who could not complete the requirements of a biology i course would repeat the course in summer school.

Today, summer school still can mean repeating failed schoolwork. But many students now choose to attend classes during summers. For example, public high school students in Nashville, Tennessee, can study during sum­mer school for college entrance examinations.

Many summer-school courses around the nation are popular. For example, about half of the two-thousand-four-hundred students at a high school in Illinois usually attend summer classes. These students at Evanston Township High School take subjects including art, theater and computer science. If they are old enough, they can learn to drive a car.

In subjects like chemistry, students must quickly learn material normally taught during a full school year. But sum­mer-school official Debbie Mohica says many students like to complete some of their required high school subjects this way. Then, she says, they can elect to take other classes during the school year.

Colleges, universities and private organizations also operate summer school classes. Students at Harvard Uni­versity, for example, can choose from hundreds of summer courses. Students at Harvard, in Cambridge, Massachu­setts, can take courses including science and languages. Or, they can study something less traditional, like " Music and Politics." This course examines how music can express political trend, protest or resistance.

Of course, there are many young people who have other ideas about how to spend their summer break. But a Wash­ington, D.C., area mother and educator notes that competi­tion for honors in school has increased in recent years. She says, ''Going to school can be a valuable way for young people to spend a summer."

SUMMER CAMPS

The American tradition of sending children to summer camp began more than one-hundred years ago. Frederick and Abigail Gunn started what was probably the first organized American camp. They operated a school for boys in the state of Connecticut. In 1861, Mister and Missus Gunn took their students on a two-week trip. They walked to an area where they set up camp. The students fished, hunted and traveled by boat.

Today, summer camps may be outdoor ones similar to those of Abigail and Frederick Gunn. For example, a camp in Forest Lake, Minnesota, centers its activities on nature. Campers at the Wildlife Science Center study the structure of groups, or packs, of wolves.

Traditional American summer camps offer young people a chance to play many sports. These camps may be in the mountains. Or they may be in the woods, or at a lake. Other camps teach activities like painting or music. Or they teach computer programming or foreign languages. Children at all kinds of camps meet new friends. They learn new skills and develop independence.

Some children go to camp during the day and return home at night. These places are called day camps. Children as young as four years old attend day camps. Others stay at camp all day and all night. Most children who attend overnight camp are between the ages of about six and sixteen.

Children stay at an overnight camp for between one and eight weeks. Parents can pay less than one hundred dollars a week for an overnight camp. Or they can pay more than seven hundred dollars a week.

Children from poor families might not have a chance to attend summer camp. The Fresh Air Fund is a well-known organization that gives children in New York City that chance. People around the country give money to support the Fresh Air Fund. Each summer, it serves about ten thou­sand poor children from the city. It sends them to stay with families in the country or to five camps in New York State.

Since 1877, the Fresh Air Fund has helped almost two million of New York City's most needy children. These chil­dren do what they cannot do in the city. They breathe fresh air. They play on green grass. They swim in a lake. Some children begin to stay with the same family when they are very young and continue for a number of summers.

Summer camps have become very important to millions of families. Many American women now work outside the home. Working parents need a place where their children can be cared for during the summer when they are not in school.

Camps also help children develop independence. For most children, overnight camp is the only time during the year they areaway from their parents. Camp lets them enjoy being with many other children. Campers live together in cloth tents or in wooden cabins. They eat meals together in a large dining room.

But the first time at summer camp can sometimes be dif­ficult. Children might not like the food. Or, they might not like to swim in a cold lake. They may not want to climb a hill on a hot day. Some new campers miss their parents very much.

Also, some camps ban the use of electronic equipment and toys. Children who play electronic games and use wire­less telephones may miss them. These children might enjoy a camp that permits these devices. But many families say their children need to learn more about nature. They say their children need a holiday from technology.

The American Camping Association suggests that par­ents prepare children before sending them to camp. It ad­vises parents to discuss what the camp will be like and what campers will need to know. For example, parents can show their children how to use a flashlight to find a bathroom at night.

But camps today may also be very different from those early fresh-air camps. For example, Pali Adventures summer camp in southern California offers several special interest camps in addition to more traditional ones. In one of these special camps, children twelve to sixteen years of age study food preparation with a professional chef.

There are more than twelve-thousand camps in the United States, Some offer just one main activity. Children can play a single sport, like tennis, soccer, baseball or basketball. Young people who like the arts can learn about music, dance, art, acting or writing.

Perhaps the best known camp for young artists is the Interlochen Arts Camp. It is part of the Interlochen Center for the Arts in the state of Michigan. Its music program is especially well known. More than two thousand young people are attending the arts camp this year.

Camps that offer programs in science and environmental studies are popular, too. For example, the United States Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, welcomes adults as well as children. Whole families can live together in a place like a real space station. They take part in activities similar to those carried out during space shuttle flights.

There are also camps for older children who like wilder­ness adventure. Campers take long trips by bicycle or ca­noe. Or, they go rock climbing or ride horses. For example, since nineteen-forty-eight, boys and girls have explored the Rocky Mountains of Colorado at Sanborn Western Camps. These are built more than 2, 600 meters above sea level.

Other summer camps in America help children learn about religion, help them lose weight, or help them develop their knowledge of technology. Thousands of young people attend computer camps in the United States.

The nation also has many camps for sick or disabled children. At these camps, many children take part in tradi­tional activities, but they also receive special medical care.

Handi Kids in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, offers camp for children and young adults with physical or mental disorders. The campers enjoy water sports, arts, dance, music and other activities.

A camp in the state of Connecticut offers fun for chil­dren with cancer and serious blood diseases. It is called the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. Actor Paul Newman started the first Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in 1988. Since then others have been established in the United States and over­seas.

(By Jerilyn Watson)

Task 2. Questions for discussion:

1. What are the reasons for American students to attend sum­mer schools?

2. Are those schools popular, serious, enjoyable, use­ful?

3. Are summer school classes only the traditional sub­jects? What else might one study?

4. What kinds of things would be interesting for a student to take courses in if he/she had a chance to go to a summer school?

5. Do you think summer school is a bad or a good idea? Why?

6. What are the main purposes of American summer camps?

7. What is the difference between day camps and over­night camps?

8. How do summer camps help parents?

9. Why do you think some camps prohibit mobile phones and electronic toys? What other things might be for­bidden?

10. Why do some children have trouble adjusting to sum­mer camps?

11. How did the summer camp movement begin In America? What do you know about the history of summer camps in Russia?

12. What is the " Fresh Air Fund"? Do you think Russia could use such a program?

13. Explain these types of camps and who they are for:

a) traditional camps

b) special interest camps

c) wilderness adventure camps

d) camps for the sick and the disabled

14. What kind of camps do you think is the most interesting or useful? Why?

CONTENTS:

PART I. THE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

Text 1.The system of education in Great Britain.....................................................

Text 2. Types of schools in Great Britain..................................................................

Text 3. Higher education in Great Britain.................................................................

Text 4. May Week at Cambridge...............................................................................

FOR ADDITIONAL READING:

Text 1. Pre-school and primary education in Great Britain.......................................

Text 2. School education in Great Britain.................................................................

Text 3. Secondary education.....................................................................................

Text 4. Oxbridge.......................................................................................................

Text 5. Some aspects of British University life.........................................................

Text 6. Moral principles and rules of gentlemanly behaviour are part of the educational process........................................................................................................................

PART II. THE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Text 1. Education in the USA......................................................................................

Text 2. Home schooling...............................................................................................

Text 3. Higher education in the USA...........................................................................

FOR ADDITIONAL READING:

Text 1.Public education: historical review........................................................................

Text 2. The American and Russian approach to education...............................................

Text 3. World famous universities and colleges...............................................................

Text 4. Comparing education............................................................................................

Text 5. Summer school......................................................................................................