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III. Make up 5 sentences with new words.
IV. Read and translate the text.
The US educational system is very decentralized and schools vary greatly from state to state. There are three levels of financing of education: federal, state and local. They are financed 3-5 per cent on a federal level, around 20 per cent on a state level and 70-80 per cent on a local level.
There are 15,000 school districts which are different in size. A school district is governed by the Board of Education1/School Board2/School Council3 which is elected every two years by the residents of the school district. Members of school boards perform their responsibilities on a volunteer basis that means they do not get any salaries. They are to define4 the policies for the administration of the school district. Teachers, in turn, decide about the program and approaches5 of teaching.
Every resident pays a school tax6 to the school district he/she lives in, no matter he/she has school children or not. School education in the United States is free and parents are free to choose a school for their children. But if parents send their child to a school of another school district they have to pay the sum equivalent to the school tax directly to the school the child goes to.
There are also a lot of private schools, mainly religious, and parents have to pay for them. The cost is $ 5,000 - $ 10,000 a year.
There is no home education in the United States. Each invalid is supposed to attend school. School provides all the necessary conditions for them to study.
The school system structure in the United States looks like this. Children start going to school at the age of five. First they go to eight-year elementary school and then to high school7 or if they go to five- or six-year elementary school8, they then attend three- or four-year middle school, and then high school. Teenagers study at high school four years and graduate from it at the age of eighteen.
Members of each grade in high school have special names:
a ninth grader is called a Freshman9,
a tenth grader – a Sophomore10,
an eleventh grader – a Junior11,
a twelfth grader – a Senior12.
The completion of high school is called graduation. In order to graduate, students must accumulate13 a certain amount of credits during their four years at school. Credits are points given for every subject that is passed successfully. In addition to that, students must successfully complete specific subjects required by the state or local educational authorities, such as US history, English, mathematics and physical education. This may vary from state to state.
Over 60% of school graduates continue their education in two- or four-year colleges or universities. At least 10% of high school students are allowed to finish school at the age of 16.
U.S. colleges and universities offer a wide variety of programs ranging from highly academic courses to very practical ones. Students can be educated not only for academic professions, but also for technical professions, such as mechanics, nursing, medical technology, computer technology and book-keeping.
In universities young people study four years to get bachelor’s degree14. If one wants to get master’s degree15 he/she must study two years more and do a research work. If one has master’s degree, studies more, does a research work and passes an oral, comprehensive examination he/she gets doctor’s degree.
Exercises