II. Write down new words into your vocabulary.

III. Make up a plan of the text in the form of questions.

IV. Discuss the content of the text in the form of a dialogue.

TEXT 26

I. Read the text and define the main idea of it.

One Diploma May Replace School Exams

GCSEs and A-levels could be scrapped in favour of an American-style ‘gradua­tion’ system under plans being drawn up by government advisers.

The scheme is understood to be fa­voured by Mike Tomlinson, the former chief inspector of schools who is heading a taskforce on exam reform. Under his proposals, secondary schools in England would move to the American model where students accumulate a fixed number of points or credits to graduate with a di­ploma from high school.

A similar system is used in much of Europe where pupils score points in indi­vidual subjects which go towards a Bachelor's degree – their equivalent of a gradu­ation certificate.

Experts believe that a single graduation diploma has significant advantages over the current system where pupils must take externally marked examinations in each subject that they study at both 16 and 18. A single certificate issued at 16 and 18 would radically reduce the number of exams students take and encourage more 16-year-olds to stay at school.

However critics counter that a single qualification would mean students do not get the same depth of education in particular subjects. They add that only with marked exams it is possible to main­tain national standards.

Estelle Morris, the former educa­tion secretary, gave Tomlinson the task of reviewing the exam system after last summer's A-level fiasco in which exam boards were accused of manipulating re­sults.

Tomlinson said that the main option being considered was a diploma or gradu­ation certificate based on credits earned in individual subjects. ‘The main issue is to reduce the assessment burden... There could be external tests in English and maths, and other subjects could be inter­nally assessed by teachers,’ he said.

‘There would not be free-standing qualifications. The diploma – we haven't decided on a final name – would be a qualification in its own right’.

Students would need to get a mini­mum set of credits to graduate and core subjects such as maths and English that would be compulsory’.

‘Not everyone would get a diploma, though we would expect most to do so,’ said Tomlinson. ‘There would probably be different grades of diploma and each student would get a transcript setting out the standards they had achieved’.

Universities would have more informa­tion about what applicants had achieved. ‘Students would have to do more than the existing three A-levels,’ he said. ‘The package could include basic skills in Eng­lish and maths, and a paper in critical thinking’.

II. Look through the text again, find unknown words and write down them into your vocabulary.

III. Make up a brief summary of the text.

IV. Find all irregular verbs in the text, name 3 forms and translate them.

TEXT 27

I. Read this text and translate it into Ukrainian. Oxbridge

Oxford and Cambridge are the oldest and most prestigious uni­versities in Great Britain. They are often called collectively Oxbridge to denote an egalitarian education. Both universities are independent. Only very rich and aristocratic families can afford to send their sons and daughters to these universities. Mostly they are former public schools leavers.

The tutorial is the basic mode of instruction at Oxford and Cam­bridge, with lectures as optional extras.

The normal length of the degree course is three years, after which the students take the Degree of Bachelor of Arts (B.A.). Some courses, such as languages or medicine, may be one or two years longer. The students may work for other degrees as well. The degrees are awarded at public degree ceremonies. Oxford and Cambridge cling to their tra­ditions, such as the use of Latin at degree ceremonies. Full academic dress is worn at examinations.

Oxford and Cambridge universities consist of a num­ber of colleges. Each college is different, but in many ways they are alike. Each college has its name, its coat of arms. Each college is governed by a master. The larger ones have more than 400 members; the smallest colleges have less than 30. Each college offers teaching in a wide range of sub­jects. Within the college one will normally find a chapel, a dining hall, a library, rooms for undergraduates, fellows and the master, and also ro­oms for teaching purposes.

Oxford is one of the oldest universities in Europe. It is the second largest in Britain, after London. The town of Oxford is first mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 911 A.D. and it was popular with the early English kings. The university's earliest charter is dated back to 1213.

There are now twenty-four colleges for men, five for women and another five which have both men and women members, many from overseas studying for higher degrees. Among the oldest colleges are University College, All Souls and Christ Church.

The Cambridge University started during the 13th century and grew until today. Now there are more than thirty colleges.

On the river bank of the Cam, willow trees weep their branches into the water. The colleges line the right bank. There are beautiful college gardens with green lawns and lines of tall trees. The oldest college is Peterhouse, which was founded in 1284, and the most recent is Robinson College, which was opened in 1977. The most famous is prob­ably King's College because of its magnificent chapel, the largest and the most beautiful building in Cambridge, and the most perfect example left of English fifteenth-century architecture. Its choir of boys and un­dergraduates is also very well known.

The University was only for men until 1871, when the first women's college was opened. In the 1970s, most colleges opened their doors to both men and women. Almost all colleges are now mixed.

Many great men studied at Cambridge, among them Desiderius Erasmus, the great Dutch scholar; Roger Bacon, the philosopher; Milton, the poet; Oliver Cromwell, the soldier; Newton, the scientist and Kapitsa, the famous Russian physicist.