Exercise 7

What were your most frequent grades? What did it depend on?

Grades are often calculated differently, not only in different countries, but also in the same country. Generally, in the United States, teachers consider the following areas when computing grades:

Tests: formal examination

Quizzes: short tests, sometimes given to students without telling them in advance

Homework: work the students are expected to do individually at home

Class participation: active involvement in the class, shown by asking and answering

questions

Research paper: a written report that requires finding information in the library

Attendance: going to class every time it meets

Promptness: coming to class at exactly the time the class is scheduled to begin and handing

in work when it is due

Attitude: showing interest in the class and respect for the teacher, the subject, and the other

students; also, waiting your turn to speak, not interrupting, raising your hand to ask a question

Are these areas also important in your country? Which ones are not important?

Exercise 8

Schools in the United States and Canada use their own grading system. However, most grades are either letter grades (A, B, C, D, E, F) or number grades. (In some schools the letter or number grade may vary by one or two points.)

Letter Grade	Number Equivalent	Meaning
A	90-100	Excellent
B	80-89	Good
C	70-79	Average	Passing
D	60-69	Poor
F	0-59	Failing

Some schools add a plus or a minus to a grade (for example, B+, A-) to indicate that work in a course was a little above or a little below the grade given. What grading system is used in your country? How does it compare with grading in the United States or Canada?

Exercise 9

Here are the grades a North American student received. What kind of student is he? In which areas does he need to improve?

English	C	Social studies	B
Maths	B	Physical education	A
Science	D	Spanish	F

Exercise 10

Here are some idioms commonly used by students in school. Match each idiom with its meaning.

	Idiom	Definition
	Ace it	A difficult subject
	Bomb the test	A lot of work to do
	brown-nose	To get an A
	“Mega” homework	Gives many good grades
	Blow-off course	To fail an exam
	Suck up	An easy course
	Pull an all-nighter	A very smart person
	Flunk	To study instead of sleep
	Killer course	To fail
	Data brain	To try hard to please
	Hard nose	A difficult teacher
	Mark on a curve	To add points to the grades
	Easy grader