1. Answer the questions:

1. Who is the speaker?

2. How can his manner of speech be characterized

1. phonetically

2. from the point of view of vocabulary choice

3. from the point of view of grammar and structure?

3. What factors account for these peculiarities?

2. What information that was new to you did you receive from Text 3? What information has already been known to you?

2. Render the contents of the text.

2. Prepare for Listening Test on Text 3.

Text 4.

Independent schools

The English educational system is a divided one. First of all, it is divided between those who pay and those who do not, and between those selected for an academic career and those who are not (75%). Whilst these are the two main divisions, there are also many more sub-divisions.

For the upper classes, the 11-plus examination and other forms of selection do not exist. There is a complete, fee-paying system of education, quite separate from the state one, for those who can afford to pay.

The terms "primary" and "secondary" are not applied to the independent schools. The transfer from the lower to the higher grade is at thirteen and not eleven. The principal schools for boys (boys and girls above eight are usually educated separately in independent schools) of over thirteen are called Public Schools and those for younger boys, Preparatory Schools (or colloquially "prep"). Preparatory Schools prepare young gentlemen up to the age of thirteen, when they are eligible for the Public Schools. Many public schools in England date from the sixteenth century, some are even older (for example, Winchester, founded in 1382, and Eton, founded in 1440). These schools were founded as charitable institutions for the sons of deserving but poor citizens. At first they gave a basically religious education, later branching out into mathematics, philosophy, and some limited natural science. By the end of the nineteenth century, however, these schools had become the private preserve of the aristocracy and then of the wealthy, commercial and industrial families - the ruling class, in fact. The name of these schools is very misleading, because they are in fact independent and private secondary schools charging exorbitant fees. Most of these schools are for boys. Although the public schools are not numerically important, they exert a tremendous influence on the social structure of Great Britain. Nearly every leading position in the armed forces, the judiciary, the Established Church, all the ministers in the late Conservative cabinet, and the men holding leading positions in the commercial world, were educated at public schools. In 1942 the Fleming Committee were told that out of 830 bishops, deans, judges, stipendiary magistrates, highly paid home civil servants, Indian civil servants, governors of Dominions and directors of banks and railway companies, 76 per cent came from public schools, and of those, 48 per cent came from twelve major public schools (Eton and Harrow are the best known of the public schools); other leading 80 per cent of Wykehamists( [wikamist] - воспитанник Винчестерского колледжа) go to universities, and 70 per cent to Oxford and Cambridge.

There are altogether about a hundred public schools providing residential accommodation for their pupils. Some of the newer schools do take day­boys also. Most of these schools are in the southern half of England.

Only the richest families can afford to send their sons to these schools, but even then it is not always possible to get their children accepted because of the long waiting list. Some parents put their children's name down for a particular school at birth, often choosing "Father's School"- 60 per cent of

Etonians have Old Etonian fathers. Every boy must formally present himself as a candidate for the Common Examination for Entrance to Public Schools, even though he may have been provisionally accepted long ago. Many public schools, including some of the leading ones, have a number of pupils who would not have been able to win places at grammar schools in the state system.

The Public Schools today retain their religious, classical and academic basis. Great emphasis is laid on sport - especially cricket and rugby. "The Battle of Waterloo", it has been said, "was won on the playing fields of Eton". These schools arc also characterised by a high staffing ratio, the teaching is personal, and some of the older schools achieve remarkably high academic standards.

Though teaching is arranged centrally, the boys live in separate houses. A typical house has about fifty boys, and they are all under the care of the housemaster and his wife. The house appoints its prefects and House Captain. This "house" and "prefect" system has been accepted by the secondary grammar schools, but in the latter case it is a very artificially adopted custom. "Fagging" is a well-known public school custom, in which the younger boys act as fags, or servants, of the older boys, and is preserved as a form of disciplinary training. The boys sleep in dormitories, only the older boys are given separate study-bedrooms.

For girls there are also some preparatory and public schools, which are similar to the boys' institutions. Fewer girls are sent to boarding schools and so there are many more day-schools for the girls. Such schools are commonly called High Schools. However, the title "High School" is not restricted to schools of this type, some schools controlled by the local education authorities are also entitled "High Schools". The term "High School" in England has no definite meaning, and there is no single category of schools which can be called "High Schools", as in the USA.

Here are the names of the better known Public Schools, together with the date of their foundation:

Founded:

1400

1571

1328

1567

1552

1611

1561

1561

1508

School:

Eton (near Windsor on the Thames)

Harrow (London)

Winchester (Hampshire)

Rugby (Warwickshire)

Shrewsbury (Shropshire)

Charterhouse (now in Surrey)

Merchant Taylors (London)

Westminster (London)

St. Paul's (London)

These schools are very old, but there are some others which are even older. St. Peter's (York), for instance, dates from the year 627, and St. Alban's (Herts.), from 948.

Miss Joan Lester, Labour MP, voiced the feeling of progressive sections of the community when she stated: "We need to lay down the lines for a new Act that will tackle the vast inequalities in the educational system, and challenge some of the sacred cows. I hoped and still hope that a I-abour Government will abolish the public school system and tackle the whole sector of independent education." Speaking at the Labour Young Socialists' annual conference in April 1971, she went on to say: "Never be deceived into believing that one buys a "better education"; one buys advantage and a privileged position in society; that is what the public schools system is all about."