Education in the United States

A/ Comprehension / Interpretation (07 points)

Read the text carefully then do the activities

      Education in the United States is provided mainly by government, with control and funding coming from three levels: federal, state and local. School attendance is compulsory and nearly universal at the primary and secondary levels (known in the United States as elementary and high school levels).

      The ages for compulsory education vary by state, beginning at the stages of five to eight and ending at the ages of fourteen to eighteen. A growing number of schools are now requiring school attendance until the junior high school age of 18.

      Compulsory education requirements can generally be satisfied by attending public schools, state-certified private schools, or an approved home school programme. In most public and private schools, education is divided into three levels: elementary school, middle school (sometimes called junior high school) and high school (sometimes referred to as secondary education).

      In almost all schools at these levels, children are divided by age groups into grades. They begin elementary education with kindergarten and finish secondary education with the twelfth grade (usually eighteen years old) which is the final year of high school.

1/ Circle the letter that corresponds to the right answer

   The text is: a) narrative                              b) expository                            c) argumentative

2/ Are these statements true or false? Write T or F next to the letter corresponding to the statement

a)      Education is not provided by the government

b)      Students can leave school at the age of 18

c)      In private and public schools, there are two levels of educations

3/ Answer the following questions according to the text

a)      Is it obligatory to attend school in the primary and secondary level?

b)      Which schools can pupils attend to get educated?

c)      How many grades is children’s education divided into?

d)     What is the first one?

4/ In which paragraph is it mentioned that more and more states want their students to attend school

    until 18?

B/ Text Exploration: (08 points)

1/ Find in the text words which are closest in meaning to:

     a) Supplied (§1) =               b) mandatory (§1) =             c) basic (§1) =              d) change (§2) =          

2/ Give the opposites of the following words keeping the same root

            Approve          -           controlled            -          satisfied           -           literacy  

3/ Rewrite sentence B so that it means the same as sentence A

  1-a) A growing number of schools are requiring school attendance until the junior high school age of 18.

     b) School attendance ……………………………………………   until the junior high school age of 18

  2-a) students have to get good marks in sport or they won’t access a famous university in the United States.

     b) Unless ……………………………………………………………………………………….

4/ Ask questions on the underlined words

a)      Government provides  education in the United States

b)      Education is divided into three levels

5/ Underline the stressed syllable

      Education                     divide                    compulsory                    private

Part Two: Written Expression (05 points)

Choose ONE of the following topics

Topic One:  Why is important for children ( boys and girls ) to go to school?

             You can use the following notes: Teaching of moral values

 -  Respect towards one another 

 -  Learning children to mix with others

 -  Helping children become good citizens in the future

 -  Beneficial to society

Topic Two:  If you were given the choice to study only four subjects ( apart from Arabic and one foreign  

                      language ) for the Baccalaureate Exam, which ones would you choose? Why?