employment and education

 A/Comprehension   (07pts)

Read the text carefully then do the activities

       In America, people are afraid of unemployment. There is a direct link between employment and education. There is a saying: “Improve your schools or lose your jobs”. Many governors of states agreed to the development of common standards in essential subjects. America which spends a quarter of trillion dollars a year on education, finds itself classed 13th compared to other developed countries. This has a bad consequence on business. People who have a better education, have better jobs and get better pay. Countries that have better educational systems have stronger economies and can compete in the world market place.


       In the USA, big transnational companies feel concerned about the decline in education. Some of them like IBM are putting big sums of money on education and research. They have offered computers to public schools to foster education and research. These big companies need people who have a high school reading capacity and can work with basic algebra. They also offer free training for the students who learn how to use and work on a computer and handle software. In this way, they try to improve the educational system in order to have future employees who will be able to use their computers.

1/ Say whether the following statements are true or false. Write T or F next to the corresponding

Letter.

a. Americans believe that inappropriate education causes unemployment.

b. American companies do not care about education.

d. A good educational system is a guarantee to have good business.

2/ Answer the following questions according to the text.

a. How much do the Americans spend on education?

b. Is there any relation between employment and education? Explain.

c. In which paragraph is it said that American businessmen are aware of the importance of using technology in education?


3/ Who or what do the underlined words refer to in the text?

a) itself c) them d) they

4/ Choose the most appropriate title.

A. Education in America

B. Going to School in America

C. Improving the American Educational System.

B/Text exploration (8pts)

1/ Find in the text words whose definitions follow.

a. ………. (§1): to make something better.

b. ……… (§2): comprising persons of different nationalities.

c. ……… (§2): a branch of mathematics in which we use letters and symbols.


2/ Complete the chart below.


Verb

Noun

Adjective


…………………

employment

……………….


…………………

………………..

free


use

………………..

……………….


………………….

………………..

educational

3/ Rewrite sentence ‘b’ so that it means the same as sentence ‘a’

1. a) “improve your schools or lose your jobs”, the inspector ordered

b) The inspector ordered …………………………………………….

2. a) Big transnational companies are putting big sums of money on education and research

b) Big sums of money …………………………………………………………



4/ Fill in the gaps from the words in the list

parents financed manage contribution through although

Schools in the state sector are …(1).......by the government and administered…(2)… education authorities, …(3)…..many schools now… (4)…. their own finances and are known as granted maintained schools. No financial….(5)….. to a child’s education is required of the …(6)…..

5/ Classify the following words according to the number of their syllables

Unemployment compete link trillion

Part Two: Written Expression (5pts)

Choose one of the following topics

Topic 1: Algerian boys and girls attend school until they are 16. Use the following notes to write a

letter to an American friend to describe education in Algeria.



- The importance of education in Algeria

- The different kinds of schools: primary, middle, secondary

- The period you spend in each school

- The school subjects you study: Arabic, Maths, Foreign languages ………

- The exams you pass: 5th year primary, BEM, BAC



Topic 2: Are you satisfied with the educational system? Write a short paragraph about what you

would do to improve our educational system if you were the Minister of Education.