17.vest : to give or place (rights, power, authority, etc.)18.Aussie: A friendly slang for a native or an inhabitant of Australia.As well as referring to Australian persons, the term is used in sporting chants.As in “Aussie Aussie Aussie ! Oi oi oi ! ” The phrases in bold are shouted in response to the one leading the cheer.
19.patent : (a document given to someone to show ) the official legal right to make or sell an invention for a particular number of years.
C.Post-reading activity
Think and answer the following questions:
1.For how many years are children required to stay in primary school in Victoria?2.Is religious education required at most state schools?3.In which cities were universities first established?4.How many new students do universities in Australia take in each year?Ⅳ.Fast Reading
In this part,you are required to read three passages and choose the best answers for the questions after each passage, using the skill you have just learned.
It is commonly believed in the United States that school is where people go to get an education.Nevertheless, it has been said that today children interrupt their education to go to school.The distinction between schooling and education implied by this remark is important.
Education is much more open-ended and all-inclusive than schooling.
Education knows no bounds.It can take place anywhere, whether in the shower or on the job,whether in a kitchen or on a tractor.It includes both the formal learning that takes place in schools and the whole universe of informal learning.
The agents of education can range from a revered (尊 敬) grandparent to the people debating politics on the radio, from a child to a distinguished scientist.
Whereas schooling has a certain predictability (可预言),education quite often produces surprises.A chance conversation with a stranger may lead a person to discover how little is known of other religions.People are engaged in education from in fancy on.Education,then, is a very broad, inclusive term.It is a lifelong process, a process that starts long before the start of school, and one that should be an integral part of one s entire life.
Schooling, on the other hand, is a specific, formalized process, whose general pattern varies little from one setting to the next.Throughout a country,children arrive at school at approximately the same time, take assigned seats,are taught by an adult,use similar textbooks, do homework, take exams, and so on.The slices of reality that are to be learned, whether they are the alphabet or an understanding of the workings of government,have usually been limited by the boundaries of the subject being taught.For example, high school students know that they are not likely to find out in their classes the truth about political problems in their communities or what the newest filmmakers are experimenting with.There are definite conditions surrounding the formalized process of schooling.
1.What is the main idea of the passage?A.The best schools teach a wide variety of subjects.
B.Education and schooling are quite different experiences.
C.Students benefit from schools, which require long hours and homework.
D.The more years students go to school, the better their education is.
2.The word“bounds”in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to.
A.rules B.experiences.
C.limits D.exceptions.
3.The phrase“For example”in paragraph 3, introduces a sentence that gives examples of.
A.similar textbook.
B.the results of schooling.
C.the working of a government.
D.the boundaries of classroom subjects.
4.The passage supports which of the following conclusions?A.Without formal education, people would remain ignorant.
B.Education systems need to be radically reformed.
C.Going to school is only part of how people become educated.
D.Education involves many years of professional training.
5.The passage is organized by.
A.listing and discussing several educational problems.
B.contrasting the meaning of two related words.
C.narrating (叙述) a story about excellent teachers.
D.giving examples of different kinds schools.
One of the most important social developments that helped to make possible a shift in thinking about the role of public education was the effect of the baby boom of the 1950 s and 1960 s on the schools.In the 1920 s, but especially in the Depression ( 大 萧 条) conditions of the 1930 s, the United States experienced a declining birth rate - every thousand women aged fifteen to forty-four gave birth to about 118 live children in 1920, 89.2 in 1930, 75.8 in 1936, and 80 in 1940.With the growing prosperity brought on by the Second World War and the economic boom that followed it,young people married and established households earlier and began to raise larger families than had their predecessors (前辈) during the Depression.Birth rates rose to 102 per thousand in 1946, 106.2 in 1950, and 118 in 1955.Although economics was probably the most important determinant,it is not the only explanation for the baby boom.
The increased value placed on the idea of family also helps to explain this rise in birth rate.
