Part IBTom: What kind of school did you go to, AnnAnn: Well, I went to a public primary school and then to a private high school. Tom: So which do you think is betterAnn: Actually, I prefer private schools because of the smaller classes and ... usually you have a wider choice of subjects.Tom: Yeah, I suppose that’s true.Ann: And then there are usually better sports facilities. For example, the school I went to had a swimming pool and a huge gym.Tom: Yeah ... well, the public high school I went to had great sports facilities. Besides, private schools are really expensive.Ann: Yeah, but I think they’re worth it.Tom: I don’t know. I think you have to judge every school individually, whether it’s public or private.Ann: That may be true ... but children generally get a better, more ... well-rounded education in a private school.Tom: Maybe, but I’m not totally convinced. By the way, Ann, were you on the debating team in high school, by any chanceAnn: I sure was! I was the captain!CSteve’s first morningSteve was rather nervous about his first day of the polytechnic. He didn’t know any other students and he didn’t know his way around the building. At 9 o’clock, he was at the main entrance with a crowd of hundreds of other students. All of them seem to know what to do except Steve. Then he found a notice. There was a meeting for all the first-year students. He found them all waiting in the large hall. First, the director of the Polytechnic welcomed them. Then the head of students’services, and finally the head of physical education.Head of physical education: I’m here to tell you about the sport you can do at the Poly. Here in Edington, we have a fitness room where you can do exercisesto keep fit, and weekly you can do all sorts of sports, such as tennis,football, hockey and badminton. But there are also many other activities.You can go sailing. You can go down-caves. You can go climbing and many more.We hope all of you will take part in at least one of these. If you want tojoin, come on weekly on Wednesday afternoon. Any questionsA student: What about swimmingHead of physical education: We don’t have our own pool. But you can swim in the public pools in Hanksy or Muston Ferry.After the meeting was over, Steve looked at this timetable. His first class was business studies, and was in room 316. But where was Room 316Steve: Excuse me. Do you know where Room 316 isMale student 1: Oh, I haven’t a clue, mate.Steve: Do you know where Room 316 isFemale student 1: No, do youSteve: I’m looking for Room 316.Male student 2: Oh, not another First year. Look at the notice board.Steve: But where is the notice boardMale student 2: Don’t ask me.Steve: Could you tell me where Room 316 isFemale student 2: You mean business studies for Catering students.Steve: That’s it.Female student 2: Oh, I’m looking for it for myself. You’re a first-year Steve: Yes.Female student 2: So am I. Let’s see if we can find it together.Questions:1. Where was Steve at 9 o’clock2. How many people made welcome speeches at the meeting for all the first year students3. Who are they4. What kinds of sports are available in Edington Polytechnic5. What was Steve’s first class6. Where will he have the class7. How many students did Steve ask when he tried to find his class8. Did he get the answerPart II Home schoolingAlthough education is compulsory in the United States, it is not compulsory for all children to get their education at school. A number of parents believe that they can provide a better education for their children at home. Children who are educated at home are known as “home-schoolers.”There are about 300 000 home-schoolers in the United States today. Interestingly, results show that home-schooled children tend to do better than average on national tests in reading and math.David Guterson is an American writer. He and his wife teach their three children themselves. Guterson says that his children learn very differently from children in a regular school. Learning starts with the children’s interests and questions. For example, when there is heavy snowfall on a winter day, it may start a discussion or reading about climate, snow removal equipment, Alaska, polar bears, and winter tourism. Or a spring evening, when the family is watching the stars, is a good time for setting up a telescope and asking questions about satellites, comets, meteors, and the space program. At dinner, if the Brazilian rain forests are on the news, it could be a perfect time to get out the atlas and encyclopedia. Then there might be two hours or more of eating, asking questions, looking up answers, discovering how rain forests influence the climate, what the “greenhouse effect” is, how deserts are formed and how the polar ice caps affect ocean levels.Although home schooling offers an experience that is often more interesting than regular schools, critics point out that home-schoolers miss out on many important things. The home-schooler is an outsider who, because he or she never attended school, might be uncomfortable mixing with other people in adult life. Critics also say thatmost parents are not well qualified to teach their children and may pass on their own narrow views to their children. However, most parents don’t have the time or desire to teach their children at home, so schools will continue to be where most children get their formal education.Part IIIAJohn James: I disagree, Peter. I don’t think it really matters what your educational background is. Anyone who is bright enough is going to do well whatever their education.Peter Davies: But John, ...John James: In fact, I think some people carry on with their education when they would do a lot better to get out and start building their own careers by learning things in real life.Peter Davies: Yes, but the whole point is, life is getting so much more complicated these days that unless you carry on with your studies you just can’t cope.John James: For certain things, and certain people, OK, but to my mind, the big problem in education is that you specialize too quickly. I mean, in England, you start specializing from the third year in secondary school, when you’re about 14. And it gets steadily narrower until you do your “A” levels in only two or three subjects. You either do languages, or natural sciences, or social sciences. Peter Davies: But surely these days you have to, John — you can’t possibly study everything because there’s just too much.John James：Yes, but how many kids at the age of sixteen really know what they want to do How many of them are convinced that the three subjects they’ve chosen, or have been recommended, are the ones that will let them follow the careers they eventually decide onPeter Davies: Oh, I think most young people who stay on at school have a fair idea of what they want to do.John James：I’m not so sure, Peter. And after all, that’s not the end of it. When they get to university in England, the subjects they study are so narrow that they are only good for one thing, so they are stuck with it.Peter Davies: But I don’t really see that there is any alternative if people are going to learn enough to be competent in their subject. They’ve got to specialize early, and I suppose those that realize they’ve made a mistake can always swap to something else.John James：Ah, but that’s just it. You can’t. Suppose you study languages at university and then decide that you are not cut out for it and would like to be a doctor. You’ve burnt your bridges. You can’t just change horses in midstream; you’ve got to go right back to the beginning and you lose years. I think the American system is much better.BJohn James: ... I think the American system is much better.Peter Davies: In what wayJohn James: Well, for your first degree you’ve got to study a fairly wide rangeof subjects, and you can choose them yourself, within certain limits.Peter Davies: Fine, but doesn’t that mean that American students with a first degree don’t have the depth of knowledge they should haveJohn James: Should have for whatPeter Davies: Well, they often aren’t accepted for postgraduate work in England with just a first degree.John James: Maybe not, but I don’t really think that’s important. They come out with a pretty good general knowledge in a wide area. After all, when you think about a lot of the stuff English students have to study, what good is it to them afterwards I’m sure the majority of British students never use 90 percent of what they studied at university.Peter Davies: That may be true of some arts subjects, but what about the sciences John James: Even there, a lot what they do at university is so academic and abstruse that they will never be able to put it to any practical use. I’m sure they would benefit far more from on-the-job experience. And if they’ve had a broader course of study they’ve got two advantages.Peter Davies: How do you meanJohn James: First of all, they will have a better understanding of the world in general, so they will be more flexible in their jobs, and then if things do go wrong they will be able to switch jobs easily.Peter Davies: That all sounds very simple, but I think you’re still underestimating the amount of pure learning that you need these days, particularly in technical and scientific areas. I mean even at school these days, children have to learn far more things than we did when we were at school.John James: All the more reason we should not try to concentrate on such a few things at such an early age. Things are changing so rapidly these days that we have to change with them. When we were younger, there was a pretty good chance that we would be able to carry on in the profession we’d chosen until we retired. But these days, people have got to be prepared to change their jobs and learn new skills as technology moves ahead. Take j ust the area of the office, for example. How many offices ... Part ⅣImagine being asked to spend twelve or so years of your life in a society which consisted only of members of your own sex. How would you react Unless there was something definitely wrong with you, you wouldn’t be so happy about it, to say the least. It is all the more surprising therefore that so many parents in the world choose to impose such abnormal conditions on their children —conditions which they themselves wouldn’t put up with for one minute!Any discussion of this topic is bound to question the aims of education. Stuffing children’s head full of knowledge is far from being foremost among them. One of the chief aims of education is to equip future citizens with all they require to take their place in adult society. Now adult society is made up of men and women, so how can a segregated school possibly offer the right sort of preparation for it Anyone entering adult society after years of segregation can only be in for a shock.A co-educational school offers children nothing less than a true version ofsociety in miniature. Boys and girls are given the opportunity to get to know each other, to learn to live together from their earliest years. They are put in a position where they can compare themselves with each other in terms of academic ability, athletic achievement and many of the extra-curricular activities which are part of school life. What a practical advantage it is (to give just a small example) to be able to put on a school play in which the male parts will be taken by boys and the female parts by girls! When segregated, boys and girls are made to feel that they are a race apart. In a co-educational school, everything falls into its proper place. But perhaps the greatest contribution of co-education is the healthy attitude to life it encourages. Boys don’t grow up believing that women are mysterious creatures. Girls don’t grow up imagining that men are romantic heroes. Years of living together dispel illusions of this kind. The awkward stage of adolescence brings into sharp focus some of the physical and emotional problems involved in growing up. These can better be overcome in a co-educational environment. When the time comes for the pupils to leave school, they are fully prepared to enter society as well-adjusted adults. They have already had years of experience in coping with many of the problems that face men and women.Part VIs China the world’s cleverest countryChina achieved “remarkable”results in the Pisa international education tests, which measure pupils’ key skills: reading, numeracy and science.The results indicate that China’s education system is not only above average, it’s overtaking the performance of many Western countries. But why do Chinese students get top marksAndreas Schleicher, who is responsible for the Pisa tests, says Chinese students show incredible resilience to become high-flyers, regardless of their background. “North Americans tell you typically it’s all luck. In Europe, it’s all about social heritage: ‘My father was a plumber so I’m going to be a plumber.’In China, more than nine out of 10 children tell you: ‘It depends on the effort I invest and I can succeed if I study hard.’”Mr Schleicher adds it’s a philosophical difference –we should expect the whole cohort to pass with flying colours, rather than just expecting the cream of the crop to succeed.On a visit to a poor province in China, he noticed that schools were often the most impressive buildings. He says in the West, it’s more likely to be a shopping centre.So should other countries put their thinking caps on if they don’t want their education system to flunk When it comes to education, China might be able to teach the world a lesson.key skills关键技能above average高于平均水平performance成绩top marks 高分high-flyers成功人士social heritage 社会遗产invest投入cohort有共同点的一群人pass with flying colours 高分通过the cream of the crop顶尖人才put their thinking caps on进入思考状态flunk 失败（常指考试不及格）teach (someone) a lesson给（某人）一个教训Quiz 小测验。