Reading comprehension. I. Match the pairs of synonyms among the following words:

I. Match the pairs of synonyms among the following words:

to select – to choose;

to comprise – to include;

elective – optional;

to be a must – to be mandatory;

to receive – to obtain;

task – assignment;

specified – certain;

education – training;

vocational – professional.

II. Match synonyms from the two columns:

1. establishment n) institution
2. receive f) obtain
3. finish i) graduate
4. admit d) accept
5. support a) subsidize
6. scores l) results
7. differ m) vary
8. standards k) requirements
9. term c) semester
10. fund g) finance
11. select e) choose
12. fall h) autumn
13. end-of-the year b) final
14. vacations j) holidays

III. Answer the following questions:

1. What are the levels of education in the USA?
2. What age groups do they include?
3. What are the basic subjects at school?
4. What does the word “elective” mean?
5. Do the students and their parents know the IQ test scores?
6. Is there a separate educational system for the wealthy?
7. What are boarding schools? Who can afford to study there?
8. What information does a high school transcript include?
9. What are the possible ways to get further education?

Before listening ask the students to guess the meanings of the following words and word combinations:

fall (A.E.) – autumn (B.E.)

undergraduate – a student.

to estimate – to assess, to evaluate.

investigation – research, exploration.

living expenses – the money for living needs.

Listen to The Voice of America and try to understand

Foreign Student Series: A Look at Washington University

We answer a question from a student in China in Part 42 of our series. Transcript of radio broadcast:

20 June 2007

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

A student at Xinjiang Normal University in China has a question for our Foreign Student Series. Akbar Mamat wants to go overseas after graduation and would like some information about Washington University.

Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri, is a medium-sized school in the Midwest. It has almost eleven thousand students. Twelve percent this last school year were international students, mostly graduate students.

The university has schools for law, medicine and social work. It also has a business school, a school of design and visual arts and a school of engineering and applied science. But more than seventy percent of courses are taught through the Arts and Sciences program.

The new school year that begins this fall will cost fifty-two thousand dollars for undergraduates. That includes twelve months of living expenses estimated at seventeen thousand dollars.

Graduate tuition differs by program. Tuition for the Master of Social Work program, for example, will cost twenty-seven thousand dollars in the coming year. The Master of Business Administration program will cost about thirty-eight thousand dollars.

The university offers financial assistance to international students, including first-year students, but says its resources are limited.

Scholarships are available. The university also offers a monthly payment plan to spread out the cost of tuition. And it offers loan programs.

International students in the United States generally cannot receive federal student loans. But they may be able to take out private loans, as many American students do. The student loan industry is in the news right now. Investigations are looking at questionable dealings between colleges and lenders.

Washington University in Saint Louis was named Eliot Seminary when it opened in eighteen fifty-three. Later the name was changed to honour the first American president, George Washington.

But other schools share the name Washington, including the University of Washington and George Washington University. So in nineteen seventy-six Washington University added the words "in Saint Louis" to its name.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Our Foreign Student Series on higher education in the United States is online at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

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