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上册（英国、美国）
[table] [tr] [td] 上册（英国、美国）
第1章 英美社会生活
Answer the Questions.
1.Why is it so difficult to describe the social life in the UK and in the USA in general?
Key: Because there are similarities inboth, yet differences can be seen not only in terms of the social life withineach country, but also in the contrast of the social life between the twocountries.
2. What are the five accounts in the explanation of social life inthe UK?
Key: (1) The two distinctions in theBritish society.
(2) The different life styles in England, Wales,Scotland and Northern Irelandin which the diversified life is emphasized.
(3) The welfare programme.
(4) The high standard of living of theBritish people.
(5) The concentration of population.
3. What arethe five accounts in the explanation of social life in the USA? How do youlike the accounts in terms of social life in the UKand in the USArespectively?
Key: (1) The diversity of its people.
(2) The “nuclear family”.
(3) The gap between the poor and the rich.
(4) The social concerns, premarital sexualrelationships and homosexuality.
(5) Violence in the USA
I think the accounts are very good. It makesus very clear of the social life in these two countries.
4.Why is the rate of divorce in the USA high? What is your view?
Key: I think there must be somerelationship with the sex morality. A lot of young men and women began to livetogether and have sex with different people before getting married. Rather thansay their marriage is based on love, we’d better say it is based on sex.Marriage without love can’t last long.
5. What do you think explains the gap between the poor and therich?
Key: The difference between the richand the poor is great because of the social system.
6. Imaginehow different life is between a Muslim woman in Scotlandand a Christian man in Londonand discuss the differences.
Key: First, their clothes will be quite different, because they havedifferent beliefs. Second, their accent will also be different from each other,which is decided by the person itself and the place they live. Thirdly, theyboth have their different dialects.
第2章 英美教育
Answer the Questions
1. Compare the primary education of the UKwith that of the USA.
Key: USA: Inthe United States of Americamany children begin their school education at the age of six. Most stateschools offer ten years of education and some offer twelve. Students usuallygraduate from high school at the age of 18. Five-year-old children have oneyear of preschool training in many schools. The academic year lasts ninemonths, from September to June, with winter and spring vacations. Classes areheld five days a week, from Monday to Friday.
In primary schools, courses for childreninclude reading, writing and there are also social courses (such as history,geography, and civics of government), science, art and music. Students can alsolearn cooking and manual skills such as carpentry and sewing. They can dophysical exercises on the playground or in gymnasiums.
UK: In the UK, there is a complete system ofstate primary and secondary education—primary up to the age of eleven, andsecondary from eleven to sixteen or eighteen. All children must by law receivefull-time education from the age of five to sixteen. Any child may attendwithout paying fees until they are eighteen. Education at this stage up to 16is compulsory.
In addition there are quite a number ofeducational institutions for all the school ages that are supported entirely byfees and private funds. These are the independent or “public” schools. There isalso private education in Britain
2.Compare the secondary education of the UK with that of the USA.
Key: USA: When a pupil has finished his primarymiddle school education, he goes to high school automatically. There is noentrance exam. In high school, a student will study English literature andcomposition, social science, mathematics, laboratory experiments and foreignlanguages, as well as art, music and physical education.
In most high schools, in addition to generaleducation, there is also vocational training for specific occupations. Throughthis kind of training, students may obtain enough skills to work assecretaries, or automobile mechanics, etc. after graduation. As for thehandicapped children (blind, deaf, crippled, etc.) special programmes areprovided in some schools.
A high school teacher has usually majored inthe field of his special interest and in addition, he may have a MA degree ineducation.
UK: In the UK there are two complete secondaryeducation systems: the state schools and the “public” schools. In secondaryschools their curricula are determined by standard examinations required foruniversity entrance. Pupils usually study 6 or 7 subjects: English, French andGerman, mathematics, two sciences and history, but different types of schoolshave different emphases.
At this stage of education, there are variousschools: grammar schools, comprehensive secondary schools, technical schools,secondary modern schools and “public” schools. The first four schools belong tothe state system, while public schools belong to the category of theindependent schools. Very few grammar schools and secondary schools belong tothe old system. All these schools are the products of various periods inhistory.
3.Make a contrast between the higher education in the UK and that of the USA.
Key: USA: There are three types ofinstitutions of higher education in the United States of America. The firsttype is the two-year college, originally called a “junior college”. Now it isnamed a “community college”, which serves as a bridge that connects secondaryschools and universities. The second is the four-year college, often called a“liberal arts college” or a “college of arts and science”. Finally is theAmerican university, which is an institution, more comprehensive and complexthan any other kind of US higher educational establishment. There are two kindsof master’s degree. One requires a dissertation paper, which counts for acertain number of credits that usually constitute part of the degree programme.Another kind doesn’t require a dissertation paper, but more credits arerequired in the process of study. An oral or written examination may also berequired for the degree that doesn’t require a dissertation paper.
UK: There are over forty universities in Britain. Theycan be divided into five types. First of all, the “old universities” refers to Oxford and Cambridge whichwere the only two universities in England until the nineteenthcentury. The four Scottish universities, which came into existence in thefifteenth and sixteenth centuries are the second type of university in the UK.The universities founded from 1830 to 1930 are the third categories. The fourthtype is the group of universities or university colleges which sprang up afterthe Second World War in the not-too-large, but not-too-small industrial towns.The last is the Open University*, which was founded in 1969 and is a mostinteresting innovation of higher education.
4. Make a contrast between the public school in the UK and the private school at the high schoollevel in the USA.
Key: In the United Kingdom, the term “stateschool” refers to government-funded schools which provide education free ofcharge to pupils. The contrast to this is fee-paying schools, such as “independent(or private) schools” and “public schools”.
In England and Wales, the term “public school” is oftenused to refer to fee-paying schools. In Scotland, where the educational systemis completely different from the rest of UK, the term “public school” inScottish English and Scotsis only used to describe Scottish state fundedschools (since they are publicly owned) – although, in the media preference isnow being given to the term “state funded school” to avoid confusion with theEnglish term. However, Scottish people will sometimes use the term “publicschool” when referring to a private school located in England. The Scottishterm for what is known in the rest of the UK as a “public school” is “privateschool” or “independent school”. Use of “public school” to denote state fundedschools within Scotland is sometimes confusing for speakers of English fromother parts of the UK. The Scottish use of the term has found favour abroad,particularly in the United States and Canada.
USA private school: In the United States, theterm “private school” can be correctly applied to any school for which thefacilities and funding are not provided by the federal, state or localgovernment; as opposed to a “public school”, which is operated by thegovernment or in the case of charter schools, independently with governmentfunding and regulation. The majority of private schools in the United Statesare operated by religious institutions and organizations.
Private schools are generally exempt frommost educational regulations, but tend to follow the spirit of regulationsconcerning the content of courses in an attempt to provide a level of educationequal to or better than that available in public schools.
5.What does “middle school” mean to an American?
Key: The American “middle school”include our elementary school and middle school,
6. Do you like the “tutorial system” in the UK? Why or whynot?
Key: Yes, Ilike it, because it is through the tutorial system that ‘students developpowers of independent and critical thought, analytical and problem-solvingabilities, and skills in both written and oral communication and argument.
