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Study subjects Words connected with studying 1 speaking Look at these subjects. Where do you usually study them for the first time – at nursery school, primary school, secondary school or university?
speaking Look again at the text in 2a. Is all the information the same for your school? If not, which information is different?
speaking Look at the title of the text and the photos above. What arguments do you think the text is going to give for schools starting later for teenagers?
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Should school start later for teenagers? What time do you have to get up during the week?Would you prefer to spend an extra hour in bed? If so, there’s good news for you. Many scientists and researchers think that secondary school should start later in the morning.
4 Complete the sentences with the correct form of these phrases. catch up • fail an exam • fall behind • hand back • hand in • make an effort • make progress • pass an exam • pay attention • resit an exam • skip a lesson 34 Verbs/phrases connected with studying 1 When you , you usually get more than 50%. 2 When you , you usually get less than 50%. 3 You when you were not successful the first time you took it. 4 When you finish a piece of work, you it to your teacher for them to mark it. Then your teacher it . 5 When you , you miss it on purpose, not because you’re ill. 6 In class, you need to to your teachers or you won’t understand what they are saying. 7 If you don’t the same as the rest of the class, you . Then you have to to with them again. Use it … don’t lose it!
2 Read the text and check your predictions.
31 Study subjects
architecture • a rt • biology • business studies • chemistry • citizenship • computing • design and technology • drama • engineering • English • geography • history • law • literature • marketing • maths • media studies • medicine • music • philosophy • physical education (PE) • physics • politics and international relations • psychology 2a Complete the text with the correct form of these words. assessment • a ssignment • coursework • essay • excursion • extra-curricular activities • field trip • mark/grade • research • term • timetable 32 Nouns connected with studying Our school year is divided into three (a) , each one lasting approximately three months. At the beginning of the year we get our (b) , which explains what we study each day and hour. Three times a year we have formal (c) , with exams in almost all subjects. Apart from exams, the teachers evaluate us by looking at our (d) , the work we do all year. This includes things like (e) ; short pieces of writing about a particular theme. But we also have to do some (f) , longer pieces of work where we have to do (g) first to find out more about the topic. The teachers give us a (h) for our exams and coursework, usually a number out of ten or a percentage. After school we can do (i) such as music, art or sports. Sometimes we go on a short ( j) , maybe to the theatre or to a museum exhibition. Maybe once a year we go on a longer (k) , for example staying in the country for a few days to study geography or science.
35 Read the text again and answer the questions. 1 What do schools in East Sussex, Paris and Singapore have in common? 2 Why do teenagers generally fall asleep later than adults? 3 Why is the experience of a school in North Tyneside important? 4 What effect did new school times for teenagers have in Seattle? 5 How can new school times affect teenagers’ eating habits? 6 Why do some people think it’s good for teenagers to get up early? 7 What negative effects can later school times have on teenagers? 8 If schools can’t start later, how could they help with students’ tiredness in the morning?
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At one secondary school in East Sussex the director is thinking of changing the timetable to allow students to sleep an extra hour. At the moment, students must arrive at 8.25 am and they can’t go home until 3 pm. But with the new timetable they might start at 9.25 am and finish at 4 pm. In 2018, the French education minister approved an idea where older students in Paris can start school at 9 am instead of 8 am. Meanwhile, in Singapore, they are considering putting back the start of lessons by 45 minutes. At the moment, many schools there begin at 7.30 am. People are rethinking school hours because they have found that when you are a teenager the biological rhythms of your body (called circadian rhythms) are different. The release of melatonin, a chemical in the brain that controls sleep, happens later in the day than in adults. This means that teenagers find it hard to sleep in the evening and don’t wake up completely until later in the morning. So, to help students pay more attention in class, they think schools ought to start later. Lorem ipsum There is some evidence that a later school start does help. At a school in North Tyneside, teenage students don’t have to start lessons until 10 am. In 2010, when the school changed to this later start, the percentage of good exam grades rose from 34% to about 50%. And it isn’t only a question of student assessment. The quality of students’ sleep can also change significantly when they get up later, helping their general health. This was discovered in a study carried out by the University of Washington in 2018. It focussed on a group of teenagers in the US city of Seattle. A later start also means teens have more time for a healthy breakfast before school. All things considered, the more that teenagers sleep, the healthier and happier they seem to be. However, not everybody is in favour of changing school times. Some think getting up early is part of the discipline that we all have to learn as we grow up. They say that if teenagers feel tired in the morning, they should go to bed earlier and catch up on sleep at the weekend. Also, starting school later means finishing later. That means you have less time for extra-curricular activities, hobbies, dinner, homework and time with your family. And we mustn’t forget that any change to the school timetable has a big effect on parents and the typical working day for all sorts of employees.
4 What do the underlined words in the text mean? Guess and then check in your dictionary. Critical thinkers 5 In your opinion, should school start later to allow teenage
speaking Student A, ask your partner questions 1 to 3 below. Student B, ask your partner questions 4 to 6. Then tell the class your partner’s most interesting answer. 1 Which is your favourite term and why? 2 What’s your best mark in an exam this year? 3 How often do you get assignments? In what subjects? 4 What is your school timetable for Tuesday? What do you think of it? 5 Do you prefer assessment with exams or with coursework? Why? 6 What was the last essay that you handed in?
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students to sleep more? What makes you say that? Use ideas in the text and/or other facts, opinions and experiences to justify your opinion. Then share your ideas with a partner.
For these reasons, it may be a problem to start school later. But there are other things that can help. Some people think that the first class of the day shouldn’t need too much mental effort. So they say that, if possible, the day ought to begin with a subject like PE, not maths or physics. Anyway, whatever time school starts and whatever your first lesson is, experts recommend getting eight to nine hours’ sleep on weekdays. And remember – you’d better not sleep in class. Not many teachers like that!
Reach higher
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33 Listen and check your answers.
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Reach higher
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Unit 5
Unit 5
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