Unit Six Matching Dreams with Education(II)

1. Unit Six Matching Dreams with Education(II)

2. Part I Warming Up • Task A:A News Report on High-tech degree • preliminary: • coming before and introducing or preparing for something more important • tackle: • to take action in order to deal with

3. graduates fewer Electronics • Listen and fill in the missing information in the blanks. • There is a great demand for _________ with high-tech degrees, but _____ students were going for them. A new study by the American ___________ Association found that high-tech degrees ________ by 5 percent between 1990 and 1996. Preliminary _______ from 1997 and 1998 indicate the trend is_________ . The Association blames the _________ system, saying that __________ and secondary schools must do more to get students ready to ______ high-tech education. Among the states, _________ Colleges awarded the _____ high-tech degrees. It also had one of the _______ declines, awarding 1,600 _____ degrees in 1996 than in 1990. Nationwide ____________ rate for high-tech careers is extremely_____. declined findings continuing education elementary tackle California most greatest fewer unemployment low

4. Task B:A Study on Class Size • randomly: • without any plan, aim or pattern • Tennessee: • A state of the southeast United States. Nashville is the capital and Memphis the largest city. Population: 5,900,000. • (美国)田纳西州 • Senate: • (美国等的)参议院

5. Listen to a short passage about a study on class size. Write down every word you hear. The passage will read to you three times.

6. Key • A decade long study has found that students in smaller classes do better than students in bigger classes. The study says that students in classes of 13 to 17 pupils have higher grades, better graduations rates, and they are more likely to attend college.

7. It also says that minority and poor students were helped even more. The study involves Tennessee public school students’ who are randomly placed in three class-sized groups.

8. The regular size is about 25 students. The Clinton administration and Senate democrats are citing the study in their call for nearly one and a half billion dollars more for their plans to reduce class size nationwide.

9. C • Read the following difficult sentences and listen.

10. Part II Home Schooling • home schooling: • the practice of teaching children in the home as an alternative to attending public or private elementary or high school. In most cases, one or both of the children's parents serve as the teachers. Home schooling usually arises from religious or other disenchantment with conventional public schools.

11. fundamentalist: • a supporter of fundamenalism, the practice of following the rules of a religion, such as Christianity or Islam, very exactly • 基要主义者

12. hippies: • (esp. in the 1960s and 1970s) a person who opposes the accepted standards of ordinary society, esp. when showing this by dressing in unusual clothes, living in groups together, and (sometimes) taking drugs for pleasure • 嬉皮士

13. leery: • watchful and not trusting • kook: • a person whose idea or behavior are unusual or silly • 怪人;疯子;傻瓜 • dyslexia: • a problem caused by difficulty in seeing the difference between letter shapes • 识字困难;诵读困难 • night owl: • a person who likes to stay awake most of the night to read, work, go out, etc.

14. cooperative: • an association formed and operated for the benefit of those using it • rating: • the position that someone or something has on a scale of values or amounts • preclude: • to prevent; make impossible • downside: • a discouraging or negative aspect; a disadvantageous aspect

15. Task A: A News Report on Home Schooling in America • You are going to hear a news report about home schooling in America. • At this stage, you don’t have to pay special attention to the specific example given in the passage. • Complete the Outline

16. Key: Outline the fastest growing trends • I. Home schooling— • ________________________ in American education • Definition: • _____________________________ • _____________________________ parents teaching children at home instead of sending them off to school

17. II. People taking part in home schooling • A. Those taking part • 1. 20 years ago: mainly some people who rejected formal eduation • 2. Today: many people from mainstream America • B. Number of home schooling students • 1. A decade ago:_______ • 2. Today:_________ 300,000 1,500,000

18. III. A specific example about Jean Forbes and her boy • IV. Major arguments against • ____________________ • A. _________ set by state laws being too_______ • 1. No teacher’s certificate or • ___________________ required • 2. Only 26 states requiring • __________________________ • B. __________________ • home schooling Standards relaxed undergraduate degree an annual standardized test Lack of socialization

19. slowly gaining broad acceptance • V. Future of home schooling in Patricia Wines’ view: • ______________________________ • A. The Gallup poll: ratings going __ to support ____________ to try home schooling though most Americans till do not really approve of it as an educational method. • B. ________________________________ • ______ up people’s right Media stories becoming more favorable 1.5%

20. Task B: • Listen again. This time focus on the specific example and answer the questions with key words

21. leery / looks / underground movement / scary ________________________________________________________ dyslexia /school not handling well / not afford private schools loved it / excited / never wanted to go back relaxed / night owls / not get up early / either chores or school first / no grading system / different approach occasionally / not very often

22. Part III Education then and now

23. Vocabulary: glean: to gather (facts or information) in small amount Much of the information he gleaned was of no practical use. 他所搜集的许多信息没有实用价值。 decimal: a number written using the base 10

24. fraction: (in mathematics) a division or part of a whole number stall: come to a stop calculus: (in mathematics) a system for making calculations about quantities which are continually changing, such as the speed of falling stone or the slope of a curved line 微积分 Geometry 几何学

25. Here is a news report on how young students in the United States have been doing since 1969. Listen to the first part of the report and complete the research findings.

26. slightly better grasp have stalled better (add, subtract, multiply, divide) more skilled in basic geometry scores improved scores dropped & stayed flat

27. Task B. The Second Half of the Report • Now listen to the second part of the news report. Complete the leading statement and its supporting details.

28. are doing better put in on the same field taking tougher courses • Leading statement: • Today’s students ______________ than students from 30 years ago when ___________________. • Supporting details: • 1. More students ___________________ now. • a. More 13-year-olds taking ______ • b. More 17-year-olds enrolling in • ___________________________ • 2. ___________________ • 3. Sex difference /difference between boys and girls • a. In math: _________________ • b. In _______ : • (1) At the age of _______ : boys are better than girls • (2) __________________________ algebra • calculus, biology and chemistry More homework now gap disappearing science 13 & 17 At the age of 9: no difference

29. C • Now listen to the whole passage and answer the following questions

30. Key 1.What is the information from the tests compared to? _______________________________________ _____________________________________ 2. From the reading scores for students in all three age groups in 1990s, what conclusion can be drawn? ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ A national report card on student’s academic progress They may have trouble locating and identifying facts from stories or summarizing and explaining what they read

31. 3. Which three more important reports will come in the near future? ______________________________ ___________________________________ ____________________________ a. new fourth grade reading scores b. a state by state breakdown of math scores c. the first batch of science scores

32. Language study and language appreciation