Study and learning

Exercise 28.4

Answer these questions about education.

1. At what age do children in your country sit their final school exams?
   Answer

   Schoolchildren often take those exams at about 16 if they are leaving school as soon as possible, or at 18 if they are planning to go on to further or higher education.

2. How long does it take in your country to do a degree in Medicine?
   Answer

   about 6 years

3. Give one advantage you think continuous assessment has over traditional exams.
   Answer

   It does not depend on how you are feeling on one specific day. You can see whether you are improving or not as you go along. You can spend more time doing your work.

4. What sort of feedback might a teacher give a student who has just given a presentation in class?
   Answer

   Feedback on the clarity and accuracy of the presentation, on the student’s pronunciation, on the student’s use of visual aids.

5. Give one advantage for a learner of English of doing homework.
   Answer

   It helps you revise what you did in class. It gives you a chance to do extra things that you don’t have time to do in class.

6. What advice about keeping a vocabulary notebook would you give to someone starting to learn English?
   Answer

   Write the words down in context, and revise what you’ve written down every few days or weeks.

7. What is the difference between further education and higher or tertiary education?
   Answer

   Further education is less academic than higher or tertiary education. Students studying, say, car mechanics or secretarial skills are in further education whereas students studying, say, to be lawyers or doctors are in higher or tertiary education.

8. What would you expect to be the difference between the first draft of an essay and the final draft?
   Answer

   You’d expect a final draft to be better than a first draft, to be better organised, to have fewer spelling mistakes, and so on.