The Last School to Cane Its Girls

Read and discuss the following text.

Explain the words and word combinations in bold in the text.

5) Explain what the writer wanted to say by the following:

1. … the burnout kids, pushed by ambitious parents until they're at the end of their tethers….

2. … the hothouse flower children who wilt in the real world.

3. … too many horrid exams spoiling the school's broth.

4. In our child-obsessed society….

5. … that will … cushion them when life gets really hard.

6. Cosseting children in cotton wool does them few favours in the long run.

7. … there is a difference between sheltering and smothering.

6) Fill in the correct preposition or particle, then make sentences:

1) obsession … (doing) smth; 2) to be … the end … one’s tethers; 3) to gasp … smth; 4) to treat smb … kid gloves; 5) to escort smb … (some place); 6) it is tantamount … (doing) smth; 7) to protect smb … smth; 8) … the long run; 9) to shelter smb … smth.

7) Answer the questions:

1. Who is George Marsh and what are the main points he is making?

2. Does the author of the article agree with Mr. Marsh?

3. What does the author think of our society?

4. What arguments does he suggest to prove his point?

5. Do you agree with him? Why (not)?

8) Work in groups: name as many advantages/disadvantages of exams you can think of. School Crimes

In nearly all schools in England, pupils who misbehave are just told off by the teacher. However, at the expensive Rodney school naughty girls are punished by caning. The headmistress, Miss Thomas, who has run the school for 47 years, says that she only canes the girls to shame them rather than hurt them.

Surprisingly, the girls back their headmistress up; if they have been up to no good, they believe that they deserve to be punished. One girl, Adele Kirkman, was given three strokes on each hand for going into the nearby town without her school uniform. To be fair, Adele was allowed to choose between writing a long essay, staying in the school grounds for three weeks, or the cane. She chose the cane because it was quicker. Another girl, Nicola Whitely, then twelve, chose to be caned too, because she had been caught in her dormitory with some boys. When she phoned her father, he told her, “Think of all the things you have got away with. This time you have been caught.”

2) Scan the text and find phrasal verbs with the following meaning:

1. to criticize smb;

2. to be in the act of doing smth;

3. to escape punishment for smth;

4. to support smb.

3) Discuss the questions in groups:

1. What do you think of the girls’ attitude to punishment?

2. Which punishment would you have chosen if you’d been Adele?

3. What do you think of Nicola Whitely’s father?

4. What sort punishment exists in schools in your country?

5. Have you ever been unfairly punished? If so, when?

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Дата добавления: 2014-12-29