Контроль читання
Read the text and do the tasks after it.

Education is the main people's wealth and lots of them consider it the sense of living. They get education from early childhood and learn until their hair is grey. Education plays an important role in people's lives, that's why a great attention is paid to it.

School is one of the most significant institutions. School teaches reading, writing, the use of mathematics and other basic skills needed in everyday life. It increases people's knowledge of the world and themselves and helps them understand the rapid changes that take place in modern society. In schools pupils learn their responsibilities and rights as citizens, improve their ability to think critically, and develop such basic values as truth, justice and equality.

People throughout the world attend schools, but the quality of schools varies among countries. Today most countries have well-developed educational systems, guarantee its citizens the right to universal secondary education and create means for further professional education. Different countries try to preserve the democratic character of education paying much attention to common human values, developing independent critical thinking instead of simple perception of information.

Schools face some problems, however. The greatest problem for a school today seem to be that all subjects are compulsory and pupils have no opportunity to choose the subjects they want to learn deep. Thousands of pupils have to spend a lot of time sitting and thinking over the subjects they don't like, don't need or don't understand. It usually drives them mad and they start hating this or that subject or become indifferent to it. It would be great if some subjects were optional so that children could choose their favourite ones out of the formal curriculum. Such education would be better and more effective.

Read the text and do the tasks after it.

I go to school five days a week except Saturday and Sunday. Classes in our school start at 8 o'clock in the morning and last till 14.30. Usually we have 6 or 7 lessons a day. We study a lot of different subjects: Ukrainian, English, History, Geography, Biology, Physics, Math, etc. I like History, Ukrainian and English most of all. I usually get good marks for these subjects.
A school year is divided into four terms. It begins on the 1st of September known as the Day of knowledge and finishes in May. Each term is followed by holidays that last one week in autumn and spring and two weeks in winter.

Our school was built about ten years ago. Our classroom is on the third floor. Its windows face the school-yard. There are two large windows in our classroom; a great amount of flowers grow in pots that stand on the window-sills. It is pupils of our class who are responsible to water the flowers several times a week. And we all do it with great care and pleasure. On the walls of our classroom there are different colour maps and portraits, tables and wall newspapers.

Every pupil has a record book where our teachers write down our marks and we write down home tasks. Lessons usually take place in such a way that a teacher asks a question and the pupils who can give an answer raise their hands and the teacher calls out one of them to answer the question. Teachers often call pupils to the blackboard to do different exercises or to write some sentences from dictation. When they make a mistake, other pupil can be called out to correct a mistake or sometimes the teacher corrects it themselves. After every lesson teachers give us home tasks both written and oral ones.

I like going to school because here I have many friends and wise teachers who can always give a piece of advice. And I like studying as well, it brings me a lot of pleasure and I like to learn new facts about the world.
1. Find the English equivalents for the following word combinations:
a) отримувати гарні оцінки
b) вікна виходять на
c) бути відповідальним
d) записувати домашнє завдання
e) дати пораду
2. Complete the following sentence according to the text.
It is pupils of the narrator’s class who .
3. Answer the following question.

How do lessons usually take place at the narrator’s school?

4. Which of the following statements was NOT mentioned in the text?
a) Mistakes can be corrected.
b) There are six floors in this school.
c) The narrator doesn’t like studying.
d) Flowers are watered several times a week.
5. Choose the true statement according to the text.
a) Teachers never call pupils to the blackboard.
b) Pupils have to do only oral tasks at home.
c) Teachers give students home tasks.
d) Teachers water all the flowers at school