s07.Secondary Schools in Britain
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Secondary Schools in Britain Before the 1960s there were two main kinds of state secondary schools in Britain: “grammar” schools and “secondary modern” schools. The grammar schools were for the most intelligent children and the secondary modern schools were for the “less intelligent” children. Many people felt that this system was unfair. During the 1960s and the 1970s the government decided to join the grammar and secondary modern schools. The new, bigger schools were called “ comprehensives”. More than eighty per cent of the state secondary schools in Britain are now comprehensives. Everyone hoped that comprehensive schools would be the answer to the nation’s education problems. They hoped that children would do better if they chose from many different subjects. They believed that the not-so-clever would learn more when working with the clever. They thought that a more practical education would give the country better scientists and businessmen. But not everyone was pleased with the results. The new schools brought new problems. They were big and unfriendly. Some schools soon had a bad name. By the beginning of the 1980s many comprehensive schools were doing better. Both students and teachers were used to the new system and were making it work. But the system is still not really fair. In some areas the comprehensive schools can be very good. But in other areas, especially in the city centers, there are still serious problems. As well as the state schools, there are about 500 private schools in Britain. Most of these are boarding schools, where the children actually live in the school. Private schools are very expensive (up to ￡9,000 a year). Some private schools give a very good academic education. Some do not. But nearly all private schools have good social status. The boys and girls who go to them learn to speak with upper-class pronunciation. They make friends with children from family like their own, and they often find it easier to find a job. Many people feel that this is wrong, but the private schools are still growing. Comment: 1、 the 1960s：也可写作 the 1960's；两者均读作 the nineteen sixties，意思是“（20世纪）60年代”。 2、 two main kinds of：kind 在这里是“种、类”的意思，常作可数名词用：a king of hat /fruit /meat 一种帽子/水果/肉，another kind of book /stone /wood 另一种书/石头/木头，What kind (of hat /fruit) do you want? 你要哪一种（帽子/水果）？若 kind 用复数形式，其后的可数名词可用单数或复数，不可数名词则用单数：many (different) kinds of stamp (s) /animal (s) /trees 很多（不同）种类的邮票/动物/树木，other kinds of paper /wood 其他种类的纸张/木头 3、 Britain：英国的全称是 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland（大不列颠及北爱尔兰联合王国），简称 The United Kingdom（联合王国），缩写为 UK，由大不列颠岛、爱尔兰岛东北部及附近许多岛屿所组成。大不列颠岛是英国的主要部分，因此人们也常把英国称为 Britain，把英国人称为 the British。大不列颠岛分为 England（英格兰），Wales（威尔士）和 Scotland（苏格兰）三个部分（所谓“英伦三岛”就是由此而得名的），其中 England又是最主要的部分，因此人们又常把英国称为 England，把英国人称为 the English。但威尔士人、苏格兰人和（北）爱尔兰人都不喜欢被称为 English，他们会纠正说： “I'm Welsh /Scotch /Irish.” 哪怕他们就在英格兰生活和工作，讲的是英语。 4、 less 是 little 的比较级，可用来修饰形容词或副词，意思是“没有那么„„”。 5、 join：在这里是“使相连，使结合”的意思。又如：He joined the two pieces of wood (together) with nails. 他用钉子把两块木头钉在一起。You should never join an electric wire to a water pipe. 你千万不要把电线接到水管上。The two rivers are joined by a canal. 一条运河把这两条河流连接起来了。She studied the way Mahatabel had joined the small pieces of cloth. 她仔细察看默罕塔贝尔是怎样拼界小布块的。（L. 28 6、 comprehensive 是形容词，在这里用作名词，是名词化的形容词。名词化的形容词有时可以有复数形式。又如：We are taking our finals next week. 我们下周将进行期末考试。The book deals with only the fundamentals of economics. 这本书只讨论经济学的基础，deal with v. 安排, 处理, 涉及, 做生意 7、 注意 answer 后面的介词常用 to。又如：Have you had an answer to your letter? 你的信可有回音？Who knows the answer to the question? 有谁知道这个问题的答案？ 8、 the nation's education problems：nation's 表示所有，而形容词 national 则表示属性。 9、 not-so-clever 是一个合成形容词。这种构词方法比较灵活，有时是作者或说话者临时造的，如本句中的 not-so-clever；有时则是比较固定的短语，如下面一句中的 wait-and-see，例如：Some people adopted a wait-and-see attitude at the beginning. 开始时有些人采取了观望的态度。 10、the clever 是名词化了的形容词，在这里做介词 with 的宾语。英语中经常出现这种在形容词前加定冠词 the 的情况，用来表示一类人或一类事物。又如本句中的 the not-so-clever。 11、有些名词作可数名词，指的是具体的东西，而作不可数名词，指的则是一般的东西。比较：A good education is expensive. 受良好教育的费用很高。Education should be free. 教育应当免费。Try not to make a noise. 尽量别弄出声来。Noise is a kind of pollution. 噪音是一种污染。 12、pleased adj. 高兴，喜欢，满意，(1) 跟不定式Helen was pleased to see him. 海伦很高兴见到他。(2) 跟介词短语They were pleased with the little girl. 他们很喜欢那个小女孩。I'm very pleased with what he has done. 我对他做的事很满意。He was pleased at being chosen to captain the team. 他很高兴被选为该队的队长。What's she looking so pleased about? 她为什么看上去那么高兴？(3) 跟从句I'm very pleased you've decided to come. 我很高兴你决定了要来。(4) 不跟特别结构I always feel pleased when I've finished a piece of work. 每当我完成了一项工作，我总是感到高兴。 13、they 指代上一句中的 the new schools。 14、by：到（某时候），在（某时候）前。 本文来源：https://www.wddqw.com/doc/faa34541b14e852459fb5703.html