Unit 2: Education
Read the following text. In order to demonstrate your comprehension of its content, you’re expected to
answer the set of questions that follows.
The text
1- With his serge suit grey with dust and his wrists sweated, my father came home everyday from the
mine dog-tired. He gulped down his supper and almost immediately fell into a dead-like sleep. But most
of the times, he would wake up in the night hollering out of a terrible nightmare of rocks burying him. His
face looked so pale and his breathing was tortured by asthma.
2- I had gone through the grades at the rural school but my father had not yet found any way o send
me to the town. One day, my father grasped my hands warmly and sighed and said: “listen my son, it’s
my own duty to help you finish your studies, and I’ll try my last chance. I’ll work as a shot-firer for four
extra dollars a day will enable me to send you to school in the town. I wish you’ll be a doctor or some
body, but never a coal-digger like me!”.
3- My mother never knew the relief of tears. Few days after my father had accepted his new job, he
had a fatal accident by which he licked the bucket. I felt bitterly sinful and my own sin had been
responsible for what had happened to my father. Tears flooding her pale face, my mother took my face
between her shaky hands and said: “you’ve got to be our man now, Larry! I want you to be a fighter like
your father.” I readily promised to be one henceforth.
4- I could never forget that day for it was a watershed in my life. I had determined to make a start
and earn my family’s living as an apprentice with a master mechanic in the town. I kissed my mother and
my sister Madge goodbye promising to see them as soon as I got enough money. Before I left, I had had
an apologizing look at the graveyard where my father and my four brothers lay side by side. “Sorry father
for leaving school. My mother and my sister needed me more than eve,” I said.
Adapted from John Conroy’s The Disinherited
I) Reading Comprehension
1/ Tick (γ) the right option
The best title for the text can be:
a) A tragic death
b) Save the children
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c) Poverty hinders education
2/ Complete the following table with information from the text.
Name Problem Cause His father’s dream
Larry ………………………….. …………………………. …………………………..
3/ the following statements are false. Correct them with details from the text
a) Larry lives in an urban area. (§ 2)
……………………………………………………………………………………………….......................
b) Larry’s father died because of asthma. (§ 3)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
c) Larry apologized to his dead father for his past mistakes (§ 4)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
4/ Why did Larry feel guilty as soon as he heard of the death of his father?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
5/ What did Larry do to help his family?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
6/ What do the underlined words in the text refer to?
a) “me” (§ 2) refers to ………………………………………………………………..………...........
b) “one” (§ 4) refers to ……………………………………………………………………….............
7/ Find words in the text that nearly mean:
a) shouting / yelling (§ 1)= ...................................................................................................................
b) trembling through weakness (§3) = ..................................................................................................
8/ Match each paragraph with the appropriate title:
Title Paragraph
a) The father passed away
b) The father’s exhaustion
c) Larry’s decision
d) The father’s dream
9/ Complete this sentence with a detail from the text:
In addition to his job in the mine, the father decided to work as a shot-firer in order to
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
10/ Focus on paragraph 3 and pick out a sentence expressing
a desire :
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
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11/ Do you think that Larry took the right decision when he dropped out of school? Why? Why
not?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
II) LANGUAGE
Task 1: Match a word from “Box 1”to one in “ Box 2” to obtain collocations.
Box 1 Answers Box 1
established – ……………………………………………………. areas –
preparatory – ……………………………………………………. curriculum –
serious – ……………………………………………………. schools –
adult – ……………………………………………………. education –
outstanding – ……………………………………………………. year –
deprived – ……………………………………………………. numeracy –
pioneer - ……………………………………………………. weaknesses -
basic ……………………………………………………. students
Task 2: Fill in the blanks with 8 words from the list
failure – with – several – unsuccessful – leave - but – graduate – low – degrees - living
Dropping out of school is an issue faced by many teenagers today. It results from ………………….
……… main causes. Most of the students who ………………………….. school at an early age have
poor families who are either unemployed or employed but with ………………………… income, the fact
that makes parents unable to provide them………………..…………. school necessities. Sometimes,
when those parents are unemployed, their children quit school in order to earn a ……………….….……,
to help support the family. Other students drop out as they have repeated …….…............. or are
suspended. They think that school is a waste of time, and that is no good for the future. It is true that those
drop outs face more problems in their lives than those who ……………………… First of all they depend
on their parents’ income as they end in by being unemployed. As they grow in, they discover that their
choice was ………………….., so they turn to drugs, theft and crime as a revenge from society which
they blame for their misfortune.
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Task 3: Match the words or expressions to their synonyms or definitions
A B A B
1) enrolment a) connect a computer system 1 ………………………………….
2) boast b) refused 2 ………………………………….
3) attend c) registration 3 ………………………………….
4) bullying d) frighten or hurt a weaker person 4 ………………………………….
5) log on e) make better 5 ………………………………….
6) denied f) be present 6 ………………………………….
Task 4: Use the words in the following box and find 6 pairs of antonyms. There are 2 extra
items.
active – speaking – educate – success – lazy – attend – teaching – temporary – increase – texting –
failure – leave – learning - permanent
a) …………………… ≠ …………………… d) …………………… ≠ ……………………
b) …………………… ≠ …………………… e) …………………… ≠ ……………………
c) …………………… ≠ …………………… f) …………………… ≠ ……………………
Task 5: Express the sentences below differently using the words given between parentheses.
1) Although he has a lot of family problems, Patrick passed all his exams. (despite)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
Remember
Although + sentence clause (subject + verb)
Despite + noun clause
2) Patricia will fail all her exams if her teachers do not support her. (unless)
……………………………………………………………………………………………………......
………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Remember
Unless = if not
3) The father is very poor. He can’t send his child to school (too ……. to)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
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Remember
Too + Adj + to
Task6: Check the use of some prepositions. Match a sentence part in A with its
corresponding completions in B. there is an extra item in B.
A B
1) Reading is an essential skill a) to travelling from one place to another.
2) Books can tell people b) with problems on the social play ground.
3) They also provide them c) about others’ experiences.
4) They take them to places they have d) to inspire, enlighten and inform
never visited and e) in our life.
5) They make them able to deal f) about the simple joys of reading.
6) In fact, reading a good book is equivalent g) with necessary information.
7) Reading books transforms weak writers h) to times they have never experienced.
8) However, many people have forgotten i) into good ones.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Task7: complete with the right word form
VERB NOUN ADJECTIVE
assess ………………………… …………………………
enroll ………………………… …………………………
×××××××××××××× vocation …………………………
………………………… separation …………………………
achieve ………………………… …………………………
succeed ………………………… …………………………
believe ………………………… …………………………
commit ………………………… …………………………
………………………… nutrition …………………………
deny ………………………… …………………………
attend ………………………… …………………………
Task 8: Fill in the blanks with words from the list below
rather - medium - approaches – emphasize - as - assessment - currently - differentiated
Personalized learning is not a pedagogic theory nor a coherent set of teaching ………..……………,but an
idea that is struggling for an identity . As Dr.Michael Fullen would suggest ,the concept is most
commonly associated in the United States with ………..……………, instruction .While Dr.David
Hargreaves ,a key architect of the idea , refers to ‘personalizing’ learning ………..……………, than
‘personalized’ learning, in order to ………..……………, that is a process not a product .Given that
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language is the fundamental ………..……………, for the social construction of meaning , the term is
itself ………..……………, under construction . To give it a new flavor from differentiated instruction
and ………..……………, for learning , the terminology is often positioned ………..……………,
uniquely in step with the 21st. century .
WRITING
Now ! let’s check your writing skills
In your exam, you may encounter one of the following types of tasks
Task 1: Complete the following dialogue with the necessary utterances
Tom: Good afternoon Jim. How are you?
Jim: Ehh………………………………………………………………………………………………
Tom: What’s the matter?
Jim: Haven’t you heard about the results? Of course, I failed my literature exam as you kept all my
review sheets with you.
Tom: …………………………………………………………………………………………………
Jim: No, you don’t need to apologize. It’s my own fault.
Tom: On the contrary. It’s me whom to blame. Anyway, how did your father receive your result?
Jim: Of course …………………………………………………………. I couldn’t even defend myself and
tell him that my review papers were with you.
Tom: Oh. I shouldn’t have forgotten your sheets.
Jim: Don’t cry over spilt milk.
Tom: Do you know that I’ve learnt a lot from this lesson?
Jim: ………………………………………………………………………………….………………..?
Tom: I’m going to become more responsible and self-reliant.
Jim: All right.
Tom: …………………………………………………………………………………………………..?
Jim: Yes, I’ve already forgiven you. Don’t feel guilty, bye for now.
Task 2: Develop each group of words / phrases into a correct sentence. Do not change the
order of words / phrases.
a) American system / education / is different / the education / systems of / many / countries in the
world.
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………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
b) There isn’t any / centralize / Ministry of Education / standardize / educate / policy nationwide.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………............................
c) Each locality / the fifty states / have / control / the schools in / district.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
d) For that reasons / It be/ very difficult / describe / American system / the way it / work.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
e) The whole system / differ / one place / another especially / in terms / grades / exams.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Task 3: Use the following information to write a frour-line paragraph about the Tunisian
schooling system.
schooling period : 13 years ……………………………………………………………
3 cycles : primary (grades 1-6) ……………………………………………………………
Preparatory (grades 7-9) ……………………………………………………………
Secondary (grades 1-4) ……………………………………………………………
Comuplsory education : 9 years ……………………………………………………………
+ free of charge. ……………………………………………………………
Over 19 : University ……………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………
Task4: Use the following information to write a biography of the famous American poet,
Robert Frost
Birth : (1874) – Place: San Francisco/California
Live /study: England
Career(s): several jobs, mainly a schoolteacher
1900 : settle on a farm
Main topic of his poetry: man’s relationship with nature
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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When you live for a strong
purpose, then hard -work
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isn’t an
option. It’s a necessity
