UNIT

2
Education
vocabulary
Reading
Writing
Grammar
word families
scanning for names, dates, and times
capitalization and punctuation
simple present

Unit Question

Do students spend too

much time in school?
A
Work with a partner. Complete these statements about students.
Then discuss your ideas with your classmates.

1. Students spend about hours in school each day.

2. Students spend about hours doing homework each day.
3. Students spend about months in school each year.

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 READING

 Reading Comparing Schools in Three Countries

UNIT You are going to read a magazine article about schools in different countries.
OBJECTIVE
Use the article to find information and ideas for your Unit Assignment.

Preview the Reading

Vocabulary A.  VOCABULARY   Here are some words from the reading. Read the
Skill Review
sentences. Circle what the underlined words mean.
As you learn
new vocabulary, 1. My classmates study during the academic year.
pay attention to
descriptive adjectives. a. school b. summer
For example, some
descriptive adjectives 2. Students attend school for seven hours every day.
to use with the
noun class are easy, a. leave b. go to
difficult, interesting,
boring, first, and last. 3. I take a one-hour break at lunch time.
a. rest b. exercise
4. The class lasts from 9:00 to 10:00.
a. begins b. starts and ends
5. During study period, students do homework or read.
a. special study time b. discussion time
6. There are three terms in the school year: fall, winter, and spring.
a. time periods b. months
7. Some students wear uniforms to school. Everyone dresses the same.
a. backpacks b. special clothing
8. My family usually goes to the beach for summer vacation.
a. holiday time b. winter time

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 ONLINE B. Go online for more practice with the vocabulary.

C.  PREVIEW   Look at the title of the magazine article and the maps.
What three countries will the article be about?

Tip for Success D.  QUICK WRITE   Think about your school. Answer these questions. Use
The word school this section for your Unit Assignment.
can refer to any
educational institute. 1. How long is the school day?
The words college
and university 2. How long is the school year?
often have the
same meaning.
3. When do students have vacation?

WORK WITH THE READING

A. Read the magazine article and find information about education in
different countries.

Comparing Schools in Three Countries

1 Do students spend too much time in don’t go to school on Wednesday afternoon,
school? We asked some students to share but we attend school on Saturday morning.
their ideas about school in their countries. School on Saturday morning isn’t very fun!”

FRANCE KENYA

France Kenya

2 Marie lives in France. She says, “My 3 Samuel is from Kenya. He says, “Our academic
school year lasts from August to June with year starts in June. The year has three terms, and
four seven-week terms. We have one or two each term lasts for 13 weeks. That feels like a
weeks of vacation after each term, and we long time. We get a one-month break after each
have a two-month vacation in the summer. term. The school day in Kenya begins at 8 a.m.
The school day in France is from 8 a.m. to and ends at 4 p.m. Students pay for school. It’s
4 p.m. with a two-hour lunch break. Students not free like in some other countries.

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 We wear uniforms to school each day. All the 4 Linda lives in the United States. She says,
uniforms are the same color, so they’re really “School begins in late August and ends in
boring. We study many subjects, but I think the June. Then we have a nine-week summer
best part of school is soccer in the afternoon.” vacation. We attend school about 180 days
each year. The school day is about seven hours
long. I have six classes and one study period.
I like math best. Every night, I do homework
for about four hours. I don’t have time to
relax because my schedule is very busy!”
USA
5 Marie, Samuel, and Linda all think they spend
too much time in school. But the amount of
time they spend in school is very different.
USA

B. Read the statements. Write T (true) or F (false). Then correct each false
statement to make it true.

T 1. Marie lives in France.

2. There is a one-hour lunch break at school in France.
3. In France, there are four terms in the school year.
4. Students in France go to school from Monday to Saturday.
5. The school year in Kenya begins in January.
6. Kenyan schools are free.
7. Students in Kenya wear uniforms.
8. Students in the United States begin school in October.
9. In the United States, there is a seven-week summer vacation.

C. Answer these questions.

1. How many weeks of school are there in France?

2. How many weeks of school are there in Kenya?
3. How many hours of class are there each day in Kenya?
4. How many hours of class are there each day in the United States?
5. Which country has the shortest school day?

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 D. Complete the sentences with information from the article.

1. Students in don’t have a long summer vacation.

They have one-month breaks during the year.

2. Students in France have a two-month every summer.

3. In Kenya, students wear to school.

4. Marie isn’t happy about going to school on .

5. Linda takes classes every day.

6. Linda spends hours studying every night.

ONLINE E. Go online to read Online High Schools and check your comprehension.

Building Vocabulary Word families

Word families are groups of similar words. Word families can include nouns,
verbs, and adjectives. Learn words in word families, and learn the part of
speech of each word.

Noun Verb Adjective

help help helpful
instructor instruct
student study studious

Do you need some help? (noun)

I can help you tomorrow. (verb)
Tip for Success
My teacher is very helpful. (adjective)
A vocabulary log is
a list of new words.
Use a vocabulary A. Label the underlined words. Write N (noun), V (verb), and Adj (adjective).
log to remember
new words. Write Adj
each new word and 1. Our school principal is a kind person. He is very friendly with the students.
a sentence with
the word. You can
make your log in a 2. My cousin helps me with my homework. He’s helpful.
notebook, on note
cards, or on your
computer or tablet. 3. My brother is very studious. He studies about four hours every night.

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 4. I study at a math academy on Saturdays. I enjoy the classes there.

5. Our academic year starts in September.

6. For me, the most enjoyable part of the day is lunch.

Critical Thinking Tip B. Complete the chart with words from Activity A. (An X means that the
In Activity B, you word doesn’t exist or that you don’t need to know it.)
classify words
by the part of
speech. Classifying Noun Verb Adjective
information helps
you see patterns so 1. academy X academic
you can understand
information better. 2. difficulty X
For example,
nouns often end 3. X enjoyable
in –ty: difficulty,
personality, university, 4. friend X friendly
popularity, activity.
5. help
6. intelligence X
7. study

ONLINE C. Go online for more practice with word families.

Reading Skill Scanning for names, dates, and times

You scan a text to find information quickly. When you scan, move your eyes
quickly over the passage. Only look for the information you need.
Use these techniques to scan a reading.
1. To find information about a person, place, or country, look for capital letters.
Brian, New York, Egypt

2. To find information about a day or month, look for capital letters.

Monday, October

3. To find information about dates and times, look for numbers

and abbreviations.
in 2009, at 8:30 a.m., five hours

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 A. Scan the two paragraphs. Complete these steps.

1. Underline the names of the countries.

2. Circle the number of days in the school year.
3. Put two lines under the times of day and months of the year.

Schools in Germany
1 Jens lives in Germany. He says, “We
start school at 7:30 in the morning. That’s
too early for me! Classes end at 1:30 p.m.,
so our school day is only six hours. Our
school day is pretty short, but our school
year is really long. The term begins in
September and lasts until July. We take a
short vacation in the summer—about six
weeks. We study for 200 days each year. But
I enjoy school. I study with my good friends,
and we learn a lot of interesting things. I
think our time in school is about right.”
students in Germany
Schools Around the World
2 Around the world, students spend different
numbers of days in school. For example,
students in France study for 170 days each
year, but in Australia, the school year is
200 days long. The number of hours each
day is also different from country to country.
The school day in France and Kenya is eight
hours long and lasts from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. But
students in France get a two-hour break for
lunch, so they only study for six hours a day.
Students in Spain start school at 8:00 a.m.
and attend class until 3:00 p.m. Their school
day is seven hours long. In Germany,
the school day is only six hours long. students in Kenya

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 B. Answer these questions.

1. How long is the school year in France?

2. How long is the school day in Germany?
3. Which country has the shortest school year?
4. Which countries begin school at 8:00 a.m.?
5. Which country has school for seven hours a day?

ONLINE C. Go online for more practice with scanning for names, dates, and times.

WRITE What You Think

A. Discuss these questions with a partner or in a group.

1. When do students at your school have vacation?

2. What time does school start and end every day?
3. What do students usually do during lunch?
4. Do students have a lot of homework?

B. Choose two questions from Activity A and write the answers. Look
back at your Quick Write on page 23. Think about what you learned.

Question:
My answer:


Question:
My answer:


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 WRITING

UNIT At the end of this unit, you are going to write about a school. Your
OBJECTIVE
sentences will include information from the reading, the unit video,
and your own ideas.

Writing Skill Capitalization and punctuation

When you write, check for correct capitalization and punctuation.

Capitalization Rules
1. Capitalize the first word in a statement or question.
I have a short study period every afternoon.
Do young students usually wear uniforms?

2. Capitalize proper nouns: the names of people, places, languages, or things.

My name is Tim. I’m from San Diego. I attend City College. I speak English.

3. Capitalize the days of the week and the months of the year.
Classes start on Monday, October 12.

4. Capitalize I, even if it does not begin a sentence.

My friend and I went to class.

Punctuation Rules
1. End every sentence with a period (.).
The high school has difficult academic classes.

2. End every question with a question mark (?).

How much vacation time do you have every year?

A. Correct the mistakes in capitalization and punctuation.

1. are there many students in your classes

2. my exam is on february 3
3. the team practices every saturday for three hours
4. my classmate is from italy
5. our new teacher is from cairo, egypt
6. when is your lunch break
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 7. do you study in the library or at home
8. my cousin attends hong kong university
9. nour and majda both speak arabic
10. i work at super burger, and i wear a uniform

ONLINE B. Go online for more practice with capitalization and punctuation.

Grammar Simple present

The simple present describes habits, facts, or feelings.
Tip for Success
Affirmative statements
Remember to use the
base verb + -s or -es subject verb
after he, she, and it.
I / You / We / They attend
school on Saturday.
He / She attends

Negative statements
subject do/does + not verb

do not
I / You / We / They
don’t
take a lunch break.
does not
He / She
doesn’t

Yes/No questions Short answers

do/does subject verb yes no

Do you study hard? Yes, I do. No, I don’t.

Does she have many friends? Yes, she does. No, she doesn’t.

Information questions Answers

wh- word do/does subject verb

What do you talk about? We talk about school.

Where does he live? He lives in Oman.
When does she call you? She calls me after dinner.

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 A. Complete each sentence to make it true for you. Use the correct form of
the verb in parentheses. Use the negative (don’t / doesn’t) if necessary.

1. I don’t go to school Monday through Friday.  (go)

2. At my school, students uniforms.  (wear)
3. I a one-hour lunch break.  (have)
4. A typical class about 50 minutes.  (last)
5. My best friend my school.  (attend)
6. I sports after school.  (play)
7. My English teacher us a test every Friday.  (give)

B. Write questions with Do or Does. Answer the questions. Then ask and
answer the questions with a partner.
1. you and your friends / study together
Do you and your friends study together? No, we don’t.
2. your teacher / talk to you about college

3. your best friend / speak English well

4. you / like academic courses

5. your school / have a vacation soon

6. you / enjoy math classes

7. your teacher / give a lot of homework

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 C. Read about Rika. There are six mistakes. Correct the mistakes.
The first one is done for you.

have
Do you has a busy academic life?

I do. My life at school is very busy.

My school start at 7:00 every day.
Classes last until 2:30 p.m. We not
have a long lunch break. We have
just 30 minutes, so we don’t have
much time to relax. We eat lunch in
the cafeteria. I enjoy my classes, but
they are difficult. My teachers are very
helpful. My science teacher often help
me after class. In the afternoon, I play
soccer. Our school have an excellent
soccer team. That is the best part of
my day. At night I does homework. Rika

D. Write questions. Then answer the questions.

1. When / Rika’s school / start?

When does Rika’s school start?
It starts at 7:00.
2. Where / Rika / eat lunch?


3. When / Rika’s science teacher / help her?

ONLINE E. Go online for more practice with the simple present.

F. Go online for the grammar expansion.

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 Unit Assignment Give information about a school

UNIT In this assignment, you are going to write about a school. Think about the
OBJECTIVE
Unit Question, “Do students spend too much time in school?” Use the reading,
the unit video, and your work in this unit. Look at the Self-Assessment checklist
on page 34.

ONLINE Go to the Online Writing Tutor for a writing model and alternate Unit Assignments.

A.  Brainstorm   What words do we use to talk about schools? Write

them in the chart. Then share your ideas with a partner.

Schedule/Time Classes Homework

busy large difficult

ONLINE B.  WRITE   Answer the questions about the school. Write complete
sentences. Use your  BRAINSTORM  chart to help you. Go to iQ Online
to use the Online Writing Tutor.

1. What kind of school are you writing about?

Writing Tip
Check your 2. When is the academic year?
prepositions.
• Use for + amount of 3. How long is the summer vacation?
time (for 6 hours).
• Use at + specific 4. How long is the school day?
time (at 3:00).
• Use on + day of the 5. What do you like about the school?
week (on Monday).
• Use in + month
(in July). 6. What do you dislike about going to school?
• Use from…to with
two times (from 7. How much time do students spend on homework each night?
8:00 to 3:00; from
January to June). 8. Do you think students spend too much time in school?

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 Track Your SUCCESS

Circle the words you have learned in this unit.

Nouns Verbs Adjectives

academy attend academic
break enjoy difficult
difficulty last enjoyable
help studious
intelligence  
study period
term
uniform
vacation

  Oxford 2000 keywords

  Academic Word List

Check (✓) the skills you learned. If you need more work on a skill, refer to the
page(s) in parentheses.

VOCABULARY I can recognize word families. (p. 25)

Reading I can scan for names, dates, and times. (p. 26)
WRITING I can edit my writing for capitalization and
punctuation. (p. 29)
GRAMMAR I can use the simple present in statements and
questions. (p. 30)

UNIT I can find information and ideas to write about

OBJECTIVE a school.

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