Unit6

1 Unit 6Text A The British Educational System 英国的教育体系 All over the world，the mention of English education suggests a picture of“public schools”， 一提起英国教育呈现在人们面前的往往是一幅“公学”的画面，and it suggests in particular the names of certain very famous instructions—Eton，Oxford and Cambridge;特别是一些著名的教育机构——伊顿、牛津、剑桥等；but People do not always realize what place these institutions occupy in the who1e educational system．但是人们往往不了解这些机构在英国整个教育体系中所占的位置。Oxford and Cambridge are universities each haying about 12，000 students out of a total of over 250，000 students at all British universities．牛津和剑桥两所大学分别拥有大约12 000在校生，而全英在校大学生的总数超过250 000。Eton is a public school，and the best known of the public schools.伊顿是所公学，也是最著名的公学。which，in spite of their name，are not really public at all，尽管名字叫公学，其实并不是真正意义上的公立学校， but independent and private secondary schools taking boys from the age thirteen to eighteen years．而是所独立的私立中学。它只招收13-18岁的男孩。The public schools in reality form a very small part of the whole system of secondary education；实际上，公学仅仅是英国整个中学教育体系中的一小部分；only about one out of forty English boys goes to a public school，and one out of 1，500 goes to Eton．在英国仅有1／40的男孩能进入公学读书，而1 500个中只有1个能上伊顿公学。 Apart from the so-called public schools there is a complete system of state primary and secondary education．除了所谓的公学之外，英国还有一套完整的国立小学、中学教育体系，which resembles in general the state education in most other countries．这同大部分国家的国立教育大体相似。A11 children must, by law , receive fulltime education between the ages of five and sixteen．法律规定所有5～16岁的孩子必须接受全日制教育，Any child may attend，without paying fees， a school provided by the public authorities, and the great majority attend such schools．任何孩子都可免费到由政府当局开办的学校读书。They may continue，still without paying fees，until they are eighteen．大部分孩子都上这类学校，并且可以一直读到18岁。In presenting an overall picture of English education it would be reasonable to concentrate on the state system alone and refer briefly to the public schools．要全面介绍英国的教育，应单独集中介绍其国立教育体系，同时简要介绍其公学教育。However，a1though the public schools are not important numerically，然而，尽管从数量上讲公学所占的地位不算重要，they have been England’s most peculiar and characteristic contribution to educational methods and they have an immense influence on the whole educational practice and on the English social structure．但它对英国的教育方法做出了最特殊、最具特色的贡献，对整个英国的教育实践和社会结构产生了重大的影响。For a hundred years most men in leading positions in banking ,insurance ,high finance，some industries ,the army，the church 2

and conservative politics have been educated at public schools．近百年来在银行、保险、高级金融、工业、军队、宗教、保守政见等领域的顶尖人才大都曾在公学接受过教育。Things are beginning to change but it will take time．尽管近来情况开始有所变化，但短时间内变化还不明显。Among the universities Oxford and Cambridge hold a dominant position．牛津大学和剑桥大学在大学教育领域处于领先地位。Of cabinet ministers who went to universities，nearly all went to one or the other of these two，and to Oxford in particular．读过大学的内阁大臣中几乎都上过这两所大学中的某一所，特别是牛津大学。 A student who receives further full—time education after the age of eighteen, either at a university or at a teacher’s training college or at some other college giving training of a special type，can usually receive a grant from the public authorities to cover his expenses，or most of them，unless his parents have a large income．学生满18岁后，若要进一步接受全日制教育，可以选择读综合性大学、教师训练学院或者其他提供专门培训的学院。政府当局通常可以提供给学生助学金以支付其全部或大部分学费，除非学生的父母收人很高不需要资助。But the number of young people who can enter universities is limited by the capacity of universities， which is less than enough to take all the young people who have the basic qualifications for university admission．但是由于受到大学容量的限制，上大学的青年人的数量是有限的，这些大学的数量不能容纳下所有具备基本入学资格的学生。In practice，therefore，entry to universities is competitive．因此实事上，上大学是有竞争性的。But university degree courses are also available at polytechnics，and entry to the Open University is less restricted．但是学生还可能选择上工科学院的学位课程，而且上函授大学所受限制则小得多。 The academic year begins after the summer holidays and is divided into three“terms”． 每学年的开始从暑假后的学期算，并且分为三个“学期”， with the intervals between them formed by the Christmas and Easter holidays．由圣诞节、复活节两个假期间隔开来。The exact dates of the holidays vary from area to area．各学校的具体放假时间因地区差异而不同，being in general about two weeks at Christmas and Easter，大致上圣诞节、复活节各两周的假，plus often a week or more at Whitsun，and six weeks in the summer，beginning rather late．加上通常一周或更长一点的圣灵降临节假期和六周的暑假，暑假开始得相当晚。Schools outside the state system decide on their own holiday dates，不受国家教育体制限制的学校自行决定放假时间，generally taking a month off at Christmas and Easter and eight weeks in the summer ．通常是圣诞节、复活节各放一个月，暑假放八周。The three terms are not everywhere called by the same names；这三个学期在不同的地区叫法不完全一样。indeed some schools call the January—March period“the Spring Term”， 实际上一些学校称一至三月学期为“春季学期”，others use“Spring Term”for the period April—July．另外一个称呼是称四至七月学期为“春季期”。Some call the January term“Winter term”(which is