Supplementary material

TEXT 1

GRADES

There are various approaches to grading, or giving grades. A hundred points is the maximum you can get for any test or exam except the special entrance exam, the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test)— each section on it has 800 points.

For some teachers if you get 90 or above on a test it's an A, 80 or above a B, 70 or above a C, 65 or above a D, and anything below 65 an F. In smaller classes though, the teachers like to grade more competitively. The top student gets the A, the next two Bs and the rest Cs or lower. The bell curve sets percentages for this so it can be used on a big class too. The teacher, not having to make an on-the-spot decision about a student's grade like on an oral exam, carefully reads all the exams, then arranges them in order from best to worst. He gives the top one or two an A, the next — roughly ten percent — B, the majority — Cs, about another ten percent — Ds and the bottom two students — an F. This is what is called grading on a bell curve. It means that getting 87 answers right could be the lowest B if the test was too easy or the highest A if the test was too hard. On a good test no one should get 100 — after all, the teacher is supposed to know more! But the grades for the bell curve should theoretically fall in the percentage markers with only a few students above 90, ten percent in the 80s, the majority in the 70s, ten percent in the 60s and a few below 60.

Vocabulary to the Text.

Grade – амер. оценка

Various – различный

Approach – подход

Point – пункт

Except – кроме

Scholastic - учебный

Aptitude – склонность

Section – раздел

Above – выше

Below – ниже

Competitively – соревновательно

Top - верхний

Rest – остальной

Curve – кривой

On- the-spot – на местах

Decision – решение

Oral – устный

In order – по порядку

Roughly – грубо, приблизительно

Majority – большинство

Another – еще, другой

Bottom – нижний

Aile –

Grading – разбиение (по группам)

suppose – предполагать

Fall – падать

Comprehension Check.

Ex. Answer the following questions.

1. What kind of grades can be given by a teacher?

2. How many points does each of them mean?

3. How is this type of grading called?

Topics to Discuss.

1. Difference between grading systems in Russia and America.

2. Advantages of 100-point grading.

TEXT 2

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