Reading Aloud 14

Home and school education

When you get ready for school in the morning, what do you do? Do you put on your school uniform, pack your bag and dash to catch a bus or train? That's why home classrooms can save time. This is particularly important for students who live in remote areas. Instead of spending hours on the road, they can use the time for other meaningful activities, like reading books.

Another advantage is flexibility. Students do not have to follow strict school hours, so their lesson schedules are easy to change. Students can study when they feel most energetic and can concentrate best on their lessons.

But home classrooms require students to be disciplined. If they are lazy, no one can help them to monitor their schedule.

Among the drawbacks of home classrooms is that such a system makes it hard for students to join sports or other extra-curricular activities. They miss out on the fun and benefits of learning to compete and co-operate with others.

In conclusion, we can see the best form of education is a mix of home classroom and school. If students attend school part-time and study at home part-time, they will enjoy the benefits of both.

Ng Po Kuen (6B)
South China Morning Post ( April 14, 2008 )

Vocabulary

1. uniform (n) 制服
2. remote (adj) 遙遠的
3. flexibility (n) 靈活性
4. schedules (n) 時間表
5. energetic (adj) 精力充沛的
6. concentrate (v) 集中
7. disciplined (adj) 有紀律
8. monitor (v) 監控
9. extra-curricular activities (n) 課外活動
10. co-operate (v) 合作

Useful Sentences

1. ready for 準備好
She was ready for a new challenge.

2. instead of 而不是
Instead of being annoyed, he seemed quite pleased.

3. concentrate on 把注意力集中於
Doctors are aiming to concentrate more on prevention than cure.

4. drawback of / to doing sth 缺點
The main drawback to these products is that they tend to be too salty.

5. miss out (on sth) 錯失獲利
Prepare food in advance to ensure you don't miss out on the fun!

6. reap the benefits of sth 得享某事的好處
We're just beginning to reap the benefits of all our hard work.