Просмотр содержимого документа
«Public schools: Eton.»
8. Read the text and answer the following questions
1. What is Eton famous for?
2. How do schoolchildren spend their free time?
PUBLIC SCHOOLS: ETON
Eton is one of the oldest and best-known public schools for boys, at the town of Eton, near Windsor, on the River Thames.
The school was founded in 1440.
Many famous people of Britain studied at Eton. The most famous of all Etonians is perhaps the Duke of Wellington victor of Waterloo and later Prime Minister. Twenty of Britain’s Prime Ministers were educated at Eton. There were future writers among the students from
Thomas Gray,
| Thomas Gray |
| Portrait by John Giles Eccardt, 1747–1748 |
| Born | 26 December 1716 Cornhill, London, England |
| Died | 30 July 1771 (aged 54) Cambridge, England |
| Occupation | Poet, historian |
| Alma mater | Peterhouse, Cambridge |
Percy Bysshe Shelly
| Percy Bysshe Shelley |
| Portrait of Shelley, by Alfred Clint (1829) |
| Born | 4 August 1792 Horsham, Sussex, England[1] |
| Died | 8 July 1822 (aged 29) Gulf of La Spezia, Kingdom of Sardinia (now Italy) |
| Occupation | Poet, dramatist, essayist, novelist |
| Alma mater | University College, Oxford (no degree) |
| Literary movement | Romanticism |
| Spouse | Harriet Westbrook (m. 1811; d. 1816) Mary Shelley (m. 1816) |
| |
| Signature | |
and Henry Fielding
| Henry Fielding |
| |
| Born | 22 April 1707 Sharpham, Somerset, England |
| Died | 8 October 1754 (aged 47) Lisbon, Kingdom of Portugal |
| Pen name | "Captain Hercules Vinegar", also some works published anonymously |
| Occupation | novelist, dramatist and magistrate |
| Nationality | English |
| Period | 1728–54 |
| Genre | satire, picaresque |
| Literary movement | Enlightenment, Augustan Age |
| Relatives | Sarah Fielding, John Fielding |
to Aldous Huxley
| Aldous Huxley |
| Huxley, 1954 |
| Born | Aldous Leonard Huxley 26 July 1894 Godalming, Surrey, United Kingdom |
| Died | 22 November 1963 (aged 69) Los Angeles County, California, US |
| Resting place | Compton, Surrey, United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Writer, novelist |
| Education | Eton College |
| Alma mater | Balliol College, Oxford |
| Notable works | Brave New World Island Point Counter Point The Doors of Perception The Perennial Philosophy |
and George Orwell.
| George Orwell |
| Orwell's press card portrait, 1943 |
| Born | Eric Arthur Blair 25 June 1903 Motihari, Bengal Presidency, British India (present-day East Champaran, Bihar, India) |
| Died | 21 January 1950 (aged 46) University College Hospital, London, England |
| Resting place | Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire, England |
| Pen name | George Orwell |
| Occupation | Novelist, essayist, journalist, critic |
| Alma mater | Eton College |
| Genre | Dystopia, roman à clef, satire |
| Subject | Anti-fascism, anti-Stalinism, democratic socialism, literary criticism, news, polemic |
Among the scientists are Robert Boyle,
| Robert Boyle FRS |
| |
| Born | 25 January 1627 Lismore Castle, Lismore, County Waterford, Ireland |
| Died | 31 December 1691 (aged 64) London, England |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Education | Eton College |
| Known for | |
| Scientific career |
| Fields | Physics, chemistry |
| Notable students | Robert Hooke |
| Influences | |
Sir John Herschel,
| Sir John Herschel, 1st Bt |
| 1867 photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron |
| Born | 7 March 1792 Slough, Buckinghamshire, England |
| Died | 11 May 1871 (aged 79) Collingwood, near Hawkhurst, Kent, England |
| Resting place | Westminster Abbey |
| Residence | Slough Cape Town |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Eton College |
| Alma mater | St John's College, Cambridge |
| Known for | The invention of photography |
| Spouse(s) | Margaret Brodie Stewart |
and sir Joseph Banks.
| Sir Joseph Banks Bt GCB PRS |
| Sir Joseph Banks, as painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1773 |
| Born | 24 February 1743 (13 February O.S.) 30 Argyll Street, London |
| Died | 19 June 1820 (aged 77) Spring Grove House, Isleworth, London, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
| Known for | Voyage of HMS Endeavour, exploration of Botany Bay |
| Scientific career |
| Fields | Botany |
| Institutions | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |
Boys usually stay at Eton for five years (between the ages of 13-18). There are two major libraries: College library and School library. The tutorial system allows pupils to choose their own academic tutors to supervise their work.
Sport plays an extremely important part in the life of most Etonians. The principal games are rugby and football, cricket and rowing, athletics, swimming, golf, tennis, fencing, judo and karate are all very popular.
The boys are offered a very wide range of opportunities for spare-time activities: art, sculpture, poetry and printmaking, woodwork, metalwork and silverwork; almost any musical instrument can be learnt; fifty societies, run by boys themselves, cater for enormous number of interests.
9. Let’s discuss the school education systems in our country and in the English speaking countries:
- What you like or don’t like in this or that school?
- What you do at school and after school?
- What you remember from your early schooling?
10. Read and discuss the text.
a. “Going to school in America today”