Last year I had a wonderful experience. I went on a student exchange to Japan. It was an exciting time of my life and I learned many things about the school system in Japan. I was in Grade 11, which is second year of high school in Japan, but I was younger than most of my classmates. That’s because Japanese children enter first year of elementary school (小学) in April following their sixth birthday. I started school when I was still five years old.
In Japan, Children attend elementary school for six years, where they study Japanese, arithmetic, science, social studies, music, crafts, physical education, and home economics (simple cooking and sewing skills). During their three years in middle school, English is added to this list. Most schools have access to computers and the Internet.
The classes in my school seemed rather big to me, around 30 students in a typical high school class. We ate lunch in the classroom, instead of a cafeteria and enjoyed a healthy, nutritious meal prepared by the school or by a local “school lunch centre” instead of eating the same, dry sandwiches every day. I really like the Japanese interpretation of school lunches. I also enjoyed the field trips and activities. At Japanese schools, there are many school events during the year, such as field day when students compete in tug-of-war, field trips, and arts and cultural festivals.
The writer went to Japan _____ last year.
A.to visit his family memebers | B.to finish his high school there |
C.to study as an exchange student | D.to do research on school system in Japan |
Children in Japan may start their elementary school at the age of ____.
A.5 | B.6 | C.7 | D.11 |
Japanese students start to learn English _____.
A. before they start their school year | B.when they are in elementary school |
C.when they are in middle school | D.when they are in high school |
In the writer’s country, there are normally _____ students in a high school class.
A.less than 30 | B.exactly 30 | C.more than 30 | D.Not certain |
In the writer’s country, students probably _____.
A.have lunch in the classroom | B.have different lunch every day |
C.have lunch at home | D.have sandwiches for lunch |