The general pattern of education in the USA eight-year elementary school, followed by a four-year high school. This has been called 8-4 plan organizations It is proceeded, in many localities, by nursery school and kindergartens. It is followed by a four-year college professional schools. This traditional pattern, however, has been varied in many different ways. The 6-3-3 plan consists of a six-year elementary school, a three-year junior high school, and a three-year senior high school. Another variation is a 6-6 plan organization, with a six-year elementary school followed by a six-year secondary school.

American education provides a program for children, beginning at the age of 6 and continuing up to the age of 16 in some of the states, and to 18 in others.

The elementary school in the United States is generally cohsi-dered to include the first six or eight grades of the common-school system, depending upon the organization that has been accepted for the secondary school. It has been called the "grade school" or the "grammar school".

There is no single governmental agency to prescribe for the American school system, different types of organization and of curriculum are tried out.

The length of the school year varies among the states. Wide variation exists also in the length of the school day. A common practice is to have school in session from 9:00 to 12:00 in the morning and from 1:00 to 3:30 in the afternoon, Monday through Friday. The school day for the lower grades is often from 30 minutes to an hour shorter. Most schools require some homework to be done by elementary pupils.

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UKRAINE AND GREAT BRITAIN

Both Ukraine and Great Britain lie in Europe, but Ukraine is situated on the European continent and Great Britain is separated from the continent by the English channel. In fact Britain is a sea country. It lies on the crossways of the sea routes to the different parts of the world. Great Britain is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the north-west, by the North Sea in the east, and by the Irish Sea in the west.

Ukraine is a landlocked country. The major water bodies bordering it are the Black Sea and the Azov Sea in the south. It lies on the crossways of the land routes from the east to the west and from the north to the south, though Ukraine is larger than Great Britain. The area of Great Britain is 24,500 square kilometers, and the area of Ukraine is about 604,000 square kilometers. In both countries there are a lot of mountains. In Great Britain there are the Pennines and the Cambrian mountains. In Ukraine we have the Carpathians and the Crimean mountains.

There are a lot of rivers in both countries. In Great Britain they are not very long or deep. The largest rivers in Ukraine are the Dniepro, the Dniester, and the Southern Bug. The Dniper is navigated by large ships. In Great Britain the Thames is wide and deep enough for large ships. The climate in Ukraine is continental. We have frosty winters and sometimes rainy summers. The climate of Great Britain is mild and damp. The winters are not too cold and seldom frosty, and summers are not too hot. The climate is moderated by ocean breezes.

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GREAT BRITAIN TODAY

Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy. The British constitution is not a single document. It consists partly of statutes (laws passed by Parliament) and of documents such as the Magna Carta (a charter passed in 1215 to limit the monarch's power). It also includes common law (laws based on custom and supported in the courts). Much of the Constitution is not even written. These unwritten parts include many important ideas and practices that have developed over the years.

Queen Elizabeth II is Britain's head of state. Her powers are largely ceremonial, however, and a Cabinet of ministers actually rules the country. The Cabinet is responsible to Parliament, which makes the laws of GB.

The Parliament consists of the monarch, the House of Commons, and the House of Lords. The queen must approve all bills passed by Parliament before they become laws, but no monarch has rejected a bill since the early 1700's. The prime minister, who is usually the leader of the political party with the most seats in the House of Commons, serves as the head of government. The monarch appoints the prime minister after each general election. The prime minister selects about 100 ministers to head governmental offices and chooses the Cabinet.

GB is a densely populated country, and about 93 per cent of the people live in urban areas. English is the official language, but some people in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland speak their national language.

Most of the British are descendants of the many early people who invaded GB, including the Celts, Romans, Angles, Saxons, Scandinavians, and Normans. However, since the late 1950's, many immigrants from Commonwealth countries have settled in GB. Their arrival has created housing and racial problems in the country's crowded urban areas.

There are many divisions in British life. Scotland and England have their national churches, and there are separate legal and educational systems in England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. For centuries, the British people were also separated by a rigid class system. Most of these class barriers were greatly reduced during World War II.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Northern Ireland consists of the north-eastern section of the island of Ireland. It is often called Ulster. Ulster was the name of a large province of British-controlled Ireland until 1920. In 1920, Great Britain separated Northern Ireland from the rest of Ireland in order to create separate governments for the predominantly Protestant north and the mostly Roman Catholic south. The majority of the Northern Irish people, who are protestants of English or Scottish descent, supported the separation. But many Roman Catholics in both the north and the south refused to accept the division. In 1921, the south became the self-governing Irish Free State, now the independent Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland continues to be united with Great Britain.

Beginning in 1921, militant Irish groups, particularly the Irish Republican Army (IRA), attacked British government army in Northern Ireland, hoping to force the British to give up control. In the 1960's, the Roman Catholic minority held marches demanding an end to economic and political discrimination. The police reacted with violence. In 1972 Britain established direct rule over Northern Ireland. The violence continued until 31 August, 1994 when the IRA declared a stop of war. In February 1995, the British and Irish governments invented a peace plan. But in 1996 IRA exploded a bomb in London. Northern Ireland is a land of rolling plains and low mountains. The fertile plains cover the central part of the country. Green valleys and low mountains lie along the country's coast. The countryside оГNorthern Ireland is dotted with lakes called loughs.

About 20 per cent of the people live in Belfast, the capital and the largest city. Belfast is also the country's manufacturing and trading center, many of mills, shipyards, and aircraft plants are located there. However, the country's economy depends mainly on service industries, which employ about 75 per cent of the workers.

Agriculture is also an important industry. About 30 per cent of the population lives in rural areas. Life in Northern Ireland is more like British life then like life in the Republic of Ireland. Such sports as soccer, cricket, and golf are popular pastimes, and pubs play an important role in social life.

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