SCHOOL EDUCATION SYSTEM PRACTICE TEST 1 A. PHONETICS I. PICK OUT THE W...

45. A. around

B. to

C. at

D. off

Read the passage below and choose the best answer (A, B, C or D) to each question

Education was of primary importance to the. English colonists and was conducted at home as well as in established

schools. Regardless of geographic location or finances, most Americans learned to read and computer numbers. For

many, the 'Bible and other religious tracts were their only books; however, the excellent language contained in such

works usually , made them good primers. Many families owned one or more- of Shakespeare's works, a copy of John

Banyan's classic 'A Pilgrim's Progress', and sometimes collections of English literary essays, poems, or historical

speeches.

In 1647 the Massachusetts School Law required every town of at least 50 households to maintain a grammar school.

The law was the first to mandate public education in America. In the middle colonies at the time, schools were often

dependent on religious societies, such as the Quakers and other private organizations. In the South, families employed

private tutors or relied on the clergy to conduct education. At the outset, most elementary schools were for boys, but

schools for girls were established in the eighteenth century in most cities, and large towns. In spite of the informal

atmosphere of most American schools, the literary rate in the Colonies of mid-eighteenth-century America was equal to

or higher than in most European countries.

Before the American Revolution, nine colleges had been founded, including Harvard, William and Mary, Yale; the

College of New Jersey (now Princeton), Brown, Rutgers, Dartmouth, and Kings College (later Columbia University).

By 1720 the natural sciences and modern languages were being taught, as well as courses in practical subjects such as

mechanics and agriculture. At the end of the eighteenth century, medical schools were established at the College of

Philadelphia and at King's College.