Boarding school rules … OK ?

I/ Reading comprehension exercise.

Read the article and then indicate whether or not the following statements are true or false.

1. Homely and stern are two words you could use to describe a ‘very British Institution’.
2. Students at Holmwood House have to live with uncarpeted floors, bare walls, barred

windows and cold showers.

3. Most students do not miss their parents once they’ve been away from home for a
while.
4. Staying at boarding school means that you lose some of your individuality.
5. Students at Holmwood Home can only phone home in the weekend.
6. The number of boarders has been increasing steadily over the past 20 years.
7. In the past, some boarders experienced a form of legitimate child abuse.
8. Today, most boarders in England come from other countries.
9. One advantage of boarding schools is that they provide extracurricular activities which
many busy parents cannot provide themselves.
10.All of the students at Holmwood House like boarding.
11.Nick Duffell claims that if you are sent away at an early age you lose a sense of
belonging and you lose childhood.
12.Duffel claims that boarding school survivors are often shy and insecure.
13.Duffell believes that modern boarding schools are essentially very different to old-
fashioned ones.
14.Most of the boarders at Holmwood House seem self-aware.
15.Even after visiting Holmwood House, the writer of the article is glad that he never
boarded.

II/ Argumentation.
In the text advocates and opponents of boarding schools argue about the value of public
schools. In the text underline their arguments and order them in the following scheme.

Arguments in favour of boarding schools Arguments against boarding schools.

eg. it’s homely so the pupils feel at home it can be very lonely when you don’t have
and are among their friends (peers) friends.
III/ Vocabulary list.

predominant(ly) superior in strength, number, influence overheersend, over-

the school is predominantly a boys’ school wegend
to be tended eg. a tended lawn verzorgd grasveld
homely huiselijk
stern / / - harsh, strict, severe streng
eg. to look stern.
a dormitory / / slaapzaal
to be bare eg. bare feet, bare walls bloot, kaal
to be barred < a bar met tralies
to cane / / - to hit with a bamboo stick afranselen
to fag tire by hard work, exhaust iem. afjakkeren
tentative(ly) / / - hesitantly twijfelend,aarzelend
They shook their heads tentatively as if
they weren’t really sure.
to bully force s.o. to do sth. by shouting at them, pesten, tiranniseren
threatening them.
eg. He bullied the little boy into giving
him his lunch money.
to frown eg. My mother frowned when I told her de wenkbrauwen
everyone could go to the party. fronsen
peer group groep van gelijken
to cope with to be able to deal with iets aankunnen
to decline increase teruglopen,
eg. The number of boarders declined verminderen
dramatically.
emotionally literate we are better at showing our emotions
post-imperial we don’t want to expand our political
power anymore
stoic / / - when you undergo stoïcijns
suffering, … calmly and without flinching.
to be converted to
to convert to change from one thing to another veranderen
eg. a convertible (car) (ook : bekeren)
to be vulnerable / / kwetsbaar
vulnerability / /
virtue / / deugd
to reassure s.o. eg. It’s reassuring to know the kids iemand geruststellen
are being well-looked-after.
to be bewildered very confused in de war gebracht
eg. The bewildered young man did not verbijsterd
understand why he was arrested.
bewilderment verbijstering
a facade / /
to erase uitwissen
to turn to so eg. I had no-one to turn to. I was all alone.
legitimate eg. legitimate child abuse wettelijk, gerecht-
/ / vaardigd
child abuse < V : to abuse
to be haunted by achtervolgd door
to flatten out eg. The decline is flattening out. vervlakken,
verminderen
a survey / / onderzoek
to be accounted for eg. The increase is accounted for by verklaard worden
British children.
a stepping stone to middel om een doel
te bereiken
apparent(ly) obvious(ly) duidelijk
extracurricular eg. ballet lessons, tennis, … buitenschools
grim here : a grim wind. felle, hevige
spacious / / - eg. spacious grounds uitgestrekt
to voice eg. to voice an opinion vertolken, uiten
to dread eg. Most people dread the thought of vrezen, opzien tegen
having to die all alone.
to be an issue / / probleem,breekpunt
to stand out eg. I hate standing out in a crowd. I opvallen, zich on-
prefer not being noticed. derscheiden
to glare at to stare at
eg. She didn’t say anything, but just
sat there glaring at me.
to be entitled given that title, name
psychotherapy / /
a sense of belonging the feeling of being a part of a group
brittle eg. to have brittle confidence broos
The branches of dead trees are very
brittle and break off easily.
to affect have an influence on beïnvloeden
eg. The rise in gas prices is likely to
affect the cost of electricity.
emphatic / / nadrukkelijk
V : to emphasize / /
at root in de grond
to be stunted to be emotionally stunted niet tot volle ont-
wikkeling gekomen
stability / /
to stumble eg. The room was dark and Stan nearly struikelen, strom-
fell over a chair as he stumbled to the pelen
phone.