crucial -- of top importance
strain -- pressure
to droop -- to fall downwards
to scribble -- to write carelessly
obsession -- too-strong a focus
to outlaw -- to ban
zeal -- strong desire
slogan -- phrase expression an aim
divisive -- cause argument
to be entrenched - to hold a fixed position
fanatical -- obsession of a fan (see above)
prosperity -- increasing standard of living
This lesson is provided by Mark McCarthy from www.getesl.com, which features low-cost online ESL classes.
Night Study Becoming Par for Course in S. Korea
Reading and Grammar:
Directions: Each of the ten sentences below contains
one error. Identify and correct the error.
1) A 17-year-old boy drifts into sleep, his head droops into the open
textbook in front of him.
2) Around him are sit other teenage South Koreans struggling to stay awake
as a tutor scribbles English vocabulary on a blackboard.
3) An almost like-cult devotion to learning has been among the driving
forces behind South Korea's rapid economic development ...
4) But concern is growing that the obsession with education has spinned out
of control, putting children under stress and families under pressure to pay
expensive tuition.
5) The teachings of Confucius, the ancient Chinese philosopher which
stressed the importance of scholarship, influence many East Asian societies.
6) In South Korea, the zeal to learning is reinforced by a belief that
knowledge is crucial for the bid to catch up with richer countries such as
Japan and stay ahead in China. (Sentence contains three similar errors)
7) A slogan on the wall in Yang's English class reading: "Accomplish your
dreams."
8) But dream come at a price: His hagwon* fees are $280 a week.
9) Lee Hang Soo, vice president of Yang's hagwon, says the school provides
aid to child from poor families.
10) But he acknowledges which South Korea's education system is divisive.
*Korean Institute
Check Your Answers
1) droops should be drooping
2) are sit should be sit
3) like-cult should be cult-like
4) spinned should be spun
5) which should be who or that
6) to should be for; for should be to; for should be to
7) reading should be reads
8) dream should be dreams
9) child should be children
10) which should be that