Онлайн-урок №25 "Educational system in Ukraine, Great Britain and the USA. Modal verbs."

Educational system

Education in Great Britain
  Children in Britain must attend school from the age of 5 (4 in Northern Ireland) until they are 16. Before the start of formal schooling, many children attend nursery schools attached to primary schools. In addition some parents elect to send their children to private (fee-paying) nursery schools or kindergartens. In England and Wales, many primary schools also operate an early admission policy where they admit children under 5 into what are called reception classes.Children first attend infants’ school or departments. At 7 they move to the junior school and the usual age for transfer from junior to secondary school is 11 (12 in Scotland).
  Secondary education can be obtained in different ways. Comprehensive schools are intended for all pupils, whatever their abilities. They are state schools which is the general term for any school which is run by the government and where the parents do not have to pay. Grammar schools in Britain are popular too because they offer a good academic education. Children enter grammar schools on the basis of their abilities taking the 11+ or entrance exam. A small minority of children attend secondary modern schools (around 4%). These schools provide more general and technical education for children aged 11-16. City Technology Colleges aim to give boys and girls a broad secondary education with a strong technological and business slant. There are also independent (fee-paying) schools in Great Britain. They usually have good academic standards and are attended by pupils from an upper class or wealthy background.

Education in the USA
  Today, 88% of American children attend public schools (financed by the government) and 12% go to private schools. Every year about 12 million Americans become students in over 3,000 colleges and universities of every type: private, public, church-related, small and large.
The United States does not have a national system of education. It means that most educational matters are left to the separate states or the local community. Because of the great variety of schools and colleges, and the many differences between them, we cannot speak about a typical American school or college. Yet, there are enough basic similarities in structure among the various schools and systems to give some general comments.
  Most schools start at the kindergarten level at the age of 5. The elementary school (or grade school) goes from age 6 to 11 or 12 (grades 1to 5 or 6). This is usually followed by a middle school (grades 6-8) or Junior High School (grades 7-9). High schools include 3 or 4 years, usually until the age of 18. There are almost always required subjects and sometimes students at more advanced levels can choose some subjects.

Modal verbs

  Модальные глаголы в английском языке отличаются от остальных глаголов тем, что они не используются самостоятельно и не обозначают конкретного действия или состояния, они отражают его модальность, то есть отношение к нему говорящего. О каком именно отношении идет речь? Например, говорящий может оценивать действие как возможное, необходимое, разрешаемое, просимое, запрещенное, приказываемое, маловероятное, очень вероятное и т. д.:
Я поеду в Лондон.
Я могу поехать в Лондон.
Я должен поехать в Лондон.
Можно я поеду в Лондон?

Вопросительные предложения с модальными глаголами образуются без вспомогательного глагола to do, при этом модальный глагол выносится в начало предложения:
Shall I help you?
Мне помочь?
Could you give me his address?
Не дадите мне его адрес?

Отрицательная форма модального глагола образуется постановкой после него частицы not. Зачастую, особенно в устной речи, они сливаются в сокращенную форму (например, can’t, mustn’t, shouldn’t).
Также надо запомнить, что после модальных глаголов, кроме глаголов ought to, have to и be to, следует так называемый «голый инфинитив» (bare infinitive), то есть инфинитив без частицы to:
I must go. 
Я должен идти.