Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. a lack
    • ex. The lack of butter was a problem for many bakers in December.
  2. rural
    • ex. I grew up in the city, but I prefer to live in a rural area.
  3. struggle
    • ex. The old man struggled to climb the stairs.
  4. assignment
    • ex. I have a lot of assignments this week, so I’m really busy.
  5. loan
    • ex. My father loaned me his car because mine was broken.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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An estimated three million American students don’t have internet access at home. According to a recent statistic, 17% of all American students don’t have computers at home, and 18% don’t have the internet. The lack of internet service in rural areas and money issues are the main reasons.

The students’ lack of access to the internet causes a problem called “homework gap.” Homework gap happens when students can’t use online learning tools outside of school. As a result, they struggle to work on school assignments at home. They also regularly get lower scores than their classmates in math, reading and science.

To help these students, some teachers have started to allow students to do their homework in class. Others try not to give assignments that require the use of the internet. Similarly, local communities have tried to help these students by installing wi-fi on buses, loaning wi-fi devices to families, and making lists of shops and restaurants that have free wi-fi.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Homework

  • Should students be allowed to do homework in class? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Do schools in your country give too much homework? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Aside from homework, what are some other ways for students to learn outside of school (ex. going to museums, reading)?

The Future of School

  • Do you think schools should require students to use the internet for homework? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Should schools provide computers or tablets for every student? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Should schools switch to digital textbooks? Why or why not? Discuss.