В. Making friends

If you want to have lessons at a US school, you don't have to travel to the USA. Teachers at the Anglo-American School in Moscow decided to invite to their school 5th-formers from Dubna, "the physicists' town."

Eighteen boys and girls sat for three days on tables, chairs and the floors together with their US friends whom they met last year.

"I don't understand why Moscow teachers haven't yet made use of this splendid neighbourhood and 'made friends' with the Anglo-American School," says Galina Dolya, a teacher of English from Dubna. The idea of twinning* the two schools came to her and Susan Jones, an American, after the first Soviet-US seminar of teachers on overcoming stereotypes** in schools was held last year in Massachusetts.

It turned out to be very simple to organize such co-operation. With the support of Dubna's municipal authorities it was even possible to get consent from the director of the institute of Nuclear Physics for the US schoolchildren and teachers to stay a while at the homes of the institutes staff. Then children and adults from Dubnawere settled in apartments of US diplomats in Moscow, where they swam in the US Embassy swimming pool, played volleyball and had meals.

"We like the idea that at the US School you don't have to wear uniform and you can sit with whoever you like. True it isn't so comfortable on the floor," said Natasha and Lena, both 11, in unison. "After the meeting in Dubna last year, we wrote to each other and phoned."

"It's fun to go about with Russian kids," says Emma Quinn-Judge, 10, daughter of The Christian Science Monitor correspondent. "True, sometimes it is hard to say what you want and you've got to use sign language."

I don't want to argue with Emma, but I'd like to say that Dubna schoolchildren, nevertheless, know English much better than other schoolchildren who lack such contacts. And Yuri Valdo, 10, has even started to speak with a pronounced American accent.

Assignment:

Read the two articles and

a) say what skills children are taught at the Anglo-American school;

b) speak of the school rules.

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* twinning – породнение

** to overcome stereotypes – преодолеть стереотипы