In the UK, there is a slightly different education system in Northern Ireland and Scotland, but the majorities of people live in England and Wales and have the system described below.

　State secondary schools are of two types: comprehensive schools and grammar schools. A town which has a "comprehensive" system has children from 11-16/18 going to the local school regardless of their academic ability. A town or rural area which still has the old "grammar" system has an exam at 11 (the 11-plus) to select the children with the highest academic ability to go to grammar schools. Those who don't go to grammar school go to secondary schools (which are still usually called comprehensive, even if the top 5-10% of children don't go there.) Some grammar schools are still single-sex schools.

Children have to go to school until they are 16 by law. At 16 they take their General Certificate of Secondary Education exams (GCSEs) in about 6-10 subjects. If they pass, they can stay on at school and do "A"-level exams (Advanced levels) when they are 18. This is for people who want to go to University or some other kind of tertiary education. These two years are known as the Sixth Form (6 one, and 6 two) and the students are called "sixth-formers". Typically students take three related subjects (eg. Physics/Chemistry/Biology or English/French/German). They have classes in these subjects, but also free study time when they are expected to do research and reading in the library and study rooms. They are treated more like university students than school students. They often have their own common room, with relaxed seating, music and coffee, tea and snacks facilities, and in many schools they either don't have to wear school uniform, or they wear a more informal version of it. Sixth-formers are also involved in the running of the school, with the Head Boy/ Girl and prefects, who manage some of the out-of-class events, such as societies, weekends away, dances and dinners. The sixth formers are also likely to make up the majority of players in the schools main sports teams for rugby, football, tennis, and hockey and so on. In the May/ June of their final year they take the exams in their three subjects, and, depending on their results, they go on to tertiary institutions. There is, however, no "prom (正式舞会)" at the end of the last year in school as in the USA. 3. Drum Majorettes

For centuries, one of the most impressive parts of any military group has been the band, controlled by the Drum Major. He was always dressed in a splendid uniform and stood out at the front of the band as they marched, giving instructions by how he held his large mace (权杖,) or "baton(指挥棒)", and sometimes doing spectacular (壮观的) throw-and-catch movements whilst marching. In America in the late 19th century, this kind of performance moved out of the military domain, and marching bands were formed, with drum majors, who performed at any large public event. Increasingly, in the early 20th century, the drum major became female, and gained the name "Drum Majorette". This had obvious appeal to the male audience.

　After World War II, the phenomenon blossomed. In 1945, the National Baton Twirling Association was formed, which helped thousands of girls to perfect their skills. And almost every school, community and town had its own group of drum majorettes who would perform at public events. Inevitably, the idea spread from the JSA throughout the world, so that nowadays you can find drum majorettes marching at events in every country, and national an international competitions everywhere. Just type "drum majorettes" into a computer search- engine to see how many!

　　However, drum majorettes and cheerleaders are two distinct types of female activity.

Section 2 The Analysis of the Difficult Sentences from Module 2 Highlights of My Senior Year

1. I can hardly believe it, but my school life is almost over.我简直无法相信学校生活就要结束了。

在这句中，人称代词it指代抽象的事物，指的是my school life is almost over，例如：

It really surprised me when they came together that cold November day.

2. It's a good thing that the exams are finished.考试结束了，真是件好事情!

本句中，句首的it都是形式主语，代替后面真正的主语that主语从句。文中类似的句子还有

1)...and it's clear that this kind of work can really help people.......很明显，这种工作确实能帮助人。