Misbehaving students punished with Mozart
A school in England is using classical music to cut down on students’ bad behaviour. The head teacher Brian Walker at the West Park School in Derby runs two-hour detention sessions after school on Fridays. He forces his students to listen to Mozart and other classical music. He also makes them copy his favourite poems and they have to watch educational videos. Mr. Walker says his main aim is to stop noisy pupils spoiling lessons for well-behaved students who want to study. He said the students staying behind are “not the smokers, the truants or the people who are late… It's those who have slowed the learning process in class for everyone”. Mr. Walker explained this was unacceptable “because it is robbing the rest of opportunities”.

Brian Walker believes the detention reminds students that education is something to value. "It helps them see they are part of something bigger that will enhance their life chances,” he said. The head teacher thinks students actually learn from being kept behind after school: "Hopefully, I open their ears to an experience they don't normally have and…don't want to have again, so it's both educational and acts as a deterrent." Music has had success elsewhere in reducing bad behaviour. In 2004, it reduced crime on London’s subway by 25 per cent. Researchers from a Belfast university found it helped stop elephants misbehaving. However, one West Park student called Kieran said: “An hour of Mr. Walker's music is a real killer.”

Question 1. Indicate whether these sentences are true or false. Justify your answers with evidence from the text.

a) A teacher forced students to write poetry and listen to classical music.
b) Students received detention for smoking and skipping classes.
c) The teacher said he wanted students to open their ears and eyes.
d) Music on London’s subway system cut crime by a quarter in 2004.

Question 2. Answer the following questions in your own words.

a) Why does Mr. Walker force the students to stay after school on Friday?
b) What kind of students “suffer” Mr. Walker’s measures?

Question 3. Find a word or a phrase in the text that means the same as
a) reduce (Par 1) b) ruining (par.1) c) opportunities (par. 2)

Question 4. Rewrite the following sentences without changing the meaning
a) A school in England is using classical music to cut down on bad behaviour.
Classical music …………………………..
b) He forces his students to listen to Mozart.
He makes …………………………….
c) “It helps them see they are part of something bigger that will enhance their life chances.
Brian Walker said that …………………

Question 5. Write a short essay (120-150 words) on the following topic:
What do you think about school punishments?

1. Guess if a-h below are true (T) or false (F).
a. Mozart was a bad student at school and was punished a lot. T / F
b. A teacher forced students to write poetry and listen to classical music. T / F
c. Students received detention for smoking and skipping class. T / F
d. A head teacher was worried good students were losing studying time. T / F
e. The head teacher believes his method helps students value education. T / F
f. The teacher said he wanted students to open their ears and eyes. T / F
g. Music on London’s subway system cut crime by a quarter in 2004. T / F
h. One student said he really liked the music by the band The Killers. T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.
1. cut down on a. students
2 forces b. usually
3. pupils c. detained
4. spoiling d. chances
5. robbing e. reduce
6. enhance f. in other places
7. opportunities g. stealing from
8. kept behind h. makes
9. normally i. improve
10. elsewhere j. ruining

KEY

KEY

TRUE / FALSE:
a. F b. T c. F d. T e. T f. F g. T h. F
SYNONYM MATCH:
1. cut down on a. reduce
2 forces b. makes
3. pupils c. students
4. spoiling d. ruining
5. robbing e. stealing from
6. enhance f. improve
7. opportunities g. chances
8. kept behind h. detained
9. normally i. usually
10. elsewhere j. in other places