130 Unit 08 | The next chapter Talk about these questions with a partner: 1 What are your feelings now school is nearly over? 2 How would you prefer to mark this period in your life? Do you think it’s important to celebrate and mark the event in some way? Share your ideas with the class. Read the text about end-of-school traditions in different countries. Complete the sentences (1–7) using a maximum of four words. Write your answers in the spaces provided. The first one (0) has been done for you. SPEAKING 21 READING 22 Graduation around the world By now, you’ll no doubt be planning events to mark the end of your long school career – it’s a rite of passage. In many countries, completing a stage of education, be it high school or university, is marked by a graduation ceremony. Whether a high school diploma is being awarded or a degree is being conferred on a university graduate, this event celebrates the culmination of years of hard work. You’ve probably seen photos of young people in traditional black gowns and mortarboards throwing these joyfully into the air at the end of the graduation ceremony. However, there are some more unusual graduation traditions around the world. When a school in Sweden is having its graduation ceremony, you will know about it. The celebrations are so big that they can almost take over small towns. The ‘en students’ (graduating students) don matching sea-captain-style hats, referred to as ‘studentmössas’, with their names on. Girls will traditionally be decked out in a white dress, and the boys will wear black and white suits. Customarily, the day begins with a champagne breakfast, perhaps hosted by someone whose parents have a large garden. Graduation takes place in the summer and usually the sun is out, making an outdoor breakfast buffet and a glass of champagne a joyful affair. Then everyone heads to school for the formal proceedings, where they start the ceremony by singing songs and chanting with their classmates. After they pick up their diplomas, the graduates run out of the school building, where their families are waiting. It’s not hard to spot one’s family as the parents are holding signs for each student, often with gigantic, embarrassing childhood pictures. Afterwards, family and friends present the students with special gifts tied with ribbons, then hang the ribbons around the graduates’ necks. Finally, the students take part in a citywide parade with confetti and dancing. They pile into the beds of flatbed trucks and parade floats, driving round town, waving and celebrating with the whole community. The ‘Last Bell’, on Russian students’ last day of school, is a rite of passage that dates back to the 1950s. A time-honoured tradition, it includes the ceremonial ringing of ‘the Last Bell’ at schools nationwide, and the trademark act of the day, still performed in every school, involves one of the male graduates carrying a little first-grader on his shoulders through the school building while the child rings a large bell. It also involves the planting of a birch tree with the first graders, a ceremonial torch-passing moment. Then the graduating students perform an elaborate waltz with well-rehearsed pivots and flurries. The girls traditionally wear black dresses with lacy white aprons and sometimes a white bow in their hair, and both boys and girls may wear a sash. The graduation ceremony, which follows in late June, is similar to those in the US. This lavish affair is usually characterised by glamorous parties – sometimes in the city centre, sometimes in nightclubs – and can cost Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv
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