Class 2A or 2.1—or an upper second

Class 2B or 2.2—or a lower second

class 3—a third class degree, or a third Here are some examples of usage:

a. Colin got a first in physics.

b. John worked very hard but he only got a lower second.

According to Bromhead, 5% get a first, 30% an upper second, 40% a lower second, while the rest are distributed between third class, pass (see unit 371) and fail.

IN THE SOVIET UNION

358. The Soviet system of marking can be described as a five-point system, or one may say that marks are awarded on, or according to, a five-point scale. In everyday speech the expression to mark out of... is often used.

e.g. a. Soviet teachers mark out of 5.

b. In the Soviet Union work is marked out of 5.

or from 1 to 5.

The following expressions can be used in connection with the five-point system:

to give smb. (a) 5/4/3/2/1 for smth.

e.g. a. (Child to parent) — Elena Nikolaevna gave me (a)

five for my composition.

b. (One teacher to another) — What (mark) did you give Smirnova?

— (7 gave her) (a) four, but I'm not sure that she
really deserves it. Shall we give her (a) three in­
stead?

е. (One student to another) — Natalia Ivanovna hard­ly ever gives anybody (a) five. It's always fours and threes.

— Well, at least she doesn't give many twos either.

to get/have (a) 5/4/3/2/1 for smth.

e.g. a. (One pupil to another) — What mark did you get for your homework?

— Five.

— You always seem to get five. I only got (a) four.
b. (Parent to child) — You haven't had a single five

this term. You'd better work a bit harder next term.

One may also use some of the more general expressions given in unit 346.

Use of Adjectives as a Means of Assessment

359. Certain adjectives are widely used in England in addi­tion to, or, sometimes, instead of marks. For example, at the end of a piece of written work with no mistakes in it, the teach­er may put not only a mark but also the comment

Excellent. However, if the work set was rather easy, and half the class got full marks, the teacher is unlikely to describe this achievement as excellent, because this word implies some­thing outstanding, which could hardly be improved on. He would call it very good or simply good. On the other hand, if a piece of work is very difficult, the teacher may write very good on the work of a pupil who has 7 or 8 out of ten. Com­ments of this kind are relative, and not automatically asso­ciated with a particular mark. If the teacher writes a comment without a mark, that comment simply expresses the teacher's opinion of the work, and does not stand for a particular mark.

In theSoviet Union there is a particular adjective associat­ed with each mark, or grade: 5 — отлично; 4 — хорошо; 3 — удовлетворительно; 2, 1 — неудовлетворительно. It is even possible to use these adjectives as synonyms of the marks themselves, for example: Александрова — "хорошо"; Вель­ская — "отлично"'.

Bearing in mind what has been said above about English usage, the following approximate equivalents can be sug­gested:

отлично — very good. Excellent can be used if the work is exceptionally good, but it is too high praise to give several people in a class, especially regularly (see above). It might be reserved for отлично, с отличием in an examination.

Хорошо — good

Удовлетворительно — satisfactory

Неудовлетворительно — unsatisfactory, (very) poor

Поставить отлично/хорошо и т. д. is best translated as to give/put (smb.) (a) five/four, etc., since this makes it clear that a mark is meant. To give/put smb. (very) good, satisfac­tory, etc. may be used, but does not imply a specific mark. To give/put a (very) good mark implies one of those marks which are usually considered to be (very) good (see table below).

An alternative to excellent as a translation of отлично, с отличием in an examination is with distinction, and по­ставить отлично can be translated as to give (smb.) a dis­tinction (see also unit 323).

Other Comments Made by Teachers

360. There are also other comments which are widely used by English teachers. These are listed below, in order of merit, with the ones already given.

Excellent Fair

Very good Very fair

GoodRather poor/weak

Quite good — meaning Poor/Weak
Fairly good average Very poor/weak
Satisfactory Unsatisfactory

Here are some more specific comments which a teacher may write on pupils' work when appropriate.

A good effort — if the standard of the work is not very high, but the pupil has obviously tried hard.

(Much) better — if the standard of the work shows an improvement on the previous work.

You can do better (than this) — if the pupil is lazy, or has not tried hard enough this time.

Careful work — if the work has been carefully thought out, even though it may lack originality or insight.

Careless (work) — if there are a lot of careless mistakes.

Neat work — if the work is neatly done and well set out, particularly in the case of work involving diagrams, maps, etc.

Untidy (work) — if the pupil has made little or no effort to write neatly or to set the work out properly.

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