Japanese high school students either walk or ride bicycles if the distance is not too great. In other cases, students must take public buses and trains. After junior high school, students attend schools based on their high school entrance examination scores. So some students travel a great distance to attend the school. At School The school day begins at 8:30. Then students assemble in their homeroom classes for the day's studies. Each homeroom has an average of 40-45 students. Students stay in their homeroom classrooms for most of the school day. Only for physical education, laboratory classes, or other subjects requiring special facilities  do students move to different parts of the school. Between classes and at lunchtime, classrooms can be noisy, lively places. Some schools may have a cafeteria , but most do not. In most schools, students bring a box lunch from home, prepared by the mother in the early morning hours. Japanese students spend 240 days a year at school, 60 days more than American students. Students in high schools take three years' each of the following subjects mathematics, social studies, Japanese, science, and English. Other subjects include physical education, music, art, and moral  studies. All the students in one grade level study the same subjects. Given the number of required subjects, electives  are few. Afterschool Activities Club activities take place after school every day. Students can join only one club, and they _ change clubs from year to year, so the clubs are relatively stable. Clubs are made up of sports clubs (baseball, soccer, judo, kendo, etc.) and culture clubs(English, broadcasting, science, etc.). New students usually are encouraged to select a club shortly after the school year begins in April. Clubs meet for two hours after school each day and many clubs continue to meet during school vacations. Students in the USA go to school  _  days a year.
180 200 240 300