Working with Oxbridge 2

Paraphrase the underlined bits in the sentences below, retaining full sentences.

1) Furthermore, access is predicated on having social and cultural capital in order to navigate
a way through a system that is completely alien to people from non-traditional background.

2) Alongside issues of access, many argue it is this that directly affects the longer-term
prospects and social mobility of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, including
the few who have an elite education under their belts.

3) I felt socially inadequate and that my life experience was far from normal, he says,
speaking of the well-connected, hyper-confident public school contingent he encountered
who were consummate networkers.

4) This underlies the fact that attainment at school drives much of the admission trends at
Oxbridge.

5) Twenty years on from my graduation, it is upsetting that many of the barriers my

generation faced are so prevalent for poorer youngsters today; that they are still so
underrepresented in our top universities, and that those from privileged backgrounds retain
their stranglehold on the professions.

6) If left unchallenged, elitism will continue. But with the best will in the world, placing the
responsibility for change on individuals pushing for the top despite an education system that
favours the privileged won’t cut it.

Use the lexemes listed below in sentences of your own in which the meaning of the
lexeme will be clearly illustrated. Check out the use of each lexeme in electronic corpora to
see what different context it is used in.

mortified (adj.)

abject (adj.)

saunter (v.)

cohort (n.)

hone (v.)

encapsulate (v.)

deter (v.)

persist (v.)

prevalent (adj.)