17.In a recent announcement,Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT)said that they have joined forces to offer free online courses in an effort to attract millions of online learners worldwide.
Beginning this fall,a number of courses developed by teachers at both universities will be offered online through a new 60 million program,known as edX."Anyone with an Internet connection anywhere in the world can use our online courses,"Harvard President Drew Faust said during a meeting to announce the plan.
MIT has offered a program called OpenCourseWare for ten years that makes materials from more than 2,000 classes free online.It has been used by more than 100 million people.In December,the school announced it also would begin offering a special certificate,known as MITx,for people who complete certain online courses.Harvard has long offered courses to a wider population through a similar program.
The MITx will serve as the foundation for the new learning platform.
MIT President Susan Hockfield said more than 120,000 people signed up for the first MITx course.She said Harvard and MIT hope other universities will join them in offering courses on the open-source edX platform.
"Fasten your seatbelts,"Hockfield said.
Other universities,including Stanford,Yale and Carnegie-Mellon,have been experimenting with teaching to a global population online.
The Harvard-MIT program will be monitored by a not-for-profit(非盈利的)organization based in Cambridge,to be owned equally by the two universities.Both MIT and Harvard have provided 30 million to start the program.They also plan to use the edX platform to research how students learn and which teaching methods and tools are most successful.
53.According to this text,edX isC.
A.a(chǎn) part of the free MIT OpenCourseWare
B.a(chǎn) free computer program by MIT and Harvard
C.a(chǎn) Harvard-MIT platform of free online courses
D.a(chǎn) free program online for universities worldwide
54.What is said about online education in the text?A
A.Universities have been trying online courses.
B.About 2,000 online courses have been offered.
C.Over 100 million people have finished courses online.
D.Stanford and Yale together have courses similar to edX.
55.The underlined part in the text probably means"B".
A.Get ready for the difficulties
B.Get ready for this educational change
C.Get prepared to complete the online courses
D.Get prepared to make materials for the edX courses
56.What can be said about MITx according to the text?C
A.It is first offered as part of the edX learning program.
B.It is another free MIT-Harvard online learning program.
C.It is a standard to recognize online learners'achievement.
D.It is a new kind of free online course of Harvard and MIT.
分析 本文講的是哈佛大學和麻省理工學院開發(fā)了網(wǎng)上教學課程,并且已經(jīng)初見成效,網(wǎng)上教學平臺的開發(fā),不但可以讓更多的人享受到優(yōu)質大學的教學資源,還可以讓研究者們發(fā)現(xiàn)一些適合學生的教育方法.
解答 53.答案:C.細節(jié)理解題.根據(jù)第一段的信息及第二段中"a number of courses developed by teachers at both universities will be offered online through a new $60 million program,known as edX."可知,edX是哈佛大學和麻省理工學院共同開發(fā)的一個免費的網(wǎng)上教育課程.故正確答案為C.
54.答案:A.細節(jié)理解題.根據(jù)第七段"Other universities,including Stanford,Yale and Carncgies-Mellon,have been experimenting."可知,選項A正確,D錯誤;選項B中的about和文中more than不一致;第二段中的"It has been used by more than 100 million people"表明有超過1億人使用網(wǎng)上課程,但并沒說有1億人完成了網(wǎng)上課程,由此可排除C.故正確答案為A.
55.答案:B.句意理解題.此句的字面意思為"系好安全帶".結合文章的意思便是為這些大學在網(wǎng)上開設免費課程這一教育的變革做好準備.故答案為B.
56.答案:C.細節(jié)理解題.根據(jù)第三段"In December,the school announced it also would begin offering a special certificate,known as MITx,for people who complete certain online courses"可知MITx是承認修完課程的證書.故答案選C.
點評 做這類題時,不僅要掌握文章的主旨大意,而且要根據(jù)題干在文章中找出關鍵信息進行細節(jié)理解,并根據(jù)上下文猜測詞義.