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 part of the free MIT OpenCourseWare
B.a free computer program by MIT and Harvard
C.a Harvard-MIT platform of free online courses
D.a 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 本文讲的是哈佛大学和麻省理工学院开发了网上教学课程,并且已经初见成效,网上教学平台的开发,不但可以让更多的人享受到优质大学的教学资源,还可以让研究者们发现一些适合学生的教育方法.
解答 53.答案:C.细节理解题.根据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是哈佛大学和麻省理工学院共同开发的一个免费的网上教育课程.故正确答案为C.
54.答案:A.细节理解题.根据第七段"Other universities,including Stanford,Yale and Carncgies-Mellon,have been experimenting."可知,选项A正确,D错误;选项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"表明有超过1亿人使用网上课程,但并没说有1亿人完成了网上课程,由此可排除C.故正确答案为A.
55.答案:B.句意理解题.此句的字面意思为"系好安全带".结合文章的意思便是为这些大学在网上开设免费课程这一教育的变革做好准备.故答案为B.
56.答案:C.细节理解题.根据第三段"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是承认修完课程的证书.故答案选C.
点评 做这类题时,不仅要掌握文章的主旨大意,而且要根据题干在文章中找出关键信息进行细节理解,并根据上下文猜测词义.