"In the online world you don't need to fill buildings or lecture theatres with people and you don't need to be trapped into a lecture timetable," says Peter Scott, director of the Open University's Knowledge Media Institute. The Open University, the UK's open access university, which allows people to study from home in their own time, has been an international pioneer of degree courses online. The university, with more than 263,000 students in 23 countries, has become a record breaker on the iTunes U service, which provides a digital library of materials for university students and staff.Instead of music or movies, Apple's iTunes U provides a download service for lectures and resources from universities around the world.Top universities from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard in the US to Oxford and Cambridge in the UK have been making their materials available, with no charge to the users. There have been 31 million downloads of OU materials, more than any other university, representing roughly 10% of all iTunes U downloads.Nearly 90% of these users are from outside the UK.In this online era, the OU student is also getting younger.A quarter of students are aged under-25 and only 10% are aged 50 or over.That change can only be accelerated as the cost of going to university increases in many countries.The prospect of learning from Harvard from your own bedroom is getting closer. "We have a belief that a degree and an opportunity are rights for all citizens.And we have got to enable the population of students attending higher education to scale up.What I am most excited about is that the privilege of going for higher education is not something only for the wealthy or for the smartest or for the most well-equipped students in the future," an American educator says.Online education will be a way of opening up more choices and getting beyond the big brand names of the most exclusive universities. At the Open University, Peter Scott says they are trying to develop services that give students... According to the passage, online education has many advantages EXCEPT that _ . A) students don't have to go to the classrooms according to the timetable B) it provides people with more chances to get higher education C) students don't need to have courses or lectures any more D) it's convenient for people to study at home in their free time
C
I start to wonder what else had changed since I'd been gone. My parents are in an awkward puzzle, wondering how to treat me now----whether to treat me--still their daughter--as one of them, an adult, or as the child they feel they sent away months earlier. I run into two of my best friends from high school; we stare at each other, expressionless. We ask the simple questions and give simple answers. It's as if we have nothing to say to each other. I wonder how things have changed so much in such a small amount of time. We used to laugh and promise that no matter how far away we were, our love for each other would never change. Their interests don't interest me anymore, and I find myself unable to relate my life to theirs. I had been so excited to come home, but now I just look at it all and wonder: Is it me? Why hadn't the world stood still here while I was gone? My room isn't the same, my friends and I don't share the same promise, and my parents don't know how to treat me--or who I am, for that matter. I get back to school feeling half-satisfied, but not disappointed. I sit up in my bed in my dorm room, surrounded by my pictures, dolls. As I wonder what has happened, I realize that I can't expect the world to stand still and move forward at the same time. I can change and expect that things at home will stay the same. I have to find comfort in what has changed and what is new; keep the memories, but live in the present. A few weeks later, I'm packing again, this time for winter break. My mom meets me at the door. I have come home accepting the changes, not only in my surroundings, but most of all in me. What surprises the writer most? A) The living conditions of her parents. B) The decorations in her room. C) The meeting with her best friends. D) The things still staying the same.
C
Q: Venice is a city of the sea. It is built on islands which are in the middle of lagoon . Today, the city covers 118 islands. These islands are connected by bridges. There are about 400 bridges which cross 150 canals . It is difficult to forget the sea when you are in the city. Many people of Venice have always been fishermen, because the lagoon is full of fish. They also build ships, and travel to Dalmatia and Greece. Venice is the "Queen " of the Adriatic Sea. Every month thousands of people visit the city, which is very beautiful. But Venice is going down. It is going down and the water is going up. In 2040 Venice will be under water. The Adriatic will cover the city. The Venetians love their city and they want to stay there. They want to save Venice. They do not want to leave. How can they succeed ? They can put some big gates in the sea, which will close, so Venice will not go down. The text suggested that _ . A) Venice won't be the "Queen" of the Adriatic Sea B) Venice isn't sinking C) Venice will be under water in 2040 D) Venice won't be under water in 2040
A: D
(Q).
John once told me a story about his friend, Michael. Michael happened to be on a train sitting next to a young man who seemed worried. Finally the young man told the friend that he was a convict returning home from a prison far away. What he did had brought shame on his family, and they had neither visited him nor written to him. He hoped, however, that this was only because they were too poor to travel and too busy to write. When he was set free he had written to tell them he wanted to go home. To make matters easy for them, however, he had asked them to put up a signal for him when the train passed their little farm. If the family had forgiven him, they were to put up a white ribbon in the big apple tree near the railway. If they didn't want him back, they were to do nothing, and he would stay on the train, and go far away. As the train neared his hometown his _ became so great that he was afraid to look out of the window. He asked Michael to watch for the big apple tree. They changed seats. In a minute, Michael put his hand on the young convict's shoulder, "There it is," His eyes was filled with sudden tears. "It's all right. The whole tree is white with ribbons." Why was Michael asked to watch for the apple tree? A) The young man was afraid that he was refused by his family. B) The young man's seat was far from the window. C) The young man was afraid of seeing the white ribbons in the tree. D) The young man was sure that his family would accept him.
(A).
A