Section Three ???????Blank Filling?(9%)（此題與?Sequencing??二選一）

Directions:?In?this?section, you?will?read?a?long?passage?followed?by?9?incomplete statements.?Please complete the?statements with the information?from the?passage.?Each of your?answers?should?be?No?More?Than?10 ?Words.?Please?write?answers?on your ANSWER?SHEET.

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M.I.T. Game-Changer: Free Online Education For All

?

For?decriers?(責難的人)?of?the?“social?injustice”?of?college?tuition,?here’s?a curveball?bound to scramble?your?worldview: a?totally free college education?regardless?of??your??academic??performance??or??background.??The??Massachusetts??Institute??of Technology?(M.I.T.)?will?announce?on?Monday?that?they?intend?to?launch?an?online?learning initiative called M.I.T.x, which will offer the online teaching of?M.I.T. courses?free?of?charge?to?anyone?in?the?world.?Some?of the?features?they?describe?on?their?website page are:

????organize?and?present?course?material?to?enable?students?to?learn?at?their?own pace

? ??feature?interactivity, online?laboratories?and?student-to-student communication

????operate on an open-source software infrastructure in order to make?it continuously improving and readily available to other educational

institutions.

The program will not allow students to earn?an?M.I.T.?degree.?Instead, those?who??are?able?to?exhibit?a?mastery?of the?subjects?taught?on?the?platform?will?receive?an??official?certificate?of?completion. The?certificate?will?obviously?not?carry?the?weight?of?a?traditional M.I.T. diploma,?but it will?provide an incentive to finish the online?material.?According to the New York Times, in order to prevent confusion, the certificate will be??a?credential?bearing?the?distinct?name?of?a?new?not-for-profit?body?that?will?be?created ?within M.I.T.

本文來源于@知點考博 | @新祥旭StudyWithMe，新祥旭考研考博，專業(yè)備考資訊干貨。

The?new?online?platform?will?look?to?build?upon?the?decade-long?success?of?the university’s?original?free?online?platform,?OpenCourseWare?(OCW),?which?has?been?used?by?over ?100?million ?students ?and?contains?course?material?for?roughly?2,100?classes. The new M.I.T.x online program will not compete with OCW in the number of?courses?that?it?offers.?However,?the?program?will?offer?students?a?greater?interactive?experience.

Students using the program will be able to?communicate with?their peers?through student-to-student discussions, allowing theman opportunity to ask questions or simply?brainstorm?with?others,?while?also?being?able?to?access?online?laboratories?and?self-?assessments.?In?the?future,?students?and?faculty?will?be?able?to?control?which?classes?will ?be ?available ?on ?the ?system ?based??on ?their??interests,??creating??a??personalized?education setting.

M.I.T.x?represents?the?next?logical?evolution?in?the?mushrooming?business?of?free online?education?by?giving?students?an?interactive?experience?as?opposed?to?a?simple?videotaped?lecture.?Academic?Earth?(picked by?Time?Magazine?as?one?of the?50 best?websites?of?2009)?has?cornered?the?market?on?free?online?education?by?making?a?smorgasbord?(瑞典式自助餐；大雜燴)?of online?course?content?–?from?prestigious?universities such as Stanford and Princeton?– accessible and free to anyone in the?world.?Users?on?Academic?Earth?can?watch?lectures?from?some?of the?brightest?minds?our?universities?have to offer from the comfort of?their own computer screen. However, that?is all they can do: watch. Khan Academy,?another?notable?online?education?site,?offers?a largely free interactive experience to its users through assessments and exercises, but?it limits itself?to K-?12 education. By contrast, M.I.T.x will combine?the?interactivity?of?the?Khan?Academy?with?the?collegiate（大學的） focus?of Academic?Earth,?while?drawing primarily from M.I.T.’s advanced course material.

“M.I.T. has long believed that anyone in the world with the motivation and ability?to engage?M.I.T. coursework should?have?the opportunity?to attain?the?best M.I.T.-based?educational?experience that?Internet technology?enables,”?said M.I.T. President?Susan?Hockfield in the university’s press release.

According to the university, residential M.I.T.?students can expect to?use?M.I.T.x?in a different way than online-only?students.?For?instance,?the program?will?be?used?to?augment?on-campus?course?work?by?expanding?upon?what ?students?learn?in?class?(faculty and students will determine how to incorporate the program into their courses).?The?university?intends?to?run?the?two?programs?simultaneously?with?no?reduction?in?OCW offerings.

According to the New York Times, access to?the?software?will?be?free.?However,?there?will?most?likely be?an?“affordable”?charge,?not yet?determined,?for?a?credential.?The ?program ?will ?also??save??individuals??from??the??rigors??of ?the ?cutthroat??M.I.T. admissions ?process, ?as ?online-only??students??will??not??have??to ?be??enrolled??in??the?prestigious, yet expensive, university to access its online teaching resources.

Those who want?to?dive?into?M.I.T.x will have?to?wait,?as?the?university?doesn’t?plan to launch a prototype of?the platform until the spring?of?2012. According to M.I.T.?Provost (教務(wù)長) L. Rafael Reif?and Anant Agarwal, director of?the Computer Science?and?Artificial?Intelligence?Lab,?the?prototype?might?include?only?one?course,?but?it?would quickly expand to include many more courses.

Once?launched,?M.I.T.?officials?expect?the?M.I.T.x?platform?to?be?a?giant?hit?amongst ?other ?universities ?looking ?to ?create ?or??expand ?upon??their??online??course?materials.?“Creating?an?open?learning?infrastructure will?enable?other?communities?of?developers?to?contribute?to?it,?thereby?making?it?self-sustaining,”?said?Agarwal?in?the?M.I.T. press release.

Whether?M.I.T.x?will directly threaten the?margins at for-profit online?universities,?such as the University of?Phoenix, APUS, or DeVry remains to be seen. But as M.I.T.x?starts?to?provide?many of?the salient?virtues of?for-profit online colleges, such as a?robust?learning?management?systems?and?real-time?virtual?interaction,?these?publicly?traded?education?companies?might?have?to?lower?fees?in?order?to?compete?with?M.I.T.x’s?compelling free price. In addition, the?success?of?M.I.T.x,?OCW,?and?Academic?Earth?may push dramatic technological innovation at?for-profits,?so that?they?can?maintain?a?unique ?selling?proposition?versus?their ?free ?competitors.?Moreover, ?as?the?rapidly?growing number of?what?are termed?“self educators”?choose?free?college?education,?a?cottage?industry?of social media?support?services might?evolve to bring them?together?for free in-person study?and help?sessions.

Which?is?all?to?say?that,?against?this?country’s?sizable?need?for?STEM?(Science,??Technology,?Engineering,?and?Math)?graduates,?M.I.T.x?is?nothing?short?of me, just want?to?improve?your?chops?in?a?marketable?subject?area.?Heck,?maybe?Gene?Marks’?(“If?I?Were?a?Black?Kid”) tech-based?view?of?education?can?become?a?reality?after?all.

47. ?According to the?passage, a college education free of?charge to anyone in the world?will be available at M.I.T through ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????.

48. ?The????new ????program ????seems ????superior ????to ???the ????original ????OCW ????in ????that

.

49. ?Considering their own interests, students work together with faculty to?decide?what class to learn, which?can ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????.

50. ?Khan Academy?and Academic?Earth?are both?famous?online?education?sites with?different features, the former offering users interactive experience while the?latter

.

51. ?For on-campus students, the use of?M.I.T.x will be expected to

help?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????.

52. ?To gain access to M.I.T’s online teaching resources, the?online-only?students will?neither be charged nor ?????????????????????????????????????????????????.

53. ?According ??to ??its ??plan, ???as ??early ??as ???of ??the ??spring ??of ??2012,???M.I.T???might

.

54. ?Competing with M.I.T.x, for-profit colleges and universities will be forced?to

.

55. ?The author believes that M.I.T.x is revolutionary and especially welcomed by ??people like him who ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????.