Online Free Courses

English Grammar and Style

We’ll present materials that cover grammatical principles, word usage, writing style, sentence and paragraph structure and punctuation. We’ll challenge you with quizzes and writing activities that will give you strategies to enhance the quality of your writing, and invite you to participate in discussions and assess the work of your peers (同龄人).

Length: 8 weeks
Instructor: Roslyn Petelin from the University of Queensland
Academic Writing Made Easy

From structuring and organizing an academic text to avoiding common mistakes that can negatively affect your credibility, this course offers a guide for those who want to improve their writing. Each week is comprised of video lessons, followed by exercises and tasks of assessing your peers' work.

The course requires upper-intermediate (中高级) to advanced English.

Length: 6 weeks
Instructor: Heidi Minning from the Technical University of Munich
Preparing to Network in English

Networking in the business world is key to career success. But what is networking? And how do you do it in English? This course helps you understand the basics of networking and why it’s important. You’ll identify the key qualities you should focus on developing. Most importantly, you’ll grow and expand your business network and professional connections.

Length: 6 weeks
Instructor: Joel Ozretich from the University of Washington
Using Emails for Networking in English

In this course, you’ll learn important strategies for writing effective emails. You' II learn how to write messages for different audiences and understand when to be formal or direct. You' II also learn how your choice of words can change the way people view your message.

Length: 4 weeks
Instructor: Daphne Mackey from the University of Washington
1. What do the first two courses have in common?

A．Both last for one and a half months.

B．Both involve some peer review tasks.

C．Both require upper-intermediate English.

D．Both are offered by the same university.

2. Who will offer the course on the importance of the business network?

A．Roslyn Petelin.	B．Heidi Minning.
C．Joel Ozretich.	D．Daphne Mackey.

3. What does the shortest course focus on?

A．Improving email-writing skills.

B．Giving tips on academic writing.

C．Exploring grammatical principles.

D．Introducing the basics of networking.

He was born in a Bavarian village in 1829, running away from anti-Semitism (反犹太主义) with his family at 17. From New York, he caught a steamer to California, a newly minted American citizen, with a view to expanding the family’s dry goods business. But these were the exciting days of the Gold Rush, and the young man dreamed of making it big. His initiative paid off so well that you may be wearing his invention now: his name was Levi Strauss.

Technically, the entrepreneur who went by the name “Uncle Levi” didn’t invent the copper rivets(铜铆钉) on jeans. The idea came from a tailor named Jacob Davis in Nevada who bought cloth from Strauss to make work clothes for laborers. In 1872，Jacob Davis persuaded him to jointly file for a patent for an “improvement in fastening pocket openings”, and to shift from selling fabric to finished trousers. Then follows a history of marketing genius---documented in the largest-ever public display of artefacts(手工制品) from Levi Strauss & Co.

"Levi Strauss: A History of American Style” at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco weaves together corporate, cultural and social trends to tell the story of one of the country’s most famous exports. When Strauss died in 1902, nobody could have expected that the firm he founded would define America’s style and become a popular sign globally. It did that by roping its product to two mythic American figures: the cowboy and the rebel (叛逆者).

Levi' s 501 jeans were tough. Marketed originally to farmers, mechanics and miners, they became the garb (服装) of choice for Western horsemen. It wasn’t long before some celebrities John Wayne and Clark Gable were wearing them into various shows, followed by rebels played by Marlon Brando and James Dean.

The brand' s advertising rode the countercultural(反主流文化) wave, using its status as a badge of coolness and freedom. Marilyn Monroe wore Levi’s; Andy Warhol popularized them. Jeans that graced many famous figures--- including Patti Smith, Madonna and Beyoncé---fill the gallery and span the decades.

4. What does the author say about teenage Strauss?

A．He was business-minded.

B．He joined the Gold Rush.

C．He was independent of his family.

D．He seemed unaffected by anti-Semitism.

5. What was Jacob Davis' contribution?

A．He transferred his patent to Strauss.

B．He improved the cloth purchased from Strauss.

C．He helped with marketing in Levi Strauss &Co.

D．He talked Strauss into producing ready–made clothes.

6. What can be learned about Levi’s 501 jeans?

A．They were originally sold to Western horsemen.

B．They were constantly in line with the dominant culture.

C．They shifted from being functional to being decorative.

D．They first had a cold welcome from entertainment workers.

7. What is the best title of the passage?

A．The history of Levi' s jeans.

B．The changes of popular culture.

C．The rebellion of a Bavarian boy.

D．The American style reflected in jeans.

Since apps like Uber and Lyft came on the scene, ridesharing services have dramatically changed the way people get around. A new study out of Columbia University reveals a downside of these services. It turns out that ridesharing trips cause an increase in the number of accidents involving motorists and pedestrians at pick-up and drop-off locations.

Previous studies on the relationship between ridesharing services and vehicle crashes compare cities where ridesharing services are available with cities where they are not, and this makes results somewhat ambiguous. In this study researchers analyze individual trips to make the picture a little clearer.

Researchers analyzed data from 372 million ridesharing trips in New York City between 2017 and 2018. Whenever a crash occurred in the city, they calculated the number of ridesharing trips that began or ended in the area at the time of the accident. They compared this with the number of trips that took place in the same location one week before and one week after the crash. Researchers did the same calculations for regular taxi rides as part of their analyses. Also, separate analyses were performed based on the type of people injured in the crash: pedestrians, motorists or cyclists.

The results of the analyses show that the rise in ridesharing trips is associated with an increase in the number of accidents involving pedestrians and motorists, but not cyclists. Furthermore, they did not find this same association between taxi trips and accidents.

“Ridesharing is changing the way we move around cities.” says first author Christopher Morrison. “It is becoming clear that the technology reduces alcohol-related crashes, but these benefits do not seem to extend to the overall number of crashes. These findings help explain why that might be---- because the reductions in alcohol-related crashes are offset (抵消) by increases in other types of crashes.”

Researchers hope that cities and ridesharing services will use the results of this study to take measures that might reduce the number of crashes. “In crowded areas with large numbers of rideshare pick-ups and drop-offs, cities could consider building taxi-rank style infrastructure (基础设施) to protect pedestrians and prevent crashes, ”concludes Morrison.

8. What do we know about previous studies on ridesharing services?

A．Their analysis is hardly reliable.

B．Their findings are rather ridiculous.

C．Their research method is out-of-date.

D．Their research sample is not wide enough.

9. What does the survey tell us?

A．The increase in ridesharing trips can lead to an increase in accidents between cyclists and pedestrians.

B．When there is a high number of ridesharing trips, there is usually an increase in the number of accidents.

C．Ridesharing is changing the way we move around cities.

D．Cyclists are always safe.

10. What fact does the underlined word “that” in Paragraph 5 refer to?

A．Ridesharing reduces alcohol-related crashes.

B．Ridesharing doesn’t increase accidents involving cyclists.

C．Various types of crashes increase with ridesharing services.

D．Overall crashes don’t decrease along with alcohol-related crashes.

11. What does Morrison suggest in the last paragraph?

A．Improving infrastructure to expand taxi services.

B．Banning ridesharing services in crowded places.

C．Constructing some stops for ridesharing vehicles.

D．Reducing the number of pick-ups and drop-offs.

After the season for giving, it is the one for throwing away. Each year in late December and early January a massive amount of plastic packaging is discarded (丢弃) worldwide. In Britain alone households generate 30% more waste, an extra 3m tonnes, in the month over Christmas. Most is destined for landfill. Lithuania will do less damage than many, though. The country now recycles at a record level. Almost three- quarters (74%) of plastic packaging waste was recycled there in 2017, the highest proportion in Europe.

Much of Lithuania' s success is due to a deposit refund scheme (方案). Customers pay €0.10 extra when buying drinks containers. After use, these can be fed into reverse vending machines (反向自动售货机) installed in shops, which spit the deposit back out. The machines’ contents are sent directly to recycling centers. By the end of 2017, 92% of all bottles and cans sold in Lithuania were being returned. The overall plastic packaging recycling rate increased by almost 20%.

The Lithuanian government says the scheme has fueled a potential love for recycling in its citizens. Nearly 90% of Lithuanians have used the machines at least once. However, Lithuanians do not generally describe themselves as eco-fighters. A 2017 survey by the European Commission found they were less likely than most other Europeans to regard environmental issues as “very important”.

The eagerness of Lithuanian recyclers may stem not from a love of the Earth but from a low net worth(资本净值). A tenth of the population live on less than €245 a month. In big cities it is common to see people scooping recyclable items out of bins to take to the machines.

Less litter and money for people who need it seems like a win-win. But it might not in fact be best for the environment in the long run. In Germany ----where a similar, widely used refund deposit scheme has been in place since 2003 --- the earnings from keeping the deposits from unreturned bottles seem to have discouraged producers from switching to more sustainable packaging.

12. What might most Lithuanian customers do under the deposit refund scheme?

A．They send their drinks containers directly to recycling centers.

B．They spend more on drinks than other European customers.

C．They return their used drinks containers.

D．They use vending machines to buy drinks.

13. What did the 2017 survey find out?

A．Lithuania beat many countries in plastic recycling.

B．Lithuanians were less aware of environmental conservation.

C．Lithuanians made much money from recycling.

D．Lithuania had an unequal income distribution.

14. What is the author’s attitude to the deposit refund scheme?

A．Positive.	B．Unfavorable.
C．Ambiguous.	D．Uninterested.

15. What does the text mainly focus on?

A．How and why Lithuanians recycle their trash.

B．How waste turns into treasure in Lithuania

C．Who are recycling plastic bottles in Lithuania

D．Where Lithuanians throw away their plastic packaging