2 . 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 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’ learn how to write messages for different audiences and understand when to be formal or direct. You’ll also learn how choice of words can change the way people view your message.

Length: 4 weeks.

Instructor: Daphne Mackey from the University of Washington.

1. English Grammar and Style offers materials on the following EXCEPT ________.

A．grammatical principles	B．word usage
C．punctuation	D．pronunciation

2. Which course has video lessons every week?

A．English Grammar and Style.

B．Academic Writing Made Easy.

C．Preparing to Network in English.

D．Using Emails for Networking in English.

3. What do the first two courses have in common?

A．Both last for one and half months.

B．Both involve some peer review tasks.

C．Both require upper-intermediate English.

D．Both are offered by the same university.

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

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

5. 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 net working.

3 . Directions: Write an English composition in l20—150 words according to the instructions given below in Chinese.
你的朋友李华报名参加了北京某高校的暑期大学选修课程，该课程提供两种上课形式在线授课和线下授课。在线课程通过腾讯课堂进行直播授课，每天上半天课，课程持续四周线下授课要求学生去北京，在高校内集中上课，每天上8小时课，课程持续两周。李华对于选哪种上课形式犹豫不决，写邮件来想听听你的建议。请你回复邮件，内容包括你的想法和理由。___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . Professor Ashok Goel of Georgia Tech developed an artificially intelligent teaching robot, Knowledge- Based Artificial Intelligence, to help handle the enormous number of student questions in the online class. This online course is a core requirement of Georgia Tech's online Master of Science in Computer Science program. Professor Goel already had eight teaching assistants, but that wasn't enough to deal with the overwhelming number of daily questions from students.

Many students drop out of online courses because of the lack of teaching support. When students feel isolated or confused and reach out with questions that go unanswered, their motivation to continue begins to taper off. Professor Goel decided to do something to remedy this situation and his solution was to create a virtual assistant named Jill Watson, which is based on the IBM Watson platform.

Goel and his team developed several versions of Jill Watson before releasing her to the online forums. At first, the virtual assistant wasn't too great. But Goel and his team sourced the online discussion forum to find all the 40, 000 questions that had ever been asked since the class was launched. Then they began to feed Jill with the questions and answers. After some adjustments and sufficient time, Jill was able to answer the students' questions correctly 97% of the time. The virtual assistant became so advanced and realistic that the students didn’t know she was a computer.

The students, who were studying artificial intelligence, were interacting with the virtual assistant and couldn't tell it apart from a real human being. Goel didn’t inform them about Jill's true identity until April 26. The students were actually very positive about the experience.

The goal of Professor Goel’s virtual assistant next year is to take over answering 40% of all the questions posed by students on the online forum. The name Jill Watson will, of course, change to something else next semester. Professor Goel has a much rosier outlook on the future of artificial intelligence than, say, Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates or Steve Wozniak.

1. What do we learn about Knowledge-Based Artificial Intelligence?

A．It is a robot that can answer students’ questions.

B．It is a course designed for students to learn online.

C．It is a high-tech device that reforms teaching.

D．It is a computer program that aids student learning.

2. What does the underlined phrase “taper off” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．Grow dramatically.

B．Increase sharply.

C．Decrease gradually.

D．Decline randomly.

3. How did the students feel about Jill Watson?

A．Incapable.

B．Useful.

C．Incredible.

D．Universal.

4. What’s the main idea of the text?

A．A robot gives an online course.

B．Artificial Intelligence will replace humans in online classes.

C．Virtual assistant is getting popular on campus.

D．Professor Goel of Georgia Tech applies a virtual teaching assistant.

5 . 假设你是红星中学高一学生李华。你的美国笔友 Jim 对你校社团的近期活动非常感兴趣。请你用英语给他写一封信，向他介绍你们社团为边远地区的学生提供在线课程的情况。具体内容包括：
1. 该活动的目的；
2. 该活动涉及的内容；
3. 你参与该活动的感受。注意：1. 词数不少于 50；
2. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。提示词：在线课程 online courses
Dear Jim,
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Yours,

Li Hua

6 . E-learning

Courses that are taught through the Internet，or online courses，have become popular in many countries.     1     But most show a video of a teacher and students in a classroom. Students watch the video online and take part in online activities. Some courses are free and open to anyone, giving students anywhere the chance to study at any time.

    2     Some schools in Singapore, for example, have tablets and touchscreens instead of books and blackboards in the classrooms. There are also social media platforms to help the students work together on projects, and online “worlds” where the students can interact with each other and the digital environment while completing different tasks.

    3     The teachers are in their home countries and are connected to the Korean classrooms through the Internet. Instead of looking at a screen, the students interact with a robot in the classroom. The robot is controlled by the teacher and can move around the classroom and talk with students. It is unlikely that robot teachers will replace real teachers.     4    

These important examples show us that e-learning can be successful. Thanks to technology, more and more ways of teaching and learning are being developed.     5    

However, one thing is for sure-there has never been a more interesting time to be a student.

A．There are different kinds of online courses.

B．Students are more likely to take part in a real class.

C．Other kinds of e-learning are being tested around the world.

D．Nobody knows what the classroom of the future will look like.

E．But like online learning environments, they can be useful tools.

F．In South Korea, some students are taught English by teachers abroad.

G．E-learning will surely replace the real classroom learning in the near future.

7 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

As technology grows, many university instructors are finding ways to guide online learning platforms into their classrooms. Programs such as Blackboard, WebCT and Moodle allow teachers to post reading assignments, PowerPoint presentations, lecture notes and quizzes for students to complete outside of class. While posting lessons online can be friendly to students' communication styles and easily accessible, they also cause disadvantages.

One disadvantage is that it may encourage students to depend on technology in the classroom. Instead of physical textbooks, many now bring cellphones to access materials during class discussions. While electronic devices can be valuable learning tools, they also can lead to distractions from learning, such as social networking and online games. It is extremely difficult for students being exposed to multiple electronic tasks to focus or remember key information.

A second disadvantage is that online lessons open up potential for cheating. Many instructors require students to complete quizzes, post within discussion groups or submit major assignments online. As a result, there are some students having someone else complete their assignments. A contributing factor is that online assignments are best suitable for those self-motivated, self-directed students. Students who struggle with organization and completing assignments may find it easy to cheat online.

In spite of these disadvantages, educators can take steps to make sure students use online lessons responsibly. If instructors are uncomfortable with electronic devices in the classroom, they can require students to print out assignments and readings to reference during sessions. To prevent cheating, teachers can use online assignments as a supplement to traditional in-class work, or create open-ended assignments rather than using assignments like multiple-choice quizzes that have only one right answer. Being familiar with what the platform looks like from a student perspective also can help instructors avoid potential pitfalls.

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