Unit 5 : Education
Education in Cyberspace
Unit 1: Part A
• Pre-Reading Activities
• Intensive Study
• After-reading
Unit 1: Part A
• Warm-up Questions
• Wacth and Think
• Word Web
• Spot Dictation
• Background Information
Pre-reading Activities: Warm-up Questions
1. What is your idea of an ideal university
life?
2. How does education improve your life?
3. Can you feel the impact of modern
technology on teaching and learning in
your university?
4. How does cyber education benefit students?
5. How do students behave in cyber
classrooms and traditional classrooms
respectively?
Pre-reading Activities: Watch and Think
Directions: Watch the following video and
take notes. What’s the instructors’
opinion on online education? Do
you agree that it has some
advantages over the
conventional/traditional education?
schedule, twice amount of work,
main differences, face-to-face
Pre-reading Activities: Watch and Think
Pre-reading Activities: Word Web
Directions: What words will occur to you when we mention “Education.”
teacher
classroom
master
university knowledge
doctor
student
undergraduate
study
subject
semester
lecture
Education
school
playground
discipline
homework
diploma
bachelor
graduation
freshman
degree
Pre-reading Activities: Spot Dictation
Virtual Global University
The Virtual Global University (VGU) is a
private organization founded in 2001 by 17
professors of Business Informatics from 14
different universities in Germany, Austria
and Switzerland. The VGU brings together
the ________________________
knowledge and experience of people
virtual
from different universities in one _______
real
organization. At the same time it is a ____
organization, according to German civil law
______________
under the name "VGU Private Virtual
Global University GmbH."
The focus of VGU’s study _________
offerings is
information technology (IT) and
management — or Business Informatics as
it is called in Central Europe. Students of
Business Informatics (BI) are taught how to
use IT ___________
effectively to develop business
global challenges .
solutions for __________________
All courses offered by the VGU are based
on the Internet as well as on commonly
___________________and
communication
available information
technology. Courses are conducted in
English and are given ________,
entirely or are
substantially supported, by means of
electronic media
________________.
Pre-reading Activities: Background Information
Vicky Phillips:
a pioneer in adult education and
distance learning, and founder
and
CEO
of
“Geteducated.com.” She is the
author of the well-known book
Never Too Late to Learn: The
Adult Student’s Guide to
College.
Pre-reading Activities: Background Information
Isaac Pitman (1813 ~1893)
English inventor of phonographic
shorthand (留声速记). He set forth a
shorthand system based on phonetic (
语音的) rather than orthographic (拼写
的) principles. It became one of the
most-used systems in the world then.
He published many manuals (手册),
journals, and books about shorthand
through his own publishing house.
Pre-reading Activities: Background Information
Plato (427 ~ 347BC) :
An ancient Greek philosopher. He had a
very great influence on European
philosophy. He explained his ideas in the
form of written conversation. His teacher
was Socrates (苏格拉底) and after
Socrates’ death he established a school
called the Academy, where Aristotle was
one of his students. His most famous
work is The Republic (《理想国》), which
is about the perfect state and form of
government.
Intensive Study
•
Structure of the Text
•
Main Idea
• Intensive Study
• Difficult sentences
• Key words, phrases & usages
• Comprehension exercises
Part I
1~3
I teach in cyberspace.
Part II As a virtual professor, I teach without
4~9 personally meeting my students.
Being a Guide on the Side, I have
succeeded in getting my students to
Part III
communicate their ideas actively and
think
critically,
which
is
something
I
10~17
find hard to achieve in traditional
campus education.
Cyber-teaching reflects the nature of a
Part IV
true liberal education as is defined by
18~20
Plato, and it is well received by the
participants.
Mankind hopes for a better world to live in.
his e__,
nd man has to confront the
T_o t___
n
inevitable conflicts that the future holds i_
s____.
tore Since education lays an
ndispensable role in managing those
i____________
conflicts, the following four pillars of
education are proposed. Learning to live
together c____
alls f__
or an understanding of
others and the awareness of the d________,
iversity
similarities and interdependence of all
mplement joint
people so that people can i________
ccordance w___
ith the global
projects. I_n a_________
changes brought about by scientific
progress, the e_______
mphasisin learning to know
ombining a broad general
should be put on c________
education and the opportunity to study a
small number of subjects i_
n d____.
epth
Associated with the issue of occupational
quip people
training, learning to do aims to e____
to cope with various situations and work in
teams. The fourth pillar is learning to be,
which focuses on the complete development
of one’s potentials when he g___
oes a____
fter an
independent, critical way of thinking and
judgement. Given the comventient a_____
ccess to
knowledge in the information era, everyone
Main idea
longs for a way to g__
et the most o__
ut o_f their
own specific educational environment. These
four interrelated pillars can help us make the
best out of education and attain our future
ideals.
Intensive Study
Campus teaching is the conventional
style of education that has been practiced
for centuries. Vicky Phillips, however,
does not think highly of this form of
teaching. As a cyber professor, she talks
about the decline of the American campus
and the rise of the American educational
mind.
Intensive Study
Education in Cyberspace
1 On a recent business trip a man asked
me what I did for a living. I replied that I
wrote and taught college courses.
2. “Oh?” he said. “Where do you teach?”
3. A peculiarly honest answer came out of
my mouth before I could think. “Nowhere,”
I said.
Intensive Study
4 It’s true. Since 1990 I have taught and
counseled for what a friend of mine calls
“keyboard colleges” —distance-learning
degree programs. Where I teach is
inside that electrically charged space
that lies between my phone jack and the
home computers of a group of generally
older-than-average college students.
Intensive Study
5 In 1990, I designed America’s first online
counseling center for distance learners.
Since then I’ve worked with more than 7,000
learners online. I’ve flunked a few of them.
I’ve never personally met any of them.
6 For want of a clearer explanation of my
career situation, I told the man who inquired
that I teach in cyberspace. “I’m a virtual
professor,” I tried explaining. “Distance
learning ... online degree programs ... virtual
universities.”
Intensive Study
7 The man’s face remained as blank as a
clear summer sky. I couldn’t tell whether
he was silent out of respect or keen
confusion. I imagined both to be the case,
so I settled in to explain what I have to
explain frequently these days: the decline
of the American college campus and the
rise of the American educational mind —
as I see it.
Intensive Study
8 Distance learning, or educational
programs where pupil and professor
never meet face-to-face, are nothing new.
Sir Isaac Pitman of Bath, England, hit
upon the idea of having rural residents
learn secretarial skills by translating the
Bible into shorthand, then mailing these
translations back to him for grading. He
began doing this in 1840. And he made
mounds of money doing it.
Intensive Study
I don’t teach shorthand; I teach
psychology and career development. I
write many of my own lessons, though,
just as Sir Isaac had to do. My post is the
World Wide Web. I post assignments to
electronic bulletin boards and send
graded papers across the international
phone lines in tariff-free e-mail packets. I
convene classes and give lectures in
online chat rooms when need be.
9
Intensive Study
10 Is this any way to dispense with a
real college education? Can people learn
without sitting in neat rows in a lecture
room listening to the professor —
the
Sage on the Stage?
11 Yes, absolutely. Why not? In fact,
while many people find it hard to imagine
a college with no campus, I nowadays
find it hard to imagine teaching anywhere
other than in the liberal freedom that is
cyberspace.
Intensive Study
12 In cyberspace, I listen, read,
comment and reflect on what my students
have to say — each of them in turn.
What they know, they must communicate
to me in words. They cannot sit
passively in the back row twiddling their
mental thumbs as the clock ticks away.
They must think; and horror of horrors,
they must write. Thinking and writing:
Aren’t these the hallmarks of a classically
educated mind?
Intensive Study
13 I know my students not by their faces or
their seat position in a vast lecture auditorium;
I know them by the words and ideas they
express in their weekly assignments, which
everyone reads online.
14 I am not a Sage on the Stage — I am
more a Guide on the Side. Often what the
students “say” or write to one another, or the
way they incorporate their work and career
ideas into their papers and debates with each
other, is more practically inspiring than any
help I could provide them with.
Intensive Study
15 My average college “kid” is 40
years old. More than a few are in their
50s or 60s. They are telecommuting to
campus because they could not, or
would not, uproot their careers and kids
or grandkids to move to a college
campus — an entity modeled after the
learning monasteries of medieval times.
Intensive Study
16 Many of them know what they are
talking about. Even more so, they know
why they came back to college to learn. A
cyber-education suits them because it
respects their abilities to define for
themselves what knowledge is and to go
after it. It encourages them to argue their
points and their perspectives without the
interference of a professor, who might
be tempted to step in to “calm down” or
“refocus” an otherwise wonderfully
enlightening classroom debate.
Intensive Study
17 They are experiencing something
very different from the traditional factory
model of American education, in which
everyone on the assembly line is delivered
the same standardized units of information
(lectures and textbooks) and then must
pass the same quality inspection (objective
exams).
Intensive Study
This factory model — where students sit in
neat rows, holding up their hands for
permission to speak, clock-watching their
way through textbooks and lectures that
are broken into discrete bits of
knowledge — has never been shown to be
an effective way to learn. It has, however,
been proven to be a convenient way for
colleges to record on transcripts that a
standard body of knowledge has been duly
delivered.
Intensive Study
18 Maybe teaching a liberal arts
curriculum via a virtual environment
makes more sense to me because it
brings me back to what I learned to be a
true liberal arts education. Studying
philosophy in Athens, Greece, I was
taught that to learn anything, one had to
throw away textbooks and notebooks —
mere memory tools — and instead rely
on one’s native ability to think critically.
Intensive Study
19 While my cyber-students do have
textbooks, the books are learning aids;
they are not the only pool of knowledge
the students will drink from. Instead, they
will learn also from the collaborative
efforts of online debates, conferences
and papers. They will think about what
they have to say, and they will come to
class each week amazingly prepared to
argue and type their way toward insight.
Intensive Study
20 The virtual university: Oddly
enough, it’s just what a classical
philosopher like Plato would have
practiced — had there been an Internet
way back then. Me? I’m in favor of less
learning taking place on a campus and
more that happens in the minds of the
participants.
A peculiarly honest answer came out
of my mouth before I could think.
1. Paraphrase this sentence.
Without thinking, I answered him
frankly.
2. Translate the sentence into Chinese.
我不假思索，老老实实地答道。
peculiarly
Where I teach is inside that electrically
charged space that lies between my phone
jack and the home computers of a group of
generally older-than-average college
students.
1. Paraphrase this sentence.
My students are generally older than
the average college students. I teach
them not in the traditional lecture
rooms, but on the Internet where I
am linked with them via their home
phone lines and modems.
Where I teach is inside that electrically
charged space that lies between my phone
jack and the home computers of a group of
generally older-than-average college
students.
2. Translate this part into Chinese.
我的课堂是在充满电荷的空间里，
一端连着我的电话插座，另一端连
着一群年龄偏大的大学生家里的电
脑。
The man’s face remained as blank as a
clear summer sky.
1. What figure of speech is used here?
Simile.
More examples:
…sing like an angel
…sleep as sound as a log
…be as brave as a lion
2. Translate this part into Chinese.
那人的脸上仍旧一片茫然。
…the Sage on the Stage…
1. What does “the Sage on the Stage” mean?
This is a term commonly used in the
teaching research field to refer to the
teacher who plays a dominant role in
the classroom. Its opposite term is
“the Guide on the Side,” which
suggests a learner-centred teaching
approach.
2. Translate this part into Chinese.
讲坛上的圣人。/课堂教学的支配者。
What they know, they must communicate
to me in words.
What’s the grammatical function of “What
they know” ?
“What they know,” which serves
as the object of the verb
“communicate,” is put at the
beginning of the sentence to
achieve emphasis.
They cannot sit passively in the back row
twiddling their mental thumbs as the clock
ticks away.
1. What does “twiddling their mental
thumbs” mean?
to do little or nothing; be idle
2. What can we infer from the sentence?
Studying online is different from that
in the conventional classroom.
Students should do something
actively instead of sitting in the back
idling.
They cannot sit passively in the back row
twiddling their mental thumbs as the clock
ticks away.
3. Translate this part into Chinese.
他们不能坐在后排座位上，无所事
事地打发时光。
…who might be tempted to step in to
“calm down” or “refocus” an otherwise
wonderfully enlightening classroom
debate.
1. Paraphrase this sentence.
…who might feel like interfering with
the students’ debate to make them
calm down or to change the focus of
the debate. In that case, the
classroom debate might no longer be
so enlightening as it should be.
…who might be tempted to step in to
“calm down” or “refocus” an otherwise
wonderfully enlightening classroom
debate.
2. Translate this part into Chinese.
……可能会情不自禁地介入他们的争
论，把原本很有启发性的课堂讨论
“平息”或者“引到别的话题上去”。
think highly of:
to have a good opinion of someone or sth.
She thinks very highly of her boss.
我们极其欣赏王教授的意见。?
We think very highly of Professor
Wang’s opinion .
think highly of
speak highly of
对……极其赞赏
对……极为称
颂，非常赞同
peculiarly: adv. especially; strangely
The streets were peculiarly
quiet for the time of day.
他奇怪地看着我. ?
He looked at me most
peculiarly.
counsel: v. to give advice, especially on
social or personal problems
The police have provided experts
to counsel local people affected
by the tragedy.
听从长辈的劝告吧。?
Listen to the counsel of your
elders.
CF: counsel, advise, caution, warn
这些动词均有“劝告”，“忠告”，“警告”之意。
counsel 正式用词，语气比advise强一些，
侧重指对重要问题提出的劝告、建议或咨
询。
advise 普通用词，泛指劝告，不涉及对方
是否听从劝告。
caution 主要指针对潜在危险而提出的警告，
含告诫别人小心从事的意味。
含义与caution相同，但语气较重，
warn
尤指就某个严重的后果给人警告。
1. Put that ball down and come over here,
Laura — I’m _______
warning you.
2. They’re _________
advising that children be kept
out of the sun altogether.
counseling unemployed
3. My job involves __________
people on/about how to find work.
4. I’d ______
advise waiting until tomorrow.
5. The newspaper _________
cautioned its readers
against buying shares without getting good
advice first.
6. We were warned
______ not to eat the fish which
might give us a slight stomach upset.
flunk: v. (infml) especially AmE to give
someone low marks on a test so that
they fail it; fail (an examination or study
course)
I flunked my second year exams and
was lucky not to be thrown out of
college.
Her not following the instructions
flunked her.
flunk out
除名，退学
for want of: for lack of, because of a lack of
If we fail it won’t be for want of trying
(= We have tried even if we fail).
因无事可做，我只好待在家里看电视。?
For want of anything better to do I
watched television at home.
fill / meet / satisfy a want 满足需要
minister to sb’s want
满足某人的需要
in want of
需要……
virtual adj. made, done, seen etc. on the
Internet or a computer, rather than in the
real world
He has made some friends in the
virtual world through the Internet.
网络购物/银行?
virtual shopping/banking
be the case: to be the actual state of
affairs; to be true
He said he’d been cheated out of all
his money, but that’s not the case.
If that is the case then I will be very
disappointed.
a case in point
in any case
in case of
in no case
有关的实例， 例证
无论如何，不管怎样
假如，如果发生
无论如何不，决不
decline: 1. n. a period or process of going
from a better to a worse position
Our business has gone into a decline
this year and we have to dismiss
some employees.
She seemed to be recovering and
then she went into a decline.
2. v. to gradually become less, worse, or lower
His interest in the project declined
after his wife died.
我谢绝了他们提出的帮助。?
I declined their offer of help.
CF: refuse, decline, reject
这三个动词均含“拒绝”之意。
语气较重，指态度坚决，肯
refuse 定无疑地拒绝。
decline
reject
指婉言谢绝他人的帮助或
邀请等。
多指由于某物、某事、某行
为不能让人满意而被当面直
截了当地拒绝。
rejected by the
1. The appeal was ________
High Court.
2. We asked them to come to our party,
declined
but they _________.
3. I applied for a job as a mechanic in
rejected
a local garage, but I was _________.
4. He asked her to marry him but she
_______
refused .
5. He’s in trouble but he’s _______
refused all
(my offers of) help.
hit on/upon sth: find by lucky chance or
have a good idea about
I tried several methods before I hit on
this way of solving the problem.
When we first hit on the idea,
everyone told us it would never work.
hit it off
hit out
相处得好
猛打，乱击
rural adj. of or like the countryside;
concerning country or village life
Rural things always appeal to me. I
like the fresh air, the country roads,
even the smells of the land.
The area is still very rural and
undeveloped.
rural 的含义是“（像）乡村的”,“有乡村
（生活）特点的”。其反义词为urban“城
市的”，“市内的”。
resident n. a person who lives in a place or a
particular area all the time or just while working,
studying, or visiting
Are you a permanent resident of the
United States or are you just traveling
around?
CF: resident , citizen, native
这三个名词均含有“居民”，“公民”
resident 长期居住或暂时居住的居民，有时
之意
也指旅居者。
citizen 具有某国国籍或有某地区合法身份的人
即公民。
native
本地居民。
1. The local residents
_________ were angry at the
lack of parking spaces.
2. He is a ______
native of New York City but lives
mostly in California.
3. He applied to become an American
_______.
citizen
4. He reassured people that law-abiding
________
citizens would have nothing to fear
from the enquiries.
5. The hotel bar was only open to residents
_________.
6. Before coming to this pacific country he
natives are
was not certain whether the ________
friendly to the foreigners like him.
comment: 1. v. to give an opinion; make a comment
My mum always comments on what
I’m wearing.
He commented that the two essays
were rather similar.
2. n. sth. that you say or write that expresses your
opinion
I don’t want any comments on/about
my new haircut, thank you!
你对最近的事态发展有什么评论吗?
Do you have any comment(s) to
make on the recent developments?
make a comment
作评论
an appropriate/fitting comment
恰当的评论
a favorite comment
好评
a vicious comment
恶毒的抨击
in turn: one after the other
He asked each of us in turn what we
had been doing when the robbery
took place.
他们依次进入教室。?
They entered the classroom in turn.
in turn
at every turn
by turns
in one’s turn
依次地；转而，反过来
每次；事事；处处
轮流地；交替地
轮到时，接着
passively: adv.
He tends to wait passively for his
boss to tell him what to do.
passively 的形容词是 passive 意为
“被动的”，“消极的”。
Men have always played an active
part in leading worship while women
have been confined to more passive
roles.
他的反应是被动的。?
His response was passive.
tick away: (of time) go by
As we were waiting for the green light
at the crossroads, the taxi’s meter
kept ticking away.
With the final seconds ticking away,
Milan scored a goal.
tick off
tick over
给……作标记
（工作、活动等）维持原状，
进展缓慢
practically: ad. in a practical way; very
nearly; almost
Theoretically, it’s a good idea to live
without a car, but practically speaking,
it would be difficult to manage without
one.
对我来说，在不到一个小时内到家几乎
是不可能的。?
It’s practically impossible for me to
get home in less than an hour.
uproot: vt. to make someone leave their
home for a new place, especially when this is
difficult or upsetting
The war has uprooted nearly twothirds of the country’s population.
她背井离乡从农场搬到伦敦。?
She uprooted herself from the farm
and moved to London.
go after:
try to obtain or win; chase
Tom and I were going after the
same job, so one of us had to
choose something else to do.
The police went after him but
he got away.
step in: to become involved in an activity,
discussion, or disagreement, sometimes
in order to stop trouble
When the leading actress broke her
leg, Isobel stepped in and took over.
他们自己能够解决纠纷，你最好不要干
预。?
They can settle the argument by
themselves; you’d better not step in.
enlighten: vt. to explain sth. to someone
Should the function of children’s
television be to entertain or to
enlighten?
I don’t understand this. Could you
enlighten me?
enlighten about/on
就……对……作启发
inspection: n. (an act of) inspecting
I gave the mobile phone a
thorough inspection before I
bought it.
经进一步检查，发现这些钞票是伪造
的。?
On closer inspectation the
notes proved to be forgeries.
inspect: vt. to look at sth or someone carefully
in order to discover information, especially
about their quality or condition
CF: inspect, examine, investigate
这些动词都有“调查”，“检查”之意
inspect 检查，审视。意在找出不足或不同之
处。
examine 检查。可指粗略地查看，也可指仔
细观察或调查以确定事物的性质、功能、
特点等
investigate 调查。指为发现事实真相或了解
掌握情况而进行深入细致的观察或查询。
1. She held the bank note up to the
light and _________
inspected it carefully.
2. The doctor __________
examined her carefully.
3. We are of course ____________
investigating how
an error like this could have
occurred.
4. After the crash both drivers got out
inspected their cars for
and __________
damage.
5. My bags were ____________
when I
examined
entered the country.
•
•
•
•
carry out an inspection
conduct inspection
a close inspection
a technical inspection
进行视察
执行检查
严格地检查
技术检验
bring back:
cause to return to the mind
The photo taken twenty years ago
brings back many fond memories of
my stay in London.
The whole scene brought back the
days of my childhood.
After reading
• Useful Expressions
• Listening Comprehension
• Optional Classroom Activities
• Vocabulary Exercise
• Translation
• Discussion & Writing
• Proverbs and Quotations
write and teach
1.编写和教授大学课程 college courses
distance-learning degree
2.远程学位教育课程
programs
3.年龄偏大的大学生 older-than-average
college students
4.在线辅导中心
online counseling center
5. 远程教学
distance learning
6.大笔的金钱
mounds of money
7.职业拓展
8.电子布告栏
9.免交关税
career development
electronic bulletin boards
tariff-free
dispense with a real
10.摒弃现实中的大学教育college education
11.讲坛上的圣人
the Sage on the Stage
12.接受传统教育的思想 classically educated mind
13.身边的向导
a Guide on the Side
14.返回大学学习 come back to college to learn
15.抒发…的观点和见解 argue one’s points and
perspectives
16.相同标准单位的信息 the same standardized
17.通过同一质量检查 units of information
pass the same quality
inspection
18.有效的学习途径 an effective way to learn
After reading-- Useful Expressions
19.大学文科课程
a liberal arts curriculum
20.依赖我们与生俱来的 rely on one’s
本领
native ability
21.学习的辅助材料
22.奇怪的是
learning aids
oddly enough
Online education provides us with a new approach
of learning and teaching. As a more
effective and efficient form of learning, online
____________________
education gives us excellent
sources
of information saves our time and money,
____________________,
convenient We can
and it is extremely __________.
search for any educational materials we need
__________
and register
________ for any classes we like. With
education spreading out more and more online,
students will have ____________
more choices on how and
when to take their courses and classes. Online
more accessible
education will make education ______________
to the public and will make our life more
_________.
enjoyable
After reading-- activities
Cyber education is highly recommended
in Text A. However, as every coin has
two sides, cyber education also has its
disadvantages or limitations.
Now work in groups of three or four and
have a group discussion on the topic:
Advantages and Disadvantages of
Cyber Education.
Advantages
1. Cyber education
may satisfy the
demand of a
countless number of
people who wish to
further their education
because it sets no
limit on the size of the
online classroom.
Disadvantages
1. Students of a virtual
university cannot
have face-to-face
interactions with their
teachers or
supervisors, which is
something that goes
against the
humanistic approach
to education.
Advantages
2. In cyber education,
students need not
“uproot their careers
and kids and
grandkids to move to
a college campus.”
Disadvantages
2. Students of a virtual
university cannot
enjoy a true campus
life, which is always
so colorful, interesting
and beneficial to
students’ character
development.
Advantages
3. Students who wish
to continue studying
in the cyberspace
know clearly what
knowledge or skills
they need to acquire.
So they are highly
motivated.
Disadvantages
3. Character building
is an important
objective in college
education. Cyber
education shows no
advantage in this
respect, for cyberstudents are isolated
from one another and
they are divorced from
society.
Advantages
4. In cyber education,
students enjoy the
freedom to learn
anytime and anywhere
and they can learn at
their own pace.
Disadvantages
4. Cyber education or
online courses may
suit adult college
graduates who wish to
engage in
professional training
or continuing
education. It may not
be desirable for young
students who wish to
have a formal degree
education.
Advantages
5. In virtual
classrooms, students
“cannot sit passively
in the back row
twiddling their mental
thumbs as the clock
ticks away.” They
must think; and they
write a lot.
Disadvantages
5. Cyber education as
advocated by Vicky
Phillips in her article
is only but an
alternative for
students; it isn’t
necessarily better
than campus
education.
Advantages
6. Cyber students do not
regard their textbooks as
“the only pool of
knowledge” that they will
“drink from.” Instead,
they are actively engaged
in online debates,
conferences and papers.
Through such
collaborative efforts, they
can develop critical
thinking and gain good
insights.
Disadvantages
6. It is true that the
“traditional factory model”
of education — straight
lectures to and testing of
unmotivated students —
fails to meet the Platonic
ideal, yet it is
questionable that an
Internet education as
advocated by Vicky
Phillips would meet that
standard.
After reading-- activities
According to the results of the discussion, form
two groups.
Group A argues for the point that cyber
education is better than the traditional
campus education.
Group B argues against the point that cyber
education is better than the traditional
campus education.
Expressions for Debate
Affirmative Side
1. We are going to argue for/against the idea that ...
2. We believe that ... for three reasons.
3. The first reason is that …
4. The second reason is that …
5. And the final reason is that …
Negative Side
1. You said that…but we think…
2. We agree/disagree with the opinion that…
3. We see your point, but…
4. We think your idea/argument is wrong because…
5. Your idea is not realistic in that…
6. It is true that..., but...
Conclusions For these reasons our conclusion is
that…
Directions: Fill in the blanks with words given below. Change
the form where necessary.
emphasis virtual
hit on/upon
try out
turn one’s back on for want of
decline oddly
reflect on
go after
enough
inspection
resident
practically
enlighten associate
1. It’s not unusual to hear people
complaining that educational standards
decline rather than on the rise.
are in _______
2. A large supermarket has just opened on
For want of customers,
this street. ____________
we’ll have to sell up our small store.
3. The local _________
residents were annoyed with
the lack of parking space — that’s why
emphasis virtual
hit on/upon
try out
turn one’s back on for want of
decline oddly
reflect on
go after
enough
inspection
resident
practically
enlighten associate
many of them sold their flats and moved to
other places.
4. If you find something you really want, you
go after it. It’s pointless waiting
have to ________
for it to come to you.
5. Theoretically, it’s a good idea to live
practically speaking, it
without a car, but ___________
would be difficult to manage without one.
emphasis virtual
hit on/upon
try out
turn one’s back on for want of
decline oddly
reflect on
go after
enough
inspection
resident
practically
enlighten associate
6. The Internet has created a wonderland for
us, but we should keep in mind the
virtual world and
differences between the _______
the real world.
7. Oddly
____________,
enough they have never met each
other even though they’ve been living in the
same street for ten years.
8. I see teaching as an opportunity to
_________
enlighten students, not just to give them
instructions.
emphasis virtual
hit on/upon
try out
turn one’s back on for want of
decline oddly
reflect on
go after
enough
inspection
resident
practically
enlighten associate
9. He had a suspicion that the certificate was
inspection
not genuine, but on close ____________,
he
realized that it was not forged.
10. Now that my father has retired, he has
reflect on his successes
much time to __________
and failures in the past.
Picture Talking
After reading– discussion & writing
Directions: Write an essay entitled “The Significance of Lifelong
Education.” The following outline may be of some help:
1. In the past, a college education was
enough to ensure a well-paid, muchrespected job and a sense of
achievement.
2. Today, with the increasing competition in
our “knowledge society,” it is a must to
renew one’s knowledge and upgrade
one’s skills constantly. What’s more, a
general college education serves only as
a passport to lifetime education.
3. The concept of lifelong education finds
expression in the slogan “Live and Learn.”
After reading– discussion & writing
The Significance of Lifelong Education
Decades ago, due to the low standard of
living in China, only a small percentage
of the nation’s population could receive
college education. Once given the
opportunity, one would surely secure a
well-paid and much-respected job, which
he or she would probably do for a
lifetime. Therefore, to secure a college
degree used to be the ultimate goal of a
person’s education.
After reading– discussion & writing
Today, however, we are living in what is
called a “knowledge society,” where
creative ideas and innovations are
generated at a fantastic speed. One must
constantly renew one’s knowledge and
upgrade one’s skills so as to meet the
needs of the changing world. Moreover,
at the stage of general education, it is
pointless for a person to attempt to
know everything.
After reading– discussion & writing
When one is required to settle down to be a
specialist in a specific field, one has to
make an in-depth study of the subject
one is supposed to know. In this sense,
general education can provide students
with only a passport to lifelong
After reading– discussion & writing
education. As Robert Maynard Hutchins
once said, the object of education is to
prepare the young to educate themselves
throughout their lives.
In my opinion, life in modern society is
not only a process of “learning to live” but
also a process of “living to learn.” The
slogan “Live and Learn” can best reflect
the concept of lifelong education.
After reading– quotations and proverbs
1. Learning without thought is useless;
thought without learning is dangerous.
学而不思则罔，思而不学则殆。
2. Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is
the key to it.
知识是宝库，而实践是开启宝库的钥匙。
3. Reading makes a full man; conference a
ready man; and writing an exact man.
读书使人充实，讨论使人机敏，写作使人严谨。
4. Something attempted, something done.
－Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet
有所尝试，就等于有所作为。
——美国诗人亨利•沃兹沃斯•朗费罗
5. A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell
where his influence stop.
— Henry Brooks Adams, American historian
教师的影响是永恒的；无法估计他的影响会有多深远。
——美国历史学家 H. B.亚当斯
6. Education is a progressive discovery of our
own ignorance.
— Durant, American historian
教育是一个逐步发现自己无知的过程。
——美国历史学家 杜兰特
After reading– translation
1. 培养正确的感情是必要的，因为它可为一个
人将来学习和工作的成功奠定基础。
indispensable
lay the foundation for
Cultivating the right emotions is indispensable
in that/because it lays the foundation for the
successes of one’s future work and studies.
After reading– translation
2. 中国西部发展急需人才，政府为此制定了优
惠政策，号召更多大学毕业生去西部工作。
try out for
to this end
West China is crying out for talented people
for its development. To this end, the
government has laid down/made favorable
policies, calling for more college graduates to
go and work there.
After reading– translation
3. 你怎么可以再我这样艰难的时候对我置之不
理呢？我们患难与共差不多半个世纪了。
turn one’s back on
practically
How can you turn your back on me when I am in
such difficulty? We have gone through trials and
tribulations for practically half a century.
After reading– translation
4. 网虫们很多时间都泡在网上，以至于他们无
法分辨虚拟世界与现实世界。
Web addicts
draw a distinction
Web addicts spend so much time on the Internet
that they are unable to draw a distinction
between the virtual world and the real world.
After reading– translation
5. 生活在城市的人常常有这样的幻想：乡村生
活是闲适安逸的，其实不一定是这回事儿。
leisurely and comfortable
be the case
Urban / City residents often have the illusion
that rural life is always leisurely and
comfortable. In fact, that may not be the case .
After reading– translation
6.远程学习是个全球化的趋势。随着它的迅速
发展，人们无论身处何地都能有同样方便的
途径享受教育资源。
trend
access
global
Distance learning is a global trend. With its
quick growth/development, people are given /
can enjoy an equally convenient access to
educational resources, no matter where they are.