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Unit 3
Almost everyone with or without a computer is aware of the
latest technological revolution
destined to change forever the way in which humans communicate,
namely, the Information
Superhighway, best exemplified by the ubiquitous Internet. Already,
millions of people around the
world are linked by computer simply by having a modem and an address
on the 'Net', in much the
same way that owning a telephone links us to almost anyone who pays
a phone bill. In fact, since
the computer connections are made via the phone line, the Internet
can be envisaged as a network
of visual telephone links. It remains to be seen in which direction
the Information Superhighway is
headed, but many believe it is the educational hope of the future.
The World Wide Web, an enormous collection of Internet
addresses or sites, all of which can
be accessed for information, has been mainly responsible for the
increase in interest in the Internet
in the 1990s. Before the World Wide Web, the 'Net' was comparable to
an integrated collection of
computerized typewriters, but the introduction of the 'Web' in 1990
allowed not only text links to
be made but also graphs, images and even video. A Web site consists
of a 'home page', the first
screen of a particular site on the computer to which you are
connected, from where access can be
had to other subject related 'pages' (or screens) at the site and on
thousands of other computers all
over the world. This is achieved by a process called 'hypertext'. By
clicking with a mouse device
on various parts of the screen, a per son connected to the 'Net' can
go traveling, or 'surfing'
through a web of pages to locate whatever information is required.
Anyone can set up a site; promoting your club, your
institution, your company's products
or simply yourself, is what the Web and the Internet is all about.
And what is more, information on
the Internet is not owned or controlled by any one organization. It
is, perhaps, true to say that
no-one and there fore everyone owns the 'Net'. Because of the
relative freedom of access to
information, the Internet has often been criticized by the media as
a potentially hazardous tool in
the hands of young computer users. This perception has proved to be
largely false however, and
the dual purposes for which it was intended-discovery and delight.
a. Everyone is aware of the Information Superhighway.
b. Using the Internet costs the owner of a telephone extra money.
c. Internet computer connections are made by using telephone lines.
d. The World Wide Web is a network of computerized typewriters.
e. According to the author, the Information Superhighway may be the
future hope of education.
f. The process called 'hypertext' requires the use of a mouse
device.
g. The Internet was created in the 1990s.
h. The 'home page' is the first screen of a 'Web' site on the 'Net'.
i. The media has often criticized the Internet because it is
dangerous.
j. The latest technological revolution will change the way humans
communicate.
Answer:
F NG T F T T F T F T
UNIT 4
The Australian political scene is dominated by two major
parties that have quite different political
agendas. However, the policies of the Australian Labor Party and the
Liberal Party have become
much more difficult to tell apart in recent years. In fact, it would
be true to say that both parties
consist of conservative, moderate and radical elements, and
therefore the general public is often
perplexed about which party to vote for. Nonetheless, it is usual to
find that an Australian will lean
towards supporting one of these two parties and remain faithful to
that party for life.
The Labor Party was formed early in the twentieth century
to safeguard the interests of the
common working man and to give the trade unions political
representation in Parliament. The
Party has always had strong connections with the unions, and
supports the concept of a welfare
society in which people who are less fortunate than others are
financially, and otherwise, assisted
in their quest for a more equitable slice of the economic pie. The
problem is that such socialist
political agendas are extremely expensive to implement and maintain,
especially in a country that,
although comparatively wealthy, is vast and with a small working and
hence taxpaying population
base. Welfare societies tend towards bankruptcy unless government
spending is kept in check.
The Liberal Party, on the other hand, argues that the best
way to ensure a fair division of wealth in
the country is to allow more freedom to create it. This, in turn,
means more opportunities, jobs
created etc., and therefore more wealth available to all. Just how
the poor are to share in the
distribution of this wealth (beyond being given, at least in theory,
the opportunity to create it) is,
however, less well understood. Practice, of course, may make
nonsense of even the best
theoretical intentions, and often the less politically powerful are
badly catered for under
governments implementing 'free-for-all' policies.
It is no wonder that given the two major choices offered
them, Australian voters are increasingly
turning their attention to the smaller political parties, which
claim to offer a more balanced swag
of policies, often based around one major current issue. Thus, for
instance, at the last election
there was the No Aircraft Noise Party, popular in certain city
areas, and the Green Party, which is
almost solely concerned with environmental issues.
TRUE／FALSE／NOT GIVEN
a. Policies is support of the concept of a welfare society are
costly.
b. Australians usually vote for the party they supported early in
life.
c. The Labor Party was formed by the trade unions.
d. Radical groups are only found within the Labor Party.
e. The Liberal Party was formed after the Labor Party.
f. Welfare-based societies invariably become bankrupt.
g. According to the author, theories do not always work in practice.
h. Some Australian voters are confused about who to vote for.
i. The No-Aircraft-Noise Party is only popular in the city.
j. The smaller parties are only concerned about the environment.
KEY: T NG NG F NG F T T NG F
UNIT 5
para 1.The need for a satisfactory education is more important
than ever before. Nowadays,
without a qualification from a reputable school or university, the
odds of landing that plum
job advertised in the paper are considerably shortened. Moreover,
one's present level of
education could fall well short of future career requirements.
para 2.It is no secret that competition is the driving force
behind the need to obtain increasingly
higher qualifications. In the majority of cases, the urge to upgrade
is no longer the result of
an insatiable thirst for knowledge. The pressure is coming from
within the workplace to
compete with ever more qualified job applicants, and in many
occupations one must now
battle with colleagues in the reshuffle for the position one already
holds.
para 3.Striving to become better educated is hardly a new
concept. Wealthy parents have always
been willing to spend the vast amounts of extra money necessary to
send their children to
schools with a perceived educational edge. Working adults have long
attended night
schools and refresher courses. Competition for employment has been
around since the
curse of working for a living began. Is the present situation so
very different to that of the
past?
para 4.The difference now is that the push is universal and from
without as well as within. A
student at secondary school receiving low grades is no longer as
easily accepted by his or
her peers as was once the case. Similarly, in the workplace, unless
employees are engaged
in part-time study, they may be frowned upon by their employers and
peers and have
difficulty even standing still. In fact, in these cases, the
expectation is for careers to go
backwards and earning capacity to take an appreciable nosedive.
para 5.At first glance, the situation would seem to be laudable;
a positive response to the
exhortation by a former Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, for Australia to
become the `clever
country'. Yet there are serious ramifications according to at least
one educational
psychologist. Dr Brendan Gatsby has caused some controversy in
academic circles by
suggesting that a bias towards what he terms 'paper excellence'
might cause more
problems than it is supposed to solve. Gatsby raises a number of
issues that affect the
individual as well as society in general.
para 6.Firstly, he believes the extra workload involved is
resulting in abnormally high stress levels
in both students at secondary school and adults studying after
working hours. Secondly,
skills which might be more relevant to the undertaking of a
sought-after job are being
overlooked by employers interviewing candidates without
qualifications on paper. These
two areas of concern for the individual are causing physical and
emotional stress
respectively.
para 7.Gatsby also argues that there are attitudinal changes
within society to the exalted role
education now plays in determining how the spoils of working life
are distributed.
Individuals of all ages are being driven by social pressures to
achieve academic success
solely for monetary considerations instead of for the joy of
enlightenment. There is the
danger that some universities are becoming degree factories with an
attendant drop in
standards. Furthermore, our education system may be rewarding
doggedness above
creativity; the very thing Australians have been encouraged to
avoid. But the most
undesirable effect of this academic paper chase, Gatsby says, is the
disadvantage that `user
pays' higher education confers on the poor, who invariably lose out
to the more financially
favoured.
para 8. Naturally, although there is agreement that learning can
cause stress, Gatsby's comments
regarding university standards have been roundly criticised as
alarmist by most
educationists who point out that, by any standard of measurement,
Australia's education
system overall, at both secondary and tertiary levels, is equal to
that of any in the world.
TRUE／FALSE／NOT GIVEN
a. It is impossible these days to get a good job without a
qualification from a respected institution.
b. Most people who upgrade their qualifications do so for the joy of
learning.
c. In some jobs, the position you hold must be reapplied for.
d. Some parents spend extra on their children's education because of
the prestige attached to certain schools.
e. According to the text, students who performed bally at school
used to be accepted by their classmates.
f. Employees who do not undertake extra study may find their salary
decreased by employers.
g. Australians appear to have responded to the call by a former
Prime Minister to become better qualified.
h. Australia's education system is equal to any in the world in the
opinion of most educationists.
KEY: F F T NG T NG T T
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