IV. Discourse : (每題1分,共5分)Murdoch has called education "a $500 billion market in the U.S. alone that is waiting desperately to
be transformed," and Bill Gates has predicted that public budgets for textbooks, workbooks, and tests
will shift toward hardware and software, creating a $9 billion market for educational technology within
the next decade.
News Corp. isn't alone in this race. Apple, Amazon, Samsung, Dell, Microsoft, textbook giants such
as Pearson and McGraw Hill Education, and many new entrants are seeking a way in.
(26) (27) Its operating system gives teachers and schools an unprecedented level of control over
the devices in students' hands. There is no home button, for example: Students can't just exit out of a
math program the way they can close Angry Birds on an iPad.
Klein is betting that by continuing to roll out customized features in close consultation with teachers
and students, Amplify can beat out consumer devices.
(28) (29) "We're competing with Call of Duty
and Temple Run," says Alan Dang, who produces the games. "If we can get these kids to spend 30
minutes a week, that's 32 additional hours of instructional time a year." (30)
(A) In addition to its curriculum, it's also developing content for outside the classroom, beginning with 14 education-minded games from star indie designers.
(B) Plus, 45 states have just adopted the same new curriculum standards—meaning they're shopping for new instructional materials.
(C) Despite the sales push, many educators are still skeptical of tablets in the classroom—and
Amplify seems designed to put them at ease.
(D) Taken together, Amplify presents a vision of an integrated, 21st-century classroom—though
it's also very much a corporate-minded dream, in which one company provides every need.
(AB) Instead, if a teacher hits her "eyes on teacher" button, any or every student's tablet in her
classroom suspends; a message tells the student to look up.
【題組】28