The University in Transformation, edited by Australian futurists Sohail Inayatullah and Jennifer Gidley, presents some 20 highly

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问题     The University in Transformation, edited by Australian futurists Sohail Inayatullah and Jennifer Gidley, presents some 20 highly varied outlooks on tomorrow’s universities by writers representing both Western and non-Western perspectives. Their essays raise a broad range of issues, questioning nearly every key assumption we have about higher education today.
    The most widely discussed alternative to the traditional campus is the Internet University—a voluntary community to scholars/teachers physically scattered throughout a country or around the world but all linked in cyberspace. A computerized university could have many advantages, such as easy scheduling, efficient delivery of lectures to thousands or even millions of students at once, and ready access for students everywhere to the resources of all the world’s great libraries.
    Yet the Internet University poses dangers, too. For example, a line of franchised courseware, produced by a few superstar teachers, marketed under the brand name of a famous institution, and heavily advertised, might eventually come to dominate the global education market, warns sociology professor Peter Manicas of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Besides enforcing a rigidly standardized curriculum, such a "college education in a box" could undersell the offerings of many traditional brick and mortar institutions, effectively driving them out of business and throwing thousands of career academics out of work, note Australian communications professors David Rooney and Greg Hearn.
    On the other hand, while global connectivity seems highly likely to play some significant role in future higher education, that does not mean greater uniformity in course content—or other dangers—will necessarily follow. Counter-movements are also at work.
    Many in academia, including scholars contributing to this volume, are questioning the fundamental mission of university education. What if, for instance, instead of receiving primarily technical training and building their individual careers, university students and professors could focus their learning and research efforts on existing problems in their local communities and the world? Feminist scholar Ivana Milojevic dares to dream what a university might become "if we believed that child-care workers and teachers in early childhood education should be one of the highest (rather than lowest) paid professionals?"
    Co-editor Jennifer Gidley shows how tomorrow’s university faculty, instead of giving lectures and conducting independent research, may take on three new roles. Some would act as brokers, assembling customized degree-credit programmes for individual students by mixing and matching the best course offerings available from institutions all around the world. A second group, mentors, would function much like today’s faculty advisers, but are likely to be working with many more students outside their own academic specialty. This would require them to constantly be learning from their students as well as instructing them. A third new role for faculty, and in Gidley’s view the most challenging and rewarding of all, would be as meaning-makers: charismatic sages and practitioners leading groups of students/colleagues in collaborative efforts to find spiritual as well as rational and technological solutions to specific real-world problems.
    Moreover, there seems little reason to suppose that any one form of university must necessarily drive out all other options. Students may be "enrolled" in courses offered at virtual campuses on the Internet, between—or even during—sessions at a real-world problem-focused institution.
Which of the following is NOT seen as a potential danger of the Internet University?

选项 A、Internet-based courses may be less costly than traditional ones.
B、Teachers in traditional institutions may lose their jobs.
C、Internet-based courseware may lack variety in course content.
D、The Internet University may produce superstar teachers.

答案A

解析 根据题干关键词potential danger和Internet University,可以定位到文章第三段。原文第三段最后一句提到,网络大学低价出售许多实体大学的课程(undersell the offerings of many traditional brick and mortar institutions),从而会有效地把它们逐出教育市场 (effectively driving them out of business),而选项A“网络课程可能比传统课程便宜”只是陈述事实,并非指由此产生的潜在危险(把实体学校逐出教育市场),属于答非所问,为正确答案。第三段最后一句也提到网络大学会使数千名职业大学教师失业,throwing thousands of career academics out of work和选项B中的lose their jobs属于同义替换,所以选项B为潜在危险之一,不符合题目要求。第三段最后一句还提到网络大学推行僵化的标准化课程,enforcing a rigidly standardized curriculum和选项C中的lack variety in course content属于相同含义,所以选项C为潜在危险之一,不符合题目要求。第三段第二句提到网络大学的课程软件由明星教师开发,可能最终会控制全球教育市场,和选项D中的“网络大学可能会催生出明星教师”属于相同含义,也属于潜在危险之一,不符合题目要求。
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