Studying full-time (P17)
南京师大附中   汪美意
Lead-in
Prevention is better than a cure.
What can we do to stay safe during the NCP epidemic?
 
The world's leading medical journal, Lancet published a study suggesting that people infected with the new coronavirus might be able to spread it even if they do not have flu symptoms.
People are advised to avoid close contact.

Pre-reading
Look at the title “studying full-time” and think about the following questions：
What problem will studying full-time have during the epidemic?
Could there be any benefits that you can think of when studying full-time from home?
What challenges will teachers face?

Skimming
Read the passage quickly and summarize the main idea of each paragraph.
 
Para 1    a 17-year-old high school student ________ (plan) to resume her studies earlier for the Gaokao.
Para 2    __________ the NCP outbreak, the spring semester was delayed.
Para 3    Students in China have resumed full-time studying, only from ____.
Para 4    A “__________” with education resources was launched to help students.
(Key: had planned; Due to/Because of; home; cloud platform)

Para 5    Online teaching means  ________ for students.
Para 6    Online teaching means students have a   _________ to study.
Para 7    Teachers think _________     is clearly better.
Para 8    For _____ teachers, the tools   for online classes are not easy to handle.
(Key: more freedom; weaker motivation; face to face teaching; older)
Para 9    Online courses are only a ______ measure.
(Key: temporary)
How many parts can you divide the passage into?
 
Scanning
What has the Ministry of Education done to help students and teachers with their online classes?
A “cloud platform” with educational resources was launched.
Set limitations on how to deal with improper measures.

Language difficulties 
Rather than falling behind their original plan, Liu and many others have already begun studying full-time – only from home – in what may have become the largest online teaching trial (试验) the country has ever _____. (Key: seen)
 ......, Liu and many others have already begun studying full-time again in a large online teaching trial.
It may have become the largest trial the country has ever seen.

For instance, schools shouldn’t place a hard minimum on how much a student should study each day.
place value/importance/emphasis on sth.
place the blame on sb.
Most people place too much value on money.
The company places a lot of emphasis on training.
She placed the blame on George.

Post-reading
1. Do you think the Ministry of Education is doing enough to help online classes?
What suggestions can you give?
2. Visit the “cloud platform” at ykt.eduyun.cn, and make comments.