Reading practice – Level 3

1 Read the article. Match the opening sentences 1–5 with paragraphs A–E. There are two extra
sentences.
1 Prioritizing virtual schooling has many drawbacks as well as advantages.
2 In the months that followed, none of his students skipped a class.
3 When one of his students developed an immune deficiency problem which prevented him from
coming to school, a high school teacher in the US had an idea.
4 Early experiments in virtual schooling improved behavior and reduced bullying.
5 This experiment in virtual schooling took place almost twenty years ago.
6 The success of this initial experiment got the teacher thinking.
7 Many people believe that virtual schooling would be cost-efficient and could improve academic
results.

2 Read the article again. Use the context to guess the meaning (a or b) of the words below.
1 deficiency
a too little of something
b the right amount of something
2 readily available
a difficult to find or buy
b easy to find or buy
3 initial
a describes something you do at the beginning
b describes something you do at the end
4 skeptical
a when you think something cannot be done
b when you think something should be done
5 skipped
a enjoyed
b missed
6 up and running
a operating successfully
b not working properly
7 cost-efficient
a expensive
b inexpensive
8 get the best of both worlds
a go to two different countries
b benefit from two different things

2 © Oxford University Press PHOTOCOPIABLE

 Reading practice – Level 3

Reflect
3 What are the benefits and drawbacks of virtual schooling, in your opinion? Write three
benefits and three drawbacks. You can use your own ideas or information from the article.
Benefits
1
2
3
Drawbacks
1
2
3

Virtual
Schooling
When one of his students developed a serious health problem and was unable to come to school for months,
a high school teacher in the US had a brilliant idea. He would take his classroom to the student. In order to do
this, the teacher set up his own virtual classroom. The absent student could log in at home and listen to what
was going on in the classroom. He didn’t have to miss any classes and he could talk to his friends every day.
A ... He would take his classroom to the student. Using a piece of readily available software, which didn’t cost
a penny, the teacher figured out how to set up his own virtual classroom. The student could log in at home and
follow what was going on in the classroom. He wouldn’t have to miss any classes and he could chat to his friends
on a daily basis.
B ... Why not make all his classes “virtual”? And why not use a camera so that the classes could be seen as well
as heard? The school’s IT department was skeptical, but the teacher, despite his lack of technological expertise,
had no intention of giving up. It wasn’t easy. There was a lot of trial and error before he eventually managed to get
everything up and running. His most important innovation was to set up a camera so that anyone logging into the
virtual classroom would be able to see the other students in the class. Now his students didn’t have to come to
school to participate. They could sit at home and use a webcam to join in.
C ... If they were sick, they could stay in bed and follow the class. One day, when heavy snow blocked the roads
to school, fifteen students in the teacher’s class were absent. They didn’t have to worry about missing important
classes. All the students logged in and the classes went ahead as usual.
D ... It was clearly a sign of the future. However, for most of us, schools are still exactly the same as they were fifty
or sixty years ago. Students and teachers have to show up for school each day, students have to sit at their desks in
rows, and teachers, while they may walk around from time to time, spend most of their day on their feet, standing at
the front and talking. As we have seen, schools don’t have to be like this. Shouldn’t they change with the times?
E ... The argument is that we should build schools that are much smaller and therefore cheaper to build, but much
more high tech with computers in every room. Students would only have to attend two or three days a week.
On the other days, they would work from home with access to a teacher online. That way, students would get
the best of both worlds: time at school to get together with friends, and time at home in a quiet environment to
concentrate and get work done. Not only would students not have to waste time traveling to school, but as a direct
consequence, they may well be less tired and better able to concentrate in class. This, perhaps, will be the future
of education across the world.

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