Choose the best word from the box to fill each gap.
Read the text and think of the word which best fits each gap.
| Knowledge economy For the last two hundred years, neo-classical economics …(1)… recognised only two factors of production: labour and capital. This …(2)… now changing. Information and knowledge are replacing capital and energy …(3)… the primary wealth-creating assets, just as the …(4)… two replaced land and labor 200 years ago. In addition, technological developments in the 20th century have transformed the majority of wealth-creating work …(5)… physically-based to "knowledge-based". Technology and knowledge are now the key factors …(6)… production. With increased mobility of information and the global work force, knowledge and expertise can be transported instantaneously around the world, and …(7)… advantage gained by one company can be eliminated by competitive improvements overnight. The only comparative advantage a company will enjoy will be …(8)… process of innovation--combining market and technology know-how …(9)… the creative talents of knowledge workers to solve a constant stream of competitive problems--and its ability …(10)… derive value from information. We are now an information society …(11)… a knowledge economy …(12)… knowledge management is essential. http://www.enterweb.org/know.htm |
Speaking
3. Read the predictions made at the end of the 70th of the 20th century. Have they come true? How do you think education would evolve in the years to come?
| A tide of rising expectations in learning is sweeping across the globe. At the turn of the 20th century, universal grade-school education was considered a high enough achievement, as was a high school diploma by World War II. Now the day is fast approaching when some form of college-level learning will be the national norm—and the M.A. today carries little more prestige than the bachelor's degree did a few years ago. The Giant That Nobody Knows, TIME, Friday, Jan. 12, 1968 |
Advancing Vocabulary
Choose the best word from the box to fill each gap.
• truant • excel • tertiary • grounding • incentive • qualified • mature students • academic
• upper second • special needs education • academics • comprehensive schooling
1. Good quality, merit-based, equitable, efficient … education and research are essential parts of the knowledge economy.
2. He … as a teacher three years ago.
3. All applicants should have a thorough … in computer skills.
4. The girl often played … and wrote her own sick notes.
5. … is an ideal many countries are aspiring to.
6. The major driving force for anyone who wants to upgrade their skills is to … and ascend through the ranks.
7. The system is failing most disastrously among less … children.
8. George had an added … of being within reach of PhD.
9. … for people with some disability though expensive is still of paramount importance for no one to be left out.
10. The results were later analyzed and commented on by six …, all affiliated with major Japanese universities.
11. It’s not unknown for … to show more diligence and higher academic results as they are usually more motivated than their younger classmates.
12. She got an … in politics from Surrey University.