A 33-year-old financial analyst
in California recently quit his job to devote himself to an unpaid job teaching
math on the Internet, and his lessons are reaching almost 100,000 people a
month. Salman Khan’s voice is heard every day on the net --- by tens of
thousands of students around the world who are hungry for help learning math.
He has posted 1,200 lessons on YouTube ... lessons that appear on an electronic
blackboard, which range from basic addition to advanced mathematics for science
and finance. And they are free.
Khan lives in Silicon Valley,
with his wife, a doctor, and their new baby. He got the idea for his “Khan
Academy” four years ago, when he taught a young cousin how to convert kilograms
to grams. With Khan’s help, the cousin got good at math, and Khan began a new
career.
Now, Khan records his lessons
himself, but he never goes on camera. “It feels like my voice in their head.
You’re looking at it and it feels like someone’s over your shoulder talking in
your ear, as opposed to someone at the blackboard, which is distant from you,”
he said.
When Springfield High School in
Palo Alto, California invited Khan to speak in person --- he immediately
connected to the students there.
The idea of short lessons that
can be played over and over again attracted high school senior Bridget Meaney.
She says she had trouble with math in the seventh grade. “I think the teachers
are good, but they can’t teach at a speed that’s perfect for everyone,” she
said. “I like the idea of learning something in class but then going back and
pressing pause or rewind and actually getting a deeper understanding of it.”
Originally, Khan kept his
lessons short because of YouTube restrictions. Now, he thinks short is
better. “Education researchers now tell me that 10 minutes is how long
someone can have a high level of concentration. And anything beyond that and
your brain switches off,” he said.
For Khan, teaching math,
science, and finance is just the beginning. He says he’s ready to expand his
YouTube site to include other subjects as well.
1.What gave Khan the idea of teaching math online?
A. His success in helping his
cousin learn math.
B. His discovery that many
students found learning math difficult.
C. A suggestion made to him at
a local high school.
D. His interest in Internet
teaching.
2.Why does Khan never go on camera?
A. He’s too shy to show his
face on camera.
B. It’s restricted by YouTube
for education videos.
C. He wants to keep distance
from the viewers.
D. He wants to create a more
relaxed learning atmosphere.
3.From the passage, we know that ________.
A. Khan travels to many schools
to promote his lessons
B. Khan plans to include more
subjects in the future
C. Khan gives live math lessons
every day for free
D. Khan set up the Khan Academy
with his wife
4.Why does Bridget Meaney like Khan’s lessons?
A. Khan teaches
seventh grade math better than her teacher.
B. The lessons can
be watched repeatedly until fully understood.
C. She can
perfectly follow the pace of Khan’s teaching.
D. She cannot
concentrate when learning in class.
5.What does Khan mean by “short is better” in the 6th
paragraph?
A. Keeping the
lessons short can ensure better concentration.
B. YouTube
recommends short lessons for its site.
C. Short lessons
encourage students to return to the website.
D. Students enjoy
short mathematics lessons more.