The Pitman Shorthand System Distance learning was ca

In this section, you will hear a short passage. For questions 21—30, complete the notes using no more than three words for each blank. The passage will be read only once. Remember to write the answers on the answer sheet.
Knowledge, according to the proverb, is power. And in this electronic age, more and more of our information is gained not in the classroom, but via media such as the Internet, DVD and cable TV ...all of which are playing a key part in the distance learning revolution. Here are three figures in this key educational exchange which is transforming our lives in the 21st century.
    The Pitman Shorthand System
    Those who think that distance learning is a relatively new idea might be surprised to learn that English educator, Sir Isaac Pitman, had the same idea—only then it was called correspondence course—more than 150 years ago. Taking advantage of the development of a reliable postal system in 1840, Pitman began teaching shorthand by mail to thousands of students who did not have time to attend school. "Lessons" consisted of copying short passages of the Bible in shorthand, and posting them to Mr. Pitman to be corrected. His brother, Benn Pitman, introduced the idea to the United States, and the Pitman shorthand system—which has been adapted to fifteen other languages—is still one of the most widely used shorthand systems in the world.
    The Open University
    When it was established in 1969, the Open University offered courses via mail: with the backup of regular TV and radio programmes shown outside normal broadcast times. Each student was assigned a tutor who discussed the course work over the phone, and in group sessions in the evenings or at weekends.
    Thirty years on, the Open University has expanded to include the Internet, video-conferencing, satellite broadcast and email. There are no entry qualifications or admission interviews, and anyone over the age of eighteen can follow one of their courses. It is now Britain’s largest single teaching institution, with more than 200,000 people studying its courses every year, with another 16,000 in other countries around the world.
    John Hendricks and the Discovery Channel
    After a successful career in university education, John S. Hendricks entered the TV business and launched the Discovery Channel—the first cable TV channel exclusively devoted to documentaries and nature programmers—in June 1985. Today, the company’s programmes reach over 150 million subscribers in more than a hundred countries. In an age when competition for TV audiences has never been tougher, the Discovery Channel’s high-quality, educational approach continues to defy those who believe that TV is only about mindless entertainment. The BBC programme Walking with Dinosaurs became the most-watched documentary in TV history when it was shown on the Discovery Channel in 2000.