Petroleum: A Short History of Black Gold

1. Petroleum was used in ancient the early 1860s.

times for making
1870.
roads.
cars. 7. The company Standard Oil was
rolls. divided into
24 companies.
2. Petroleum comes from the 34 companies.
remains of
54 companies.
ancient times.
plants and animals.
dinosaurs and other animals.

3. Oil can also contain a lot of

sulfur.
True.
False.
The author doesn't say.

4. The modern history of oil started

in
1800.
1850.
1980.

5. Edwin Drake drilled the first oil

well in the US in
1815.
1829.
1859.

6. John D. Rockefeller entered the

oil business in
the early 1816.
What Is the Relationship Between Age and Happiness?

1. Researchers found that by the age of 85, people are happier with their life
than they were at 18.
True.
False.
It's not said on the text.

2. They found that the most stressed people are

between the ages of 18 and 22.
between the ages of 22 and 25.
between the ages of 50 and 60.

3. According to the report, the happiest people were the youngest adults and
those in their early 60s.
those in their early 70s.
those in their early 80s.

4. Men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older.
True.
False.
It's not said on the text.

5. Having children affects the level of happiness related to age.

True.
False.
It's not said on the text.
Going Digital: The Future of College Textbooks?

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

The average college student in America spent an estimated seven dollars on

textbooks last year. The National Association of College Stores reported more than five
billion dollars in sales of textbooks and course materials.

Association spokesman Charles Schmidt says electronic textbooks now represent just two
to three percent of . But he says that is expected to reach ten to fifteen
percent by two thousand twelve.

Online versions are now available for many of the most popular college textbooks. E-
textbooks can cost half the of a new print textbook. But students usually lose
access after the end of the term. And the books cannot be placed on more than one
device, so they are not to share.

So what do students think of e-textbooks? Administrators at Northwest Missouri State

University wanted to find out. Earlier this year they tested them with five hundred
students in twenty .

The university is unusual. It not only provides laptop computers to all seven thousand of
its full-time . It does not require students to buy their textbooks either.
They rent them to save . The school aims to save even more by moving to e-
textbooks.

The students in the survey reported that downloading the books from the Internet was
easy. They liked the idea of carrying lighter . And fifty-six percent said
they were better able to find information.

But most found that using e-textbooks did not their study habits. And sixty
percent felt they read more when they were reading on paper. In all, almost half the
students said they still liked physical textbooks .

But the survey found that cost could be a big influence. Fifty-five percent said they
would choose e-textbooks if using them meant their textbook fee would not
increase.

Roger Von Holzen heads the Center for Information Technology in Education at
Northwest Missouri State. He tells us that administrators are disappointed with the e-
textbooks now available because the majority are not .

He thinks growth will come when more digital books include video, activities,
and other ways to interact with the information. The technology is improving. But
for now, most of the books are just words on a .

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. What
do you think of e-textbooks? Share your thoughts at voaspecialenglish.com, where you
can also find our reports. I'm Steve Ember.