In the passage about massive open online courses, the acronym “MOOC” is explained. Answer this vocabulary question: “In the abbreviation MOOC, what word does the letter C stand for according to the passage and standard usage?”

Introduction / Context:
The passage introduces the term MOOC while describing the author’s experience with online learning. It expands the term as “massive online open course” and then uses the abbreviation MOOC throughout. The question asks specifically what the letter C stands for in this acronym. This is a straightforward vocabulary and acronym expansion question that checks whether you have read and understood the definition provided in the text.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The passage explicitly says that the author completed “my first massive online open course, or MOOC.”
• This phrase shows that MOOC is formed from the initial letters of “massive,” “online,” “open,” and “course.”
• The letter C therefore corresponds to the word “course.”
• The options offered are “Course,” “College,” “Coursera,” and “Class.”
• We assume the acronym is used in its standard sense, as commonly used in education and technology.

Concept / Approach:
The concept tested is simple acronym recognition. Acronyms are formed by taking initial letters of words. The C in MOOC comes from the last word of the full phrase. Because the passage has already provided the expansion, you do not need outside knowledge; you only need to recall or recheck the line containing the full form. The distractors are words related to education in general, which can confuse those who did not pay attention to the exact wording.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Locate the sentence in the passage that defines MOOC. Step 2: Read the phrase carefully: “massive online open course, or MOOC.” Step 3: Break the phrase into its four parts: massive (M), online (O), open (O), and course (C). Step 4: Observe that the last word is “course,” which corresponds to the letter C in the acronym. Step 5: Match this with the options and find that Option A, “Course,” is the correct one.

Verification / Alternative check:
To verify, remember how MOOC is used globally: educational institutions and platforms use the term MOOC to describe large, online courses open to many learners. The phrase “massive open online course” is standard terminology. If you insert “college,” “Coursera,” or “class” as the final word, the phrase no longer matches the accepted definition. Thus, both the passage and standard usage confirm that “course” is correct.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
“College” does not appear in the expansion given in the passage and would change the meaning, since MOOCs can be offered by a variety of institutions, not just colleges. “Coursera” is the name of one online platform, not part of the acronym. It would not make sense to embed a brand name in the standard expansion. “Class” is related to education but the full form of MOOC is not “massive online open class”; the passage clearly says “course.”

Common Pitfalls:
One pitfall is to rely on partial memory, such as remembering that the phrase includes the word “online” and then guessing the remaining words. Another is to confuse the platform Coursera with the letter C in MOOC, since the passage mentions both around the same point. To avoid these mistakes, always look for explicit definitions in the text and use them rather than guessing from associations or from other sources.

Final Answer:
In the acronym MOOC, the letter C stands for “Course”.