EDUCATION REPORT - Foreign Student Series 3 >College or Univ

EDUCATION REPORT - October 3, 2002: Foreign Student Series¹ #3 >College or University?

By Nancy Steinbach

This is the VOA Special English EDUCATION REPORT.

This week, we continue our reports about how people from around the world can attend a college or university in
the United² States. We tell the difference between a college and a university in the United States. A copy of this
report can be found on the Special English web³ page at w-w-w dot voa special english dot c-o-m.

People attend a college or university to continue their education after high school. This prepares them for work. It
also provides them with a greater understanding of the world and its past. And, it helps them value the arts and
sciences.

Students usually attend a college for four years to complete a program of study. Those who are successful receive
a bachelor’s degree. Colleges generally do not offer additional⁴ study programs or support research projects.
Universities often are much larger than colleges. Universities carry out research. They also offer several
programs in many areas of study. Universities offer bachelor’s degrees after four years of study. They also offer
graduate degrees that require additional years of study.

Modern universities developed from those of Europe’s Middle Ages. They took their name from the Latin⁵ word
“universitas.
”
It meant a group of people organized for one purpose.

The first European colleges were groups of students who came together because of the same interests. In
England, colleges were formed to provide students with living places. Usually each group was studying the same
thing, so the word “college” came to mean one area of study.

Today, most American colleges offer an area of study called liberal⁶ arts. The liberal arts are subjects first
developed and taught in ancient Greece. They trained a person’s mind. They were considered different from
subjects that were useful in life.

The word “college” also means⁷ a part of a university that teaches one area of study. That is because the first
American universities divided their studies into many areas and called each one a college. For example, the
University of Texas at Austin has fourteen different colleges. It also has the most students of any single
university in the country. This year, more than fifty-two-thousand men and women are studying there.

This VOA Special English EDUCATION REPORT was written by Nancy Steinbach.

Email this article to a friend
Printer Friendly Version

1 series   

n.连续；系列

参考例句：

• The students have put forward a series of questions.学生们提出了一系列问题。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

2 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

3 web   

n.网，蛛丝，蹼，织物，圈套，卷筒纸；vi.生蹼，形成网；vt.织蜘蛛网于，使落入圈套

参考例句：

• The spider weaves a web.蜘蛛织网。
• You mean the World Wide Web?你是说国际互联网？

4 additional   

adj.添加的，额外的，另外的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to set down these additional rules.有必要制定这些补充规则。
• I think we can fit in an additional room.我想我们可以再加建一间房子。

5 Latin   

adj.拉丁的，拉丁语的，拉丁人的；n.拉丁语

参考例句：

• She learned Latin without a master.她无师自通学会了拉丁语。
• Please use only Latin characters.请仅使用拉丁文字符。

6 liberal   

adj.心胸宽阔的；自由(主义)的；慷慨的

参考例句：

• He has a liberal attitude to divorce and remarriage.他对离婚和再婚看得很开。
• This country adopts a liberal foreign policy.该国采用的是开放的外交政策。

7 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。