VOA慢速英语20061019a

EDUCATION REPORT - Computer System Known as SEVIS Has Information About Foreign Students in the U.S.By Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Thursday, October 19, 2006


Students at the University of Iowa

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Last week, we discussed rules for getting permission to enter the United States to study at a college or university. Now, in part seven of our Foreign Student Series, we discuss a computer system that holds information about international students and exchange visitors to the United States. It is called the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS. It went into effect in January of two thousand three.

All schools in the United States must enter information about each foreign student they admit. SEVIS brings together more than ten thousand American schools and exchange visitor programs. It links them to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the largest investigation¹ agency in the Department of Homeland Security.

The government uses the system to let a school know when one of the school's students has entered the country. The school then must report within thirty days whether the student is attending classes. The school must also report if the student leaves school.

In two thousand five, law enforcement officials investigated more than eighty-five thousand possible violators. Almost six hundred of them were later arrested for violating² the student and exchange visitor rules. Violations³ include not attending classes, being expelled⁴ or suspended from school, or failing to continue as a full-time⁵ student.

The Department of Homeland Security says SEVIS now lists about seven hundred seventy thousand students and exchange visitors in the United States. Family members who travel with them are also listed. SEVIS has records about more than one hundred fifteen thousand family members of those student and exchange visitors.

In two thousand four, the United States began to charge each student and exchange visitor one hundred dollars to help pay for the system. The money also helped pay for the development of the SEVIS Web site. The site now permits students and exchange visitors to examine their SEVIS information and payment record online.

Information about SEVIS can be found on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Web site: www dot i-c-e dot g-o-v. Click on International Students. And you can find our Foreign Student Series at voaspecialenglish dot com.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Mario Ritter.

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 violating   

亵渎( violate的现在分词 )； 违反； 侵犯； 强奸

参考例句：

• Ignorance of a law does not excuse a man for violating it. 一个人不懂法律不构成犯法的理由。
• It was sued by the U.S. federal government for violating antitrust law. 它被美国联邦政府指控违反了反托拉斯法。

3 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

4 expelled   

驱逐( expel的过去式和过去分词 )； 赶走； 把…除名； 排出

参考例句：

• She was expelled from school at 15. 她15岁时被学校开除了。
• After the outbreak of fighting,all foreign journalists were expelled. 战斗开始后，所有的外国记者都被驱逐出境。

5 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。