VOA慢速英语20061221a

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

This week in our Foreign Student Series: the cost of higher education in the United States.


The high cost of an education

Students who want to attend an American college or university must explain how they will pay for their education. They have to show that they will be able to pay for each year of study.

Students have to consider not only the tuition¹, the cost of classes, but also meals and a place to live, known as room-and-board. They also need money for books and supplies. And they need money to spend for social activities and other things.

Educational advisers² say foreign students should keep enough money in a local bank to pay for at least two months of spending.

So how much will a year at an American school cost? Generally speaking, the answer is: a lot.

A leading state university in the Pacific Northwest will serve as our example. The University of Washington says foreign students are paying more than thirty-six thousand dollars this year.

This major research university currently³ has two thousand six hundred foreign students from more than one hundred countries. There are many schools that cost less, but also others that cost more.

Its Web site says the University of Washington does not offer financial assistance⁴ to international students. This is generally true of American schools, especially at the undergraduate⁵ level.

The international application for the university includes a Statement of Financial Responsibility that must be signed. Students must also provide a bank letter or statement from within the past six months. And they have to name anyone who will help with payments⁶. These people must send proof⁷ from a bank to show that they have the money.

Your government or employer⁸ may be able to help you pay all or some college costs. A good idea is to ask at least eighteen months before you want to start classes in the United States.

Our Foreign Student Series, including links to Web sites discussed in our reports, can be found at www.unsv.com. To learn more about higher education in America, the State Department has a special Web site: educationusa dot state dot g-o-v.

Next time we will discuss another cost that should be considered: health insurance. Our e-mail address is [email protected].

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

1 tuition   

n.（某一学科的）教学，讲授，指导，学费

参考例句：

• Students can apply for individual tuition.学生可以申请个别指导。
• Is this money enough for the tuition fee?这些钱交学费够吗？

2 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

3 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

4 assistance   

n.援助，帮助

参考例句：

• She called and called but no one came to her assistance.她叫了又叫，但没有人来帮。
• He will get the great possible assistance.他将获得尽可能大的帮助。

5 undergraduate   

n.大学生，大学肆业生

参考例句：

• Mr. Stone spent his undergraduate days in Columbia University,majoring in economics.斯通先生在哥伦比亚大学度过了他四年的大学生活，主修经济学。
• During this time,they are called undergraduate students.在此期间，他们被称为大学本科生。

6 payments   

n.支付，付款，缴纳，报酬( payment的名词复数 )；付出的[要付出的]款项；报答，报偿

参考例句：

• Welfare payments cease as soon as an individual starts a job. 一旦就业，即停发福利救济。
• The law can compel fathers to make regular payments for their children. 这项法律可强制父亲定期支付子女的费用。

7 proof   

adj.防...的，耐...的，能防护；n.校样，证据，证明；vt.检验，给...做防护措施

参考例句：

• He is living proof of the wonders of modern medicine.他是当代医学奇迹的活证明。
• The proof was fished up from some old papers.校样在旧文件中被找到了。

8 employer   

n.雇用方，雇主

参考例句：

• My employer deducted ten pounds from my wages this week.我的雇主从我本周的工钱中扣除了十英镑。
• His monthly salary is paid into the bank by his employer.他的月薪由雇主替他存入银行。