VOA慢速英语2009年-Education Report - Out of Class Early: Col

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

The last time the United States Education Department asked young people how long they took to finish college was in two thousand one. Fifty-seven percent graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in four years. Thirty-nine percent took five years.

And what about the others, the remaining four percent? They did it in three years. To some people, that is a smart idea.

In February, Senator¹ Lamar Alexander warned higher education leaders that they risk rejection² unless they lower the cost of attending college. The Republican³ senator is a former education secretary and former president of the University of Tennessee. He suggested offering a three-year bachelor's degree that would save money as well as time.

Many students can already graduate in three years. They take bigger class loads and classes in the summer. And they have college credit⁴ from passing Advanced Placement tests in high school. A.P. credits⁵ can mean fewer required classes.

Others who want to graduate in three years must pay for the same education as four-year students, but in a shorter period of time.

Three-year graduates, though, can enter the job market sooner. That adds another year of wages to their lifetime earnings⁶.

In two thousand five, Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, began a program called "Degree in Three." Students take full loads of classes, including two or three summers.

Cindy Marini, assistant director of academic advising, says twenty-eight programs currently⁷ offer a bachelor's degree in three years. These include business and nursing. As of March, about fifty of the eighteen thousand students at Ball State were taking part in the Degree in Three program.

Students in the three-year program at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, take more classes each semester⁸ than the other students. But the cost for a year is the same for all, more than fifty thousand dollars.

Bryan McNulty, the communications director, says Bates has offered a three-year bachelor's degree since the nineteen sixties. But he says only one or two students usually choose it each year, and no one did in the graduating class in May.

Still, other schools are preparing their own programs. These include Hartwick College in New York State and the University of Houston-Victoria in Texas. And lawmakers in Rhode Island are considering a bill that would require state schools to offer the choice of a three-year degree.

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

1 senator   

n.参议员，评议员

参考例句：

• The senator urged against the adoption of the measure.那参议员极力反对采取这项措施。
• The senator's speech hit at government spending.参议员的讲话批评了政府的开支。

2 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

3 republican   

n.拥护共和政体的人； adj.共和政体的，（Republican）共和党人，（Republican）共和党的

参考例句：

• Some families have been republican for generations.有些家庭世代都支持共和党。
• A third candidate has entered the contest for the Republican nomination.第三个候选人已经加入角逐共和党提名的行列。

4 credit   

n.信用，荣誉，贷款，学分；v.归功于，赞颂，信任

参考例句：

• I credit him with a certain amount of sense.我认为他有一定的见识。
• He got the credit,and we did the dirty work.他得荣誉，我们做不讨好的工作。

5 credits   

n.节目前后字幕；信任，信用，声望，荣誉， [财务]贷方，银行存款；信任( credit的名词复数 )；存款；学分；（借钱偿还的）信誉link-v.相信，信任，把…归给

参考例句：

• He credits me with having better sense than that. 他认为我的见识要比那强得多。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Does this item go among the credits or the debits? 这笔账应记入贷方还是借方？ 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

7 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。

8 semester   

n.一学期，半学年，六个月的时间

参考例句：

• A student will probably attend four or five courses during each semester.每个学生一学期可能要修四五门课程。
• I had an especially rough time during my first semester.我第一个学期的日子难受极了。