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VOA慢速英语--First-Year College Students Move Away from Home

时间:2019-08-26 12:17来源:互联网 提供网友:nan   字体: [ ]
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Across the United States, many first-year college students leave home in late August and travel to their new home away from home: a college dormitory.

One such student is Jason Piccolomini of New York. This weekend he leaves his family home in Staten Island and moves into a dorm about an hour’s drive away. He is off to study at Iona College, in the city of New Rochelle.

When asked, Jason told VOA he is nervous, or worried, about the move, much like most first-year college students. It will be difficult to leave his family. When he gets to Iona, Jason will meet older students who help the new arrivals move into student housing1.

What they bring

In Harrisonburg, Virginia this week, music played outside dorms as long lines of cars moved slowly along the road, dropping off students at James Madison University.

The cars carried boxes and bags filled with things students will use to make dorm rooms into homes for the school year. The new arrivals bring clothing and cleaning supplies, lights for studying and pictures for the walls. Large cloths with brightly colored designs seemed to be popular for dorm room wall art this year.

Students also brought televisions, music speakers and equipment to store cold food and drinks in their rooms.

New home, new community

Jason Piccolomini will be one of almost 17 million students in U.S. college undergraduate2 programs this autumn. Most of them will be going to four-year publicly financed3 colleges or universities, notes the National Center for Education Statistics4.

Courtney Ferrick is the director for residential5 life at Iona College. She says it plans many activities for both day and night on the school grounds.

“This will be their home,” she added. “They are living here and we want them to be comfortable… and safe.” About 1,300 students will live on Iona’s campus6, and 450 will be first-years.

“Those first three weeks are key for college students to make their community,” Ferrick said. In addition to the classes, they build that community with programs like outdoor yoga, parties, trips, music events and many other activities.

A major concern for most students entering a U.S. college or university is how to pay for higher education. Jason said he earned scholarship money for his high school grades and will live in a dorm with other Honors7 students. He is paying for the rest with a combination8 of money from his family and loans9 he will have to pay off after he finishes college.

Jason hopes to be a sports reporter one day. His “back-up” occupation, he said, is speech pathology or occupational therapy10.

“(These are) the two things I’m passionate11 about,” he said. “I love sports and the sports world and it do love working with special needs individuals.”

It is close to his heart. His brother Brandon, a year younger than him, has Down syndrome12, a genetic13 condition that affects him physically14 and mentally. The two brothers “have always been super close,” Jason said, and it will be difficult to leave him. Brandon is his reason to work with “special needs” children and adults.

Emotional… for the parents

For many families, it is difficult when their children leave for college. Jason’s mother Fran Piccolomini knows this.

She spoke15 to VOA before her son left.

“He is my first one to fly the coop,” she said. “I’m so nervous and happy and excited for him at the same time.”

She shares the worries of many parents: “This is what we prepared him for, but did we prepare him enough?”

One thing she knows she needs to teach him quickly is how to wash his clothes. It is something she has always done for him.

Karin Zwolfer has already sent one child to college. Soon her younger daughter, Sarah, will attend Seattle University in Washington State.

Zwolfer says she will miss her daughter terribly, but she is “excited for the new chapter in Sarah’s life.”

Concerns, and hopes

Zwolfer also worries about Sarah’s safety. She thinks “there are more dangers” in the modern world, compared to when she was in college. But she added that many people now recognize those dangers, and there is more security16 on campuses17 to deal with problems.

Sarah Zwolfer says she is ready to go to college. Like many first-year students, she found her roommates on a school-supported Facebook page for incoming students.

She said her older sister helped her prepare for college.

“The biggest thing that she showed me is that everyone is just as nervous as you are. So you don’t have to be so concerned about what others think because they are much more accepting,” she said, adding “and that will help you succeed.”

Sarah is paying for college through a scholarship and money available because her father was in the U.S. military.

Sarah said her main hopes are to do well in her classes and organize her time well. That is the “big thing” she said.

Another big concern for her is stress: how much pressure will there be, and how will she deal with it? She plans to plan her time well and work on projects a little at a time.

Sarah looks forward to “digging straight into my major” area of study: psychology18. She is looking forward to doing experiments and research on human behavior and the mind.

“It’s really exciting,” she said.

Sarah also looks forward to meeting new people.

What will she be doing before she leaves for college? Spending time with family and friends.

“To maximize the time together until we all start new chapters of our lives separately.”

I’m Anne Ball.

And I'm Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

dormitory – n. a building on a school campus that has rooms where students can live

undergraduate – n. a student at a college or university who has not yet earned a degree

residential – adj. of or relating to the places where people live

comfortable – adj. producing physical comfort; allowing you to be relaxed, causing no worries, difficulty, or uncertainty19

speech pathology – n. the study and treatment of speech and language problems.

occupational therapy – n. treatment for those recovering from illness that promotes healing20 through the performance of daily life activities..

passionate – adj. having, showing, or expressing strong emotions or beliefs

fly the coop – phrase means to leave one’s home, especially the one where you grow up

chapter – n. sections in a book

maximize – v. to increase something as much as possible


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 housing YqzzxS     
n.房屋,住宅;住房建筑;外壳,外罩
参考例句:
  • Do you think our housing sales will turn around during this year?你认为今年我们的住宅销路会好转吗?
  • The housing sales have been turning down since the summer.入夏以来,房屋的销售量日趋减少。
2 undergraduate vUczO     
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。
3 financed aa0981d7133083ff322279d1d91c445b     
为…供给资金,从事金融活动( finance的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • Capital expenditure can be financed by borrowing; operating expenditure should not. 资本支出可以靠借款,而运营费用不行。
  • All purchases shall be financed with the proceeds of loan. 全部货款用贷款支付。
4 statistics iGyzb     
n.统计,统计数字,统计学
参考例句:
  • We have statistics for the last year.我们有去年的统计资料。
  • Statistics is taught in many colleges.许多大学都教授统计学。
5 residential kkrzY3     
adj.提供住宿的;居住的;住宅的
参考例句:
  • The mayor inspected the residential section of the city.市长视察了该市的住宅区。
  • The residential blocks were integrated with the rest of the college.住宿区与学院其他部分结合在了一起。
6 campus iTOyj     
n.大学校园,学校校园;大学 
参考例句:
  • They spoke of the old days on the campus.他们谈起昔日的校园生活。
  • The campus covers an area of twenty square kilometres.这个校园占地二十平方公里。
7 honors 2c250cb8374a2f7f18ab42ccf1291801     
n.礼仪;荣典;礼节; 大学荣誉学位;大学优等成绩;尊敬( honor的名词复数 );敬意;荣誉;光荣
参考例句:
  • He aims at honors. 他力求名誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • We did the last honors to his remains. 我们向他的遗体告别。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 combination dWUyT     
n.组合,合并,联合;
参考例句:
  • He carried on the business in combination with his friends.他与朋友们合伙做生意。
  • The materials can be used singly or in combination.这些材料可以单独使用也可以混合用。
9 loans f806527a4b4ecb554edad98174334a70     
n.借出物,借款( loan的名词复数 )v.借出,贷与(尤指钱)( loan的第三人称单数 );出借(贵重物品给博物馆等)
参考例句:
  • They are offering loans at extortionate rates of interest. 他们在放高利贷。
  • Government loans have been the salvation of several shaky business companies. 政府的贷款救活了几家濒临倒闭的公司。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
10 therapy 7IizM     
n.治疗;疗法
参考例句:
  • The doctor said she should be given a physical therapy.医生说她应该进行理疗。
  • She will need to have the therapy repeated every few months.她将需要每隔几个月就进行一次治疗。
11 passionate rLDxd     
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的
参考例句:
  • He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
  • He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。
12 syndrome uqBwu     
n.综合病症;并存特性
参考例句:
  • The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
  • Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。
13 genetic PgIxp     
adj.遗传的,遗传学的
参考例句:
  • It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
  • Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。
14 physically iNix5     
adj.物质上,体格上,身体上,按自然规律
参考例句:
  • He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服,心绪也很乱。
  • Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。
15 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
16 security iTdzh     
n.安全,安全感;防护措施;保证(金),抵押(品);债券,证券
参考例句:
  • A security guard brought him down with a flying tackle.一名保安人员飞身把他抱倒。
  • There was tight security at the airport when the President's plane landed.总统的专机降落时,机场的保安措施很严密。
17 campuses 3edc4d53d83c832fbb6e9feefe30349d     
n.(大学)校园(campus的复数形式)
参考例句:
  • University campuses are often the bellwether of change. 大学校园往往引领变革的新潮。
  • Sport looms much larger on US campuses than in China. 体育在美国大学比中国大学突出得多。 来自互联网
18 psychology U0Wze     
n.心理,心理学,心理状态
参考例句:
  • She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
  • He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。
19 uncertainty NlFwK     
n.易变,靠不住,不确知,不确定的事物
参考例句:
  • Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
  • After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后,压力开始产生影响了。
20 healing krTz1V     
n.康复,复原adj.有治疗功用的v.(使)愈合( heal的现在分词 );治愈;(使)结束;较容易忍受
参考例句:
  • miraculous powers of healing 神奇的治病能力
  • She seems to have a vocation for healing. 看来她具备治病救人的才能。 来自《简明英汉词典》
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TAG标签:   VOA英语  慢速英语
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