VOA标准英语2010年-My Yearbook Photo Would Look Geeky

Except that there may not be a book to put it in

Ted¹ Landphair | Washington, DC 22 February 2010

Just a third of U.S. colleges now put out yearbooks.

One of the cozy² traditions associated with college life is receiving and then pouring over your copy of the annual yearbook.  Just about every student's picture appears in the heavy, richly bound souvenir annual book, often in stiff, formal poses. 

Like campus student newspapers, yearbooks also recap the activities of the athletic³ teams, student government organizations, fraternities and sororities - even the math and chess clubs.

Years later when you reopen the yearbook, the stories, photos, fashions and memories seem sweet and nostalgic.

But yearbooks are not cheap.  Fat ones at big universities can cost students 100 dollars or more.

This is the old, leather-bound cover of the University of Virginia yearbook, which has seen its last printing.

And even though it's usually unpaid⁴ student labor⁵ that produces them, they are expensive to print, which is why more and more schools have simply stopped producing them.  The Washington Post reported, for instance, that the University of Virginia's yearbook, called "Corks⁶ and Curls", has ceased publishing one year shy of its 120th anniversary.

But money's not the only reason that just a third of U.S. colleges now put out yearbooks.  Some of the schools have grown so large, so spread out among regional campuses, and so fragmented into academic specialties⁷ that summarizing everything that goes on, and coaxing⁸ 30-40,000 students to pose for those stiff mug shots are nigh unto impossible.

And in these days when it seems that everything you'd ever want to know about college activities can be found on online, who needs a heavy, costly⁹ printed yearbook?  

On his Flickr Creative Commons page, Myki Roventine has some fun with the traditional, starchy yearbook gallery of student faces.

Last year,the Washington Post reported, Towson University near Baltimore, Maryland, with a student body of 20,000, sold just two dozen yearbooks.  That's about one for every 880 students and faculty¹⁰ members, hardly enough interest to justify¹¹ all the work and all the money, that go into putting a yearbook together.
   
If you were wondering where the University of Virginia's unusual yearbook name, "Corks and Curls", came from, it's not what you'd think.  Back in 1888, when the first edition was published, students who did not know an answer when called upon in class were called corks, as in corks that plug an open bottle.  Curls, or those who knew the answer when called on, got their name from an obscure Sanskrit saying about curling one's tail in delight.
 

1 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

2 cozy   

adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的

参考例句：

• I like blankets because they are cozy.我喜欢毛毯，因为他们是舒适的。
• We spent a cozy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。

3 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

4 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 corks   

n.脐梅衣；软木( cork的名词复数 )；软木塞

参考例句：

• Champagne corks were popping throughout the celebrations. 庆祝会上开香槟酒瓶塞的砰砰声不绝於耳。 来自辞典例句
• Champagne corks popped, and on lace tablecloths seven-course dinners were laid. 桌上铺着带装饰图案的网织的桌布，上面是七道菜的晚餐。 来自飘（部分）

7 specialties   

n.专门，特性，特别；专业( specialty的名词复数 )；特性；特制品；盖印的契约

参考例句：

• Great Books are popular, not pedantic. They are not written by specialists about specialties for specialists. 名著绝不引经据典，艰深难懂，而是通俗易读。它们不是专家为专业人员撰写的专业书籍。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学
• Brain drains may represent a substantial reduction in some labor force skills and specialties. 智力外流可能表示某种劳动力技能和特长大量减少。 来自辞典例句

8 coaxing   

v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的现在分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱；“锻炼”效应

参考例句：

• No amount of coaxing will make me change my mind. 任你费尽口舌也不会说服我改变主意。
• It took a lot of coaxing before he agreed. 劝说了很久他才同意。 来自辞典例句

9 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

10 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

11 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？