VOA标准英语2010-American Colleges are Going Green

Almost 700 roof-mounted panels help to power the environmental-studies building at Oberlin College in Ohio, which is routinely included in top-20 lists of America's greenest colleges.

The nickname of sports teams at Tulane University in New Orleans is the Green Wave.  North Texas University's squads¹ are the Mean Green.  Once called the Indians, Dartmouth College's teams are now the Big Green.

Green is in in college sports.  But there's an even bigger green wave in the classroom.

Last year alone, colleges and universities across the country created more than 100 major or minor² programs in energy, sustainability, environmental studies and other so-called green subjects.

Evergreen³ State College
Evergreen State College in Olympia, capital city of the State of Washington, has purchased a fleet of electric cars to replace many of its gasoline and diesel⁴ vehicles.

Two reasons for this: Even in a tight economy, green industries are offering good jobs to graduates.  And students and their parents are pressuring colleges to train them for these jobs.  So college architecture, agriculture, and engineering departments are launching green-studies programs to do just that.

According to the USA Today newspaper, the Obama Administration estimates that opportunities in energy and environmental occupations will grow by 52 percent by 2016 - compared to just a 14-percent increase in other fields.

Library of Congress
Colleges are going green - just not this kind. This postcard view of a Vassar College dormitory and spacious⁵ greensward in Poughkeepsie, New York, was created in 1904.

Ten years ago at the University of California-Berkeley, just 40 students enrolled⁶ in an introductory class on the subject of energy.  This year, 270 students are taking the class.

There are energy CLUBS on campus. The one at Massachusetts Institute of Technology has 1,700 members. And at Arizona State University, 600 students have declared sustainability as their major. 

Not long ago, even top college students would likely have had trouble defining sustainability.  Now, a lot of them are specializing in it.

 

1 squads   

n.（军队中的）班( squad的名词复数 )；（暗杀）小组；体育运动的运动（代表）队；（对付某类犯罪活动的）警察队伍

参考例句：

• Anti-riot squads were called out to deal with the situation. 防暴队奉命出动以对付这一局势。 来自辞典例句
• Three squads constitute a platoon. 三个班组成一个排。 来自辞典例句

2 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

3 evergreen   

n.常青树；adj.四季常青的

参考例句：

• Some trees are evergreen;they are called evergreen.有的树是常青的，被叫做常青树。
• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。

4 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

5 spacious   

adj.广阔的，宽敞的

参考例句：

• Our yard is spacious enough for a swimming pool.我们的院子很宽敞，足够建一座游泳池。
• The room is bright and spacious.这房间很豁亮。

6 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》