英语听力精选进阶版 6248

Fast-food Chain Serves Up Degree Course 快餐连锁店提供学位课程

Against a background of controversial plans to triple university tuition fees, students feeling the pinch might be tempted¹ by a new degree course where you can study while working full time.

The new qualification will be offered by fast-food chain McDonald's, who are launching their own two-year foundation degree in business management for restaurant bosses in the UK.

Their aptly-named Hamburger University in North London has been training McDonald's managers since the late 70s, and will now add accredited² degrees to the menu for the first time.

Traditionally, working at the hamburger chain has often been seen as a less-than-desirable vocation³, even giving rise to its own slang word: the dreaded⁴ 'McJob'.

According to the Oxford⁵ English Dictionary, a McJob is an "unstimulating, low-paid job with no prospects⁶".

But McDonald's senior vice-president David Fairhurst says the course challenges these misconceptions about the employer.

"The old 'McJob' label is lazy and snobbish⁷", he says.

The course is a demonstration⁸ of how seriously the company takes the training of its staff, says Mr Fairhurst. He also wishes for the company to be seen as a "pioneer" in educating employees.

"People no longer want to choose between jobs and education. They should not be parallel universes," he says.

The new degree will be taught by a combination of classroom study, e-learning and training in the workplace.

However, McDonald's is not the only company which is developing its own qualifications. Department store Harrods has set up its own degree course, and Microsoft awarded qualifications to 17,500 people in the UK last year.

Glossary 词汇表

controversial plans 有争议的计划 

triple 增至三倍 

feeling the pinch 感到手头拮据 

foundation degree 基础学位 

business management 商业管理 

aptly-named 巧妙命名的 

accredited degrees 官方认可的学位 

hamburger chain 汉堡连锁店 

less-than-desirable 不太令人满意 

vocation 职业 

giving rise to 导致 

dreaded 令人畏惧的 

unstimulating 没有刺激的 

no prospects 没有前途的 

misconceptions 错误概念 

label 标签 

snobbish 势利的 

pioneer 先锋、前驱 

parallel universes 平行宇宙、平行的世界 

department store 百货商店

1 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

2 accredited   

adj.可接受的；可信任的；公认的；质量合格的v.相信( accredit的过去式和过去分词 )；委托；委任；把…归结于

参考例句：

• The discovery of distillation is usually accredited to the Arabs of the 11th century. 通常认为，蒸馏法是阿拉伯人在11世纪发明的。
• Only accredited journalists were allowed entry. 只有正式认可的记者才获准入内。

3 vocation   

n.职业，行业

参考例句：

• She struggled for years to find her true vocation.她多年来苦苦寻找真正适合自己的职业。
• She felt it was her vocation to minister to the sick.她觉得照料病人是她的天职。

4 dreaded   

adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The dreaded moment had finally arrived. 可怕的时刻终于来到了。
• He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. 他害怕非得在医院过圣诞节不可。 来自《用法词典》

5 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

6 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

7 snobbish   

adj.势利的，谄上欺下的

参考例句：

• She's much too snobbish to stay at that plain hotel.她很势利，不愿住在那个普通旅馆。
• I'd expected her to be snobbish but she was warm and friendly.我原以为她会非常势利，但她却非常热情和友好。

8 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。