【英语语言学习】进入计算机科学时代

WADE¹ GOODWYN, HOST:

 

About an hour south of Silicon² Valley is a place known as the Salad Bowl of the World. In the largely Hispanic Salinas Valley, young adults are more likely to imagine a future in agriculture than high tech. but now a new program is trying to change that. The goal is to have children of farm workers earn computer science degrees. From member station KAZU, Krista Almanzan reports.

 

KRISTA ALMANZAN, BYLINE³: Twenty-five-year-old Leticia Sanchez grabs her keys to head out grocery shopping with her mother.

 

LETICIA SANCHEZ: (Foreign language spoken)

 

ALMANZAN: This is the kind of routine chore the two never got to experience together until recently. That's because when Leticia was two years old, her mom was busy working in Salinas fields to earn money to support the family. So, she sent Leticia to Mexico to be raised by her grandparents. Even now, Leticia's mom, Alicia Leon Rios, chokes up thinking about that difficult decision.

 

ALICIA LEON RIOS: (Through Translator) Yes, I think it was worth it, because she was able to choose another path.

 

ALMANZAN: That different path is going to college. Leticia is part of the inaugural⁴ class of a three-year intensive bachelor's degree program called Computer Science and Information Technology, or CSIT-in-3. It's jointly⁵ run by nearby California State University Monterey Bay and Hartnell Community College.

 

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: OK, everyone, this is CCS 1.

 

ALMANZAN: In a dimly lit classroom, the glow of computer screens lights up the faces of these freshmen⁶. This computer science class doesn't look like many you'd find across the nation - most of the students here are Hispanic and about a third are women.

 

SATHYA NARAYANAN: Most of the professionals in computer science are men, Asian or Caucasian men.

 

ALMANZAN: Sathya Narayanan is co-director of CSIT-in-3. The program targets students traditionally underrepresented in Computer Science, and then removes many of the obstacles that can keep them from graduating on time, or at all. First, unlike the normal college experience where students select their schedule, Narayanan says these students don't have to worry about logistics.

 

NARAYANAN: All of that is completely planned for them. So, every time in the beginning of the semester they are going to be told what classes you are going to be in. You focus on your academics. You focus on studying.

 

ALMANZAN: Cost is often another obstacle. So, by splitting classes between the community college and a four-year school, the price tag of the entire degree is kept at just over $12,000. It's still too high for many of these students, but most have received full-ride scholarships. Without that help, 18-year-old Mateo Sixtos would have to continue working in the fields while going to school, and that would make finishing in three years unlikely.

 

MATEO SIXTOS: Agriculture is a hard thing. I mean, it's 10 hours every day under the sun, and it's very difficult 'cause your back is hurting all day.

 

ALMANZAN: It's that hard work ethic⁷ that program organizers hope will make these students succeed and stand out. Joe Welch the other co-director of CSIT-in-3. He says to stay in the program students must maintain a B average.

 

JOE WELCH: It's not enough that the students graduate. That's not what we are looking for. It's not a success if they graduate. It's a success if they graduate and Google is standing⁸ at the doors.

 

ALMANZAN: And that's where program organizers are already facing their own challenge. Welch says in trying to secure summer internships, they're finding many of the brand name Silicon Valley tech companies are used to dealing⁹ with brand name schools.

 

WELCH: Frankly¹⁰, they're so comfortable they are not reaching outside that student stream.

 

ALMANZAN: Many of the CSIT-in-3 students are from historically disadvantaged backgrounds and first-generation college students. Welch says he doesn't want them to get a handout¹¹, just for Silicon Valley to give them a fair shake.

 

WELCH: So, you've said you want to give them this opportunity - we have them. So, we're really asking them to let us meet them in an outreach effort, in an engagement effort, that they've espoused¹² in many national platforms.

 

ALMANZAN: Working at Google is just one thing Leticia Sanchez hopes to do with her degree. She also talks about developing software to help fieldworkers like her mom learn English. Now a mother herself, Leticia knows whatever happens, her family is on a better path.

 

SANCHEZ: It will probably, like, change my life, and also for my mom 'cause one another things I want to do is, like, take out my mom from the fields, just stay in the home, take care of my daughter.

 

ALMANZAN: If all goes as planned, Leticia and her classmates will graduate with bachelor's degrees from Cal State Monterey Bay in 2016. For NPR News, I'm Krista Almanzan.

1 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

2 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 inaugural   

adj.就职的；n.就职典礼

参考例句：

• We listened to the President's inaugural speech on the radio yesterday.昨天我们通过无线电听了总统的就职演说。
• Professor Pearson gave the inaugural lecture in the new lecture theatre.皮尔逊教授在新的阶梯讲堂发表了启用演说。

5 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。

6 freshmen   

n.（中学或大学的）一年级学生( freshman的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We are freshmen and they are sophomores. 我们是一年级学生，他们是二年级学生。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• University freshmen get lots of razzing, but they like the initiation. 大一新生受各种嘲弄，但是他们对这种入门经验甘之如饴。 来自辞典例句

7 ethic   

n.道德标准，行为准则

参考例句：

• They instilled the work ethic into their children.他们在孩子们的心中注入了职业道德的理念。
• The connotation of education ethic is rooted in human nature's mobility.教育伦理的内涵根源于人本性的变动性。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

10 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

11 handout   

n.散发的文字材料；救济品

参考例句：

• I read the handout carefully.我仔细看了这份分发的资料。
• His job was distributing handout at the street-corner.他的工作是在街头发传单。

12 espoused   

v.（决定）支持，拥护（目标、主张等）( espouse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They espoused the notion of equal opportunity for all in education. 他们赞同在教育方面人人机会均等的观念。
• The ideas she espoused were incomprehensible to me. 她所支持的意见令我难以理解。 来自《简明英汉词典》