VOA慢速英语20061102a

EDUCATION REPORT - Higher Education in America: College Entrance ExamsBy Nancy Steinbach

Broadcast: Thursday, November 02, 2006

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

American colleges and universities consider a number of things about a student who wants to be admitted. Experts on the subject say the most important thing is the student's high school record. Admissions¹ officers look not only at the grades that the student has earned. They also look at the level of difficulty² of the classes.


An SAT prep class in Massachusetts

A student's interests and activities may also play a part in getting accepted. But in most cases another consideration³ is how well the student did on college entrance exams. This week in our Foreign Student Series⁴, we discuss two of these tests: the SAT and the ACT. Most American schools accept either one.

The SAT measures reasoning skills in mathematics⁵ and language. Students have almost four hours to complete the SAT. The newest part is an essay. Students have twenty-five minutes to write an answer to a question.

The SAT costs forty-one dollars and fifty cents. The international processing charge is twenty-two dollars more. And test-takers in India and Pakistan must also pay a twenty-one dollar and fifty cent security⁶ charge.

Students may also need to take SAT subject tests in areas like history, science and foreign language. Subject tests cost eighteen dollars each. The Web⁷ site for the SAT is collegeboard.com.

The ACT is an achievement test. It is designed to measure what a student has learned⁸ in school. Students are tested in mathematics, English, reading and science. A writing test is offered but not required. Without it, the ACT takes about three hours to complete. The essay part adds thirty minutes.

The ACT costs forty-nine dollars to take outside the United⁹ States. The writing test costs an additional¹⁰ fourteen dollars. The ACT Web site is act.org.

Recent Chinese news reports suggested that ACT testing would be expanded in China next year. But an ACT spokesman¹¹ denies¹² those reports. He tells us they were based on a misunderstanding. He says there are no plans to increase the number of testing centers in China. Ten centers there offer the ACT, but students must first take training classes at those centers.

The only place in China where the SAT is offered for Chinese students is in Hong Kong. International students living in China have more choices.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Doug Johnson.

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Next week: TOEFL, the Test of English as a Foreign Language

1 admissions   

n.准许进入( admission的名词复数 )；入场费；入场券；承认

参考例句：

• a need-blind admissions policy 不考虑经济能力的录取政策
• He's the Dean of Admissions for the University of Michigan. 他是Michigan大学的新生注册主任。 来自辞典例句

2 difficulty   

n.困难，费劲；难事，难题；麻烦，困境

参考例句：

• If there is any difficulty,please let us know promptly.倘有困难，请迅速通知我们。
• A little difficulty like this is nothing to us.这点困难算不了什么。

3 consideration   

n.考虑，思考；要考虑的事；体谅，关心

参考例句：

• John never showed any consideration for his mother's feeling.约翰从来都不体谅他母亲的感情。
• We did an overall consideration of the matter at last.最后我们又对这个问题作了全盘考虑。

4 series   

n.连续；系列

参考例句：

• The students have put forward a series of questions.学生们提出了一系列问题。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

5 mathematics   

n.（用作单）数学；（用作单或复）计算(能力）

参考例句：

• He has come out in front in the study of mathematics.他在数学方面已名列前茅。
• She is working at a difficult problem in mathematics.她在做一道数学难题。

6 security   

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。

7 web   

n.网，蛛丝，蹼，织物，圈套，卷筒纸；vi.生蹼，形成网；vt.织蜘蛛网于，使落入圈套

参考例句：

• The spider weaves a web.蜘蛛织网。
• You mean the World Wide Web?你是说国际互联网？

8 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

9 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

10 additional   

adj.添加的，额外的，另外的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to set down these additional rules.有必要制定这些补充规则。
• I think we can fit in an additional room.我想我们可以再加建一间房子。

11 spokesman   

n.发言人，代言人

参考例句：

• The government spokesman gave a quick briefing to the reporters.政府发言人向记者们作了情况简介。
• They drew lots to decide who should be their spokesman.他们抽签决定谁是他们的发言人。

12 denies   

v.拒绝( deny的第三人称单数 )；拒绝承认；拒绝…占有；否认知情

参考例句：

• He denies that the movie glorifies violence. 他否认这部影片美化暴力。
• She denies neglecting her baby. 她不承认没有照看好她的孩子。