VOA慢速英语 2007 0222a

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

We continue our Foreign Student Series on higher education in the United States. We have talked all about the college admissions¹ process. Now we move on to college life once you get accepted to a school. The first thing you need is a place to live. That is our subject this week.


Slusher Tower, a dormitory at Virginia Tech

Housing² policies differ from school to school. Students might be able to choose whatever housing they can find. Or they might have to live in a dormitory, at least for the first year.

Dorms come in all sizes. A building may house a small number of students or many hundreds. Some have suites⁴. Each suite³ has several bedrooms, a common living area and a bathroom. Six or more students may live in one suite.

Other dorms have many rooms along a common hallway, usually with two students in each room.

Many students say dormitories provide the best chance to get to know other students. Also, dorms generally cost less than apartments or other housing not owned by the school.

Most colleges and universities offer single-sex dorms, but usually males and females⁵ live in the same building. They might live on the same floors and share the same common bathrooms. But, in most cases, they may live in the same room only if they are married.

At many schools, male students can join fraternities and females can join sororities. These are mainly social organizations but members may also be able to live at their fraternity or sorority house.

Edward Spencer is the associate vice⁶ president for student affairs at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. He says it is important to understand the rules of the building in which you will live.

He advises students to ask questions before they decide about their housing. For example: If a student requires a special diet, will the school provide for it? How much privacy⁷ can a student expect? Will the school provide a single room if a student requests one?

And what about any other special needs that a student might have?

Virginia Tech, for example, had a ban against candles in dorms. But it changed that policy to let students light candles for religious purposes.

The university also has several dorms open all year so foreign students have a place to stay during vacation times.

Our Foreign Student Series continues next week. Transcripts⁸ and audio⁹ files of our reports are at www.unsv.com.

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

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 housing   

n.房屋，住宅；住房建筑；外壳，外罩

参考例句：

• Do you think our housing sales will turn around during this year?你认为今年我们的住宅销路会好转吗？
• The housing sales have been turning down since the summer.入夏以来，房屋的销售量日趋减少。

3 suite   

n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员

参考例句：

• She has a suite of rooms in the hotel.她在那家旅馆有一套房间。
• That is a nice suite of furniture.那套家具很不错。

4 suites   

n.套( suite的名词复数 )；一套房间；一套家具；一套公寓

参考例句：

• First he called upon all the Foreign Ministers in their hotel suites. 他首先到所有外交部长住的旅馆套间去拜访。 来自辞典例句
• All four doors to the two reserved suites were open. 预定的两个套房的四扇门都敞开着。 来自辞典例句

5 females   

n.雌性动物( female的名词复数 )；女人

参考例句：

• The male birds are more colourful than the females. 这种鸟雄性比雌性更加色彩艳丽。
• The males in the herd protect the females and the young. 兽中的雄性动物保护雌性动物和幼崽。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 privacy   

n.私人权利，个人自由，隐私权

参考例句：

• In such matters,privacy is impossible.在这类事情中，保密是不可能的。
• She wept in the privacy of her own room.她在自己房内暗暗落泪。

8 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

9 audio   

n./adj.音频(响)(的)；声音(的)，听觉(的)

参考例句：

• Often,the meeting is recorded on audio or video media for later reference.通常这种会议会以视频或者音频形式记录下来，供以后查阅。
• You don't even have to pay for audio programs.你大可不必为自己听这些节目付费。