VOA慢速英语 2007 0607a

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

A Chinese woman studying business law in Japan has a question about studying a different kind of law. Wang Yuxian says she is a Christian¹ and would like to know about theological seminary programs for foreign students in the United States.

 
A ceremony at St. John's Seminary in Boston
A theological seminary is a graduate school of religion and a professional school for training religious leaders.

Foreign students who want to study at a seminary in the United States apply just as they would to any other graduate school. They have to meet the academic and English language requirements and prove they would be able to pay for their studies.

Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, is one of the largest in North America. Today it has more than four thousand students from about seventy countries.

Fuller is one of two hundred fifty-three schools accredited² by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada. An accredited school is one that has passed inspection³ by a rating group like the association. All of the schools are Christian. But other schools train leaders in Judaism, Islam, Buddhism⁴ and other faith traditions.

The Fuller Theological Seminary opened in nineteen forty-seven. It has three schools: Theology, Intercultural Studies and Psychology⁵. It also has a center for lifelong learning.

Students at Fuller can earn a doctor of ministry⁶ degree or more than twenty other graduate degrees. Examples include a master's degree in marital⁷ and family therapy and a master's in global leadership.

There are also degree programs taught in Korean and Spanish. And Fuller admits some students through its English as a second language program.

Some degree programs cost more than others. One year at Fuller can cost anywhere from twelve thousand to twenty-four thousand dollars.

International students can apply for scholarships and grants. But Fuller says that normally they will not be permitted to work during the time of their studies. The same is true for family members.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. We began our Foreign Student Series on higher education in the United States in September. We are almost at the end of the series.

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

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 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

4 Buddhism   

n.佛教（教义）

参考例句：

• Buddhism was introduced into China about 67 AD.佛教是在公元67年左右传入中国的。
• Many people willingly converted to Buddhism.很多人情愿皈依佛教。

5 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

6 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

7 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。