VOA慢速英语 2008 1030a

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

This week in our Foreign Student Series, we talk about getting an American education online. A student named Hendra has written to us from Indonesia asking about a good online university.

Finding the right online program requires research, just like a traditional education. Talking to advisers¹ and recruiters can help. Keep in mind, though, that they might have a financial interest to direct you to certain programs.

Avoid a diploma mill. We talked about this last week. Diploma mills, also known as degree mills, are nothing more than businesses. The education is poor quality, if they even require any class work to get a degree.

The Council on Higher Education Accreditation³ (CHEA) recognizes a group in Washington, D.C., to accredit² schools that offer distance learning. One hundred ten programs in the United States and six other countries are accredited⁴ by the Distance Education and Training Council.

We asked the executive director, Michael Lambert, for advice on choosing a distance learning program. He says the first thing is to go on the CHEA Web site to find if a school is accredited. The address is c-h-e-a dot o-r-g.

Next, make sure the school offers what you need. Do you need a degree, or will a certificate or license⁵ be enough?

Another consideration is cost. Often the published price does not include all the costs -- like books. Technology requirements can also add to the costs. Will you need to get new software or a high-speed Internet connection or even a new computer to take the classes you want?

Also, consider the level of interaction that an online program offers. You might never meet the teacher or other students in person. You need to be able to work without the supervision⁶ that you might find in a traditional class.

Finally, and this is our own advice, find out what others say. You might search on the Internet for comments or ratings or news stories about schools that interest you. Just remember that what people say is not always fair or true.

So now we have talked about getting an American education online. Next week, we begin explaining the steps to getting an American education in the United States.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Our Foreign Student Series is online at voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Bob Doughty⁷.

1 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

2 accredit   

vt.归功于，认为

参考例句：

• The president will accredit you as his assistant.董事长将任命你做他的助理。
• We accredit the invention of the electric light to Adison.我们把电灯的发明归功于爱迪生。

3 accreditation   

n.委派，信赖，鉴定合格

参考例句：

• a letter of accreditation 一份合格证明书
• This paper gives an overview of the Verification, Validation and Accreditation (VV&A) in High Level Architecture(HLA). 对基于高层体系结构(High Level Architecture,简称HLA)的仿真系统的校核、验证与确认(Verification, Validation and Accreditation,简称VV&A)问题进行了详细的介绍及分析。 来自互联网

4 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。

5 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

6 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

7 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。