Graduations

 

Broadcast: May 29, 2003
By Jeri Watson
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
Graduating seniors at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, May 25.

    May and June are the months when most graduation ceremonies take place in the United States. Young people traditionally take part in ceremonies as they finish high school or college. But some are as young as four or five years old. These children are honored for finishing pre-school or kindergarten programs.
Still others may be students completing their education in their old age. Every year, men and women older than age seventy or eighty receive diplomas or degrees. These documents are evidence that they have graduated.
Traditionally, the school's directors present the diplomas or degrees. Also, the graduates often wear traditional caps and gowns over their clothing. Most graduation ceremonies in the United States have a speaker who presents the commencement address.
For example, President Bush recently spoke¹ at the University of South Carolina. Mister Bush used the speech as a chance to propose a free trade area in the Middle East.
Vice² President Dick Cheney spoke to graduates of the Agricultural School at the University of Missouri at Columbia. He told students that he had not studied enough when he was first in college. But he said that he received a second chance to finish his studies and graduate. He called America “the country of second chances.”
Former President Bill Clinton spoke to students at Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi. Mister Clinton told them he wanted them to do well in life. But he said he also wanted them to do good.
Actors and other entertainers also are popular graduation speakers. For example, comic actor Bill Cosby spoke to students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel³ Hill. Actor Michael J. Fox spoke to medical school graduates of the University of Miami in Florida. He urged them to care deeply about research. Mister Fox has Parkinson's disease.
Many colleges and universities have their own graduation traditions. For example, graduates of the United States Naval⁴ Academy throw their military hats in the air. This custom celebrates their becoming Navy or Marine⁵ Corps⁶ officers. Guests at the ceremonies at the school in Annapolis, Maryland, then are welcome to take the hats home.
This Education Report was written by Jerilyn Watson.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 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。

3 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

4 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

5 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

6 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。