VOA标准英语2010年-A Most Unusual College: No Textbooks A

St. John's College looks like a typical American college.  But what goes on inside its classrooms is unlike just about every other college in the United States.  At this small institution, about 60 kilometers north of Washington, D.C., every student is devoted¹ to reading the classics of Western Civilization.  That's why St. John's is also known as the "Great Books" School. 

The roughly 450 students of St. John's believe very much in dialogue, an unusual kind of dialogue.  Their classroom discussions are often about great works of literature by authors who lived thousands of years ago.  Another unusual feature is there are no class lectures; instead, the students meet together with faculty² members to explore the books being read.

"We're interested in understanding and pursuing the truth, and no single individual, no single book, has those answers.  So we need to talk to one another, we need to learn from another," said Michael Dink, dean of St. John's College. 

Many St. John's students cited this unique approach as their main reason for coming to the College. But none seemed to agree on their favorite great book - not surprising, given there are about 100 of them on the St. John's list.

"I don't think there's anywhere else that you can more fully³ live the life of the mind.  And here my favorite program book so far has been the Iliad, because I think you get the full spectrum⁴ of human experience," said Dylan Knight⁵ Rogers, St. John's student from Chicago, Illinois.

"I came here because I felt like there was nowhere else I could ask the questions that I wanted to ask.  My favorite program book so far is the Odyssey⁶, because I think it explores the human [experience] more fully than any other book I've ever read," said Geral Newman, St. John's student.

"My favorite book so far has been Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics⁷.  And I came here for the small, close-knit community devoted to learning," said student Keileigh Rhodes from Boston, Massachusetts.

St. John's does not allow cameras into students' seminars. But to give a taste of what one might be like, we assembled a few students for a seminar-style discussion.

"Freshman⁸, sophomore⁹, junior, senior year, you know exactly what anyone is going through at any point in time during the year.  And the fact that you can just go up and engage in a conversation about what they're reading, that really reinforces the community," said Rachael Boyce, St. John's student from Baltimore, Maryland

"The ideas present, I think, apply to everyone in the world.  Or they can apply to everyone in the world, regardless of where you're from.  I think that's part of the value of these books, that they're universal in character," said Martin Greenwald from Bethesda, Maryland

At most American colleges, undergraduate students choose one area of study, like English or biology, and focus on it for all four years of their education.  But since the St. John's curriculum aims to span almost all of Western culture, students study every branch of the liberal arts - including music.  Here a group of sophomores¹⁰ warms up for music class.

"I think that if you take a St. John's education seriously, then it has to change your life.  Maybe not everyone takes it that seriously.  But reading what we read here, and engaging in honest conversation about it, has to change you," said Barbara McClay, a student from Annapolis, Maryland.

Dean Dink says a St. John's education can help make students more thoughtful citizens. "They should have thought about what democracy is, what good government is, what justice is.  The kind of fundamental reflection we do here is important for citizens in a democracy," he said.
 

1 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

2 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

5 knight   

n.骑士，武士；爵士

参考例句：

• He was made an honourary knight.他被授予荣誉爵士称号。
• A knight rode on his richly caparisoned steed.一个骑士骑在装饰华丽的马上。

6 odyssey   

n.长途冒险旅行；一连串的冒险

参考例句：

• The march to Travnik was the final stretch of a 16-hour odyssey.去特拉夫尼克的这段路是长达16小时艰险旅行的最后一程。
• His odyssey of passion, friendship,love,and revenge was now finished.他的热情、友谊、爱情和复仇的漫长历程，到此结束了。

7 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

8 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

9 sophomore   

n.大学二年级生；adj.第二年的

参考例句：

• He is in his sophomore year.他在读二年级。
• I'm a college sophomore majoring in English.我是一名英语专业的大二学生。

10 sophomores   

n.（中等、专科学校或大学的）二年级学生( sophomore的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We are freshmen and they are sophomores. 我们是一年级学生，他们是二年级学生。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Over half the students in the course are sophomores. 听这门课的一大半是二年级学生。 来自辞典例句