VOA标准英语2012--Floating University Offers Recession-Proof Jobs

 

Floating University Offers Recession-Proof Jobs

Deep in the heart of the ship named Golden Bear, it is hot and the sound of engines, loud. This is where Vasile Tudoran spends much of his time, doing what he loves.

"I knew I wanted to fix stuff since I was a little kid," said Tudoran.

Tudoran is a mechanical engineering student at The California Maritime¹ Academy. Even though students attend classes on the university campus in northern California, they are required to get hands-on experience on the Golden Bear training vessel². During this two-month trip, 288 cadets travel more than 15,000 kilometers south to the Panama Canal, visiting countries in Central America and the Caribbean along the way.

"When we get out of school you are basically guaranteed a job," noted³ Tudoran. "There are not enough bodies for the positions that are needed to be filled."

Robert Jackson, one of Tudoran's teachers echoes that.

"I would say the majority of our students have between one to two job offers before they graduate," said Jackson. "Most of those job offers are between $60,000 and $120,000 [a year]. Our students have such a broad knowledge they can go anywhere."

Jackson says in addition to working on ships, California Maritime Academy engineering graduates also get jobs with power plants and satellite companies. Faculty⁴ member Bill Schmid says the outlook for students studying marine⁵ transportation is not as bright as it was before the economic downturn, but it is recovering.

"I think probably the vast majority of our graduates are employed in the industry, if they want to be, now," said Schmid.

Even with a 94 percent job-placement rate, only about 900 students are currently enrolled⁶ in the Academy. Vasile Tudoran and his classmate, Andrew Di Tucci, understand why.

"It is not for everybody, that is why there are so few of us there," said Tudoran. "There is always a reason."

"The school, it is not like your normal college experience would be," said di Tucci. "We are a paramilitary school. We have uniforms. We have formations. Just disciplining yourself to show up and keep grooming⁷ standards and be where you need to be, sit down, buckle⁸ your belt and study."

Not only do the students have to be disciplined because of their responsibilities on the ship, instructor⁹ Bill Schmid says the coursework is also rigorous. 

"Ship's officers are kind of like your surgeons or your airplane pilot," Schmid explained. "You do not want them to be right only 70 percent of the time. We pretty much have to be right all the time. That is a hard thing to teach young people. There is zero tolerance¹⁰ for mistakes."

Di Tucci, who is majoring in marine transportation, says their two months on Golden Bear helps reinforce that lesson. 

"Growing up, I have always been told it takes a special person to want to go to sea for a living," Di Tucci added. "I think that is what the goal of these cruises are, is to see if you are really fit to be out at sea for months on end."

But there are rewards to life at sea.

"My favorite thing about it is waking up every morning and seeing nothing but the ocean on all sides of you. I get a thrill out of that," Di Tucci explained.

Feeling that thrill and eventually getting paid for it is what motivates these students to work hard and graduate. 

1 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

2 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 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。

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 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 grooming   

n. 修饰, 美容，（动物）梳理毛发

参考例句：

• You should always pay attention to personal grooming. 你应随时注意个人仪容。
• We watched two apes grooming each other. 我们看两只猩猩在互相理毛。

8 buckle   

n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲

参考例句：

• The two ends buckle at the back.带子两端在背后扣起来。
• She found it hard to buckle down.她很难专心做一件事情。

9 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

10 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。