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VOA慢速英语 2007 0124b

时间:2007-07-05 06:20:31

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(单词翻译)

VOICE ONE:

I'm Barbara Klein.

VOICE TWO:




And I'm Steve Ember with Explorations in VOA Special English. We continue the series about how older Americans are keeping their minds active. Today we tell about some of the adult education programs offered by colleges and universities.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Martin Feldman was a chemistry professor for forty years. He retired1 from Howard University in Washington, D.C. about five years ago. Mister Feldman says when he retired he thought he would like to do something he had not done before. Yet, he says, he was not really interested in spending a lot of time as a student in a classroom, writing papers and taking tests.

One day Mister Feldman found a list of classes offered at Montgomery College near his home in Silver Spring, Maryland. The college lets people sixty years and older who live in Montgomery County take classes. They do not have to pay the normal tuition2 cost, just the cost of supplies.

Mister Feldman decided3 to try a sculpture class. It teaches students how to make art out of clay, wood, metal and plastic. And it meets only one day a week.

VOICE TWO:

Martin Feldman says he quickly decided he really liked sculpture. So he has continued with the class, experimenting with combining different materials and shapes.

About half of the members of the sculpture class are older adults who live in the area. They take the class for no college credit. The other students are college age. They are taking the class for credit to get a degree and are paying tuition to take it.

VOICE ONE:

Martin Feldman is also taking a class at a private school of art and design as a regular student. His artwork had to be judged good enough for him to be accepted in the class. And he has to pay the full cost.

Mister Feldman is happy he was able to try something completely new when he retired. He has decided to spend a month at an art school in San Miguel Allende, Mexico. He will try something else new while he is there 鈥?learning to make sculpture by welding metal.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Most big universities have continuing education programs that offer traditional classes for older adults who want to continue learning. Some provide training programs that give people who complete them a certificate to prove they have gained new skills. The cost for university classes can be high, even for continuing education students.

Many smaller colleges offer traditional classes at lower cost and provide other programs for older adults in their area who have different educational needs. Prince George's Community College in Maryland is one of them.

Camille Crawford is head of a program called Seasoned Adults Growing Educationally, or SAGE5, at Prince George's Community College. It is part of the Workforce6 Development and Continuing Education division of the college. The program is thirty years old.

VOICE ONE:

Miz Crawford says SAGE offers more than four hundred classes every four months. The classes are held in about sixty places all around Prince George's County. About five thousand older adults are taking classes at any one time. They do not have to travel to the college. They can take classes near where they live.

People can take SAGE classes in community centers, retirement7 communities and religious centers. The cost is very low. For fifty dollars, people over sixty who live in Prince George's County can take as many classes as they want in a four-month period.

VOICE TWO:

SAGE offers classes in art, computers, finance8, heath, history, languages and music. Professors who teach at Prince George's Community College also teach the SAGE classes. One professor told Miz Crawford that when he started teaching a SAGE class he realized again why he became a teacher. He said the older adults were a joy to teach. They were in the class because they wanted to learn, not because they had to be there to get a college degree.

Miz Crawford says some of the SAGE students never finished high school so they would not have been admitted to most colleges. SAGE classes are open to everyone. Adults who never thought they would have a chance to take college level classes are able to do so in the SAGE program.

VOICE ONE:

Camille Crawford says many of the college's continuing education classes are related to work. Some of the older adults in the area need to keep working to earn money, even if they have retired from their jobs. So the Workforce and Continuing Education division of Prince George's Community College has programs to help provide new job skills for older adults. Some of these people moved to the area from another country and do not have the skills needed for jobs in the United States.

Prince George's County Department of Family Services identifies the people who should be given training for a job. The college provides free training and placement in an internship9 program with a non-profit organization or a government agency. The adult students are paid a minimum wage while they are in training. The federal government helps support the program.

VOICE TWO:

Camille Crawford says that one of the first questions asked of anyone seeking a job today is: What computer skills do you have? So the Workforce and Continuing Education division of Prince George's Community College combines job preparation skills with computer training. Those who successfully finish the program receive certificates to prove they are trained to work in an office.

Miz Crawford says the training and continuing education programs have provided older adults with new skills. Many who are now working part time feel they are doing something meaningful in their retirement years.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The University Continuing Education Association is the oldest organization in the United States of continuing education programs in colleges and universities. It began in nineteen fifteen. The organization now has about four hundred fifty members. These college and universities are in most of the American states and in about thirty countries from Australia to Kuwait.

VOICE TWO:

Timothy Sloate is director of research for the University Continuing Education Association. He says studies have shown that many baby boomers plan to keep working at least part time after they retire. Baby boomers are the large group of Americans born between nineteen forty-six and nineteen sixty-four. The oldest members of the group are just turning sixty and thinking of retiring from their jobs.

Mister Sloate says many baby boomers are planning to learn new things in retirement. Others, he says, are looking for job training. They want to learn new skills to use when they are retired.

Timothy Sloate says the members of the University Continuing Education Association are expanding their learning in retirement programs. One way is through the growth of classes that are offered online. These online classes let adults far from the college or university take a class through their computers in their homes.

VOICE ONE:

The University Continuing Education Association organizes about fifteen conferences a year for its members in different areas of the country. It provides a monthly newsletter. It does research that helps members develop new programs. And it offers professional development for continuing education administrators10.

In November, two thousand six, the University Continuing Education Association held a unity4 conference with the China Continuing Education Association at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.

Thirty officials from major American universities and thirty from Chinese universities shared common problems and solutions. One educator from China and one from the United States discussed the continuing education situation in their countries at each meeting during the two days of the conference. They talked about a single subject such as new developments in online teaching for adults or changes in the market for continuing education.

Organizers are planning to hold an American and Chinese continuing education conference each year. The next one will be held later this year at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Marilyn Christiano. It was produced by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Barbara Klein. You can read other programs in this continuing education series on our Web site, www.unsv.com. Listen again next week for another EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.
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1 retired Njhzyv     
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的
参考例句:
  • The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
  • Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。
2 tuition lm7wS     
n.(某一学科的)教学,讲授,指导,学费
参考例句:
  • Students can apply for individual tuition.学生可以申请个别指导。
  • Is this money enough for the tuition fee?这些钱交学费够吗?
3 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
4 unity 4kQwT     
n.团结,联合,统一;和睦,协调
参考例句:
  • When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结,并非一团和气。
  • We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前,我们必须加强团结。
5 sage sCUz2     
n.圣人,哲人;adj.贤明的,明智的
参考例句:
  • I was grateful for the old man's sage advice.我很感激那位老人贤明的忠告。
  • The sage is the instructor of a hundred ages.这位哲人是百代之师。
6 workforce workforce     
n.劳动大军,劳动力
参考例句:
  • A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
  • A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。
7 retirement TWoxH     
n.退休,退职
参考例句:
  • She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
  • I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。
8 finance cktxR     
n.财务管理,财政,金融,财源,资金
参考例句:
  • She is an expert in finance.她是一名财政专家。
  • A finance house made a bid to buy up the entire company.一家信贷公司出价买下了整个公司。
9 internship oqmzJB     
n.实习医师,实习医师期
参考例句:
  • an internship at a television station 在电视台的实习期
  • a summer internship with a small stipend 薪水微薄的暑期实习
10 administrators d04952b3df94d47c04fc2dc28396a62d     
n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 );有管理(或行政)才能的人;(由遗嘱检验法庭指定的)遗产管理人;奉派暂管主教教区的牧师
参考例句:
  • He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员,但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
  • Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

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