VOA慢速英语20061214a

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

And this is week fifteen of our Foreign Student Series on higher education in the United States. Next week our subject will be the cost of attending an American college or university. But today we are going to stop and answer some more questions we have received.


Oregon State University

The first one has to do with our recent discussion of admissions tests, including the Graduate Record Examination, or GRE.

Bhargavi Pottam writes from the American state of Pennsylvania to ask the difference between the GRE general test and subject tests. The GRE subject tests measure how much you know in an area like biochemistry, literature or mathematics. Graduate schools will tell you if they require one of these subject tests, or just the general test.

Marius Meledje from Ivory¹ Coast wants to know if tests like the GRE and TOEFL must be taken before coming to the United States. In general the answer is yes.

After all, the tests must be taken before applying to colleges. So, unless you will be in the United States before starting your applications, you should take the tests in your home country.

Arnaud Kubwakristo from Rwanda asks how to begin applying to American graduate schools. And Bui Duc Kinh from Vietnam wants to know what kinds of tests they would require for a foreign student in environmental economics².

To answer the first question, our advice is to ask local professors which American schools have good programs in the area you want to study. Then go to the Web sites for those schools to find their requirements -- including the tests needed to apply.

Another listener from Vietnam, Loat Ngo, asks about recommendation³ letters -- why they are important and what they should contain. Letters written by teachers, employers and others can provide valuable information about you and your abilities and personality.

Schools may provide forms for you to give to the people who have agreed to write your recommendations⁴.

You can get more information at sites like collegeboard.com or collegeview.com. Or just do an Internet search about letters of recommendation.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. For links to the Web sites for the GRE and other exams, and for the earlier reports in our series, go to www.unsv.com.

To send us a general question that we might be able to answer on the air, write to [email protected]. Please be sure to include your name and country. I'm Steve Ember.

1 ivory   

n.象牙，乳白色；adj.象牙制的，乳白色的

参考例句：

• My grandmother has some jewelry made of ivory.我祖母有一些象牙首饰。
• It is carved from ivory.它是用象牙雕成的。

2 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

3 recommendation   

n.推荐（信）建议，优点，长处

参考例句：

• I wrote him a good recommendation.我为他写了一封很好的推荐信。
• This method deserves recommendation.这种做法值得提倡。

4 recommendations   

n.推荐( recommendation的名词复数 )；推荐信；正式建议；提议

参考例句：

• The board completely disregarded my recommendations. 董事会完全无视我的建议。
• Recommendations from two previous clients helped to establish her credibility. 两位以前的客户的推荐有助于确立她的诚信度。 来自《简明英汉词典》