VOA慢速英语20061228a

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

We talked last week about the costs of higher education for students who want to study in the United States. Today, as our Foreign Student Series continues, we discuss a cost that students may not always consider: health insurance.


A college student in Iowa receives an immunization

Medical care can be very costly¹ if a person has an accident or gets sick. Health insurance might pay for most or all of it. Students might already be covered under their parents' health plan. If not, many schools offer plans of their own.

Most American colleges and universities have student health centers. Some have hospitals where students can go for more serious problems.

Our example this week is the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor². It has more than four thousand six hundred international students this year.

All University of Michigan students pay a health service fee. This fee is included in the cost of tuition³ at the school. It pays for some kinds of medical care and examinations through the University Health Service. It also pays for health education, physical therapy, X-rays and most laboratory tests.

But the health service fee does not pay for everything. For example, it does not pay for medicines or eyeglasses or routine eye exams. It also does not pay for hospital care.

University officials say international students are required to have health insurance.

The University of Michigan offers its students a choice of plans. One is especially for international students. This plan is designed to pay for medical care in emergencies.

It does not pay for things like dental care. And it generally does not pay for treatment of conditions that existed before the student arrived at school.

Students can also buy private insurance policies from independent companies, but the university must first approve them.

Whatever the plan, schools want to know that all of their students can pay for their health care needs.

Our series on higher education in the United States continues next week with a report on financial aid. Our Foreign Student Series is available on the Internet -- with MP3 files and transcripts⁴ -- at www.unsv.com.

And foreign students can get information from the State Department at educationusa.state.gov. And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Steve Ember.

1 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

2 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。

3 tuition   

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？

4 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句