VOA慢速英语2012 Education Report - Touring Colleges, Without Ever Leaving Home

 

Education Report - Touring Colleges, Without Ever Leaving Home

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Students who want an easy way to get information about a large number of colleges in the United States can visit a website like CampusTours.com. It brings together virtual² campus¹ tours and interactive³ maps of more than twelve hundred colleges and universities. The site plans to add an international database⁴ for schools in other countries.

CampusTours recently celebrated⁵ its fifteenth anniversary⁶. The president of the company, Chris Carson, was one of the people who started the site. He says more than one hundred twenty thousand foreign students use the site each year. They make up more than fifteen percent of the traffic on the site.

The virtual tours allow students to get a sense of how a college looks. There are also links to official websites and online applications. And there are details like price, number of students, admission⁷ requirements and sports programs.

But Chris Carson says students should never depend on a third-party website like CampusTours to choose a college. He advises parents and students to contact a school directly. If they plan to visit, they should call the school and talk about the visit and where to stay locally. In fact, he says contacting a school might even lead to a free visit.

CHRIS CARSON: "In some cases, if the student is a good enough student or is a special case, they will sometimes pay for travel to get the student to come to campus. That's a little known fact."

He says showing real interest in a school can increase the chances of being admitted. 

CHRIS CARSON: "One thing in the United States is that they often use something called 'demonstrated⁸ interest' as a factor in your admission. They write this stuff⁹ in your file, believe it or not. If you've engaged them in conversation about the institution, they're actually more likely to offer you admission."

Chris Carson and several of his friends started CampusTours in nineteen ninety-seven. They noticed that many websites with campus tours were heavy with text and lacked much visual material. 

At first, colleges worried that online tours would compete with the tradition of a personal visit to the campus. But today schools work with sites like CampusTours or its competitors, or build their own virtual tours and maps. 

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report. You can improve your English and learn more about higher education in the United States at our website, www.voanews.cn. I'm Dave DeForest.

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Contributing: Matthew Hilburn, Ira Mellman and Jerilyn Watson

1 campus   

n.大学校园，学校校园；大学　

参考例句：

• They spoke of the old days on the campus.他们谈起昔日的校园生活。
• The campus covers an area of twenty square kilometres.这个校园占地二十平方公里。

2 virtual   

adj.实质上的，事实上的，实际上的

参考例句：

• This reply is a virtual acceptance of our offer.这一回答实质上是接受了我们的建议。
• At that time the East India Company was the virtual ruler of Bengal.那时东印度公司是孟加拉的实际统治者。

3 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

4 database   

n.数据库 （=databank）

参考例句：

• I discovered some new information in the database.我在资料库里发现了一些新信息。
• We planned to build an online database.我们计划建一个联机数据库。

5 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

6 anniversary   

n.周年(纪念日)

参考例句：

• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。
• Today is my parents'30th wedding anniversary.今天是我父母结婚30周年纪念日。

7 admission   

n.允许进入；承认；入场费，入会费，入场券

参考例句：

• We attached a condition to his admission to our school.我们对准许他入校附加了一个条件。
• By her own admission,she was responsible for the accident.她自己承认，事故应该由她负责。

8 demonstrated   

举行示威游行（或集会）( demonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )； 示范。展示； 显示； 论证

参考例句：

• All of those demonstrated the correctness of his analysis. 这一切都证明了他分析的正确性。
• The fireman demonstrated great courage in saving the child. 那位消防队员在抢救孩子的过程中，表现了极大的勇气。

9 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。