US Colleges Postpone Classes Following COVID-19 Rise

、College students in the United States are currently spending their winter break away from schools. A rise in COVID-19 cases could mean that they will be spending a little more time away from campus.

Many colleges are moving classes online for the first few weeks of the new year. Others permit students to return but require them to stay in their rooms for class. So far, more than 70 colleges across 26 states are starting the term online, and others say they are considering it.

At the University of California in Riverside – a city east of Los Angeles – students must stay in their rooms for five days. And they are required to pass two separate virus tests before being permitted to spend time with others.

Kim Wilcox is the school's chancellor¹, one of its top leaders. He said the plan is to rebuild the school's "bubble" after students spent Christmas and New Year's away from campus.

The University of Chicago is delaying the start of the new quarter to January 10. Students will take classes online for the first two weeks. And the plan is to have students back in person on January 24.

Christina Howard is graduating from the University of Chicago in June. She said she never could have imagined that almost half of her time in college would be affected² by the pandemic.

"It's kind of a weird³ feeling to be doing this again in my last year. I had really hoped that I would get a full year to finish on a more normal kind of note. But I guess that's not going to happen."

When asked whether she thinks the university will start on the new date, she said "we'll see."

Boosters required

Some schools, including Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, and Georgetown University in Washington, DC, are asking students to get an additional shot of vaccine⁴, also known as a booster.

Sue Lorenson is the Vice⁵ Dean for Undergraduate Education at Georgetown. She told VOA the university will require all students and professors to have a COVID-19 booster shot by January 21.

Georgetown plans to start classes online before moving to in-person classes on January 31. The hope, Lorenson said, is that the number of COVID-19 cases in Washington will decrease by mid-January.

"One thing that I think will make a big difference to students this time around is that compared to last year, students are able to return to their residence halls on campus as originally scheduled in mid-January. Which will allow them to reconnect with their classmates."

Ken⁶ Henderson is a top leader at Northeastern. He told the Associated Press that he thinks COVID-19 is becoming "endemic" and the school wants to "control COVID effectively, not let COVID control us." Endemic means the virus will continue to exist in some areas but will not affect all the people in all areas like a pandemic.

In the central part of the U.S., the University of Illinois plans to have students come back to classes in-person after a one-week delay. Robin⁷ Kaler is a spokeswoman for the university. She said the university expects a "spike⁸" when students come back.

"We want to make sure we're on top of that so we can crush it as quickly as possible," she said.

Jake Maynard is a student at George Washington University, another college in the nation's capital. He said he is fine with a week of online classes, but beyond that, he hopes officials trust in the booster shots and provide a traditional college experience.

"I'm a junior, but about half my schooling⁹ experience has been online," Maynard told the Associated Press. "You lose so much of what makes the school the school."

Words in This Story

campus – n. the area and buildings around a university, college, school, etc.

bubble – n. a way of describing a group of people who stay together to limit the spread of a sickness

quarter – n. a part of a college year

graduate – v. the area and buildings around a university, college, school, etc.

weird – adj. unusual or strange

residence hall – n. a location where college students live

allow– v. the area and buildings around a university, college, school, etc.

1 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

2 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

3 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

4 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

7 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

8 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

9 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。