VOA标准英语2010年-US College Students Get 'On The Job Tr

Most visitors to the Olympics come to enjoy the sporting events and take in the atmosphere. But a group of Washington D.C. students traveled to the Vancouver Winter Games to learn about sports marketing¹ and management.

Parke Brewer² | Vancouver 26 February 2010

George Washington University students meet with a USA Today journalist in the Main Press Center at the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, 26 Feb. 2010

This is the 10th time Lisa Delpy Neirotti has accompanied college students to an Olympic Games.  Neirotti is a professor for Sports Management at the George Washington University, and 28 students from the Business School are with her in Vancouver studying the management and marketing of the Olympic Games.

Through the years she has built up relationships with people connected to the Olympics to make these educational visits successful.

"We're meeting with people from IOC members all the way down to volunteers, including USOC, VANOC, sponsors from the top level to the national level, to suppliers," Neirotti said.

Professor Neirotti told VOA she meets with the students well in advance and warns them that the Olympic trips are not about fun and games.

"This is a rigorous³ course," she said. "The students are just dead tired.  I mean we go from 8[am] to 5 or 6[pm], and then they're expected to go out and collect surveys.  They collect a minimum of 50 surveys each of spectators⁴."

And the students do that after their class time and their behind-the-scenes meetings and tours.

Neirotti says she also expects the students to attend sporting events, and they must purchase their own tickets. 

"The students are on their own to find tickets, but I help them," she said. "I have some connections with all the different ticket agencies, not just from the United States but from all different countries.  So at least I can point them in the right direction."

For obvious reasons it's an expensive college course to be enrolled⁵ in, says Neirotti.  Students must not only pay the normal university course tuition⁶, but they must cover the cost for airfare, local transportation, housing, food, tickets and, of course, souvenirs.

Professor Neirotti was able to find a youth hostel⁷ so the students pay a modest $40 a night compared to other lodging⁸ options.  She said they don't spend much time there, so they don't need anything better.

"I actually have them sign a form saying you will be running, you will skip meals, you will not get [much] sleep," Neirotti said.  "And, you know, they think I'm kind of joking when I have them sign this form.  But when we're here it's in preparation for if they work a Games.  I mean I know the staff of VANOC [Vancouver organizers] and media; they don't get much sleep when they're here because they're working."

George Washington University Professor Lisa Delpy Neirotti and student Morgan Goerke at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, 26 Feb. 2010

Student Morgan Goerke confirms her professor's claims.

"She's not lying.  I think I've eaten lunch once in the past week, and we literally⁹ run from one event to another, across traffic and through crowds and crowds, but it's very important that we make a good impression so we try to get there on time, and that sometimes involves running," she said.

The students are getting some journalistic experience as well, as they are writing an Internet blog at sportsfanlive.com. 

Professor Neirotti says it's been well received.

"Thousands of people have come to the site to see the unique experiences that our students are experiencing here," she said.

Just like athletes and spectators have their special moments at an Olympics, Neirotti beamed when she told about her special moment in Vancouver.

"I was at the USA House the other day talking to somebody about our student group, and I went on after our discussion, and then he came back and he came over and shook my hand and said how impressed he was with what we were doing," she said. "And when he shook my hand, inside was $400, and he said I want you to take the students out for a good meal."

As for sightseeing, there's little time for that during their studies at the Olympics, but the students are welcome to stay for a bit on their own afterwards - if, of course, they are not worn out.
 

1 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

2 brewer   

n. 啤酒制造者

参考例句：

• Brewer is a very interesting man. 布鲁尔是一个很有趣的人。
• I decided to quit my job to become a brewer. 我决定辞职，做一名酿酒人。

3 rigorous   

adj.严密的，缜密的，严格的，严厉的

参考例句：

• The arms trade should be subject to rigorous controls.对军火贸易应该严加限制。
• The planes have to undergo rigorous safety checks.飞机必须经过严密的安全检查。

4 spectators   

n.观众，旁观者( spectator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The spectators were wilting visibly in the hot sun. 看得出观众在炎热的阳光下快支撑不住了。
• The policemen asked the spectators to stand well back. 警察要求旁观者靠后站。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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？

7 hostel   

n.（学生）宿舍，招待所

参考例句：

• I lived in a hostel while I was a student.我求学期间住在青年招待所里。
• He says he's staying at a Youth Hostel.他说他现住在一家青年招待所。

8 lodging   

n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍

参考例句：

• The bill is inclusive of the food and lodging. 账单包括吃、住费用。
• Where can you find lodging for the night? 你今晚在哪里借宿?

9 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。