节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-07-22
难易度:Low
关键字:retirement, credit, associate's degree, bachelor's degree, enrichment,
certificate
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And my name is Carolyn.
And you're joining us for a lesson I think is very important.
The title is called "Why Community College?" Now a lot of people think that
after they graduate from senior high school, the next step is university.
Well, we're going to be learning about another kind of school - community
college - and why someone thinks it could be a possibility,
and it could be important or a good choice.
Now what are some reasons why you think it's important to go to college?
Or what are some things to consider when you are thinking about attending a
university?
Well, it is a good idea to go to college to further your education, continue
learning.
And it can help you to get a good job.
But some of the things you want to think about when deciding which school to go
to is what you are interested in.
What major do you want to go into?
What do you want to study?
Another important one is how much will it cost.
Will you be able to pay for that school?
Or is there another school with a good program that is less expensive?
Those are good things to think about.
Something that I thought about when I was choosing between two universities was
what had a better program for the things I was interested in.
Also, who was close by?
I ended up going to a university that was close to some relatives of mine.
So there are many different things you might consider.
But why community college?
Let's get started with today's lesson.
Why Community College?
Do you have to start at a four-year university?
Before we moved to the U.S., we did some research regarding the children's
future studies.
My elder daughter, Michelle, had just graduated from high school.
What would be her best choice for a college education?
After much discussion, we decided on community college.
Why did we make this choice?
Many think community colleges are only for senior citizens after retirement.
Well, yes and no.
Most community colleges provide lifelong learning opportunities for people from
all walks of life.
They offer some non-credit courses like art and computer skills for those
interested in personal enrichment.
Well, today's article does ask an interesting question: Why Community College?
Sometimes you might see this question being asked "why something?" It's not
really a full sentence or a full question.
But it means: Why go to community college?
Or why did you choose to go to community college?
Many people respond to this question with "Why not?" Why not go to community
college?
Or why not do something else?
That's right.
So you could respond just by saying: Why not?
It was a good choice.
Well, we see another question there at the beginning: Do you have to start at a
four-year university?
Do you have to go and do something that most everybody else is doing or what
everyone is telling you to do?
Everyone encourages people to go to university after graduating from high
school.
But community college could be a good choice.
That's right.
And we start reading in our article:
Before we moved to the U.S., we did some research regarding the children's
future studies.
Well, this is a very good idea.
If you're going to be moving, you want to make sure that there are good
education options where you are going.
That's right.
So they did some research regarding the children's future studies.
Now when I see the word "studies," I usually use it as a verb.
I am studying, or I'm doing my homework.
But here we see it as a noun.
So your studies can refer to your schooling of some kind or your education,
future education.
That's right.
And we learn that the author says: My elder daughter, Michelle, had just
graduated from high school.
So it sounds like Michelle will be planning on going to college or university.
But what would be her best option?
Gabe, what does the next question say?
Well, what would be her best choice for a college education?
That's right.
It is an option.
She has many options to choose from.
And we continue.
After much discussion, we decided on community college.
Carolyn, I like this.
It's not just that her daughter Michelle decided or that her parents made the
decision.
It says "we" decided.
That's right.
So they discussed the options.
They talked about them.
Well, where would you like to go?
What do you want to study?
What are your goals?
And also, what the parents' concerns were as well.
So there was open discussion.
They talked about the different options and decided on community college.
And why did we make this choice?
We continue.
Many think community colleges are only for senior citizens after retirement.
Well, I guess that's something that a lot of people think when they think about
community colleges.
Let's take a look at that word from our Word Bank: retirement.
And retirement is when someone is elderly, they're getting older and they no
longer work.
They are retired.
They're in their retirement years.
That's right. So retirement is what you do after you finish working.
Usually it is related to age, or maybe you get hurt on the job and you need to
retire.
So a lot of people think that community college are for... community colleges
are for people who are retired or for senior citizens after retirement.
That's right.
Now I want to correct myself.
I said retirement is for elderly people.
Actually, I know some people who have retired early.
At an early age they just stopped working and they can retire.
Well, we see a response here to this idea.
Pauline writes: Well, yes and no.
And I think we're going to learn more about this phrase or this kind of sentence
in the Information Cloud.
When we're young, our lives are simple, and we have simple ways of categorizing
our life experiences.
A behavior is either right or it's wrong.
An event is either fun or boring.
An answer is either yes or no.
Never is it a little yes and a little no.
Right.
But as we grow older, the day arrives when we realize life really isn't as
simple as that.
For you, that day might be today - when our author tells us the correct response
to a statement is both yes and no at the same time.
So how does that work?
OK. "Yes and no" sounds like a contradiction.
But it's really just a phrase that indicates the topic being discussed is more
misunderstood, ambiguous or complicated than it appears.
Now if you ever use the "yes and no" response, you are signaling to your
listeners or your readers that more clarification is coming.
So after your yes and no response, be ready to do some explaining.
Start by going through the yes reasons, and then move on to the no reasons -
just as our author does in the remainder of the second paragraph.
(Chinese).
Yes and no.
So while it may be true, there are some other things that need to be considered
or thought about.
And we continue reading:
Most community colleges provide lifelong learning opportunities for people from
all walks of life.
So not just people who have retired or are senior citizens but people from all
walks of life.
And we see a nice phrase in there: It provides lifelong learning opportunities.
So let's look at that.
Gabe, what does it mean to have lifelong learning?
Well, I like this idea.
The idea is that we never stop learning.
In a sense, we are students for life.
I know some people don't like the idea of being called a student.
I'm working now. I have a Ph.D.
But hey, you might be a student for life because you can continue learning.
And that's what this idea is, lifelong learning.
That's right.
So there are always opportunities to continue learning something new.
It's not really possible for you to know everything there is.
So you can continue to get an education at community colleges no matter what
walk of life you are from.
And this is a great phrase that Liz would like to tell us more about in the
Grammar Gym.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym, friends.
Thanks for joining me here.
My name is Liz.
In today's article we see this sentence:
Most community colleges provide lifelong learning opportunities for people from
all walks of life.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Our focus today is on the phrase at the end of the sentence: all walks of life.
It's an expression we use to mean people from all social, economic, or ethnic
groups.
So going back to today's sentence, the writer is saying that most community
colleges provide learning opportunities for anyone.
Use this phrase "all walks of life" when you want to talk about a situation that
involves all kinds of people.
For example:
At any major international airport, you can see people from all walks of life.
Or: Going to the public park is a great place to see people from all walks of
life.
If you want to see some more example sentences, then check out today's Grammar
Tip section in your magazine.
And that's it for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
Bye-bye.
Thank you.
Well, we continue learning about community colleges.
They offer some non-credit courses like art and computer skills for those
interested in personal enrichment.
Let's take a look at that word from our Word Bank.
It is "credit." Now at a university, you are trying to accomplish and achieve
something.
And to do that, you need to have credits and pass your classes.
And each of those classes has a certain amount of credits.
That's right.
So usually at a college or university, one hour of class is equal to one credit
for that class.
And many classes are three credits, so you have three hours of class in one
week.
And a lot of places, it's normal for you to have 15 credits for a semester, or
you have 15 hours of class in one week.
But these are non-credit courses, so you don't get a credit when you take them.
That's right. It's just for personal enrichment.
And enrichment is just something that makes you a better person, something that
exercises your brain in some area.
Well, it's time for us to take a break.
But before that, let's visit Michelle in the Language Lab.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.