Web-Based Englishweb.nchu.edu.tw/~clwei/FE_1st_Handouts.doc · Web viewLesson One. The Cost of Higher Education in the United States. Students who want to attend an American college

Freshman English(1st Semester)

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Freshman English (1 st Semester)

Lesson OneThe Cost of Higher Education in the United States

Students who want to attend an American college or university must explain how they will pay for their education. They have to that they will be able to pay for each year of study.

Students have to not only the tuition, the cost of classes, but also meals and a place to live, as room-and-board. They also need money for books and supplies. And they need money to spend for social and other things.

Educational advisers say foreign students should keep enough in a local bank to pay for at least two months of . So how much will a year at an American school cost? Generally speaking, the is: a lot.

A leading state university in the Pacific Northwest will serve as our . The University of Washington says students are paying more than thirty-six thousand dollars this year.

This major research university has two thousand six hundred foreign students from more than one hundred . There are many schools that cost less, but also others that cost .

Its Web site says the University of Washington does not financial assistance to students. This is generally true of American schools, at the undergraduate level.

The international application for the university a Statement of Financial Responsibility that must be . Students must also provide a bank letter or statement from within the past six . And they have to name anyone who will help with . These people must send proof from a bank to show that they have the .

Your government or employer may be able to help you pay all or some costs. A good idea is to ask at least eighteen months before you want to start in the United States.

Our Foreign Student Series, including links to Web sites in our reports, can be found at voaspecialenglish.com. To more about higher education in America, the State Department has a Web site: educationusa dot state dot g-o-v.

Questions for Discussion1. What is the main idea of the lesson?2. What is your reflection on the lesson?

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Lesson TwoAl Hit the Jackpot

I think people everywhere dream about having lots of money. I know I do. I would give to make money hand over fist. I would like to earn large of money. You could win a large amount of money in the United States through lotteries. People pay money for tickets with numbers. If your of numbers is chosen, you win a huge amount of money – often in the millions. Winning the is a windfall.

A few years ago, my friend Al won the lottery. It his life. He did not have a rich family. He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Instead, my friend was always hard up for cash. He did not have much . And the money he did earn was chicken feed – very little.

Sometimes Al even had to hand-outs, gifts from his family and friends. But do not get me wrong. My was not a deadbeat. He was not the kind of person who never paid the money he . He simply pinched pennies. He was always very careful with the money he spent. In fact, he was often a cheapskate. He did not like to spend money. The times were when he was flat broke and had no money at all.

One day, Al scraped together a few for a lottery ticket. He thought he would never strike it rich or gain lots of money . But his combination of numbers was chosen and he won the lottery. He hit the jackpot. He a great deal of money.

Al was so excited. The first thing he did was buy a new car. He splurged on the one thing that he normally would not buy. Then he spending money on unnecessary things. He started to waste it. It was like he had money to . He had more money than he needed and it was burning a hole in his pocket so he spent it .

When we got together for a meal at a restaurant, Al every time. He would always foot the bill, and pick up the tab. He told me the money him feel like a million dollars. He was very happy.

But, Al spent too much money. Soon my friend was down and out . He had no money left. He was back to being strapped for cash. He had spent his bottom dollar, his very amount. He did not even build up a nest egg. He had not any of the money.

I admit I do feel sorry for my friend. He had money to live like a king. Instead, he is back to living on a shoestring -- a very low . Some might say he is penny wise and pound foolish. He was about small things, but not about important things.

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Lesson ThreeOrganic Fertilizer

There are many different products that farmers can use to add nutrients to soil. Organic fertilizers usually come from animal waste, plant or treated wastewater.

Farmers who raise animals have a ready-made fertilizer to into the soil. However, animal waste must be treated in order to make good .

Composting is a natural method. It uses the action of bacteria and other organisms to down the manure into fertilizer. The manure must be mixed with a material that carbon, such as wood cuttings. The carbon supports the growth of the .

It is important to mix in enough carbon-supplying material. If there is too , nitrogen in the waste will release ammonia gas and will smell .

Composting also requires the right amount of water and . The compost material should be loose and easy to turn with hand . The compost should be about fifty to sixty water. Too much water will mean that air cannot reach all the material. This will the compost. It will slow the organic activity and cause a bad smell. Too little will also stop the activity.

The process of composting produces heat. If are good, the compost material should reach about fifty to sixty degrees Celsius. This heat kills dangerous organisms in the waste. Experts say all of them will be killed if the material stays at fifty-five for fourteen days.

It takes three to seven months for compost to become to use as fertilizer. After this time, the material will have lost twenty to sixty percent of its .

Waste products provide one fertilizer resource. Some crops limited amounts of nutrients to the soil. Beans release nitrogen. Crops like alfalfa can be to break down.

There are many different kinds of manufactured fertilizers. The most used mineral fertilizers are nitrogen-based. Nitrogen from the air is mixed with hydrogen from gas. This process produces ammonia gas. Other are then added to the ammonia.

Different crops demand different mixtures of nutrients. Many invest in special fertilizers designed just for the kinds of crops they .

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Lesson FourExchange Is a Cost-Saving Way to Spend a Year at a U.S. College

The International Student Exchange Program was started in 1979. ISEP is a group of colleges and universities around the . They cooperate to provide international educational experiences for their .

Two hundred sixty schools in the United States and thirty-five other are members of the program. More than twenty-four thousand students have taken .

Students can study for up to one in the United States or any of the other countries involved. Students do not have to through the usual application process to get into a . And they pay only what they would have to pay for a term at their own school at .

To take part in the ISEP program, students must attend a member college or . Each school has an ISEP coordinator. This person helps students apply to the ISEP in Washington, D.C.

To be accepted, students must have good . They must also provide TOEFL . TOEFL is the Test of English as a Foreign Language. Students are to list up to ten choices of American schools they would like to . Officials at the ISEP office then place students in the openings in colleges and universities.

ISEP officials say students who want to in a foreign country generally do so during their third or fourth year of . Students are advised to begin preparations at one year before they want to experience the . Applications must be sent to Washington by February of each . The students accepted can then begin their year in the United States in .

ISEP officials also have advice for high school students who they would like to take part in the program college. Be sure to attend a college or university that the International Student Exchange Program.

Internet users can get information about ISEP at its Web site: www.isep.org.


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Lesson FiveAllowance Helps Teach Children Early About Money

Many children first learn the value of money by receiving an allowance. Parents often give their an amount of money that they may spend as they . The purpose is to let the children learn from experience at an age when financial mistakes are not very .

A child may receive an allowance each week or each . The amount is not so important. But should make clear what, if anything, the child is expected to pay for with the .

At first, young children may spend all of their allowance soon after they it. If they do this, they will learn the hard way that spending must be done within a budget. Parents should not more money until the next allowance is to be paid.

Older children may be enough to budget larger costs like those for . The object is to show young people that a budget demands between spending and saving.

Many people who have written on the subject say it is not a idea to pay your child for work around the home. These jobs are a part of family life.

Paying children to do extra work around the house, however, can be . It can even provide an understanding of how a business works.

Allowances give children a chance to the three things they can do with money. They can share it in the form of gifts or giving to . They can spend it by buying things they want. Or they can save it.

Saving helps children that costly goals require sacrifice: you have to cut costs and plan for the . Requiring children to save part of their allowance can also open the door to future saving and . Many banks offer free savings accounts for young people with amounts of money.

A bank account is an excellent way to show children the of compound interest. Compounding works by paying interest on interest. For example, one dollar invested at two percent for two years will earn two cents in the first year. The second year, the money will two percent of one dollar and two cents.

That may not seem like a lot. But an that earns eight percent compounded yearly will one hundred percent in value in about nine years.

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Lesson SixSummer School Goes Online

In the United States, the traditional school year is September to June. Summer school used to be seen as a place for high school students to repeat classes they failed.

But summer programs have expanded. Students often go to school so they can ease their class load during the school year. Or it might them more freedom to choose the classes they want during the regular term.

Summer school students do the same of work as if they took the during the school year. But they do it in a much shorter time -- just one to two . They generally attend school for three to four hours every , five days a week.

Another choice for many students is to take classes . Students work by computer at home or wherever they have an Internet . They could even be traveling with their .

However, some online classes require students to to a classroom to take tests. Students may also have to take part in group with the teacher online. And there may be a required number of hours to logged on each day. Yet there may also be freedom to do the work , day or night.

Teachers say students who have failed a class may working by computer easier than taking the class again in school. For , they may feel more willing to ask questions of the teacher e-mail.

But teachers also say that students must be to work independently to succeed at an online class. And a must also be a good reader if all the material is presented in .

Students take classes through their local school or they can find a private, online school. Families must make sure that the school is legally recognized as an educational . If not, then their local school might not give credit for the work.

More than three hundred schools are of Virtual High School, a non-profit organization based in Massachusetts. It twenty-five schools outside the United States. Virtual High School says it has more than two hundred classes and six students. The Web site for this online school is govhs.org. Again, it's go v-h-s dot org.

Questions for Discussion

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1. What is the main idea of the lesson?2. What is your reflection on the lesson?

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Lesson SevenLooking for Skin Cancer

Skin cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer. The risk in summer because ultraviolet rays from the sun are the main cause of skin cancer. Tanning beds can also be in UV radiation.

Anyone can get skin cancer, but people with light colored skin, hair or eyes are at greatest . A history of sunburns early in life also increases the risk. So does a family history of skin cancer.

The skin cancer is found, the easier it is to treat. So doctors advise people to examine all areas of their skin once a , from the top of their head to the bottom of their feet. Even look under the nails and between the toes.

Professional examinations are also important. See a if a mole bleeds or itches or is bigger than six millimeters.

Knowing what your skin like will help you recognize any changes in the size, shape or of growths. The Cleveland Clinic suggests taking pictures of moles and dating the images to over time.

The two most common forms of skin are basal cell and squamous cell cancers. They can develop as flat, discolored or as raised growths, often with a rough surface.

Melanoma is far more . Melanomas can appear even in areas of the body that do not get a lot of sun. They can be flat or raised and have areas of black, and other colors. Other signs include uneven borders or one half from the other.

Without early treatment, deadly melanomas can quickly within the body.

Hats, sunglasses and clothing offer protection from sunrays, but that can depend. Experts say the denser the weave of the , the less ultraviolet radiation reaches the skin. Also, darker colors may offer more , and natural cotton can block more than bleached cotton. When is wet or stretched, however, it lets more UV radiation pass through.

Choose sunscreen and sunglasses designed to protect against both UV-A and UV-B rays. Experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention people to put on sunscreen before they go outdoors.

Put a thick amount on all areas of that will get sun. UV levels can be high even on days. Put on more sunscreen if you stay in the sun for more than two , and after you swim or sweat a lot from .

Questions for Discussion

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1. What is the main idea of the lesson?2. What is your reflection on the lesson?

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Lesson EightAIDS

Right now, the top story in AIDS research involves newly announced findings about adult male circumcision. Two _______ in Africa found that circumcised men had half the risk of getting H.I.V. from sex with women as uncircumcised _____ had.

Researchers declared an ________ end to the studies in Kenya and Uganda so all the men involved could be offered the ________. The findings are important. But so is news of _________ on microbicides that could help protect women against the AIDS virus.

The Global Campaign for Microbicides says more than sixty _______ or compounds are under development. ________ have reached the last part of the testing process or will enter final testing soon. At this time, no effective microbicides are ________.

Women would use a microbicide cream or gel before sex. It might be designed, for example, to kill or ________ the virus, or to create a physical barrier to guard the cell wall in the _________.

The Population Council, a nonprofit group in New York, has been working for seventeen years to __________ a microbicide. Its leading candidate is a product called Carraguard. Carraguard is made from carrageenan -- the ________ plant material better known as seaweed.

Final testing of Carraguard for safety and effectiveness is taking _______ in South Africa. The product is being tested in more than six ________ women for up to two years. The study closes in March. Results are _________ within a year after that.

If Carraguard passes the tests, the Population Council is ________ to seek approval for it in South Africa and the United States.

The group notes that the first microbicides are expected to be ________ forty to seventy percent of the time. Still, many cases of H.I.V. could be ________. In some cases, nonprofit groups have been _________ microbicides with compounds produced by major drug ________.

AIDS experts say microbicides could give women more _________ over their bodies. Women often lack the power to ________ that their partner use a condom.

Worldwide, almost half of adults with H.I.V. and AIDS are women. But the United Nations says women are _________ of sixty percent of new infections. It estimates that more than four ________ people have become infected with the virus this year and three million __________ have died.

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Lesson NineA 'Smart Bomb' Against Cancer

Scientists have developed a new cancer drug. So far, they have tested it only in laboratory _______. The drug is designed to invade and kill cancer cells but not _________ cells.

First, the drug enters the cancer and destroys the _______ of blood. Then it releases poison to destroy the cancer _____.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge ________ out the study. The results appeared in Nature magazine. A school news release _________ the drug an "anti-cancer smart bomb."

Ram Sasisekharan is a professor at M.I.T. He says his team had to ________ three problems. They had to find a way to destroy the blood vessels, then to ________ the growth of new ones. But they also needed the blood vessels to supply chemicals to ________ the cancer.

So, the researchers designed a two-part "nanocell." The cell is ________ in nanometers, or one thousand-millionth of a meter. The particle used was two ________ nanometers -- much, much smaller than a human _____.

The scientists say it was small enough to pass through the blood vessels of the ________. But it was too big to enter normal blood vessels. The surface of the nanocells also helped them to avoid _________ defenses.

The scientists designed the cell as a balloon ________ a balloon. They loaded the outer part with a drug that ________ the blood vessels to fall in on themselves. That cut off the blood supply and trapped the nanocell inside the cancer. Then, the nanocell slowly _________ chemotherapy drugs to kill the cancer cells.

The team says the treatment shrank the cancer and ________ healthy cells better than other treatments. Untreated mice with cancer _________ for twenty days. The scientists say mice with the best current ________ lived thirty days. But they say eighty percent of the mice _______ with the nanocells lived more than sixty-five days.

The study _________ two different forms of cancer. The team says the treatment ________ better against melanoma, a deadly skin cancer, than against _____ cancer. However, more studies are needed before the new drug can be tested in _______.

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Lesson TenEconomic Conditions: Trying to Read the Future

Economics and weather have a lot in common. Knowing what will be like weeks or months in the future is not easy. One thing that economists predict the future is the index of leading economic .

An index is a way to measure changes in a group of numbers over . In financial markets, for example, an index of stocks will rise or fall with in the wider market. The changes measured by an index can be represented with a percentage.

The index may start at a base period of time with a value of one . Now say that a month later the value is recorded as one hundred one. That it gained one percent. If the index lost one percent, however, the would be ninety-nine.

The leading economic indicators are really ten indexes. Four deal with manufacturing . One deals with unemployment claims. Another measures people’s of the economy. Still others involve financial information like the money and interest rates.

The index of leading indicators is just one of the tools used to measure the cycle. Business cycles are the normal changes that happen in economic over time.

A measure called the coincident index provides information about conditions. Employment rates are an important part of it. There is also a lagging . It helps confirm economic changes that currently appear to be taking . Interest rates are an important lagging indicator.

The Conference Board economic indicators for the United States. The Conference Board is a non-profit based in New York. It brings together business leaders to new ideas from one another. It has member companies around the .

The Conference Board also does economic research. Its work helps business and government leaders what conditions might be ahead.

But this group did not always the index of leading economic indicators. It took over the in 1995 from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, part of the Commerce Department.

The Conference Board also publishes indicators for Australia, France, Germany and Japan. Others are Britain, Mexico, South Korea and Spain.

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Lesson ElevenSeedless Fruits

These days, if we hear about two different plants being combined, the first thing we think of is modern biotechnology. But the low-technology ______ of grafting remains an extremely important form of genetic _______ in agriculture.

Many kinds of plants are grown not from seeds but from _______ cut from existing plants. Farmers cut branches or buds, young growths, from one plant and place them on a related kind of ______.

The branch or bud that is grafted is ______ a scion [pronounced SY-uhn]. The plant that accepts the graft is called the root _______. Over time, the parts from the two plants grow together. The grafted plant begins to produce the leaves and _______ of the scion, not the root stock.

A graft can be cut in several _____. A cleft graft, for example, requires a scion with several buds on it. The _______ of the scion is cut in the shape of the letter V. A place is cut in the root stock to _______ the scion.

The scion is then securely placed into the ________ on the root stock. Material called a growth medium is put on the joint to keep it wet and help the _______. Grafting can join scions with desirable ________ to root stock that is strong and resists disease and insects. Smaller trees can be grafted with _____ scions. The United States Environmental Protection Agency says ________ stronger plants by grafting can reduce the need to use pesticides.

Agriculture could not exist as we know it ________ grafting. Many fruits and nuts have been improved through this _______. Some common fruit trees such as sweet cherries and McIntosh ________ have to be grafted.

Bing cherries, for example, are one of the most ________ kinds of cherries. But a Bing cherry tree is not grown from _____. Branches that produce Bing cherries must be grafted onto root stock. All sweet cherries on the market are ______ this way.

And then there are seedless fruits like navel oranges and seedless watermelons. Have you ever ________ how farmers grow them? Through grafting.

The grapefruit tree is another plant that depends on grafting to _______. Grapes, apples, pears and also flowers can be _______ through grafting. In an age of high-technology agriculture, grafting still _____ an important place.

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Lesson TwelveSanta Claus

Santa Claus is someone who will remain in the hearts of children forever. He is the make-believe person who brings toys and other gifts to children at _______. To grown-ups, he is a special symbol of goodwill and selfless giving. Santa Claus also has some other _____: Saint Nicholas, St. Nick, Kris Kringle, Pelznickel.

Two of his names -- Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas -- both ______ from the Dutch who settled in New York long ago. The Dutch believed Saint Nikolas gave _____ to children. They honored this kindly saint with a yearly ______ on December sixth.

The English-speaking people who lived nearby greatly ________ Dutch festivals. And they brought the saint and the custom of ______ gifts into their own celebration at Christmas time. The Dutch ______ the name "Saint Nikolaas" very fast. It sounded like "sinterklaas." And so, when the English said this ______, it sounded like Santa Claus.

West of New York, in Pennsylvania, many German farmers had also ______ of Saint Nikolas. But they called him Pelznickel. This word _____ from "pelz," meaning fur, and "nickel" for Nicholas. And so, to the Germans of Pennsylvania, Saint Nicholas or Pelznickel was a _____ dressed in fur who came once a year with gifts for good children.

Soon, people began to feel that the love and _______ Pelznickel brought should be part of a celebration honoring the Christkindl, as the Germans ______ the Christ child. After a time, this became Kris Kringle. Later, Kris Kringle became another name for Santa Claus ________. Whatever he is called, he is still the same short, fat, jolly old man with a long beard, ________ a red suit with white fur.

The picture of Santa Claus as we see him came from Thomas Nast. He was an American painter ______ in Bavaria. He painted pictures for Christmas poems. Someone asked him to paint a _________ of Santa Claus. Nast remembered when he was a little boy in southern Germany. Every Christmas, a fat old man gave toys and ______ to the children. So, when Nast painted the picture, his Santa Claus _______ like the kindly old man of his childhood. And through the years, Nast's painting has _______ as the most popular picture of Santa Claus.

Santa can be seen almost everywhere in large American cities during the Christmas season. Some stand on street ________ asking for money to buy food and gifts for the needy. Others are found in stores and shopping _______. It is easy to find them by the long lines of children ________ to tell Santa what they

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want for Chirstmas. If one took a vote among children to learn who their favorite person was, there is no _______ who would win -- Santa Claus.


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Lesson ThirteenVitamin D

In recent years, research has suggested more health value from vitamin D than had once been thought.

Vitamin D is produced naturally in the ______. Sunlight is a major source. It is also found in some foods. These include eggs, liver and some fish. Vitamin D is also _______ in pills. Vitamin D helps to increase levels of calcium in the blood. It helps build strong bones and teeth. It also helps in muscle _______.

And it also appears to do more than just protect _______ rickets. That serious bone disease was the reason vitamin D was added to milk. Rickets is now rare in the western world. But it is still a ________ childhood disease in developing countries. Rickets can cause bone pain and weakness, teeth problems and muscle _____.

Now researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston say vitamin D might protect against ________ sclerosis, also called MS. MS is a progressive disease of the _______ nervous system that affects about two million people around the _______. There is no cure. MS causes problems with speech and _______. The level of severity can differ from person to person. But it is _______ seriously disabling.

The study in Boston involved blood samples from more than seven _______ members of the American military. It found that _______ with higher levels of vitamin D had lower rates of MS. It found that the chance of developing MS was sixty-two percent ______ among those with the highest level of vitamin D than among those with the lowest _______.

Alberto Ascherio led the study. He says vitamin D may become a future ______ for MS. But, he says first scientists must carry out a ______, controlled study in which some people get vitamin D and ________ do not.

This is not the first study to show a possible ________ between vitamin D and multiple sclerosis. But it has provided the clearest ________ of a direct link.

The National Institutes of Health says some studies also _______ vitamin D may protect against some kinds of cancer, ________ colon cancer. But it says more human studies are needed to _______ if a lack of vitamin D increases the risk of _______…or if treatment with large amounts of vitamin D could protect against the _______.

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Lesson FourteenAmerican Students Get Help With Schoolwork from Far Away

Some American students get help with their schoolwork from online companies whose teachers may be in another country.

One ___ is Career Launcher India Limited. It provides mathematics _ through online tutoring companies. The student in the United States and in India talk to each other as they work out math problems. The teachers can _____ ideas by drawing on the screen so the student can see how the ____ develops. Career Launcher also tutors students in India and the Middle East. The _____ costs about twenty to thirty dollars an hour.

Another online tutoring ____ is Tutor-dot-com. Its tutors are in North America. They provide help in math, ____ , social studies and English to students from the fourth to the twelfth . Officials say the company helps about three thousand students each .

Growing Stars is another company offering online . It works with children from grades three through twelve. It helps with , English, science, physics, chemistry and biology. The company are in India.

It charges American students about twenty an hour. Growing Stars is expanding into Canada, Britain and Australia. It each student a test to find out what he or she knows and does not . Then an academic director creates a personal learning program for each student. And the company e-mails reports to the children’s parents.

SmarThinking in Washington, D.C., has tutors in the United States, South Africa, the Philippines, India and Chile. But it only those in the United States to provide help with English.

Some experts are concerned about people in India helping American with American English. They also have concerns about the quality of other offered by such programs. The companies say their teachers are who know the differences between British and American English. The companies say they could not if students and their parents were not satisfied with the .

To learn more about tutoring online, use a search and type in "online tutoring programs."

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Documents

Web-Based Englishweb.nchu.edu.tw/~clwei/FE_1st_Handouts.doc · Web viewLesson One. The Cost of Higher Education in the United States. Students who want to attend an American college