Slow and Steady Wins the Race!
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
这里是VOA特别英语教育报道。
March Madness is the name for the busy championship season in American college basketball. But March also means another kind of madness -- the nervous wait for admissions letters from colleges and universities.
三月疯狂是美国大学篮球繁忙冠军赛季的名称。但是三月也意味着别一种疯狂--对来自院校录取通知书的不安等待。
This week in our Foreign Student Series, we jump ahead to the subject of where to live. Housing policies differ from school to school. Some schools have limited housing or none at all.
本周在我们的“外国学生系列”，我们跳到了“住在哪里”的话题。每个学校的住宿政策都各有不同。有些学校提供有限的住处或者根本就没有。
Dormitory buildings might house a small number of students or many hundreds. Some dorms have suites. A suite has several bedrooms, a common area and a bathroom. Other dorms have rooms along a common hallway. Two, three or four students might share a room.
宿舍楼或许可容纳学生中的少数即数百住宿。一些宿舍楼有套房。一间套房有几个卧室，一个共同领域和一个卫生间。其他宿舍楼在公共走道旁有一溜的房间。。2，3或4个学生可能共用一个房间。
Males and females often live on different floors of the same building. Or they might live on the same floor, or in some cases even share a suite if permitted. But single-sex housing is usually also available.
男性和女性通常住在同一栋楼的不同楼层。或者他们可能住在同一楼层上，或许如果允许的话，在某些情况下男女共享一间套房。但是单性别的住宿也通常是可行的。
Different groups and organizations such as fraternities and sororities might have their own houses where their members live. And there is often housing for married students.
不同团体和组织，比如大学男生联谊会和女生联谊会，可能会拥有他们成员居住的自有住房。同时也常常有供已婚学生居住的宿舍。
Some dorms are nice, others are not so nice. But many students say they like the chance to make friends and be near their classes.
一些宿舍很好，其他的就不很好了。但是许多学生说他们喜欢结识朋友和上课方便的机会。
Cost is another consideration. Dorms can cost less than off-campus housing. But school-owned housing can also cost more, though the price may include meals.
花费是又一个需要考虑的。宿舍会比校外住房开销少。但是校有宿舍也会花费得更多，尽管这个价钱可能包括了餐费。
Here are some questions to ask before making a decision: How much privacy can a student expect? Will the school provide a single room if a student requests one? Will the school provide a special diet if a student needs one? And are any dorms open all year so international students can have a place to stay during long vacations?
在做决定前需要问几个问题：一个学生可以期望有多少隐私？如果学生要求单间的话，学校会提供吗？如果学生需要特别饮食，学校会提供吗？有一些宿舍是全年开放的吗，这样国际学生在漫长的假期里就有一个落脚的地方了？
Kirsten Kennedy, housing director at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, says all first-year undergraduates there have to live in a dorm. After that, they are free to seek other housing.
Kirsten Kennedy是哥伦比亚南加利福尼亚大学的宿管主任，称那里所有第一年的本科生需要住在宿舍里。在那以后，他们就可以自由地寻找别的住房了。
Students can apply to become resident assistants after living in the dorms for a year. International students can also apply to become resident assistants after a year in the dorms.
在宿舍住满一年后，学生可以申请成为居民助理。国际学生也可以在宿舍住满一年后申请成为居民助理的。
Working as a resident assistant in student housing is one way to help finance an education. At many schools, RAs earn money as well as get their room and meals for free or at a reduced price.
在学生公寓里作为居民助理是帮助负担教育费用的一种方法。在许多学校，RA（居民助理）们以免费或减免的价格得到宿舍和餐饮，同时也挣钱了。
And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Our Foreign Student Series is online at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.
这就是VOA特别英语教育报道，本次报道有Nancy Steinbach撰稿。我们的“外国学生系列”在www.unsv.com可在线浏览。我是Steve Ember。
写作实践：写一篇200-300字左右的文章描述你曾经住过（或正在住）的学校宿舍情况。包括宿舍楼一般住多少人，男生女生宿舍安排情况，每个宿舍住多少人，一般都有什么设施，寒暑假期会不会开放，学校有没有提供参与宿舍管理的勤工助学机会等。文章写好后，请以回复该帖的形式发表给大家看看。
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该帖于2009年3月26日被版主推荐为精华帖。
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