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Talking About Life in Campus
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A: 爱中 B：爱华
A：Today we are going to talk about the preparations you have to make as a college student in America before you go back to classes after winter break.
B：winter or summer breaks, because there are always many preparations. But I think one of the biggest interesting points is in America we always pre register for your classes during the previous term. So if it's fall and we're taking our class during the fall and we still haven't gone on Christmas break. We'll still be registering for our spring classes.
A：Well, We'll be going back to school in a couple of weeks. And we'll be registered for our class already. But then, there is always a period (that) called shopping period.
B：shopping time.
A: Yes. What you do is you go around to different classes that you might end up taking or you might not end up taking? And you see if you like the teacher if you like the subject. How big the classes are, some people like to go to small classes instead of big classes. Some people like taking big classes instead of small classes. So you see what the classes like, and then you decide if you want to take it or not.
B. So in the America, there are a lot of freedom for students in what classes they like to take in university. I don't know what is like in China. But In America, you can take anything. You can take horse back riding, you can take a literal class, you could take a math class. You have a major, but you can still take all different kinds of other classes as well.
A: So for example, I'm a psychology major but I've taken music classes, Chinese classes, I've taken the history classes. What you do is you take the classes for your major. But then you also can take classes in subjects that interest you. I hope to be taking a photography class, so it's a very interesting period during shopping time because you have all these people coming and going in the classes trying to decide what they like.
B：Very distracting！
A：But I think it is also very useful for the students because then you can tell what you like. You get an exposure to very wide range of subjects. And you can decide what you like. And that's how I discovered that I like psychology.
B：But the only problem with shopping for class is you can't buy your books immediately. So when you go back to school you have to go buy your books. But books in America are very expensive. On average, I'll spend may be 400 dollars per semester on books. So it is very expensive. So If you're shopping seven classes You can't buy books for seven classes, because it is too expensive. So you have to wait until you know what classes you want to take, then buy your books. But by then you've fallen behind you in your homework. So it's very crazy.
A: The bookstore isn’t a place just to buy books. At the beginning of a semester, it is also one of the biggest social venues. People go to buy their books because you have to have your books in the beginning of the semester, and you often bumping into many people you see. I'll go there and bumping into twenty or thirty people that I know and it's a great chance to meet up with your friends and talk about what you did over vacation, share stories, if you had a job, many people have jobs over vacation. So if you had a job you can talk about your job and what you did, or if you study what you studied. And it's just a great chance to catch up with the people you know. My bookstore at my school has the stairs and you know, if you go and stand on the stairs for five minutes you'll run into maybe ten people that you know.
B: Now you see, at her school they like the book store at my school they hate the book store, because I go to school at New York city and all the book stores are very big. So as a result we have maybe three book stores that the university uses, but they're all small book stores, so the lines are always really long and you can never find the book you want and it's always crowded and awful. So everyone hates to going to the bookstore in my school. And they always wait till the last minute before you'll go to buy their books because it is awful.
A: But there is option because American books are so expensive. The teachers will put the books in the libraries for you to use and you can take it out and there is always a time limit for one hour or three hours or half an hour and you can sit in the library and read it for that time period. So but you know there are other things beside books and classes the students think about at the beginning of the semester.
B: That is right.
A: One of the things is the decoration in your dorm room depending on what school you go to, you might switch dorms in between the different semesters. If you do that, you are going to decorate. And American students like decorating their rooms with posters. Because it is a cheap ---
B: Big posters.
A: Yeah, big posters, because it is a cheap way to cover up your walls and make your room looks nice and homey.
B: Because the walls are always, there are holes in the wall and there are tapes on the wall and it's always very dirty. So you want to cover it up, make it looks nice.
A: So anyway hopefully. It is giving you a bit of feeling for what American students do at the beginning of a semester. I think the main thing that the most people look forward to is just getting back with friends together again, trading stories and talking about what they did and I know that is what I'm looking forward to the most going back.
B: Me too.
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爱中爱华谈校园生活
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今天 我们要谈谈美国大学生
在寒假结束后如何为新学期作准备
寒假和暑假后都要做很多准备
我想很有趣的一点是
美国大学生都要在上一学期
为下一学期的课程提前注册
比如在秋天的学期里
还没有到圣诞假期
我们就得为春天的学期注册了
寒假后我们就要回美国上学
我们已经注册了新学期的课程
我们把选择课程的时期
叫做shopping period
在那段时间里
为了决定要挑选哪门课
你要到各个教室去转转
看你是否喜欢某位教师或是某个科目
还有上课的人数
有人喜欢课堂里人少些
另一些人则喜欢课堂里人很多
总之 要挑出自己喜欢的课
再决定下学期是否选修
美国的大学生
在选课方面有很大的自由
你几乎可以选任何课程
你可以选择马术课
或是文学课 数学课
你有自己的主课 (major)
还可以选修很多其它的课
比如 我的主课是心理学
但我还选修了音乐课
中文课和历史课
你要选择与主课相关的课程
但你同样可以参加
令你感兴趣的课程
我希望参加摄影课
选课的时候是很有意思的
同学们都在课堂之间来来往往
选择自己喜欢的课程
真让人疯狂
我想这对学生们非常有帮助
他们可以表达自己的喜好
面对如此丰富的课程
你可以挑选你所喜欢的课程
我就是这样喜欢上心理学的
在选择课程时有一个问题
你无法立刻购买所需的课本
回学校上课需要课本
但在美国 课本非常昂贵
我在一个学期里
平均要花400美元购买课本
真是非常贵
如果你挑选了七门课
你不能把这七门课的课本都买下
只能等到学期开始时
你决定了要参加的课程
再去买相应的课本
但这样经常赶不上做作业了
这真让人头疼
大学里的书店不止是买书的地方
在学期开始时
那里是重要的社交场所
同学们到那里购买新学期要用的书籍
这时经常会遇到很多同学
我有时会遇到二 三十个同学
这是个相互问候
交谈假期感受的好时机
我们会谈到在假期里打工
或是在假期里学习的经历
总之 书店是个和熟人见面的好地方
我们学校的书店有楼梯
如果你在楼梯上站五分钟
就可能会遇见十个熟人
在爱中的学校同学们喜欢书店
但在我的学校人们却讨厌书店
我在纽约上学
那里的书店规模都很大
而我们学校所用的三个书店
规模都比较小
所以排队的人总是很多
而你总是找不到想要的书
真是又挤又糟糕
所以我和同学们都讨厌去书店
总是等到马上要用书了
才到书店去
因为美国的课本很贵
有些教师会把课本放到图书馆
你可以借用一段时间
可能一小时 三小时或半小时
你可以在图书馆里阅读
除了买课本和选课
学生们还要做其它一些准备
其中之一是装饰宿舍
在有些学校
你可能在新学期更换宿舍
这时就需要装饰新宿舍
美国学生通常用招贴画来装饰
因为它们便宜
用很大的招贴画贴墙壁
使宿舍更加美丽温馨
因为墙上经常有很多洞
或是很多胶带 总是很脏
所以得把它们盖上
让墙壁好看些
希望我们今天所讲的
可以使你对美国学生的
学期前准备有一定了解
我想大多数人最盼望的
是与朋友们重聚
交换有趣的故事
和假期里的趣闻
这些是我们最盼望的事
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