25个美国大学常见英文术语整理
作为一名即将赴美攻读本科的高中生，了解一些基本的大学英文术语对你理解自己面临的种种选项至关重要。如果你发现自己被生疏的术语所淹没，这篇推文是帮助你答疑解惑的良方。
1. COLLEGE
人们对于获得高中之后学位相关活动的概括性词语。
较为小型的高等教育机构，通常只颁发本科学位（副学士、大专、本科）。对于university之内的college，人们通常指的是university所提供的全部学位的一大类子集，即大学下设的学院。
例句：Liz went to college to find herself, but unfortunately, Seymore the Snowman found her first.
2. UNIVERSITY
通常规模较大的同时颁发本科和研究生学位的高等教育机构。university往往由college组成，将所提供的不同项目或专业分门别类。
例句：Curiously, to be accepted into this university, you must have a working knowledge of acorn trajectories and tartar sauce.
3. CAMPUS
college或university拥有的土地，上有校舍和各种设施。
例句：What does a kid have to do to find a decent place to bowl on this campus?
4. MAJOR
学生在大学专攻的某个学术领域，按照大学设置的学术项目循序渐进学习。很多大学（包括伊利诺伊香槟）可以招收不确定专业的新生，也有不少学生在大学至少会调换一次专业。
例句：AJ needs to decide what his major will be, and Tia needs to stop talking to herself.
5. UNDERGRAD (undergraduate的缩写)
还未毕业的本科生，或描述此类教育项目的形容词。
例句：“Undergrad? More like underwear, am I right?!” It was Tony’s first time doing stand-up comedy.
6. FINANCIAL AID
给符合标准学生发放的学费补助或勤工俭学机会。学生可以申请奖学金、助学金、学生贷款或勤工俭学。发放标准可以是基于学生家庭收入、学生学业情况或其他资历。
例句：It was after midnight when Liz realized with joyous astonishment that “financial aid” spelled “dial a ic nan if” backwards. Now she only needed to find out what that meant.
7. DORM (dormitory的缩写，通常不用全称)
在大学里社交、放东西和睡觉的房间。dorm既可以描述房间所在的大楼也可以描述房间本身。这会是你在大学的栖身之所，可能会与室友共享。在伊利诺伊香槟，宿舍正式的称呼是residence hall。
例句：Between Marco, Reilly, and the ghost, the dorm room was getting pretty crowded.
8. SEMESTER
从秋天到冬天或从冬天到春天的一整段学习时间。每个学年包括两个semester。如果大学采用semester制，大部分课程的时长是一个semester。
例句：The semester isn’t even halfway over, but already Marco and Reilly have used up all their paper towels. There’s no other way to appease the ghost.
9. QUAD
校园中的一块大草坪，学生可以在这里玩飞盘、学习或社交。
例句：“Really? Everytime I cross the quad your frisbee just happens to hit my head?” Professor Smith asked Liz.
10. SQUIRRELS
你可能觉得已经见识过松鼠了，但伊利诺伊香槟会让你大开眼界的。
例句：Lisa was on her way to work when Harold, the baddest squirrel on campus, spotted her and began aiming his acorn.
11. GPA (grade point average的缩写)
cumulative GPA是你迄今为止所上过课程的平均成绩。term GPA某个特定学期的平均成绩。
例句：You might forget about your GPA now, but sometime in your junior year, you will remember it again.
12. CREDIT HOUR
credit hours一般提示了某门课程的工作量。典型的3-credit-hour课一周会上三次，每次一小时。
例句：Students need at least 120 credit hours to graduate at the University of Illinois. Liz’s idea to take them all in one semester proved unsuccessful.
13. STUDY ABROAD
在其他国家通过上课或参与官方批准的交换项目以获得credit hour的行为。
例句：To Rachel’s dismay, that entire semester spent “studying abroad” in the donut shop won’t count toward her graduation requirements.
14. PROFESSOR
大学课程的讲师，拥有博士或其他研究生学位。有些教授可能喜欢被称作Professor，有些则偏好Doctor或其他称呼，他们一般会在第一堂课时说明这一点。你的大学课程可能并不都由教授来上。
例句：“The more you 'accidentally’ hit me with that frisbee, the more I’ll lower your grade!” Professor Smith shouted.
“The more you lower my grade, the more I’ll 'accidentally’ hit you!” Liz shouted back.
15. LECTURE
一种授课形式，讲师讲解课程内容，学生做笔记。
例句：“Hey, if I skip lecture, can I have a copy of your notes?” Rachel asked.
“No!” Marco said.
16. DISCUSSION SECTION
某些课程的lecture会与名为discussion section的交互活动搭配起来。此时学生们会分组完成项目或讨论课程内容。discussion sections通常由teaching assistant或TA来指导。
例句：“Well yes, I know we reviewed that problem in our discussion section, but I told you, I wasn’t there—that was the day of the flea circus!” Was no one sympathetic?
17. TA (teaching assistant的缩写)
具有更高学力的学生（通常为研究生），被大学雇佣以协助教授进行教学活动，同时完成他们自己的学业。
例句：TA also stands for Tricky Anchovy, but that is not the kind of TA we’re defining.
18. RA (resident advisor的缩写)
与你一起住在宿舍的学生，被大学雇佣来处理宿舍相关事务。提供情感协助、调解纠纷或友谊。
例句：Richard’s easy confidence and impressive charisma, while at times overbearing, quickly made him a popular RA.
19. SYLLABUS
课程目标、要求和评分细则的描述。讲师通常在第一堂课时会把syllabus发给学生。
例句：According to his syllabus, 85% of Reilly’s final grade would depend on how much he looked like Spider-Man.
20. SYLLABUS WEEK
学期第一周通常在口头上被学生们称为syllabus week，因为许多大学课程的第一课主要是讨论syllabus中的课程要求（也意味着没有很多作业！）。
例句：It’s halfway through syllabus week, and nobody in Richard’s building seems to have noticed that he is a squirrel.
21. GEN ED (general education的缩写)
大学要求全体学生修习的课程，以让学生全面发展。学生通常可以从一个较大的范围选择课程以满足general education的要求。
例句：Jen is taking the same gen ed as Ed, and Ed is taking “Ethics of Squirrelhood.”
22. ELECTIVES
elective是非gen ed也非专业要求的课程。elective帮助学生满足总credit hour的要求或仅仅拓宽他们的视野。
例句：Seeing how many great electives Illinois offers was the greatest discovery of Liz’s life, greater even than finding out she was a robot.
23. DINING HALL
学生可以吃自助早餐、午餐或晚餐的食堂。一般而言，已经购买伙食计划的学生在dining hall只要刷自己的学生卡就可以直接就餐，否则则会在出门时付款。
例句：All I see in the dining hall is soup, soup, and more soup!
24. ACADEMIC ADVISOR
帮助你选课、调整课时安排并提供职业建议的顾问。
例句：“Dagnabbit!” Tia said. “I thought I was talking to my academic advisor, but it was just Jim in disguise again!”
25. READING DAY
夹在课程截止日和期末考试期第一天的一日，方便学生反复温习功课。
例句：By reading day, it’s everyone for themselves.