I, PRELISTENING____________________________________________

B. Vocabulary and Key Concepts

1. Postsecondarv education in the United States includes community as well as four-year colleges, most of which are coeducational.

2. To be accredited, a college must meet certain standards set by institutional and professional associations.

3. The more prestigious private schools are more competitive—that is, they have stiffer admissions requirements.

4. All college applicants must submit a transcript of high school grades and often standardized test results.

5. A student’s extracurricular activities and possibly ethnic back­ground are often factors in his or her admission.

6. Among the 2.8 million high school graduates in 2002, 65.2 percent were enrolled in college the following October.

7. If we break down the statistics racially, we find that white stu­dents enrolled in college in greater proportions than black or His­panic students.

8. They may be people who attend part-time to upgrade their skills, people who are changing careers, or retired people who still have a desire to learn.

9. Because most young American students have not traveled in other countries, they are not very well versed in international matters, and foreign students often find them friendly but not very well informed about their countries or cultures.

10. Some students begin college at a community college with more lenient admissions requirements and later transfer to a four-year college.

D. Notetaking Preparation

1. Structuring: Listening <script>

An interesting feature of education in the United States is the commu­nity college. Community colleges that are publicly supported offer somewhat different educational opportunities than those offered

by a senior college or a university. First, admissions requirements at public community colleges are usually much more lenient than those at a four-year college or university. It’s usually enough to have gradu­ated from an American high school to be admitted. Second, it is also cheaper to attend a community college. The tuition and fees are usu­ally quite a bit lower. Students often live at home because this type of school does not have dormitories. For these two reasons, many people who are unable to go to a four-year college or university can have an opportunity to take classes for college credit. Finally, community col­leges offer two-year programs that can lead to an Associate of Arts de­gree. Many of these programs, but not all of them, are vocational in na­ture. In conclusion, people attend community colleges for many different purposes. Some people may be taking only a course or two in some field that particularly interests them and may not be planning on getting a degree. Other people may be going to community college full­time and planning to transfer to a four-year college or university upon successful completion of two years at a community college.

SHAPE * MERGEFORMAT

II. LISTENING

LECTURE: Postsecondary Education: Admissions

In this lecture, I’m going to talk to you about postsecondary education in the United States. Today I’ll give you some facts and figures about colleges and universities in the United States and some general infor­mation about admissions policies. I will also make a few remarks about community colleges and finish up by giving you an idea of what kinds of students make up the student body on a typical U. S. campus.

Let’s begin with some facts and figures. The most recent figures I have reveal there are 4,182 public and private four-year and two-year col­leges in the United States. These range from full universities with diverse programs to smaller four-year colleges to two-year community colleges. Most of them are accredited, which means the schools meet certain standards set by institutional and private evaluators. When applying to a school, you would probably want to make sure it was accredited. Even though there are more private colleges than public ones, over three-quarters of students, precisely 78 percent, are enrolled at public colleges and universities. Some of the small private schools may have fewer than 100 students, whereas some of the large state university systems may have 50,000 or more students. Most of these schools are coeducational although some of them are primarily for women and others are primarily for men. Some schools may offer only one program of study and others have a great variety of programs. The total cost for attending one of these schools may be less than $5,000 a year or as much as 30 or 40 thousand dollars a year for one of the prestigious private schools. These schools are located all over—in industrial areas, agricultural areas, large cities, and small towns in a wide variety of climates.

With such a wide variety of sizes, kinds, and locations of schools, it probably won’t surprise you to find out that admissions requirements at these colleges and universities vary greatly also. Some are relatively easy to be admitted to whereas others are highly competitive. How­ever, most schools will ask undergraduate applicants to submit their high school transcripts with a record of their grades and test results from one of the standardized tests regularly offered to high school stu­dents. The most common of these standardized exams is the Scholas­tic Aptitude Test, commonly known as the SAT. Students who are applying to graduate school are usually asked to take other, more spe­cific standardized exams depending on which college they are applying to. For example, some students are required to take the Graduate Record Exam, or the GRE. Students applying to a business college will probably have to take the GMAT, and students applying to law college will have to take the LSAT. You probably know about the TOEFL exam, which most foreign students have to take before being admitted to American colleges or universities. These exams, including the TOEFL, are all prepared by a company that is independent of the school system. These exams have come under a lot of criticism lately, but they are still widely used as one way to determine who will be ad­mitted to various schools. However, most schools try to look at the whole student and consider factors other than simply grades and test scores. Some of these factors may be extracurricular activities in school, ethnic background, work experience, and so on. Some schools will have personal interviews with students they are considering for admission. Many schools, private as well as public, try very hard to have a student population with a wide variety of backgrounds and ages. Even the most prestigious and most highly competitive colleges and universities will not take only those students with the highest grades and standardized test scores but will consider these other fac­tors. Nevertheless, schools of this type, such as Stanford and Harvard, have so many more people applying than they can possibly accept that students who want to get into such schools take grades and SAT ex­ams very seriously. In general, medical and law colleges, both private and public, are very difficult to get into, and, once again, test scores on standardized exams can be extremely important to those applying to these schools.

However, for students who want to attend a state college or university in their own state, it may be enough to graduate from high school in the upper third or even upper half of their high school class. This may surprise those of you who come from an educational system that is highly competitive, a system in which only a small percentage of stu­dents who pass a very difficult nationwide standardized high school examination can enter a university. You may be even more surprised by what I have to tell you about community colleges.

An interesting feature of education in the United States is the two – year community college. Community colleges that are publicly sup­ported offer somewhat different educational opportunities than those offered by a senior college or a university. First, admissions require­ments at public community colleges are usually much more lenient than those at a four-year college or university. It’s usually enough to have graduated from an American high school to be admitted. Second, it is also cheaper to attend a community college. The tuition and fees are usually quite a bit lower. Students often live at home because this type of school does not have dormitories. For these two reasons, many people who are unable to go to a four-year college or university can have an opportunity to take classes for college credit. Finally, commu­nity colleges offer two-year programs that can lead to an Associate of Arts degree. Many of these programs, but not all of them, are voca­tional in nature. People attend community colleges for many different purposes. Some people may be taking only a course or two in some field that particularly interests them and may not be planning on getting a degree. Other people may be going to community college full-time and planning to transfer to a four-year college or university upon successful completion of two years at a community college.

Well, so much for community colleges.

I promised to tell you a little about the actual student body on a typi­cal U. S. campus. Let’s start with some statistics, and then we’ll dis­cuss two items that surprise many foreign students. Among the 2.8 million high school graduates in 2002, 65.2 percent were enrolled in college the following October. More than 90 percent of those attended full time. Young men represented half of the high school graduates, but more women than men went on to college. The exact statistics are: 68.4 percent of female high school graduates and 62.1 percent of male high school graduates. If we break down the statistics racially, we find that white students enrolled in college in greater proportions than black or Hispanic students. The figures are 66.7 percent of white graduates, 58.7 percent of black graduates, and 53.5 percent of His­panic students. My next statistic may be surprising. 42.6 percent of full-time students in 2002 were either employed or looking for work. That number jumps to 75.7 percent for part-time students. That last statistic makes more sense when we consider that besides the students who are from eighteen to twenty-two years old that one expects to find on a college campus, there are also many older married students. They may be people who attend part-time to upgrade their skills, people who are changing careers, or retired people who still have a desire to learn. Also, foreign students are often surprised at how poorly prepared American students are when they enter a univer­sity. Actually, at very select schools the students are usually very well prepared, but at less selective schools, they may not be as well pre­pared as students in your country are. If you will remember the educa­tional philosophy we discussed in the last lecture, you will understand why. Schools in the States simply admit a lot more students than is usual in most other countries. Also, most young American university students have not traveled in other countries and are not very well

versed in international matters and do not know a lot about people from other countries. Foreign students usually find them friendly but not very well informed about their countries or cultures.

In brief, you can see that educational opportunities and admissions standards vary greatly in the United States. While it may be quite dif­ficult to gain admission to some colleges and universities because of the very large number of applicants, probably any student graduating from high school with reasonable grades can find some accredited uni­versity or college to attend. Those students hoping to enter graduate school will often face very stiff competition, whether at private or public schools. Many students who start at a college or university will not finish in four years. Some will drop out to work or travel and may never finish. Others will return to school a few months or a few years later. Some will go to school full-time and others part-time. Some will not work while going to school, but most will work at some time or other during their school years.

We’re out of time, I see. In my next lecture, I’ll talk to you about a rel­atively new development in education, distance learning. It should be of interest to those of you who want to attend college but can’t be­cause of living far from a college, busy schedules, or for other reasons.

Ш. POSTLISTENING

A. Accuracy Check

1. How many public and private four-year and two-year colleges are there in the United States?

2. How many students do these individual colleges and universities have?

3. What is the range of tuition at one of these colleges?

4. What two kinds of academic records will most undergraduate col­leges or universities ask applicants to submit?

5. What are two examples of the names of standardized tests that graduate students may have to take before being admitted to a graduate program?

6. What are two examples of nonacademic factors that a U. S. college or university might consider before admitting a student?

7. What are three ways that community colleges are generally differ­ent from senior colleges and universities?

8. What kind of a degree can a student get from a community college?

9. What percentage of high school graduates in 2002 were enrolled in college the following October?

10. What percentage of full-time college students were employed in 2002?

I. PRELISTENING

B. Vocabulary and Key Concepts

1. Can you imagine getting a college, or university, degree without ever once setting foot on a college campus?

2. "Distance education is instruction that occurs when the instruc­tor and student are separated by distance or time, or both."

3. As early as 1840, it was possible to take a correspondence course in shorthand.

4. Peterson’s 1994 Guide to Distance Learning listed ninety-three accredited distance education programs available at community colleges and universities across the United States and Canada.

5. First, rapidly changing economic conditions require many profes­sional people to upgrade their knowledge or skills on an almost continuous basis.

6. At the same time that the demand for postsecondary education is growing, many U. S. colleges and universities are facing budget crunches.

7. Millions of people have access to audio, video, and computer tech­nology.

8. The modes of instruction can vary greatly.

9. CD-ROMs may come to the student via mail or the student may download materials from the Internet.

10. Many distance education programs have a residency requirement.

11. The dropout rate from distance education courses and programs is higher than for traditional courses and programs.

12. There are many unscrupulous and disreputable universities adver­tising on the Internet with very alluring Web sites.

13. It is important for anyone wishing to take a course or to pursue a degree to check out the credentials of the school they are consider­ing very carefully.

II. LISTENING

LECTURE: Distance Education

One of the most exciting changes in education in the United States today is the incredible growth of distance education at the post­secondary level. Let me begin the lecture by asking you a couple of

questions. First, can you imagine getting a college, or university, de­gree, without ever once setting foot on a college campus? Second, would you believe me if I told you there are a few higher education institutions that grant degrees that don’t even have a campus? Some of these schools even grant graduate degrees, that is, a master’s degree or even a Ph. D.

What is distance education? A publication called Distance Education: A Consumer’s Guide defines distance education this way: "Distance education is instruction that occurs when the instructor and student are separated by distance or time, or both." That sounds a little strange, but it’s not really new.

As early as 1840, it was possible to take a correspondence course in shorthand; that is, a student could learn shorthand by mail. And the University of Wisconsin offered the first correspondence catalog in 1892. This meant that a student could take university courses by mail over 100 years ago. So distance education is not really new; however, modern technology, such as audio, video, and computer technology, has changed distance education a great deal. Today almost all distance education programs are online or have an online learning component to take advantage of the technology.

As I mentioned, distance education is now growing at an incredible rate. Peterson’s 1994 Guide to Distance Learning listed 93 accredited distance education programs available at community colleges and universities across the United States and Canada, whereas its 1997 guide listed more than 700 programs. In 2003, almost 1,100 programs were listed. According to the U. S. Department of State, more than 90 percent of all accredited U. S. colleges and universities with 10,000 students or more offer distance education programs with new ones coming online continuously.

Distance education is quite a complex subject with many aspects to look at. Today let’s look at the reasons why distance education is growing so rapidly, how distance education works, that is, what the modes of delivery are, and some things people considering distance education need to be aware of.

To start with, why is distance education growing at such an incredible rate?

First, rapidly changing economic conditions require many professional people to upgrade their knowledge or skills on an almost continuous basis. For example, a person who graduates with a degree in engineer­ing or computer science may find it necessary to take courses to up­grade his or her skills every few years. Or a person who begins his or her career with a B. A. or B. S. degree may find it desirable to pursue an M. A. after some time, or even a Ph. D. Busy working people often find it difficult or even impossible to take the courses they need or to pur­sue degrees on campus. Thus, there are a lot of people wanting post­secondary education who don’t find it convenient to study in the traditional on-campus setting.

At the same time that the demand for postsecondary education is growing, many U. S. colleges and universities are facing budget crunches; that is, they just don’t have as much money as they had in the past, but at the same time they have more students. They have to find ways to deliver instruction in the most economical way possible.

The final reason is modern technology, which is the key to making the desired postsecondary education available to the millions of peo­ple who have access to audio, video, and computer technology.

Many institutions offer distance education courses, certificate pro­grams, and degree programs. How does distance education work at the postsecondary level? What are the usual modes of delivery?

The modes of instruction can vary greatly and different courses in a program may use different modes. And any given course may use several different modes. Some of the modes include video, audio, CD – ROM, Internet, bulletin boards, chat rooms, and e-mail. Let’s consider some of the possibilities among these technologies. Video, for exam­ple, can be as simple as videotape the student plays on his or her VCR. Or it could involve video conferencing where the student is able to see and interact with the instructor and other students. Audio works simi­larly. A student may have a set of audiotapes to play on a cassette player or may be connected to an audio conference where he or she in­teracts with other students and the instructor. When students study on their own, at a time convenient to them, from a video- or audio – tape, it is asynchronous learning, asynchronous meaning not at the same time. Video and audio conferencing, on the other hand, are called synchronous learning; that is, the instructor and the students are engaged in the teaching and learning process at the same time.

Let’s look at two other popular modes used in distance learning: bulletin boards and chat rooms. Both provide a place for discussion among students taking the same course. A student can log on to a bulletin board anytime of the day and night, read what other students have written, and respond, by either adding his or her ideas or asking a question. Chat rooms, on the other hand, offer a discussion forum where students can interact in real time, that is, synchronously. CD – ROMs may come to the student via mail or the student may download materials from the Internet. E-mail provides a very convenient way for students to submit assignments or to ask the instructor questions. There are many more modes of instruction, but this should give you an idea of the possibilities.

Students interested in pursuing distance education degrees need to consider the following six points:

Number 1. Many distance education programs have a residency re­quirement. The students may be required to take two courses on campus, that is, six hours of credit, or students may be required to spend several days on campus several times during the program.

Number 2. Distance education courses generally have time limits. Courses and programs must be completed within a certain time limit. Assignments must be submitted on time.

Number 3. Admissions requirements are the same as those of an on-campus education.

Number 4. Distance education can save students money in terms of not having to travel to campus for classes, and the like, but the aca­demic fees are about the same as for traditional education. Fulfilling the residency requirements may be quite costly in terms of travel and lodging for students who live far from the campus.

Number 5. Online study requires students to have access to a computer that meets minimum requirements such as the latest version of Win­dows, a microphone, sound card and speakers, adequate hard drive and RAM, a modem, browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape), and Internet connection. Connection speed is very important and many schools rec­ommend having high-speed Internet access like a cable modem or DSL.

And finally Number 6. Distance learning requires that students be disciplined and independent learners. Distance education is not easier than traditional education. Not everyone is temperamentally suited for distance education. The dropout rate from distance education courses and programs is higher than for traditional courses and programs.

Before I close today, let me just say that many people are still suspi­cious of distance education believing that it cannot possibly be equiva­lent to a traditional classroom education, although there are studies that indicate that distance education can be as effective as traditional education and sometimes even more effective. However, some suspi­cions are well founded. There are many unscrupulous and disreputable universities advertising on the Internet with very alluring Web sites. Therefore, it is important for anyone wishing to take a course or to pursue a degree to check out the credentials of the school they are considering very carefully.

We have an expression: Let the buyer beware. That means that anyone who wishes to buy something should be very careful! And that in­cludes online or distance education.

III. POSTLISTENING

A. Accuracy Check

1. In what two ways can the instructor and student be separated in distance education?

2. How could students learn shorthand in 1840 without having to at­tend classes?

3. In what year was the first university correspondence catalog offered in the United States?

4. According to the U. S. Department of State, what percentage of accredited U. S. colleges and universities with 10,000 or more students offer distance education programs?

5. What does the term synchronous mean?

6. Name three modes of delivery of instruction used in distance education.

7. Can students take all the time they want or need to complete distance education courses or programs?

8. Are the fees for distance education programs generally cheaper than those for traditional on-campus programs?

9. What are two ways many schools recommend that students get high-speed Internet access?

10. Do students complete distance education courses and programs at the same rate as traditional courses and programs?

Read More

I. PRELISTENING

B. Vocabulary and Key Concepts

1. Education in the United States is compulsory until a certain age or grade level.

2. A small percentage of students attend private schools, either reli­gious or secular, but most attend public schools.

3. There is no nationwide curriculum, nor are there nationwide standardized examinations set by the government.

4. The federal government influences public education by providing funds for special programs such as education for the handicapped and bilingual education.

5. Control of education in the United States is mainly exercised locally.

6. Each state has many school districts run by school boards whose members are elected by voters of the district.

7. The amount of funding supplied by the state and by the local school districts fluctuates over time and from state to state.

8. Public schools are funded to a great degree by local taxes.

9. Funding for private schools, which are generally religious schools, is now and has been controversial for some time.

10. Charter schools are nonsectarian public schools that compete with regular public schools for students.

11. Charter schools operate under contract to a sponsor, usually a state or local school board, to whom they are accountable.

12. Supporters of the voucher concept believe that private schools offer better education.

13. Opponents of the voucher concept claim that using tax money for private schools violates the separation of church and state built into the U. S. Constitution.

14. The federal government in 2002 passed an educational bill that re­quires states that wish to receive certain federal funding to develop and put in place extensive testing programs and other systems to ensure "adequate yearly progress" of students.

D. Notetaking Preparation

1. Structuring: Outlining <script>

Control of education in the United States is mainly exercised locally at three levels. Let’s begin with the state department of education.

The department of education of each of the fifty states has two basic functions. First, each state department of education sets basic curricu­lum requirements for all the schools in its state. For example, a high school might require four years of English, three years of math, two years of social science, and so forth. The state also sets the number of credits a student must complete in order to graduate from a high school. This total number of credits includes both required courses and electives. So much for the state part in education.

The second level of control is the school district. The number of school districts a state has depends on the size of its population and the size of the state. A large metropolitan area would have several school districts. A smaller community might have only one district. Each school district is run by a school board that is elected by the citizens of the district. The school district is responsible for the specific content of courses taught in its schools. In other words, the school district

determines what the students will study in each of their, let’s say, four years of high school English. The school district also decides what elec­tives will be available for students. Besides determining course con­tent, the school district is responsible for the operation of the schools in its district, for example, the hiring of teachers and administrators. The third level of control is the individual school itself, where teachers have primary responsibility for deciding how to teach the content of each course and for preparing and giving examinations to the students.

II. LISTENING

LECTURE: Public Education: Philosophy and Funding

Most young people in the United States today, like most young people around the world, attend public schools. Indeed, young people in the U. S. have to attend school because education is compulsory, in most states to the age of sixteen or until the students reach ninth grade.

A small percentage of American youth attend private schools, either religious or secular schools, but the vast majority attend public schools. One distinguishing feature of U. S. public education that sur­prises many foreigners is that although there are some standardized examinations, there is no nationwide curriculum set by the govern­ment. Nor are there nationwide standardized examinations set by the government. In contrast, in most countries a government ministry of education determines the curriculum that all students study and the examinations that all students take at a set time. Of course, U. S. stu­dents follow a curriculum, and they take examinations as all students do. Although the federal government does influence public education by providing funds to schools for special programs such as education for the handicapped and for bilingual education, the fed­eral government does not determine the curriculum or the examina­tions. Today I’d like to talk about the three levels of control within each state and then spend some time discussing where the money for education comes from and three issues related to funding.

Control of education in the United States is mainly exercised locally at three levels. Let’s begin with the state department of education.

The department of education of each of the fifty states has two basic functions. First, each state department of education sets basic curricu­lum requirements for all the schools in its state. For example, a high school might require four years of English, three years of math, two years of social science, and so forth. The state also sets the number of credits a student must complete in order to graduate from a high school. This total number of credits includes both required courses and electives. So much for the state part in education.

The second level of control is the school district. The number of school districts a state has depends on the size of its population and the size of
the state. A large metropolitan area would have several school districts. A smaller community might have only one district. Each school district is run by a school board that is elected by the citizens of the district. The school district is responsible for the specific content of courses taught in its schools. In other words, the school district determines what the students will study in each of their, let’s say, four years of high school English. The school district also decides what elec­tives will be available for students. Besides determining course con­tent, the school district is responsible for the operation of the schools in its district, for example, the hiring of teachers and administrators. The third level of control is the individual school itself, where teachers have primary responsibility for deciding how to teach the content of each course and for preparing and giving examinations to the students.

Local control of schools may seem very strange to some of you, but it will seem less strange if you consider how public schools in the United States are funded—that is, where money to run the schools comes from. Only about 7 percent of the money comes from the federal government. The rest of the money comes from state and local taxes. The percentages supplied by the state and by the local school districts fluctuate over time and from state to state. Currently approximately 49 percent of school funding comes from the states and about 44 per­cent comes from the local communities, that is, the school districts.

Finally, I’d like to discuss three issues related to the funding of schools that have been receiving a lot of attention recently in the United States. The first issue deals with the inequality of educational oppor­tunity that students face. Because public schools are funded to a great degree by local taxes, this means that schools in poorer communities or poorer parts of large cities do not have the same amount of money as schools located in richer communities. This, in turn, means that children from poorer areas are less likely to receive a good education than children from wealthier areas. The second issue, one that has been controversial since the beginning of public education, is the issue of funding for private schools, which are generally rim by religious organizations. As you already know, the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution mandates separation of church and state. A little back­ground on the history and development of public education will be useful here.

During colonial times, education was largely a religious concern and most schools were supported by religious organizations. However, dur­ing the nineteenth century, there was widespread support and accep­tance of public education paid for by taxes as the best way to provide equal educational opportunity for all children. Nevertheless, some parents have always chosen to send their children to either private religious schools or private schools devoted to academic excellence. Because private schools are not funded by the government, parents have had to pay tuition to send their children to private schools. Peo­ple who have wanted to send their children to private schools have long

questioned why they should have to pay taxes for public schools at the same time as they pay private tuition for their children’s education.

Although this issue is not new, during the last twenty years or so, more parents have become unhappy about what they perceive to be the increasingly secular nature of public education and prefer to send their children to schools where they will receive an education more in line with their religious beliefs. Other parents are concerned about the questionable quality of education in public schools. These concerns have led to efforts by the school system, and the government, to offer alternative educational opportunities, that is, educational choices.

Two of the most important responses to these concerns have been charter schools and school vouchers. Both of these alternatives to reg­ular public education are based on the idea that competition in the ed­ucational market is a good thing, but otherwise, they differ quite a bit.

Charter schools are nonsectarian public schools that compete with regular public schools for students. Charter schools operate under con­tract to a sponsor, usually a state or local school board. Charter schools are accountable to their sponsors, the parents who choose to send their children to them, and the public that funds them through their tax money. In turn, charter schools generally have greater auton­omy, that is, independence, over selection of teachers, curriculum, resources, and so on, than regular public schools. The first charter schools came into existence toward the end of the 1980s. By 2003, there were 2,695 charter schools with almost 685,000 students en­rolled. This was a 15 percent increase over the year 2002, which shows how fast these schools are growing. There are many issues surround­ing charter schools, but a study published in 2003 found that charter school students did a little better than their public school counter­parts on standardized exams.

The school voucher concept is a much more controversial one than charter schools. The idea behind school vouchers is that the govern­ment provides students with a certain amount of money each year that they can use to attend whatever school they choose, public or private. The idea again is that competition will improve the education students receive. Voucher schools in reality are largely private schools, and most often religiously based schools. They are quite different from charter schools, which as public schools are first of all, nonsectarian, that is, not religious. Second, charter schools cannot apply restrictive admission standards, as public schools do. To date, voucher programs funded by taxpayers are operating in only three U. S. cities, and there are many court battles over the voucher system. Supporters of the voucher system feel very strongly that private schools offer better edu­cation than public schools. Those opposed to the voucher system claim that vouchers rob public schools of needed funding and that voucher schools do not truly provide school choice because of restric­tive admissions standards, which can include academic performance, religion, sex, and other factors. Opponents of vouchers also strongly

believe that using taxpayer funds for private religious schools violates the separation of church and state built into the U. S. Constitution.

The third and final issue I’d like to touch on today is also very contro­versial. I mentioned earlier that the United States does not have a nationwide curriculum nor nationwide exams set by the government. However, in the past fifteen or twenty years, there has been an in­creased emphasis in various states on raising standards and on giving students standardized exams to monitor their progress. The federal government in 2002 passed a sweeping education bill that requires states that wish to receive certain federal funding to develop and put in place extensive testing programs and other systems to ensure ade­quate yearly progress of students. Although the percentage of funding for schools from the federal government is relatively small, it still rep­resents a lot of money that schools do not want to lose. Some people support this movement toward standardization and accountability in the educational system, while others see it as a dangerous step away from local control of schools.

No one can predict the future of public education in the United States, but it appears that the emphasis on educational choice and on ac­countability of the educational system for student results will be with us for a long time.

III. POSTLISTENING

A. Accuracy Check

1. What two things about the American educational system often surprise people from other countries?

2. What are the three levels of control of education found in each state?

3. What is one type of decision that the state department of education might make?

4. How are the people on a school board selected?

5. From what three sources does the money come to pay for Ameri­can public schools, and what percentage of that money comes from each of these three sources?

6. During the colonial period, who generally ran the schools that children attended?

7. During which century did public education paid for by taxes become widely accepted as the best way to provide education for all children?

8. What do we call nonsectarian public schools that operate quite independently under contract, usually to a school district?

9. What kind of schools do students with vouchers usually attend?

10. How do opponents of the movement toward standardized exams and accountability view this movement?

Read More

I. PRELISTENING

B. Vocabulary and Key Concepts

1. Customs and traditions are often bewildering to foreigners, partly because the customs are so ingrained that people accept them without ever thinking about them.

2. The baby shower is given by a close friend or relative of the expec­tant mother.

3. The mother-to-be is often invited to someone’s home on some pre­text so that she can be surprised.

4. Through advice and expressions of envy, the expectant mother is reassured about the desirability of her situation.

5. A few years ago, it was almost unheard of for men to participate in baby showers.

6. In the past, men were banished from the delivery room, but today many men are with their wives to "coach" them through the birth.

7. Christians usually have a religious service, called a baptism, for the new baby.

8. Some customs are generally observed concerning fiancees, the en­gagement period, and the wedding ceremony.

9. Because priests, rabbis, and ministers are all legally empowered to marry couples, it is not necessary to have both a civil and a reli­gious ceremony.

10. Some customs about the bride and groom are rather superstitious in nature.

11. Some churches and other places where weddings are held have recently banned the throwing of rice as being hazardous to guests, who can slip and fall on it.

12. At the time of death, one decision is whether the funeral will be held in a church or in a funeral home; another decision is whether the body will be cremated or buried in a cemetery.

13. The family may choose to have a memorial service instead of a funeral. In either case, the family may hold a wake, where the body of the deceased is displayed in its casket.

14. At a funeral, a eulogy is usually given by someone close to the deceased person.

15. Those who want to express their condolences usually send a sym­pathy card to the bereaved family.

D. Notetaking Preparation

1. Key Words: Listening (Narrator: Read twice.)

a. Many ethnic groups still practice customs and traditions that their ancestors brought with them from their countries, yet if we look at the United States and the people as a whole, we can find a kind of general culture, (repeat)

b. One of the most common traditions associated with a birth is the baby shower, a nonreligious tradition observed by almost everyone in this society, (repeat)

c. As for the actual wedding ceremony and related celebrations, traditionally it is the bride’s family who pays for these expenses, (repeat)

d. For most people, whether they are religious or not, there are many decisions to be made at the time of a death, (repeat)

e. At a funeral service, it is customary for a religious leader to speak some words of comfort for the bereaved. In addition, a eu­logy is usually given by someone close to the deceased person, (repeat)

II. LISTENING

LECTURE: Passages: Birth, Marriage, and Death

Customs vary so much from country to country or culture that it’s often bewildering for a foreigner trying to understand the traditions and customs of a new country. Part of what makes it so difficult is that most of these customs are so ingrained in the culture that most local people accept them without ever thinking about them. Some of the reasons for the customs or traditions are historical and may have even been forgotten by the people who still practice these customs. When pressed for an explanation of some of their customs, people will sometimes be quite surprised that anyone would question their cus­toms. "Doesn’t everyone do it this way?" might be their response, yet some of the customs that seem so natural to the people in the country or culture may seem quite strange and inexplicable to people new to a country. In a country as large as the United States, with people from so many different parts of the world and different cultures, it can be even more bewildering. Many ethnic groups still practice customs and traditions brought by their ancestors from their countries, yet if we look at the country and its people as a whole, we can find a kind of "general" culture with traditions that are often accepted or at least adapted to fit the customs and traditions of each immigrant group as it becomes assimilated into the larger culture. Today let’s look at some widely accepted customs and traditions of most Americans concerning
three of life’s most important events: birth, marriage, and death. Please keep in mind that these descriptions are very general and that society is changing quite rapidly in the United States and that people adapt and modify these customs to fit changing societal conditions and their own situations.

The birth of a baby is a momentous occasion in any family and is cele­brated in some way or another. There are many traditions associated with this event. One of the most common ones is the baby shower, which is a nonreligious tradition observed by almost everyone in this society. A shower is given by a close friend or relative of the expectant mother shortly before the baby is due. In the past, showers were al­most always arranged in secret so as to be a complete surprise to the mother-to-be. The mother-to-be was usually invited to someone’s home on one pretext or another, where she was surprised by her fe­male friends and relatives who had planned this special party for her.

In recent years, the tradition has been modified, at least in some social circles, so that the shower is not always a surprise occasion, but one that the expectant mother knows about ahead of time.

Whether the baby shower is a surprise or not, the mother-to-be is showered with gifts for the new baby by her friends and relatives.

The gifts may be small ones or very expensive ones depending on the financial situation of the participants, but there is always a very emo­tional outpouring of good wishes for the expected baby and its parents. The gifts are always opened at the party, and everyone expresses great admiration for them. There’s always a lot of advice from experienced mothers and expressions of envy from those women who do not yet have children. This way, the expectant mother is reassured about the coming event and the desirability of her situation. A few years ago, it was almost unheard of for men to participate in baby showers. How­ever, as I mentioned earlier, society is changing rapidly and men’s par­ticipation at baby showers is becoming more common. That reminds me of another related change in society in the United States. In the past, when births mainly took place at home, it was a strictly female event with men banished from the room where the baby was born. After women started going to hospitals to have their babies, men still never went into the delivery room and were expected to wait ner­vously in the waiting room for the doctor to come and tell them the good news. Today this is changing for many modern couples. Often they attend classes together to prepare them for the birth of the baby, and many men are with their wives in the delivery room and "coach" them through the birth along with the doctors.

After a baby is born, many, if not most, people want to have a reli­gious service for their baby within a few weeks of the baby’s birth, even if they are not very religious themselves. Friends and family will attend the service, which will be held in a church or a synagogue. For Christians, this service is ordinarily called baptism.

There are many customs and traditions surrounding marriage and particularly the wedding activities themselves. Once again, it is very hard to generalize about these customs, as they vary so much among different people, but there are some customs that are quite generally observed. It is no longer necessary for a young man to ask permission of a girl’s father for her "hand," and among modern couples a woman may actually be the first one to bring up the subject of marriage, but most young people still very much want their parents’ approval of the person they hope to marry. It is still traditional for a young man to give his fiancee a diamond ring at the beginning of their engagement period. As for the actual wedding ceremony and related celebrations, traditionally it is the bride’s family who pays for these expenses. The wedding ceremony can be a very simple one, with only a few family members and close friends present, or it can be very elaborate, with hundreds of people in attendance. The traditional reception that follows the ceremony can be as simple as cookies and punch in the church or as elaborate as a large sit-down dinner held at a local hotel with a dance and a private orchestra following the dinner. Sometimes people are invited only to the wedding or only to the reception. At any rate, these events can usually be attended only by invitation. One very popular tradition associated with weddings is, once again, the shower that we mentioned in relation to birth. At this shower given before the wedding, the bride-to-be receives gifts to help her set up her new household, such as electrical appliances, sheets, towels, and pots and pans. In addition to shower gifts, wedding gifts are also expected from people who receive wedding invitations. Occasionally people choose not to have any kind of religious service at their wedding and opt to get married in a civil ceremony in a government building. However, a civil ceremony is not necessary if a couple decides to get married in a religious ceremony. Priests, ministers, and rabbis are legally empow­ered to marry couples, and it is not necessary to have both a civil and a religious ceremony. By the way, there’s an interesting tradition asso­ciated with weddings that is rather hard to explain, but then many traditions are. It is said every bride at her wedding should be wearing or carrying "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue." The bride will be checked at the last minute to be sure that she has one of each of these. There are some other customs similar to this one that are rather superstitious in nature. For example, people believe that it is bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her wedding dress before the ceremony. And immediately following the ceremony, as the couple leave the church, people at the ceremony will throw rice at them to signal fertility—that is, a hope that they will have many children. Some churches and other places where weddings are held have recently banned the throwing of rice as being hazardous to guests who can slip and fall on it. Some suggest throwing rose petals or some other substitute for the rice.

In addition to birth and marriage, every society has to deal with death. Once again, it is hard to generalize about the customs surrounding death. Each religious group has ways to help its members cope with the loss of a family member or friend. For most people, religious or not, there are many decisions to be made at the time of a death. One deci­sion is whether to have a funeral held in a church or in a funeral home. Another decision is whether to have the body cremated or not. If the body is cremated, a memorial service is held rather than a funeral. If the body is not cremated, a decision must be made about whether to display the body or not at the funeral. A day or two before the funeral, it is also quite common to hold a wake at a funeral home where the body is displayed in its casket. At the wake the family receives those people who wish to express their sympathy to the bereaved.

At the funeral service it is customary for a religious leader to speak some words of comfort for the bereaved. In addition, a eulogy is usu­ally given by someone close to the deceased person. Sometimes many people will speak about the good deeds of the person who has died. After the religious ceremony, the body is usually taken to a cemetery, where it will be buried after another brief religious service. Of course, most people learn of the death of someone they know from the per­son’s family, but notices of funeral services are also printed in the newspaper, and anyone who wishes to attend the service is expected to without a personal invitation from the family. People who knew the deceased casually, but who want to express their condolences, usually send a "sympathy" card to the family. It is traditional to send flowers to a funeral, but it is important to check with a florist to be sure to send the correct kind of flowers. It’s sometimes important to know what kind of clothes to wear to a wedding or a funeral. Tradi­tionally the bride wears white, and guests at the wedding are free to wear whatever colors they like, except for women, who do not wear white. At a funeral, it used to be necessary to wear black to show grief, but today this custom is no longer observed.

As I said before, in a society so large and diverse as the United States, customs can vary greatly from area to area, among different social, ethnic, and economic groups, and even from generation to generation.

I have tried to give you some idea of customs and traditions that are generally accepted, but, of course, it’s always wise to ask if you find yourself in a situation where you might be invited or expected to par­ticipate in one of these events. When in doubt, ask.

III. POSTLISTENING ACTIVITY

A. Accuracy Check

1. When are baby showers usually given?

2. What are two recent changes concerning the custom of baby showers?

3. What do we call the Christian religious service held after a baby is born?

4. Who traditionally pays for an American wedding?

5. Do most American couples have a civil ceremony or a religious ceremony when they get married?

6. What four things does tradition say a bride should have at her wed­ding?

7. By custom, who should not see the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding ceremony?

8. Under what circumstances is a memorial service held instead of a funeral?

9. What two things are often sent to the family of the deceased or to a funeral?

10. What color shouldn’t a woman wear as a guest at a wedding?

Read More

I. PRELISTENING

B. Vocabulary and Key Concepts

1. The U. S. government cannot ask for information on religious affil­iation on a mandatory basis.

2. One survey done in 2002 shows that 76 percent of the total popu­lation identified themselves as Christian, with 52 percent identify­ing themselves as Protestant and 24 percent as Catholic.

3. The number of Americans belonging to churches or other religious organizations is surprisingly high compared to other modernized nations.

4. This is not to suggest that religious values are not important in these other nations.

5. Freedom of worship is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution.

6. The First Amendment also establishes the separation of church and state.

7. The importance of religion in American history should not be underestimated.

8. Fd like to talk about the increasing role religion has plaved in fairly recent history.

9. Religion had seemed to be in decline, but there was a religious revival in the 1970s that surprised many people.

10. The religious revival was conservative in nature and, at first, largely confined to issues in the private sphere of life.

11. These issues, however, were very controversial in nature and became quite politicized in a short time.

12. Perhaps the "rise of the religious right" is a temporary phenome-

non in American life.

13. Some people predict that American society will become increasingly secular and less religious in the future; others predict a more authori­tarian political atmosphere based on conservative religious belief.

D. Notetaking Preparation

1. Commonly Used Symbols and Abbreviations (Narrator: Read twice.)

1. The population of China is greater than the population of India, which in turn is larger than the population in the United States.

2. A decreasing death rate and a rising birth rate cause an increase in the population.

3. The population in the United States is approximately 281,000,000 people.

4. Some people immigrated to the United States because of natural disasters, such as droughts or famines.

5. The situation in the world is different today. Therefore, a greater number of people are immigrating to the United States from Latin America and Asia than Europe.

6. After World War II, most American families were still traditional ones, that is, with a working father, a mother who was a house­wife, and their children.

7. Today many children are raised in homes without a father living with them.

II. LISTENING

LECTURE: Religion

Religion is a complex phenomenon in the United States and often misunderstood by foreigners. Part of this may be because the media, for example, television and films, are often the only ways that foreign­ers are exposed to American culture. These media, in general, ignore the role and importance of religion in America.

Driving through the countryside and passing through small towns in the United States, foreigners are often surprised by the number of churches in even a small town of two or three thousand people. That there are so many churches doesn’t seem so strange, perhaps, if we look at the history of the United States. Remember when we talked about immigration to the United States? At that time, we pointed out that many people immigrated to escape persecution and to seek free­dom to practice their religion. Considering that people from many

different countries and religious backgrounds immigrated to the United States, it shouldn’t be surprising to find a great number of different religious denominations. Even in a small town, there will usually be several churches representing different religious groups. Today I’d like to give you some facts and figures about religious groups in the United States, then compare the United States to other modern­ized nations, and, finally, say something about the importance of reli­gion in America, particularly about the increasing role of religion in U. S. political life in recent years.

Estimating the number of people belonging to various religious groups in America can be a little difficult to do. First of all, the U. S. govern­ment cannot ask for information on religious affiliation on a manda­tory basis in any official capacity. Statistical information must be gathered from surveys of the population and from organizational reports, which might, for example, include the number of members belonging to a church, synagogue, or mosque. One survey done in 2002 shows that 76 percent of the total population identified them­selves as Christian, with 52 percent identifying themselves as Protes­tant and 24 percent as Catholic. One percent of the population identi­fied themselves as Jewish and another 1 percent as Muslim. I should point out that Protestants, who form the single largest religious group, are found in more than 1,200 denominations.

Another study, called "The American Religious Identification Survey," showed that the number of people identifying themselves as Christian dropped from 86 percent to 77 percent between 1990 and 2001. The total number of those who identified themselves as Jewish declined a little, whereas the total number who identified themselves as Muslims doubled. Other smaller groups such as Buddhists and Hindus also increased their numbers. I don’t want to suggest that these are the only religious groups in the United States. There are many more small religious groups. OK, that’s enough facts and figures about various religious groups in the United States.

Now let’s look at two ways that religion in the United States differs from religion in other modernized nations. The first relates to the number of persons who claim membership in churches or some other religious organization. The second concerns the relationship of reli­gion and government. Let’s consider the first way the United States differs from these other modernized nations. About 60 percent of Americans belong to a church or other religious organization. This number is surprisingly high in comparison to other modernized na­tions. For example, the percentage of people who belong to a church or other religious organization is only about 22 percent in Great Britain, 15 percent in Spain, 7 percent in Italy, and 4 percent in France. This is not to suggest, though, that religious values may not be important in these countries, but it does suggest how important belonging to a church or other religious organization is to Americans compared to

Europeans. However, there is another somewhat contradictory differ­ence that we should also consider. In many of these modernized, Euro­pean nations, there is no clear separation of religion and government. When discussing religion in America, it’s important to remember that whereas freedom of worship is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution, this same amendment also establishes the separa­tion of church and state. Therefore, although this amendment guaran­tees everyone the right to practice his or her religion, it also tends to keep religion out of the public sphere, that is, out of anything concern­ing the government and public schools, for example. Religion has been largely a private matter in the lives of Americans and not been a mat­ter of government, politics, and public education. Of course, religious beliefs and values have always influenced politics and education, but generally indirectly. To sum up, then, the importance of belonging to a church or religious organization seems greater to Americans than to Europeans, but at the same time, religion has no official role in the government as it has in some European countries and has largely been confined to the private side of people’s lives. However, there has been a recent trend leading to an increase in the influence of religion in politics. Finally, let’s take a closer look at this rather sudden rise in the influence of religion on American political life.

Although religion in America seemed to many people to be in decline during most of this century, in the 1970s, there was a religious revival that surprised many, especially those people in academia, the media, and government. This religious revival became known as the "rise of the religious right." That is, the people involved in this religious re­vival were politically conservative, or to the right of the center. For a while it seemed that this rise in conservative religion would be largely confined to the private sphere of life. The religious right was generally opposed to abortion, but abortion was made legal by the Supreme Court anyway. The religious right generally favored prayer in schools, but the Supreme Court found that prayer in public schools was uncon­stitutional. The issues of abortion and prayer were felt by many to be matters of private concern, not serious political issues. However, these issues have become increasingly politicized, and because they are highly controversial issues, they have tended to divide people very sharply. The issue of abortion, especially, has become very politicized and has led to very bitter political debate and even acts of violence.

The religious right has also put more and more pressure on politicians to put prayer back in the schools, even if this requires another amend­ment to the Constitution. This rise of the religious right can no longer be ignored by people in politics. However, whether this group will be able to influence political life for a long time cannot be known. Per­haps this is a temporary phenomenon, and in time the religious right will become less important.

What the role and importance of religion will be in the future of American society cannot be known, of course. There are those who predict that Americans will become more like Europeans if economic prosperity continues, that is, more secular and less religious. Others fear that the rise in conservative religious beliefs may lead to a more authoritarian political atmosphere with less personal freedom for individuals. Because religious values have always been important in America in one way or another, it seems likely that religion will continue to play an important role in America well into the future.

By the way, the history of some religious minorities in the United States is particularly interesting and sheds some light on the tougher issues related to the government’s commitment to freedom of religion and the separation of church and state. Some of these better known groups are the Amish, the Mormons, and the Seventh-Day Adventists. I don’t have time to go into them today, but for those of you who are interested, I suggest that you do some further investigation of these religious minorities.

Ill, POSTLISTENING

A. Accuracy Check

1. Why do many foreigners often not understand the role of religion in America?

2. What are the two largest religious groups in America, and what are the percentages of people who identify themselves as belonging to these groups?

3. According to the lecturer, why are there so many different religious groups in the United States?

4. About what percentage of people are members of a church or other religious organization in the following countries: the United States, Italy, and France?

5. What right does the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantee?

6. What does the First Amendment say about religion and the state, that is, religion and government?

7. Was the religious revival of the 1970s conservative or liberal?

8. What was the religious revival called?

9. What issues have become very important politically because of this religious revival?

10. If America becomes more like Europe, will it become more religious or more secular?

Read More

Chapter 1 The Population

I. PRELISTENING

B. Vocabulary and Key Concepts

1. Most countries take a census every ten years or so in order to count the people and to know where they are living.

2. A country with a growing population is a country that is becoming more populous.

3. A person’s race is partly determined by skin color and type of hair as well as other physical characteristics.

4. The majority of the U. S. population is of European origin.

5. The geographical distribution of a country’s population gives infor­mation about where the people are living.

6. The total population of the United States is made up of many different kinds of people.

7. In other words, the population comprises people of different races and ages.

8. The average age of the U. S. population, which is a relatively large one, has been getting progressively higher recently.

9. Metropolitan areas are more densely populated than rural areas. That is, they have more people per square mile.

10. The use of antibiotics has greatly decreased the death rate through­out much of the world.

11. A country whose birth rate is higher than its death rate will have an increasing population.

12. On the average, women have a higher hfe expectancy than men do.

D. Notetaking Preparation

1. Number Notation

f. four percent g. nineteen ninety

a. 18.5 million

b. 80 percent

c. one half

d. 13.4 million

e. two out of ten

h. 40 percent

i. three quarters

j. 33.1 percent

II. LISTENING

LECTURE: Population

Today we’re going to talk about population in the United States. According to the most recent government census, the population is 281,421,906 people. This represents an increase of almost 33 million people since the 1990 census. A population of over 281 million makes the United States the third most populous country in the whole world. As you probably know, the People’s Republic of China is the most populous country in the world. Do you know which is the second most populous? If you thought India, you were right. The fourth, fifth, and sixth most populous countries are Indonesia, Brazil, and Pakistan. Now let’s get back to the United States. Let’s look at the total U. S. popula­tion figure of 281 million in three different ways. The first way is by race and origin; the second is by geographical distribution, or by where people live; and the third way is by the age and sex of the population.

First of all, let’s take a look at the population by race and origin. The latest U. S. census reports that 75.1 percent of the population is white, whereas 12.3 percent is black. Three percent are of Asian origin, and 1 percent is Native American. 2.4 percent of the population is a mixture of two or more races, and 5.5 percent report themselves as "of some other race." Let’s make sure your figures are right: white, 75.1 percent; black, 12.3 percent; Asian, 3 percent; Native American, 1 percent; a mixture of two or more races, 2.4 percent; and of some other race,

5.5 percent. Hispanics, whose origins lie in Spanish-speaking countries, comprise whites, blacks, and Native Americans, so they are already included in the above figures. It is important to note that Hispanics make up 12.5 percent of the present U. S. population, however. Finally, the census tells us that 31 million people in the United States were born in another country. Of the 31 million foreign born, the largest part, 27.6 percent are from Mexico. The next largest group, from the Philippines, number 4.3 percent.

Another way of looking at the population is by geographical distribu­tion. Do you have any idea which states are the five most populous in the United States? Well, I’ll help you out there. The five most popu­lous states, with population figures, are California, with almost 34 million; New York, with 21 million; Texas, with 19 million,- Florida, with 16 million,- and Illinois with 12.5 million people. Did you get all those figures down? If not, I’ll give you a chance later to check your figures. Well, then, let’s move on. All told, over half, or some 58 per­cent of the population, lives in the South and in the West of the United States. This figure, 58 percent, is surprising to many people. It is surprising because the East is more densely populated. Neverthe­less, there are more people all together in the South and West. To un­derstand this seeming contradiction, one need only consider the rela­tively larger size of many southern and western states, so although there are more people, they are distributed over a larger area. To finish

up this section on geographical distribution, consider that more than three – quarters of the people live in metropolitan areas like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Houston. That means that only 20 percent, or 2 out of 10 people, live in rural areas. An interesting side note is that some 3,800,000 U. S. citizens live abroad, that is, in foreign countries.

Before we finish today, I want to discuss the distribution of the U. S. population in terms of age and sex. Just for interest, would you say there are more men or more women in the United States? (pause)

Well, according to the 2000 census, there are more women. In fact, there are more than five million more women than men in the U. S. population. If we consider that more males than females are born each year, how can this difference be explained? Well, for a variety of com­plicated reasons that we can’t go into here, there is a progressively higher death rate for males as they get older. This is seen in 2003 life expectancy figures: the life expectancy for women is 80.4 years whereas for men it is only 74.5 years. I don’t know how these life ex­pectancy figures compare to those in your countries, but statistically women generally live longer than men worldwide. Now, to finish up, let’s look at the average age of the whole population. Overall, the average age of the population is increasing: from 33.1 years in 1990 to 35.3 years in 2000. The average age has been slowly, but steadily, increasing over the past several decades. This trend toward a higher average age can be explained by a decreasing birth rate and an increasing life expectancy for the population as a whole. I’d like to investigate these two subjects further, but I see our time is up, so we’ll have to call it quits for today. You may want to pursue the topic of the aging U. S. population further, so there are some suggestions at the end of the lesson to help you do so.

Ш, POSTLISTENING_______________________________________________

A. Accuracy Check

[Leave pauses between questions to give time for students to write answers.]

1. Which two countries have a larger population than the United States?

2. What was the population of the United States in the latest census?

3. Which group is bigger, blacks or Hispanics?

4. Which state is more populous, Florida or Texas?

5. In what two regions of the country do most Americans live?

6. What percentage of the population lives in rural areas?

7. How many more women than men are there in the U. S. population?

8. About how many years longer do women live than men in the United States?

9. What was the increase in the average age from 1990 to 2000?

10. What two factors account for the increase in the average age?

Chapter 2 Immigration: Past and Present

L PRELISTENING__________________________________________________

B. Vocabulary and Key Concepts

1. Throughout history, people have moved, or immigrated, to new countries to live.

2. Natural disasters can take many forms: those that are character­ized by a shortage of rain or food are called droughts and famines. respectively.

3. Sometimes people immigrate to a new country to escape political or religious persecution.

4. Rather than immigrants, the early settlers from Great Britain con­sidered themselves colonists; they had left home to settle new land for the mother country.

5. The so-called Great Immigration, which can be divided into three stages, or time periods, began about 1830 and lasted till about 1930.

6. The Industrial Revolution, which began in the nineteenth century, caused widespread unemployment as machines replaced workers.

7. The scarcity of farmland in Europe caused many people to immi­grate to the United States, where farmland was more abundant.

8. Land in the United States was plentiful and available when the country was expanding westward. In fact, the U. S. government offered free public land to citizens in 1862.

9. The failure of the Irish potato crop in the middle of the nineteenth century caused widespread starvation.

10. The Great Depression of the 1930s and World War П contributed to the noticeable decrease in immigration after 1930.

11. The first law that limited the number of immigrants coming from a certain part of the world was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

12. It is important to note that in 1965 strict quotas based on national­ity were eliminated.

13. At the end of the 1940s, immigration began to increase again and has, in general, risen steadily since then.

14. Will the trend continue for non-Europeans to immigrate to the United States?

15. The U. S. immigration laws of today in general require that new immigrants have the skills necessary to succeed in the United States because industry no longer requires large numbers of un­skilled workers.

D. Notetaking Preparation

1. Dates: Teens and Tens

a. 1850	f. 1776
b. 1915	g. 1882
c. the 1840s	h. 1929
d. from 1890 to 1930	i. 1860
e. between 1750 and 1850	j. from approximately
	1830 to 1930

II. LISTENING

LECTURE: Immigration: Past and Present

The act of immigrating, or coming to a new country to live, is cer­tainly nothing new. Throughout history, people have immigrated, or moved to new countries, for many different reasons. Sometimes these reasons were economic or political. Other people moved be­cause of natural disasters such as droughts or famines. And some people moved to escape religious or political persecution. No matter what the reason, most people do not want to leave their native land and do so only under great pressure of some sort, but a few people seem quite adventuresome and restless by nature and like to move a lot. It seems both kinds of people came to America to live. The sub­ject of immigration is quite fascinating to most Americans, as they view themselves as a nation of immigrants. However, the early Britons who came to what is today the United States considered themselves "settlers" or "colonists," rather than immigrants. These people did not exactly think they were moving to a new country but were merely settling new land for the "mother country." There were also large numbers of Dutch, French, German, and Scotch-Irish settlers, as well as large numbers of blacks brought from Africa as slaves. At the time of independence from Britain in 1776, about 40 percent of people living in what is now the United States were non – British. The majority of people, however, spoke English, and the traditions that formed the basis of life were mainly British traditions. This period we have just been discussing is usually referred to as the Colonial Period. Today, we’re a little more interested in actual immigration after this period. Let’s first look at what is often called the Great Immigration, which began about 1830 and ended in 1930. Then let’s consider the reasons for this so-called Great Immigration and the reasons it ended. Finally, let’s talk about the immigration situation in the United States today.

As I said, we’ll begin our discussion today with the period of history called the Great Immigration, which lasted from approximately 1830 to 1930. It will be easier if we look at the Great Immigration in terms of three major stages, or time periods. The first stage was from approxi­mately 1830 to 1860. Before this time, the number of immigrants com­ing to the United States was comparatively small, only about 10,000 a year. However, the rate began to climb in the 1830s when about 600,000 immigrants arrived. The rate continued to climb during the 1840s with a total of 1,700,000 people arriving in that decade. The rate continued to climb, and during the 1850s 2,600,000 immigrants ar­rived. During this first stage of the Great Immigration, that is, between the years 1830 and 1860, the majority of immigrants came from Ger­many, Great Britain, and Ireland. Now let’s consider the second stage of the Great Immigration. The second stage was from 1860 to 1890, dur­ing which time another 10,000,000 people arrived. Between 1860 and 1890 the majority of immigrants continued to be from Germany, Ireland, and Great Britain. However, during the second stage, a smaller, but significant, number of immigrants came from the Scandinavian nations of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The third stage of the Great Immigration, which lasted from 1890 to 1930, was the era of heaviest immigration. Between the years 1890 and 1930, almost 22 million immigrants arrived in the United States. Most of these new arrivals came from the Southern European countries of Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain and the Eastern European countries of Poland and Russia.

Now that we know something about the numbers and origins of immigrants who came to the States during the Great Immigration, let’s consider the reasons why most of these people immigrated to the United States. Why did such large numbers of Europeans leave their homes for life in an unknown country? It would be impossible to discuss all the complex political and economic reasons in any depth today, but we can touch on a few interesting facts that might help to clarify the situation for you. First of all, one of the most important reasons was that the population of Europe doubled between the years 1750 and 1850. At the same time that the population was growing so rapidly, the Industrial Revolution in Europe was causing widespread unemployment. The combination of increased population and the demand for land by industry also meant that farmland was becoming increasingly scarce in Europe. The scarcity of farmland in Europe meant that the abundance of available land in the growing country of the United States was a great attraction. During these years, the United States was an expanding country, and it seemed that there was no end to land. In fact, in 1862 the government offered public land free to citizens and to immigrants who were planning to become citizens. In addition to available farmland, there were also plentiful jobs during these years of great economic growth. Other attractions were freedom from religious or political persecution. Some other groups also came to the United States as the direct results of natural disasters that left them in desperate situations. For example, the frequent failure of the potato crop in Ireland between the years 1845 and 1849 led to wide­spread starvation in that country, and people were driven to immi­grate. Another factor that affected the number of immigrants coming to the United States was improved ocean transport beginning in the 1840s. At that time, ships large enough to carry large numbers of peo­ple began to make regular trips across the ocean. Now let’s summarize the reasons for the high rate of immigration to the United States dur­ing the years we discussed: first, the doubling of the population in Eu­rope between 1750 and 1850; second, the unemployment caused by the Industrial Revolution; and third, the land scarcity in Europe, followed by religious and political persecution and natural disaster. These reasons combined with improved transportation probably account for the largest number of immigrants.

I would now like to talk briefly about the period of time following the Great Immigration and the reasons for the decline in the rate of immi­gration. Although immigration continues today, immigration numbers have never again reached the levels that we discussed previously.

There are several reasons for this decline. This decline was in part due to various laws whose aim was to limit the number of immigrants coming from different parts of the world to the United States. The first such law that limited the number of immigrants coming from a certain part of the world was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This law was followed by many other laws that also tried to limit the num­bers of people immigrating from various countries or parts of the world. In addition to such laws, certainly economic and geopolitical events as important as the Great Depression starting in 1929 and World War П also contributed to the decline in immigration.

Let’s conclude our talk by discussing the current situation with respect to immigration, which is quite different from that in the past. To understand some of the changes, it’s important to note that in 1965 strict quotas based on nationality were eliminated. Let’s see how dif­ferent things are today from the past. As I noted, the greatest number of immigrants to the United States have historically been European. According to U. S. Census figures, in 1860, the percentage of immi­grants that were European was 92 percent. But by 1960, the percentage of European immigrants had dropped to 74.5 percent, and by the year 2002, it had dropped to 14 percent! In 2002, 52.2 percent of immi­grants came from Latin America, that is, from the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. Mexico is ordinarily considered part of North America, but the U. S. Census Bureau considers Mexico as a Central American country in terms of immigration statistics, and esti­mates that more than one-third of the total of all immigrants to the United States in 2002 came from Mexico or another Central American

country. The next largest percentage, 25.5 percent, of immigrants came from Asia, mainly from the Philippines, China, and India.

Although immigration dropped sharply when the United States entered World War I and remained low throughout the Depression and World War II years, at the end of the 1940s, immigration began to increase again and has, in general, risen steadily since then. It might surprise you to know that the actual number of immigrants coming yearly to the States in recent years is about the same as the numbers coming yearly between 1900 and 1910. Keep in mind, though, that the population of the United States is much larger now than at the turn of the century, so that while the yearly numbers may be similar, the per­centage of the population that is foreign-born is considerably smaller today than it was a century ago.

It might be interesting to speculate on immigration in the future. Will the trend continue for non-Europeans to immigrate to the United States? The answer is probably yes for the foreseeable future. Do these non-European people come to the United States for the same reasons that Europeans came? Well, land is no longer plentiful and cheap. In­dustry no longer requires large numbers of unskilled workers. In fact, the government usually tries to restrict immigration to those people who already have the skills to be successful in U. S. society. Still, people come for political and economic reasons and probably will continue to do so.

III. POSTUSTEMING

A. Accuracy Check

1. What did the earliest Britons who came to what is now the United States consider themselves to be?

2. Which five non-English groups came to the United States during the Colonial Period?

3. Of the three stages of the Great Immigration, in which did the heaviest immigration occur?

4. From which two areas did most immigrants arrive between the years 1890 and 1930?

5. What three conditions in Europe caused a lot of immigration to the United States during the Great Immigration?

6. What conditions in the United States attracted early immigrants?

7. Give an example of a natural disaster that caused immigration to the United States.

8. What three reasons are given for a decline in immigration after the period of the Great Immigration?

9. How is the origin of people who immigrate to the United States today different from those who immigrated during the Great Immigration?

10. Today, why does the U. S. government try to restrict immigration to people who already have the skills to he successful?

Chapter 3 Americans at Work

I. PRELISTENING___________________________________________

B. Vocabulary and Key Concepts

1. As we look at the changes over the last century, we’ll use a lot of statistics to describe these changes.

2. While the number of people in these goods producing industries went down, the number of people in the service industries went up.

3. Over the years, child labor laws became much stricter and by 1999, it was illegal for anyone under sixteen to work full-time in any of the fifty States.

4. In 1900 the average per capita income was $4,200.

5. One of the important benefits most workers received later in the century was health insurance.

6. Whereas wages and salaries rose over the century, the average workweek dropped.

7. People often tend to romanticize the past and talk about "the good old days."

8. According to a 2003 study released by the United Nations Interna­tional Labor Organization, U. S. workers are the most productive in the world.

9. Longer working hours in the United States is a rising trend, while the trend in other industrialized countries is the opposite.

10. Workers in some European countries actually outproduce Ameri­can workers per hour of work.

11. This higher rate of productivity might be because European work­ers are less stressed than U. S. workers.

12. Between 1949 and 1974, increases in productivity were matched by increases in wages.

13. After 1974, productivity increased in manufacturing and services, but real wages stagnated.

14. The money goes for salaries to CEOs, to the stock market, and to corporate profits.

15. Some people say that labor unions have lost power since the begin­ning of the 1980s, and that the government has passed laws that favor the rich and weaken the rights of the workers.

II. LISTENING

LECTURE: Americans at Work

Whether you love it or hate it, work is a major part of most people’s lives everywhere in the world. Americans are no exception. Americans might complain about "blue Monday," when they have to go back to work after the weekend, but most people put a lot of importance on their job, not only in terms of money but also in terms of identity. In fact, when Americans are introduced to a new person, they almost al­ways ask each other, "What do you do?" They are asking, what is your job or profession. Today, however, we won’t look at work in terms of what work means socially or psychologically. Rather, we’re going to take a look at work in the United States today from two perspectives. First, we’ll take a historical look at work in America. We’ll do that by looking at how things changed for the American worker from the be­ginning to the end of the twentieth century, that is, from the year 1900 to the year 1999. Then we’ll look at how U. S. workers are doing today.

As we look at the changes over the last century, we’re going to use a lot of statistics to describe these changes. You will need to write down a lot of numbers in today’s lecture. First, let’s consider how the type of work people were involved in changed. At the beginning of the twentieth century, about 38 percent of the workforce was involved in agriculture; that is, they worked on a farm. By the end of the century, only 3 percent still worked on farms. There was also a large decrease in the number of people working in mining, manufacturing, and con­struction. The number of workers in mining, manufacturing, and construction went down from 31 percent to 19 percent.

While the number of people in these goods producing industries went down, the number of people in the service industries went up. As you may know, a service industry is one that provides a service, rather than goods or products. A few examples include transportation, tourism, banking, advertising, health care, and legal services. I’m sure you can think of more. The service industry workforce jumped from 31 percent of the workforce at the turn of the century to 78 percent in 1999.

Let’s recap the numbers: in 1900, 38 percent in agriculture; 31 percent in mining, manufacturing, and construction; and 31 percent in the ser­vice industries. That should add up to 100 percent. In 1999, 3 percent in agriculture,- 19 percent in mining, manufacturing, and construction; and 78 percent in the service industries. Again, that should add up to 100 percent.

The labor force changed in other important ways. For example, child labor was not unusual at the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1900 there were 1,750,000 children aged ten to fifteen working full­time in the labor force. This was 6 percent of the labor force. Over the years, child labor laws became much stricter and by 1999, it was illegal for anyone under sixteen to work full-time in any of the fifty states. While the number of children in the workforce went down, the number of women went up dramatically. In 1900, only 19 percent of women were employed; in 1999, 60 percent of women were holding down jobs.

Let’s see what has happened to wages and salaries. All the numbers I will give you are in terms of 1999 dollars. Let me explain. In 1900 the average per capita income was $4,200 a year. That does not mean that the average worker in 1900 earned $4,200, but that what he or she earned was equal to $4,200 in 1999. That is, the amount of money the average worker earned in 1900 was worth the same as $4,200 in 1999. The average per capita income in 1999 was $33,700. Not only did people earn a lot more money at the end of the century, they also received a lot more in benefits than at the beginning of the century. One of the important benefits most workers received later in the century was health insurance. Whereas wages and salaries rose over the century, the average workweek dropped. That is, workers, in general, did not work as long hours in 1999 as they did in 1900.

The last area that I’d like to give you a few statistics about is work­place safety. Most of us who go to work every day don’t think a lot about whether we are safe or not, but in 1900 it was a real concern for a lot of workers. There aren’t many statistics available, but the U. S. government does have statistics on two industries that will give you some idea of the differences today. In 1900 almost 1,500 workers were killed in coal-mining accidents; in 1999, the number was 35. 2,555 railroad workers were killed in 1900, compared to 56 in 1999.

People often tend to romanticize the past and talk about "the good old days," but I think it’s fair to say that by the end of the twentieth century, U. S. workers in general made more money, they enjoyed more benefits, and their working conditions had improved greatly.

Now let’s turn our attention to the current situation for U. S. workers. The picture is not so rosy as the one drawn by comparing U. S. workers at the beginning and the end of the twentieth century. I’m going to

focus on the current situation in terms of productivity, working hours, and wages and salaries.

First let’s consider the number of hours worked. According to a 2003 study released by the United Nations International Labor Organiza­tion, U. S. workers are the most productive in the world among indus­trialized nations, but they work longer hours than European workers to achieve this productivity. Europeans typically have four to six weeks of vacation a year, whereas the average American worker has only about two weeks. This study points out that the longer working hours in the United States is a rising trend, while the trend in other industrialized countries is the opposite.

Workers in some European countries actually outproduce American workers per hour of work. It has been suggested that this higher rate of productivity might be because European workers are less stressed than U. S. workers.

At any rate, there seems to be general agreement that U. S. productiv­ity has greatly increased over the last thirty years. However, workers have not seen their wages rise at the same rate. A group of sociologists in their book Inequality by Design point out that there is a growing gap between rich Americans and everyone else in the United States. They write that between 1949 and 1974, increases in productivity were matched by increases in wages for workers in both manufactur­ing and the service industries, but since 1974 productivity increased 68 percent in manufacturing and 50 percent in services, but real wages stagnated. That is, wages moved up little or not at all. Where does all the money generated by the increased productivity go then? According to the authors of this book, the money goes for salaries to CEOs, to the stock market, and to corporate profits. Workers play a great role in increasing productivity, but no longer see their wages connected to in­creased productivity. In other words, CEOs’ salaries, the stock market, and corporate profits go up as work productivity goes up, but workers’ wages do not.

What are the reasons why U. S. workers, who are the most productive in the world, have to work longer hours, have fewer vacations days, and see their wages stagnate and not rising at the same rate as produc­tivity? The answer to this question is complex and controversial, but there are two reasons most people who speak or write about these issues mention: The first is that labor unions in the United States have lost great power since the beginning of the 1980s, and the second is that the government has passed laws that favor the rich and weaken the rights of the workers.

I see our time is up. See you next time.

III. POSTLISTENIIMG

A. Accuracy Check

1. What percentage of the workforce was engaged in agriculture in 1900?

2. What percentage of the workforce was still engaged in agriculture in 1999?

3. At the end of the twentieth century, which industries had the largest percentage of the workforce?

4. Compare the number of women in the workforce in 1900 and in 1999.

5. Compare the average per capita income in 1900 and in 1999.

6. What is one benefit that most U. S. workers received by the end of the twentieth century?

7. Which workers, U. S. or European workers, work longer hours?

8. What might be one reason that some European workers out pro­duce U. S. workers per hour?

9. According to the authors of Inequality by Design, are wages in manufacturing and service industries increasing at the same rate as productivity?

10. Again, according to the authors of Inequality by Design, where does the money generated by increased productivity go?

Read More