45) The following is part of a memorandum from the president of Humana University.
Last year the number of students who enrolled in online degree programs offered by nearby Omni University increased by 50 percent. During the same year, Omni showed a significant decrease from prior years in expenditures for dormitory and classroom space, most likely because instruction in the online programs takes place via the Internet. In contrast, over the past three years, enrollment at Humana University has failed to grow, and the cost of maintaining buildings has increased along with our budget deficit. To address these problems, Humana University will begin immediately to create and actively promote online degree programs like those at Omni. We predict that instituting these online degree programs will help Humana both increase its total enrollment and solve its budget problems.
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the prediction and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the prediction.
结论:To address these problems, Humana University will begin immediately to create and actively promote online degree programs like those at Omni.
证据1:Last year the number of students who enrolled in online degree programs offered by nearby Omni University increased by 50 percent. During the same year, Omni showed a significant decrease from prior years in expenditures for dormitory and classroom space, most likely because instruction in the online programs takes place via the Internet.
证据2:In contrast, over the past three years, enrollment at Humana University has failed to grow, and the cost of maintaining buildings has increased along with our budget deficit.
证据3:We predict that instituting these online degree programs will help Humana both increase its total enrollment and solve its budget problems.
(TS1)The first question we need to investigate is what's the specific conditions of the online degree programs at Omni, and whether it's feasible to apply to Humana. 原来上网络学位的人有多少?如果人数很少,则50%的增长并不能说明这一计划能带来很多的enrollment.实施这个program需要什么条件和设施?这些H可以满足吗?比如需要有录制课程经验的老师、录制课程的专门教室和设备、相关网站的开发。很可能H并不满足这些条件,而因为财政赤字,去购买设施、布置教室、招聘或培训教师也是不可行的。即使强行实施,也很可能带来更大的赤字,和很少的人数增加。
(TS2)In addition, we need to know why there's a significant difference between the expenditure of maintaing buildings in two universities. 在Omni里为宿舍和教室空间的花费显著减少,可能有其他的因素导致而非网络学位。可能宿舍的费用涨了,很多新入学的学生们选择租学校外的公寓,(这也是很常见的现象),也更多的在公寓内自习,所以教室和宿舍的管理、维修等可以省下很多钱。而在H,可能建筑之前一直没有投入太多资金维护,导致年久失修,在这年暴露出很多问题比如墙皮脱落等等,所以学校必须加大维修力度,导致费用增加。
(TS3)Finally, we need to ask why the Humana University suffered from a budget deficit and why the enrollment has failed to grow. 前一个问题,学校可能有除了维修建筑以外的大花费,比如购买了大批先进实验仪器、购买了网络数据库资源等等。第二个问题,可能是因为H大学的实力不够,或者开设的专业就业前景不好,不能吸引比过去更多的学生。
In this memorandum, the president of Humana University recommended that the university should begin and promote online degree programs like those at Omni to address the budget problems and increase its enrollment. A number of questions need to be answered in order to evaluate the argument about what the specific conditions of the online degree programs at Omni, what's the real reason about the expenditure of maintaining buildings differ in these two universities, and why there's a not-grown enromment and budget deficit in Humana.