VOA慢速英语:Small US Colleges Fight to Stay Open

短语讲解：

1. And now some experts are warning of a possible jump in the number of small, private colleges closing down.

close down （使） 停业; （使） 停产
例句：They will have to close down soon. Business is too bad.
他们将不得不歇业，生意太坏了。

2. This represents a 200 percent increase compared to that of two years ago.

compare to 把…比作， 喻为; 与…相比
例句：Cultural life in the country cannot compare to that of a large city.
农村的文化生活不能与大城市的相比拟。

3. Such schools are able to offer more programs and have more money to advertise to a larger group of people.

be able to 能够; 能
例句：Mould you be able to describe a typical day on the job?
您能描述一下这个职位的日常工作内容吗？

4. He says this forced smaller colleges to compete more with each other over which one could offer more for less.

compete with 与…抗争
例句：Here was a car priced to compete with the small imports.
这部车的定价可与进口的小车竞争。

5. Sweet Briar College alumni learned that the school they loved so much would no longer exist.

no longer 不再，已不
例句：The mine is no longer being worked.
这座煤矿现在已不开采了。