A college education is out of reach for most state and federal prisoners．California' a San Quentin is one of the few prisons in the country that offers college - level courses．
Jody Lewen has run the prison' s college program for over a decade and she' s the reason that the Prison University Project exists today．When Lewen joined San Quentin' s college program in 1999 as a volunteer instructor, it was run by a small volunteer staff with no budget．At that time, she was a graduate student, with plans to return to academic research．But a year later, when the part - time director suddenly quit, Lewen found herself in charge．
Under Lewen's leadership, the Prison University Project has expanded, now offering 20 classes in English, math, social science and Spanish．Three hundred prisoners enroll （入学） every year, earning college credits which can lead to an associate of arts degree．So far, 100 San Quentin prisoners have graduated with associate' s degrees and many more have continued their college studies after release．
"This experience really has changed my life．It' s given me a lot of tools on how to express myself," says Charles Spence, who is serving a life sentence in San Quentin．"This program is really rare in the prison setting, so I'm really lucky．"
Research shows that the more education a prisoner has, the less likely he is to return to prison．Lewen says the chance for those with college degrees back into prison is less than 10 percent．
But the Prison University Project receives no government funding. Lewen would like to see college programs in every prison, but without government support, it' s not likely to happen any time soon．In the meantime, there's a long waiting list of San Quentin prisoners who want to enroll in the college program．Some day, Lewen hopes to expand her program, making a college education available for most of prisoners at San Quentin．
1．Which of the following is true of the Prison University Project?
A．Jody Lewen founded it in 1999．
B．It was supported by the government．
C．Jody took charge of it quite accidentally．
D．It is performed in most prisons in the U.S.
2．Jody Lewen joined in San Quentin' s college program to _____ ．
A．work as a volunteer teacher B．be a part - time director
C．do some scientific research D．earn her college credits
3．According to the text, Charles Spence might be _______．
A．a graduate student B．a San Quentin prisoner
C．a volunteer teacher D．a prison manager
4．The project is quite meaningful because ______.
A．prisoners have equal rights of education
B．it doesn't need support from the government
C．the society is more concerned about prisoners
D．it reduces the chance for prisoners back in prison
5．We learn from the last paragraph that the problem for the Project is _______．
A．there are fewer and fewer volunteer teachers
B．fewer and fewer prisoners want to enroll
C．too many prisoners are housed at San Quentin
D．it lacks financial support from the government