Harvard (n.哈佛) University (n.大學) revealed (v.透露) Thursday what could be its largest cheating (n.作弊) scandal (n.醜聞) in memory, saying that about 125 students might have worked in groups on a take-home final exam (n.期終考) despite (prep.儘管) being explicitly (adv.明確地) required to work alone.
　　The accusations (n.指控), related to a single undergraduate (n.本科生) class (n.課程) in the spring semester (n.學期), deal with "academic (adj.學業的) dishonesty (n.欺騙), ranging (v.包括) from inappropriate (adj.不恰當的) collaboration (n.合作) to outright (adj.徹底的) plagiarism (n.抄襲)," the administration (n.行政部門) said in a note (n.短箋) sent to students.
　　Officials (n.要員) said that if the students were found to have cheated (v.作弊), they could be suspended (v.使停學) for a year. The students have been notified (v.通知) that they are suspected (v.懷疑) and will be called to give their accounts (n.解釋) in investigative (adj.調查的) hearings (n.聆訊).
　　Administrators (n.行政人員) would not reveal the name of the class or even the department (n.學系), saying that they wanted to protect the identities (n.身份) of the accused (adj.被指控的) students. The Harvard Crimson (n.深紅色), the university's student newspaper, reported that it was a government class, Introduction to Congress (n.國會), which had 279 students.
(New York Times, August 30)

　　哈佛大學星期四透露，該校發生了可能是記憶所及最大規模的作弊醜聞。校方說，在一份期終考家課中，儘管明確規定要獨自完成，大約有一百二十五名學生很可能集體串通。
　　校方向學生發出的一封短箋中說，這些指控涉及春季學期一個本科生課程，關乎“學業上的欺騙，包括不恰當的合作，以至徹底的抄襲”。
　　大學高層人士指出，若發現學生作弊，他們可能要停學一年。這些學生已收到通知，指校方懷疑他們作弊，而他們在調查聆訊中將會被傳召解釋。
　　校方為了保障被指控學生的身份，不願透露是哪個班級以至哪個學系。但大學學生報《哈佛深紅報》報道說，這是一個名為“國會導論”的政制課程，共有二百七十九名學生。
（《紐約時報》，八月三十日）

      閱讀指引
      1. cheat (v) /tʃi:t/，ch-EAT 欺騙、作弊
 解讀：cheat可泛指欺騙、蒙騙，例如cheat the taxman是欺騙稅務員，feel cheated是覺得受騙；cheat也常專指在考試、遊戲、比賽中作弊，例如cheat at cards是玩紙牌作弊，cheat in the test / exam是測驗／考試作弊；名詞是cheating。
      2. explicitly (adv) /Ik'splIsItli/，iks-PLISS-sit-lee 明確地、直截了當地
 解讀：形容詞explicit解作明確的、直截了當的，例如instructions should be more explicit（指示應當更明確），副詞便是explicitly，意思相似；explicit(ly)的反義詞是implicit(ly)，解作含蓄的／地、不明確的／地。
      3. plagiarism (n) /'pleIdʒərIzəm/，PLAY-ja-ri-zum 抄襲、剽竊
 解讀：拉丁文plagiarius解作kidnapper（劫持者）、plunderer（搶劫者），變作英文的plagiarist則解作literary thief（文學上的竊賊），泛指抄襲者、剽竊者；名詞plagiarism便解作抄襲、剽竊；動詞是plagiarize / plagiarise，意思相若。