7 January, 2014

A new report says more and more international students are attending colleges and universities in the United States. It also notes a large increase in the number of international students from China.

These findings are from the latest Open Doors Report. The report documents the record number of international students in the United States during 2012, 2013 school year. It says more than seven hundred sixty-four thousand four-hundred such students were attending American colleges and universities during the last two years. That represents an increase of almost six percent than one year earlier.

On the other hand, the number of Americans studying overseas (海外) increased by one percent, which reached nineteen thousand this year.

The report says one hundred ninety-four thousand students at American colleges and universities were from

China. That is an increase of more than twenty-three percent over the year before. Peggy Blumenthal, an expert(专家) of international education, described the effect of the increase in Chinese students.

"Now they have been coming for some time. But this year was the highest level ever." She says many Chinese families are able to pay for the highest-quality education for their children. The children mainly choose to study in America.

"We know many of them have enough income to be able to afford to send them anywhere in the world that they want to go. And for the most part, looking around the world, Chinese students still prefer to come to the United States as their choice."

Chinese students are not the only ones who want to attend American colleges and universities. After China, India sends the second largest number of students to the United States for higher education. India has about one hundred thousand students in American schools. South Korea is third with about seventy two thousand students.

Why do so many foreign students study in the United States? Peggy Blumenthal provides one reason.

"The advantage America has is that we have a huge system and a very perfect system. So there are over four thousand universities and colleges in the United States. Among them are some top ones in the world, and what that tells us is there is still a lot of room to host international students."

Foreign students represent less than four percent of the total student population in American higher education. And from Learning English, that's the VOA Special English Education Report. I'm Bob Doughty. Thanks for listening.

1.Bob Doughty seems to be ________.

A. an exchange student from the USA         

B. an expert of international education

C. a viewer of VOA                             

D. a reporter from VOA

2.Which country below has the fewest students studying overseas?

A. South Korea              B. India                   C. China           D. America

3.Which is NOT the reason why so many Chinese students go to the USA for further study?

A. Lots of Chinese families are able to pay for the highest-quality education for their children

B. The USA has a huge and a very perfect education system.

C. There is a lot of room to host international students in the USA.

D. The USA has some top universities and colleges in the world.

4.Which of the following statement is true?

A. China has 122,000 more students than South Korea at American colleges and universities.

B. The number of Americans studying overseas is becoming smaller and smaller.

C. The number of Asian students has an increase of 6% over the past two years.

D. Most of the international students in the United States are Chinese.

5.This passage from VOA Special English is most likely to be ________.

A. An advertisement          B. A radio programme  C. A science report           D. A tour guide

In every little girl's toy box. there might be a Barbie Doll. Barbie is 50 years old this, year. It was designed(设计)in 1959 by an American businesswoman named Ruth Handler. She and her husband Elliott started the toy company Mattel. She named the new doll after their daughter Barbara. The first Barbie Doll appeared at the toy fair（交易会）New York on March 9th, 1959. This date is used as Barbie's birthday.

    Mattel sold three hundred thousand Barbie Dolls in the first year at a price of three dollars. Today, a fifty-year-old Barbie in good condition might cost more than twenty-seven thousand dollars. Mattel says 90% of the girls in the United States aged from three to ten own at least one Barbie Doll. And girls aged three to six own an average（平均）of about twelve.

 When Mattel created Barbie Dolls half a century ago, they never thought this doll would become a legend. Now Barbie Dolls are famous all over the world. They are sold in one hundred and fifty countries, and every second three Barbie Dolls are sold around the world.

1.Who designed the first Barbie Doll in 1959?

      A. Mattel.          B. Elliott.          C. Barbara.        D. Ruth Handler.

2.A Barbie D011 cost _______dollars in the first year after it appeared.

      A. 3               B. 50             C. 90             D. 27,000

3.What does the underlined word “legend” mean in the passage?

      A.传播            B.传奇            C. 传承          D.传达

4.The writer doesn't tell us _______.

     A. Barbie Dolls are very popular with girls    B. Barbie Dolls sell well around the world

     C. what the first Barbie Doll was based on    D. the doll Barbie was named after Barbara

5.What's the best title of the passage? ______.

      A. Barbie's birthday                     B. Barbie Dolls

      C. A lovely girl named Barbie             D. Why are Barbies popular

----What did you see on the large farm last Sunday?

----Oh, I saw about three ________ hens and _________ of eggs.

A．hundred; hundreds                     B．hundreds; thousands

C．thousands; thousand                     D．hundred; thousand