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

 

根据短文内容，选择正确答案
Many people like traveling during their vacation. They go to mountains, seaside, or forests. Some people like history so they like to visit old castles  (城堡), museums and monuments  (纪念, 碑). In many foreign countries, the travel agent (旅行社) can help you plan your holiday. You can tell the travel agent what kind of holiday you like, how much money you want to spend, and the travel agent will give you a lot of information about where to go, how to get there, where to stay, and what kind of activities you can do there. One of the holidays is called "package holiday". That is, you just pay the money, and the travel agent will plan everything for you, the ticket for the train or plane, the hotel, the activities, etc.
【小题1】Package holiday means                    

A．you have a package with you when you travel

B．you can travel everywhere and stop where you want

C．you pay your money and you don’t have to think about anything at all

D．you travel with nothing

【小题2】Some people like to visit old castles because they like         

A．fresh air

B．history

C．camping

D．traveling

【小题3】         can help you plan your holiday.

A．Your family

B．Many people

C．Nobody

D．Travel agent

【小题4】Package holiday is        

A．cheap

B．expensive

C．boring

D．easy

【小题5】If you plan to go, on a package holiday, you should tell the travel agent   

A．how much money you want to spend

B．how the weather is

C．what kind of holiday you like

D．both A and C

根据短文内容判断（T）误(F)。

Once there was a king(国王) of England who had a large army（军队）. He couldn’t get as many soldiers（士兵） as he wanted in England, so many of them came from abroad（国外）.And some of them were unable(不能的)to speak English. Whenever the king came to inspect（视察）his army and talked to the soldiers, he always asked the same three questions, “How old are you? How long have you been in my army? Are your parents still alive（活着）?” The officers always made sure that all the soldiers knew the right answers to these questions.

One day the king was inspecting some of his soldiers. He walked down the lines, stopping here and there to speak to one of the men. He stopped in front of the foreign soldiers. This man couldn’t speak English, but he knew by heart(记在心中) the answers to the king’s three questions.

“ How long have been in my army?”

“ Twenty-three years,” said the soldier.

The king seemed surprised，（惊讶的）“And how old are you?”

“ Six months, sir,” was the reply.

The king began to get angry, “ One of us must be mad（疯的）,” he said. “Is it you or me?”

“ Both（两个都）, sir,” said the soldier.

1.The king of England had a lot of soldiers.

2.Some of the soldiers were not English men.

3.All the soldiers could speak English very well.

4.Whenever the king came to inspect his army, he always asked the soldiers the same three questions.

5.This foreign soldier answered the king’s questions quite right.

 

At present, more and more people are crazy about travelling. Why do people travel?  “To see more of the world,” many people would say. But travelling abroad now means much more than that for the growing number of Chinese tourists. Of course it offers us good opportunities to meet people from other countries, learn about their culture and customs.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), more than 1 billion people travelled to another country in 2012. In 2012, Chinese people travelled abroad 30 percent more than in 2011. The prosperity (繁荣) of the tourism industry can also bring both our country and foreign countries great economic benefits (经济利益). Chinese people usually join large tourist groups and visit several countries in one trip.

Chinese people don’t just travel for sightseeing. The China International Travel Service Company said that all their tour trips sold out a month before Christmas Day. Stores offered discounts (打折) during that time, so shopping in Europe and the United States is popular among Chinese travellers.

In December, China is going through a very cold winter. So many people like to go to some countries in Southeast Asia because the weather there is quite pleasant.

The improvement of living standards means more Chinese can travel abroad. But many of them don’t have a sense of public manners. A report by Living Social website in March 2012 even listed Chinese as the world’s second worst tourists.

If you want to change that bad name, remember to avoid the following: littering, spitting, snatching bus seats, line-jumping, taking off shoes in public, talking loudly and smoking in non-smoking areas. Besides, we should learn some necessary manners of foreign countries.

1.Chinese people travel abroad not to _________.

A. go shopping                                            B. see more of the world

C. go sightseeing                                         D. make money

2.According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, ________.

A. 30% of the people who travelled abroad are Chinese

B. the number of people who travelled abroad rose by 30%

C. more than 1 billion people travelled abroad in 2012

D. more than 1 billion Chinese people travelled abroad in 2012

3.Which of the following is NOT true about Chinese people? _________

A. Chinese people like joining large tourist groups.

B. Many Chinese like to go to Southeast Asia in winter for sightseeing.

C. More and more Chinese people can travel abroad now.

D. Chinese are the second worst tourists in the world.

4.As a good tourist, you should ________.

A. litter and spit here and there

B. jump the line and take off the shoes in public

C. have a sense of public manners

D. speak loudly and smoke as you like

5.What’s the best title of the passage? __________

A. Travelling                                                      B. Travelling abroad

C. Chinese tourists                                                D. Chinese people like travelling