Universities Branch Out
From their student bodies to their research practices, universities are becoming more global.
By Richard Levin
As never before in their long history, universities have become instruments of national competition as well as instruments of peace. They are the locus of the scientific discoveries that move economies forward, and the primary means of educating the talent required to obtain and maintain competitive advantage. But at the same time, the opening of national borders to the flow of goods, services, information and especially people has made universities a powerful force for global integration, mutual understanding and geopolitical stability.
In response to the same forces that have propelled the world economy, universities have become more self-consciously global: seeking students from around the world who represent the entire spectrum of cultures and values, sending their own students abroad to prepare them for global careers, offering courses of study that address the challenges of an interconnected world and collaborative research programs to advance science for the benefit of all humanity.
Of the forces shaping higher education none is more sweeping than the movement across borders. Over the past three decades the number of students leaving home each year to study abroad has grown at an annual rate of 3.9 percent, from 800,000 in 1975 to 2.5 million in 2004. Most travel from one developed nation to another, but the flow from developing to developed countries is growing rapidly. The reverse flow, from developed to developing countries, is on the rise, too. Today foreign students earn 30 percent of the doctoral degrees awarded in the United States and 38 percent of those in the United Kingdom. And the number crossing borders for undergraduate study is growing as well, to 8 percent of the undergraduates at America's Ivy League institutions and 10 percent of all undergraduates in the U.K. In the United States, 20 percent of newly hired professors in science and engineering are foreign-born, and in China the vast majority of newly hired faculty at the top research universities received their graduate education abroad.
What are the consequences of these shifts among the highly educated? Consider this: on the night after the attacks on the World Trade Center, Jewish students at Yale (most of them American) came together with Muslim students (most of them foreign) to organize a vigil. Or this: every year the student-run Forum for American/Chinese Exchange at Stanford (FACES) organizes conferences in both China and at Stanford, bringing together students from both countries chosen to discuss Sino-U. S. relations with leading experts. The leaders of student groups promoting international collaboration are in touch with each other daily via e-mail and Skype, technologies that not only facilitate cooperative projects but also increase the likelihood of creating lifelong personal ties. The bottom line: the flow of students across national borders-- students who are disproportionately likely to become leaders in their home countries-- enables deeper mutual understanding, tolerance and global integration.
As part of this, universities are encouraging students to spend some of their undergraduate experience in another country. In Europe, more than 140,000 students participate in the Erasmus program each year, taking courses for credit in one of 2,200 participating institutions across the continent. And in the United States, institutions are mobilizing their alumni to help place students in summer internships abroad to prepare them for global careers. Yale and Harvard have led the way, off
A. Y
B. N
C. NG
听力原文:W: It looks like I'm going to be a little late for class. I hope Prof. Clark doesn't start on time today.
M: Are you kidding? You can set your watch by the start of his class.
Q: What can be inferred about Prof. Clark?
(16)
A. He rarely noticed when students are late.
B. He is usually punctual.
C. He advised his students to wear watches to class.
D. He has been unpredictable.
According to preliminary market surveys, there are 10,000 would-be space tourists willing to spend $1 million each to visit the final frontier. Space Adventures in Arlington have taken more than 130 deposits for a two-hour, $98,000 space tour tentatively set to occur by 2005. This may sound great, but there are a few hurdles: Putting a simple satellite into orbit--with no oxygen, lift: support or return trip necessary—already costs an astronomical $2,200/kg. And that doesn't include the cost of insuring rich and possibly litigious (爱打官司的) passengers. The entire group of entrepreneurs trying to comer the space- tourism market has between them "just enough money to blow up one rocket".
The U.S. space agency has plenty of money but zero interest in making space less expensive for the little guys. So the little guys are racing to do what the government has failed to do: design a reusable launch system that's inexpensive, safe and reliable. Kelly Space's prototype looks like a plane that has sprouted rocket engines. Rotary Rocket in California has a booster with rotors to make a helicopter-style. return to earth. The first passenger countdowns arc still years away, but bureaucrats at the Federal Aviation Administration in Washington arc already informally discussing flight regulations. After all, you can't be too prepared for a trip to that galaxy far, far away.
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A. Take Vacations in Space
Building Hotels in Space
C. Flight Regulations in Space Travels
D. Cost of Space Traveling
听力原文:M: If you would like to go out for dinner tonight, I'll make reservations.
W: Thanks, John, but I told mother I'd take her shopping.
Q: What is the woman going to do tonight?
(19)
A. To go shopping.
B. To go out for dinner.
C. To make reservations.
D. To talk to her mother.