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Universities Branch Out
As never before in their long history, universitieshave become instruments
of national competitionas well as instruments of peace. They are the placeof the
scientific discoveries that move economiesforward, and the primary means of
educating the talent required to obtain and maintaincompetitive advantage. But
at the same time, the opening of national borders to the flow ofgoods, services,
information and especially people has made universities a powerful force
forglobal integration, mutual understanding and geopolitical stability.
In response to the same forces that have driven the world economy,
universities have becomemore self-consciously global: seeking students form
around the world who represent theentire range of cultures and values, sending
their own students abroad to prepare them forglobal careers, offering courses of
study that address the challenges of an interconnectedworld and collaborative
(合作的) research programs to advance science for the benefit of allhumanity.
Of the forces shaping higher education none is more sweeping than the
movement acrossborders. Over the past three decades the number of students
leaving home each year to studyabroad has grown at an annual rate of 3.9
percent, from 800,000 in 1975 to 2.5 million in2004. Most travel from one
developed nation to another, but the flow from developing todeveloped countries
is growing rapidly. The reverse flow, from developed to developingcountries, is
on the rise, too. Today foreign students earn 30 percent of the doctoral
degreesawarded in the United States and 38 percent of those in the United
Kingdom. And the numbercrossing borders for undergraduate study is growing as
well, to 8 percent of the undergraduatesat America’s best institutions and 10
percent of all undergraduates in the U.K. In the UnitedStates, 20 percent of the
newly hired professors in science and engineering are foreign-born, and in China
many newly hired faculty members at the top research universities received
theirgraduate education abroad.
Universities are also encouraging students to spend some of their
undergraduate years inanother country. In Europe, more than 140,000 students
participate in the Erasmus programeach year, taking courses for credit in one of
2,200 participating institutions across thecontinent. And in the United States,
institutions are helping place students in summerinternships (实习) abroad to
prepare them for global careers. Yale and Harvard have led theway, offering
every undergraduate at least one international study or internship
opportunity-and providing the financial resources to make it possible.
Globalization is also reshaping the way research is done. One new trend
involves sourcingportions of a research program to another country. Yale
professor and Howard Hughes MedicalInstitute investigator Tian Xu directs a
research center focused on the genetics of humandisease at Shanghai’s Fudan
University, in collaboration with faculty colleagues from bothschools. The
Shanghai center has 95 employees and graduate students working in a
4,300-square-meter laboratory facility. Yale faculty, postdoctors and graduate
students visit regularlyand attend videoconference seminars with scientists from
both campuses. The arrangementbenefits both countries; Xu’s Yale lab is more
productive, thanks to the lower costs ofconducting research in china, and
Chinese graduate students, postdoctors and faculty get on-the-job training from
a world-class scientist and his U.S. team.
As a result of its strength in science, the United States has consistently
led the world in thecommercialization of major new technologies, from the
mainframe computer and the integratedcircuit of the 1960s to the Internet
infrastructure (基础设施) and applications software of the1990s. The link between
university-based science and industrial application is often indirectbut
sometimes highly visible: Silicon Valley was intentionally created by Stanford
University, and Route 128 outside Boston has long housed companies spun off from
MIT and Harvard. Around the world, governments have encouraged copying of this
model, perhaps mostsuccessfully in Cambridge, England, where Microsoft and
scores of other leading software andbiotechnology companies have set up shop
around the university.
For all its success, the United States remains deeply hesitant about
sustaining the research-university model. Most politician recognize the link
between investment in science andnational economic strength, but support for
research funding has been unsteady. The budgetof the National Institutes of
Health doubled between 1998 and 2003, but has risen more slowlythan inflation
since then. Support for the physical sciences and engineering barely kept
pacewith inflation during that same period. The attempt to make up lost ground
is welcome, butthe nation would be better served by steady, predictable
increases in science funding at therate of long-term GDP growth, which is on the
order of inflation plus 3 percent per year.
American politicians have great difficulty recognizing that admitting more
foreign students cangreatly promote the national interest by increasing
international understanding. Adjusted forinflation, public funding for
international exchanges and foreign-language study is well belowthe levels of 40
years ago. In the wake of September 11, changes in the visa process caused
adramatic decline in the number of foreign students seeking admission to U.S.
Universities, and a corresponding surge in enrollments in Australia, Singapore
and the U.K. Objections fromAmerican university and business leaders led to
improvements in the process and a reversal ofthe decline, but the United States
is still seen by many as unwelcoming to internationalstudents.
Most Americans recognize that universities contribute to the nation’s
well-being through theirscientific research, but many fear that foreign students
threaten American competitivenessby taking their knowledge and skills back home.
They fail to grasp that welcoming foreignstudents to the United States has two
important positive effects: first, the very best of themstay in the States and
–like immigrants throughout history-strengthen the nation; and second, foreign
students who study in the United States become ambassadors for many of its
mostcherished (珍视) values when they return home. Or at least they understand
them better. InAmerica as elsewhere, few instruments of foreign policy are as
effective in promoting peaceand stability as welcoming international university
students.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
46. An example illustrating the general trend of universities globalization
is Yale’scollaboration with Fudan University on genetic research.
47. Silicon Valley was intentionally created by Stanford University.
48. The U. S. federal funding has been unsteady for years for research.
49. The dramatic decline in the enrollment of foreign students in the U. S.
after September 11 was caused by changes in the visa process.
50. Many Americans fear that American competitiveness may be threatened by
foreignstudents who will take their knowledge and skills back home.
51. From the first paragraph we know that present-day universities have
become a powerfulforce for global integration.
52. Over the past three decades, the enrollment of overseas students has
increased at anannual rate of 3.9 percent.
53. The policy of welcoming foreign students can benefit the U. S. in that
the very best ofthem will stay and strengthen the nation.
54. In the United States, 20% of the newly hired professors in science and
engineering areforeign born.
55. Yale and Harvard give their undergraduates chances for international
study or internshipprepare for global careers.
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发表于 2017-12-8 20:19:05