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Universities Branch Out

As never before in their long history, universities have become instruments of national competition as well as instruments of peace. They are the place 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 driven the world economy, universities have become more self-consciously global: seeking students form around the world who represent the entire range 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 (合作的) 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 best institutions and 10 percent of all undergraduates in the U.K. In the United States, 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 their graduate education abroad.

Universities are also encouraging students to spend some of their undergraduate years 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 helping place students in summer internships (实习) abroad to prepare them for global careers. Yale and Harvard have led the way, 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 sourcing portions of a research program to another country. Yale professor and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Tian Xu directs a research center focused on the genetics of human disease at Shanghai’s Fudan University, in collaboration with faculty colleagues from both schools. 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 regularly and attend videoconference seminars with scientists from both campuses. The arrangement benefits both countries; Xu’s Yale lab is more productive, thanks to the lower costs of conducting 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 the commercialization of major new technologies, from the mainframe computer and the integrated circuit of the 1960s to the Internet infrastructure (基础设施) and applications software of the 1990s. The link between university-based science and industrial application is often indirect but 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 most successfully in Cambridge, England, where Microsoft and scores of other leading software and biotechnology 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 and national economic strength, but support for research funding has been unsteady. The budget of the National Institutes of Health doubled between 1998 and 2003, but has risen more slowly than inflation since then. Support for the physical sciences and engineering barely kept pace with inflation during that same period. The attempt to make up lost ground is welcome, but the nation would be better served by steady, predictable increases in science funding at the rate 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 can greatly promote the national interest by increasing international understanding. Adjusted for inflation, public funding for international exchanges and foreign-language study is well below the levels of 40 years ago. In the wake of September 11, changes in the visa process caused a dramatic 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 from American university and business leaders led to improvements in the process and a reversal of the decline, but the United States is still seen by many as unwelcoming to international students.

Most Americans recognize that universities contribute to the nation’s well-being through their scientific research, but many fear that foreign students threaten American competitiveness by taking their knowledge and skills back home. They fail to grasp that welcoming foreign students to the United States has two important positive effects: first, the very best of them stay 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 most cherished (珍视) values when they return home. Or at least they understand them better. In America as elsewhere, few instruments of foreign policy are as effective in promoting peace and 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’s collaboration 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 foreign students who will take their knowledge and skills back home.

51. From the first paragraph we know that present-day universities have become a powerful force for global integration.

52. Over the past three decades, the enrollment of overseas students has increased at an annual rate of 3.9 percent.

53. The policy of welcoming foreign students can benefit the U. S. in that the very best of them will stay and strengthen the nation.

54. In the United States, 20% of the newly hired professors in science and engineering are foreign born.

55. Yale and Harvard give their undergraduates chances for international study or internship prepare for global careers.
参考答案
【参考答案】

46. E)本题考査大学全球化趋势的^个实例，是本次四级考试快速阅读中较难的一题。文章E段 开头指出“全球化同时也正在重新塑造研究的途径”,然后以耶鲁大学的教授兼Howard Hughes医 学院研究员Tian Xu为例，讲述了耶鲁大学与复旦大学合作进行人类疾病基因研究的情况,信息 词为 general trend of globalization.与题干相符，因此选 E。

47. F)由文章 F 段的 The link between university-based science and industrial application is often indirect but 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•可知 与题干相符，因此选F。

48. G)在文章的 G 段，the United States remains deeply hesitant about sustaining the research-univer-sity model. Most politicians recognize the link between investment in science and national economic strength, but support for research funding has been unsteady.作者指出美国对研究型大学的支持 非常犹豫。大多数政客认识到支持科研有助于提高国家的经济实力（economic strength),但是对 科研的资助却一直不稳定。与题干相符，因此选G。

49. H)本题定位在 H 段,Adjusted for inflation，public funding for international exchanges and foreign-language study is well below the levels of 40 years ago. In the wake of September 11，changes in the visa process caused a dramatic 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. 与题干相符，因此选H。

50. I 由题干定位 I 段首句 Most Americans recognize that universities contribute to the nation’s well being through their scientific research, but many fear that foreign students threaten American competitiveness by taking their knowledge and skills back home.与题干相符，因此选 L

51. A)定位文章的 A 段，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。指出，随着国境的开放而涌人的商品、 服务、信息，尤其是人员，这一切使得大学成为推动全球一体化、相互理解和地理政治稳定的强大 力量，与题干相符，因此选A。

52. C)本题题干考査过去三十年中，海外学生的入学人数增长了多少。信息词为past three decade^ 和 enrollment of overseas students。文章 C 段第二句相符，因此选 C。

53. I)由文章的I段，作者指出大多数美国人没有能认识到，欢迎外国学生在英国求学有两个好处， 其中之一是加强了国家的实力(strengthen the nation)0与题干相符，因此选I。

54. C)...由题干定位文章 C 段的 20 percent of the newly hired professors in science and engineering-are foreign-born，与题干几乎完全一致，因此选C。

55. 在文章 D.段后两句，.And in the United States, institutions are helping place students in summer internships abroad to prepare them for global careers. Yale and Harvard have led the way, offering every undergraduate at least one international study or internship opportunity and providing the financial resources to make it possible.作者介绍美国的大学安排学生暑假到国外实习，像耶鲁大 学和哈佛大学至少会给学生安排一次到国外学习或实习的机会，并会提供经济支持，与题干相符， 因此选D。