对话口译译文如下：

Visiting the University Town

Mr. Chen: Mr. Johnson, now we have entered the Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, also known as the Guangzhou University Town. It is positioned as the first-class higher learning institution park in the whole nation, the center for advanced talents cultivation, scientific research and academic exchanges in South China and a new urban area in line with the market economic system in the 21st century as well as Guangzhou's position as an internationalized regional center.

约翰逊：我此次访问广州，在参观几所本地大学的时候，听到了许多关于广州大学城的情况。陈主任，这地方看上去非常不错。我特别喜欢大学城被珠江环绕。看上去它座落于一个小岛上面，是吗？

Mr. Chen: Exactly! The Guangzhou University Town locates on Xiaoguwei Island 20 kilometers south to the center of urban Guangzhou. 3 years ago, Xiaoguwei Island nothing more than an island in the Pearl River, unknown to the general public of Guangzhou. In March 2001, this island, together with the 43.3 square kilometers of land on its south bank became the land planned for the Guangzhou University Town.Construction started here in October 2003 and only 10 months later, in August2004, the first stage of the construction project was completed. After the end of August that year, more than 38,000 students and 4000 teachers moved by groups into their respective campuses in the University Town and started the new academic year.

约翰逊：我简直无法相信这座大学城的工程仅仅用了十个月时间！这是又一个极具说服力的例子，证明了中国的发展速度。你们确实创造了许多奇迹。我就读于英国剑桥大学，我的母校也被称为“大学城”，但和你们的大学城相比规模小多了。广州大学城共有多少所大学？

Mr. Chen: The University Town is home to ten major higher learning institutions in Guangdong Province, namely， Sun Yat-Sen University, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, South China Normal University, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Xinghai Conservatory of Music, and Guangdong Pharmaceutical University. Within the University Town, high degrees of teaching and information resource sharing can be achieved.

约翰逊：不错！大学城集中了文科和理科的院校，一定能够创建全面而广泛的教育体系。这对学生绝对是个好消息。//建设如此大规模的大学城，地方政府一定投入巨大。如果没有政府的支持，是很难取得如此大的成绩的。

Mr. Chen: In recent years, it has been a fashion throughout China to build university towns. In the construction of the Guangzhou University Town, we have not only drawn from others' successful experiences,, but also learned from those not so successful examples. The Guangzhou Municipal Government has made huge investment of up to 32 billion yuan. With such a large investment, 18 square kilometers of construction site in the first stage of the project and over 2,300,000 square kilometers of campus and urban facilities under construction, the construction of the University Town is equal to that of a medium size city.

约翰逊：听起来很不简单！陈主任，我想知道广州市政府为什么决定要建设如此巨大的工程。您知道，我参观过中山大学、华南理工大学和广东外语外贸大学。这些大学都很大，而且校园和校舍设计很精良。那为什么地方政府还要做如此大的投入，来兴建大学城呢？

Mr. Chen: That's a good question! The main reason for building such a university town is that higher education in Guangdong Province has achieved great leaps forward in recent years. Since China's reform and opening-up, Guangdong has created many miracles in its economic and social development. However, the province still lags behind in terms of the proportion of university students in the total population. Take 2002 as an example, gross enrolment rate of higher learning institutions was on 15.3% in Guangdong, only 0.3% over the national average and much lower than 25% in Jiangsu Province and 20% in Zhejiang Province. This is certainly not in conformity with Guangdong's position as a major economic power in China.In the past few years, our province has attached great importance to the development of higher education. In 2003, gross enrolment rate of higher learning institutions increased to 17.5%. and in 2004, with the completion of the University Town, this figure was close to 20%, which was set as the goal for Guangdong's higher education development plan for 2005.Higher learning institutions throughout the province admitted 278,000 students, 50,000 more than 2003. To solve the ensuing problems brought about by this sharp increase of higher education scale, we realized that constructing the University Town is our best option.

约翰逊：我明白了。我认为你们做出了明智的选择。对任何一个政府而言，直面存在的问题并且妥善处理，都不是一件容易的事情。广东省政府和广州市政府显然拿出了魄力来解决高等教育的问题。入学率的提升是非常显著的。我预言广东省不仅将维持其经济强省的地位，也会在不久的将来成为高等教育大省。

Mr. Chen: I really appreciate your prediction. However, at present, the University Town still faces some problems. For example, with the second stage of construction underway, libraries and sports facilities are mostly lacking. Some dormitories still has irregular Internet connecting services and even water supplies. The whole University Town seems quite deserted. Since it is 40 minutes' to an hour's bus ride away from downtown Guangzhou, students and teachers find it quite inconvenient to travel into and out of the University Town.

约翰逊：陈主任，这不奇怪。如此大规模的工程是非常复杂的。不过，好的开端是成功的一半。我相信在你们的努力下，大学城的进展一定会越来越顺利。

Mr. Chen: I totally agree with you, Mr. Johnson. We are working hard to solve these problems. In terms of transportation, we have already started 12 bus lines within the island and 12 bus lines linking the island with the outside. The second stage of construction, which involves up to 2,800,000 square meters, was started in early July 2004 and is expected to have been completed by the end of 2005. At that time, the University Town will further accommodate 140,000 to 150,000 students. The construction projects of stadiums, gymnasiums and cultural facilities of various higher learning institutions is scheduled to start in early 2005 and complete and the end of the year.

约翰逊：我刚说过，广东人民创造了许多奇迹。你们还有很多工作要做，我祝你们好运！