2011 Education Expo

These days, more and more Chinese high school graduates going abroad to pursue a college degree. So, foreign institutions are doing all they can to recruit students.

Many schools are attending the annual China Education Expo in Beijing, which opened last weekend. They expect to receive throngs¹ of students and parents to pick up the foreign schools that most suit their budget.

Liumin has the story.

 
The China Education Expo was held at the World Trade Center on Oct. 15th and 16th in Beijing. More than five hundred colleges and institutions from over thirty countries and regions attended, all hoping to lure² Chinese students.

Sun Shanxue, a member of the Beijing Municipal Education Commission says,

"This is an opportunity for overseas schools to expand their presence. I hope the market for studying overseas can become more rational. I hope it will allow students to not only consider only the most elite³ schools as well provide them with more choices."

While hot destinations like the US, Britain, Australia, Canada, France, Germany and Japan each have an exhibition area, countries new to the event such as Argentina, Italy, Denmark, and South Korea also set up booths to draw applicants⁴.

The Australian exhibition area, which in the past has attracted less interested, attracted lots of people this year, because a new policy writes off one year's worth of deposit money for overseas students, which saves each of them 200 thousand Yuan. One exhibitor with the Australian college introduces other policies.

"From now on, IELTS scores are not necessarily needed when they apply for an Australian college or institution. We also add an employment visa, that is to say, if you've got a bachelor or higher degrees in Australia, you can have an employment visa for two to four years."

The US has always been the most desired overseas study destination for Chinese students. At the moment, 137 thousand Chinese students are studying in America, which constitutes 53% of the total Chinese overseas students. What's more, according to an exhibitor with an American university, the spike⁵ in the exchange rates of RMB against the US dollar has saved these students lots of money.

"During my last check on the exchange rate it was about 6.38. The yuan is clearly revalued against the dollar. Normally, the tuition for a regular public university is 35 to 40 thousand US dollars a year. Under the latest exchange rate, students will spend 30 thousand yuan less every year."

Driven by the bilateral⁶ economical cooperation between China and South American countries, colleges and institutions in these countries are increasingly popular in recent years. And students who plan to study in South American countries are more likely to have a clear career plan.

"Nowadays, China does a lot of trade with South American countries. I often check out the recruitment information on the internet, and I find out that the people who can speak Spanish are in large demand, that is one of the reasons that I'm interested in South American universities."

But one thing the students should keep in mind is that some excellent private colleges in South America are not accredited⁷ by the Chinese Ministry⁸ of Education. Therefore experts suggest that they should have full knowledge of the college before they decide to go there.

Due to the depressed⁹ economy, many western countries have cut the education funding for universities, therefore the colleges and institutions have to increase the number of overseas students in order to make ends meet. But the overseas students have to get a job if they want to stay, which is a big challenge in their sluggish¹⁰ economies.

For CRI, this is Liumin.

1 throngs   

n.人群( throng的名词复数 )v.成群，挤满( throng的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She muscled through the throngs of people, frantically searching for David. 她使劲挤过人群，拼命寻找戴维。 来自辞典例句
• Our friends threaded their way slowly through the throngs upon the Bridge. 我们这两位朋友在桥上从人群中穿过，慢慢地往前走。 来自辞典例句

2 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

3 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

4 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

5 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

6 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

7 accredited   

adj.可接受的；可信任的；公认的；质量合格的v.相信( accredit的过去式和过去分词 )；委托；委任；把…归结于

参考例句：

• The discovery of distillation is usually accredited to the Arabs of the 11th century. 通常认为，蒸馏法是阿拉伯人在11世纪发明的。
• Only accredited journalists were allowed entry. 只有正式认可的记者才获准入内。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

10 sluggish   

adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的

参考例句：

• This humid heat makes you feel rather sluggish.这种湿热的天气使人感到懒洋洋的。
• Circulation is much more sluggish in the feet than in the hands.脚部的循环比手部的循环缓慢得多。