Is studying abroad worth your time?

江苏南菁高级中学 薛海燕

作者简介

薛海燕，江苏省南菁高级中学高级教师，英国安格利亚鲁斯金大学文学硕士，应用语言学和对外英语教学（Applied Linguistics and TESOL）专业，市学科带头人，“四环阅读研究会”常务理事兼核心创作成员，《疯狂英语》高考研究与培训科研组核心成员。主持第十一期江苏省中小学教学研究课题（2015JK11-L037），运用“产出导向法”研究英语的阅读输入与写作输出的结合，屡次应邀到各地做各类分享。实验班学生中有多人获英语各类竞赛全国一等奖；课题组中有多人获优质课全国、省、市一等奖。

悦读贴士

本刊所有文章中注释的词汇均为非课标词汇，无须记忆与理解;在文后注释的词汇为课标词汇，建议同学们将后者整理为词汇掌中宝，以便随带随记。

Step 1感知·阅读导航

话题导入

“留学光环褪去，海归价值何在？”本文由案例、数字表明留学生回国求职遇冷，随即讨论其背后原因，引发留学价值思考。近年来，准备出国读研的中国学生数量持续增长，有意向学成回国工作的约占七成，踩不准国内求职季和缺乏实习经验往往成为海归求职时的绊脚石，但是海外学习所培养的语言能力、交际能力、独立能力和全球化的思维模式帮助海归更好地符合职业诉求。海归求职能否破冰，你对留学怎么看？

本文为社会热点讨论，全文420字，建议用时7分钟。

阅读立意

阅读时应达到以下三个目标：

1.学会讨论一个具体的社会热点问题，理解案例和数字的作用；

2.掌握多角度分析的方法，培养对相关话题进行批判性思维的能力；

3.培养基于同一主题，换角度陈述的能力，掌握原文语言的重组和自我观点的合理表达。

When Guo Shuai graduated from Zhengzhou University in Henan in 2015,he didn’t hesitate topursuean MBA at Fort Hays State University in the United States.

He is just one of many Chinese students following their dreams at foreign universities.

The number of Chinese students studying for master’s degrees overseas continued to rise this year,according to a study released in May by Chinese education consultants New Oriental Vision Overseas and UK marketresearch company Kantar Millward Brown.

According to the study,68 percent of all those planning to study abroad this year want to study for master’s degrees or above,which is 8 percent higher than last year.

And about 78 percent of those planning to study abroad choose to return to China to work,either after finishing their overseas studies or after working abroad for a while.

However,different from decades ago,a foreign degree no longer guarantees a graduate a well-paid job.

According to a 2017 study by the Center for China and Globalization (CCG),a Beijingbased think tank（智囊团）,about 45 percent of Chinese graduates with a foreign degree get a starting salary of less than 6,000 yuan per month.And nearly 70 percent of them think their salary doesn’t meet their expectation.

For example,Lucy Liu,a woman from Beijing,felt disappointed after being interviewed by a famous film studio in Beijing.She had just finished her postgraduate studies in documentary production at New York University in the US.

“The pay would be 150,000 yuan for one documentary,and at best I could finish one documentary a year,”Liu told South China Morning Post.

“After spending so much money on my studies,I couldn’t accept that pay,” said Liu.She spent about one million yuan in tuition and living expenses while studying abroad.

Worse still,it takes over four months for over 50 percent of returned students to land a job,and only 20 percent get job offers before graduation,according to Qi Bin,vice-general manager of Haiwei Career Services,a company that specializes in employment for returnees.

Two major reasons are that they often miss the main job-seeking seasons whilethey’re abroad and they lack internship experience,Qi told China Daily.

However,it doesn’t mean studying overseas is completely useless.On the contrary,it could provide students with good language and communication skills,an independent character and a global mindset,which are important for their career development,according to Qi.

“Studying overseas cannot guarantee everything,but foreign-educated students have great potential,and at some point their break will come,”Li Qing,a researcher from CCG,told South China Morning Post.

Step 2 实践·文本解读

酷词解码

1.pursue v.继续进行；追求

2.consultant n.顾问；咨询公司

3.guarantee v.保证；担保

4.documentary n.纪录片

5.tuition n.学费

6.mindset n.思维模式

7.on the contrary正相反

立意呈现

Ⅰ.Understand the structure

Complete the table and fill in each blank with only one word according to the text．

【点石成金】社会热点讨论类文本具有鲜明的时代性。本文反映中国学生海外求学和海归求职的最新动向与最新趋势，在诸多的社会矛盾中，该问题比较突出，又普遍存在，关系你我；而且，该社会问题具有挑战性，考验学生的自我选择，应当从本文的对比分析中学习看待问题的多重视角，厘清自己的需求，寻求应变之策。

Ⅱ.Understand the issue

Weigh the advantages and disadvantages carefully．

1．What problems do overseas graduates encounter when seeking jobs back in China?

2．What encourages so many students to further study abroad?

Step 3 运用·读写整合

观点重组

Para.1～5 the current situation

How is the current trend of studying abroad?(Using statistics to support your writing)

Para.6～11 descriptions of the problems and phenomena

Para.12～14 reflections

Comparing the advantages with disadvantages of studying abroad,what’s your choice if possible?

Step 4 提升·素养建构

【写作技巧】

How to write essays on social issue?

● Applying examples&statistics．

● Making comparisons from different perspectives．

● Arousing readers’ reflections．

【读后改写】通过对海归求职难这一热点问题的呈现、根源的分析，以及优劣的对比，我们进行语篇解读，达成了对篇章的概括和理解；通过对该话题的分析和反思，我们做到了感同身受，不禁设身处地地考虑起自己未来的求学方向和职业打算。阅读2007—2017年海归回国意向占比图，了解未来发展趋势。对于是否当一个海归，你是不是也有自己的见解要表达？

写作要求：

1.描述图表中反映的海外求学及回国趋势；

2.呈现海归求职难的问题并进行分析；

3.感同身受，表达自己对海外求学的态度。

According to the bar chart revealing the repatriation rates of overseas students from 2007 to 2017,

【点石成金】范文应用了社会热点讨论的技巧：

1.作比较：分析讨论话题的成因、特点、优劣，以及影响等；

2.举例子：使文章表达的意思更明确，更生动形象，增加信服力；

3.列数字：准确客观地反映事实情况，增强说服力。