Put off by US,Chinese students eye other universities

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海词积累

1. chilling /΄t∫ɪlɪŋ/ adj. 吓人的；可怕的

2. slash /slæ∫/ v. 大幅度削减

3. duration /dju΄reɪ∫n/ n. 持续时间

4. recruitment /rɪ΄kruːtmənt/ n. 招募

5. pipeline /΄paɪplaɪn/ n. 管道；渠道

Caught in the US-China trade war， Chinese students are looking for other study destinations—threatening to turn off an important source of revenue for American universities.

China accounts for nearly a third of foreign students on US campuses who pour billions of dollars into the economy， but their numbers dropped for the first time in a decade in March，2019. Visa delays， concerns over being shut out of research projects and safety fears have turned off Chinese students， according to several admissions consultancies and nearly a dozen parents and students interviewed by AFP. Rival education powerhouses such as Britain， Australia and Canada are the biggest beneficiaries， a survey by New Oriental， China's biggest private education provider said.

Thechillingeffect started mid-last year，after President Donald Trump's administrationslashedthe visadurationof students in science and technology fields from five years to one in some cases.

Over one third of the roughly 360，000 Chinese students in the US study in “STEM fields”—science， technology， engineering and mathematics—according to the Institute of International Education in New York. But the number of Chinese students in the US decreased by two percent in March compared to the previous year， which was the first drop since 2009， data from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows.

Melissa Zhang， a high school senior in Beijing， said she had abandoned plans to go to the US and was instead taking German lessons，in the hope of getting into a robotics programme in Dresden. Her mother said the American dream is losing its shine to many Chinese students， adding that if America makes them feel unwelcome， they'll go elsewhere and this generation feels the whole world is open to them.

Chinese students contributed $13 billion to the US economy last year， a figure that includes tuition fees and living expenses， according to NAFSA. Top US universities including Yale and Stanford have complained that the trade war has affected campusrecruitment.

“Thepipelineis drying up，” said Dorothy Mae， an independent college consultant in Beijing. “US universities will see fewer students from China for several years.”

—From AFP

Reading Check

Answer the following questions according to the text.

1. What may cause Chinese students to choose other study destinations?

2. When did the number of students studying in the US start to drop for the first time?

3. How many Chinese students in the US study in “STEM fields”?

4. What might Melissa Zhang want to learn in Dresden?_

5. How much economic benefit did Chinese students bring to the US economy last year?

Language Study

Sentence for writing

在整个美国留学生总数中，中国留学生占据了将近三分之一，他们给美国经济创造了巨大的经济价值，但是中国赴美国留学的人数在2019 年3 月出现了近十年来的首次下降。

China___________ ___________nearly a third of foreign students on US campuses who pour billions of dollars into the economy， but their numbers dropped for the first time in a decade in March， 2019.