There are more than a quarter of a million students from China in colleges in the United States - a third of all international students in the country - and almost a fivefold(5倍的速率) increase since 2000. Why do so many now come to study in the US?

More choice

Jayden chose the UIUC(伊利诺伊大学香槟分校) without ever having been to the US. He turned down an offer at a Chinese university in Shanghai because a Western education offered him the freedom to choose his focus of study.

That is representative of a number of Chinese students. They want to get out of a schooling system that uses test scores to determine the subjects students will take, which makes it difficult to change once these have been assigned.

‘One-child’ generation 

There are other non-academic factors fuelling the spike(大潮) in students going to the US, such as the expansion of China's middle class and policies on families.

Charles Tucker, vice provost(教务长) at UIUC, points out that "children who were born under the one-child policy are now of college-educated age… and changes in the Chinese economy have promoted individual wealth in families".

Family savings

Xuran (Sherry) Peng, one of the students from China, says her parents had to use a large part of their savings to send her to UIUC.

They believe it is an investment that will benefit her entire family, including her six-year-old half brother.

"I feel like it's part of my responsibility to earn the tuition for him, because my parents actually have the big wish that both of us can finish our education in the US and probably work in the US in the future," she says.

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1.How many international students are there in the United States?

A 0.25 million

B 0.75 million

C 1 million

D 0.15 million

解析：选B。B。细节理解题。由第一段可知, 中国留学生有a quarter即四分之一，也就说有0.25million中国留学生，而这个数目占了美国全部留学生的三分之一，这样推算出总数为0.75million。

2.Why did Jayden choose to study in the United States?

A Because he was turned down at a Chinese university.

B Because it is free to choose what he likes to study.

C Because he is a representative of Chinese students.

D Because the test scores determined his choice of subjects.

解析：选B。B。细节理解题。由第2段第2句可知...offered him the freedom to choose his focus of study. 故选 B。

3.The underlined word “assign” in paragraph 3 probably means_____.

A admitted

B bought

C completed

D chosen

解析：选D。D。词义猜测题。这里说美国大学选课自由，而中国是根据高考分数，一旦选定就很难更改自己的专业，D选项符合本句中assign的含义。

4.For Xuran Peng, they regard studying in the United States as a way of______.

A investment

B saving money

C winning tuition

D fuelling the spike

解析：选A。A。细节理解题。文章倒数第2段They believe it is an investment...他们家把到美国留学看作是一种投资。

5.How many reasons are given in analyzing the sharp increase of Chinese students in America?

A Two.

B Four.

C Three.

D Five.

解析：选C。C。文章结构题。文章以小标题形式来分析中国留学生迅猛增长的原因。