美国学生旅行学习中国文化

 　　Reporter: John Zavalney is a science teacher with the Foshay Learning Center in South Los Angels.

　　John was the chaperoon of his 11 students while in China. When they arrived in Beijing and were guided into the majestic¹ Forbidden City, they became excited immediately.

　　"Most the students really enjoy Forbidden City, the history. In our country, if something is 200 years old, that's very old. But here, when we're talking centuries old, just that is a whole new concept for our students to understand. So I think that was very powerful. Watching them just "oh my god", "oh my too much, too much". So for me, the best thing for me is watching my students experience this new world for the first time."

　　Except tours to historical sites, like the Forbidden City which served as the imperial² palace for nearly 500 years from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, the American students also went on a special Hutong tour. During the tour, they visited a local family to learn how to cook Chinese dumplings.

　　美国学生旅行<a href=http://www.hxen.com target=_blank class=infotextkey>学习</a>中国文化

　　This seemed the most interesting part for Amber³ Johnston, a 12th-grader in the Foshay Learning Center.

　　"I think I'm really looking forward to entering a really Chinese-cultural household and to see what kind of furniture they live in, and how they really live their everyday lives. I'm also interested in learning their recipe for the meal that they're gonna cook. I've heard about it (dumplings) and I've also seen it in many TV shows, and they look very interesting. So I would love to really know how it's made and why it's so important in the culture."

　　The "Learning AFAR program" has strict criteria⁴ in selecting students for this opportunity.

　　Applicants⁵ are required to demonstrate financial need, academic achievement and leadership potential, as well as lack of previous travel experiences to earn a place in the program.

　　When another visiting student Richard Gomez was learning Taichi from a teacher in Beijing, he still had a hard time believing all this was real, as he had never traveled outside of the US.

　　"Today, this is my first time trying Taichi. So we had a Taichi master today coming and teaches us some basic steps for Taichi. It was really interesting. It was a little hard to follow at first but after a while, you got the hang of it and just go with the flow. I chose China because I know it has a lot of history behind it. It's a really powerful history. We've learnt a lot about it at school and I'm also interested in coming. It's just really far away. I've never really travelled far other than, I guess, within the United States. It was a big step just coming to China, and this is a different environment and different synergy within the village."

　　After Beijing, the students would also visit four other iconic cities - Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou and Hangzhou.

　　John Zavalney accredited⁶ their trip to a non-profit organization called No Barriers, which raises money for the program to allow students this travel opportunity that they could not afford otherwise.

　　ChinaTour.com, a San Francisco based travel agency that focuses on trips to China, was the sponsor of this year's China project, which covered the majority of the students' travel expenses.

　　Both sponsors wanted to ensure that this 10-day expedition to China was not just for fun but also provided students with life-long memories.

　　John Zavalney explained:

　　"They make sure that our students are getting much more than just going on vacation and looking. We're learning about the culture, about society, about the history. And our school is international baccalaureate, so IB schools can focus on the world view. And for my students from south LA who live in a very poor neighborhood, they never get to travel. So this opportunity is a great opportunity for them to see the world outside their neighborhood which they usually don't get to see. So for me, that's what I hope my students get to do is to get a bigger view of the world that understand the other cultures, and be able to respect, and embrace other cultures instead of being afraid of them."

　　Casey Kohn was the leader for this trip from No Barriers USA. She helped to coordinate⁷ the activities in collaboration⁸ with a local Chinese tour guide.

　　Casey Kohn said her responsibilities also included making sure the teachers' expectations for this trip were met.

　　"So I think they will benefit from visiting China specifically, because China is a very important place in the world. And the relationship between the United States and China continues to grow stronger. So it will be important for them in their futures⁹ to understand different cultures in China as well as know a little bit of the mandarin¹⁰, the Chinese language so that they can be world citizens. We really want them to understand that they are connected to the entire world. They are not just connected to where they are from in the United States."

　　Rich and colorful educational and cultural exchange activities included a visit to the Great Wall, one of the greatest man-made wonders of the world.

　　During their stay in Suzhou, they were taken to the Lingering¹¹ Garden, which is recognized with other classical Suzhou gardens as a UNESCO World Heritage¹² Site.

　　Their stay in Shanghai enabled them to travel from the Shanghai Old Street and the Bund to a local nursing home and a China Welfare Institute, where they saw how the disadvantaged receive assistance from the society.

　　For the American students, such a journey was nevertheless very short since they flew back to the US last weekend, but the unprecedented¹³ eye-opening experiences which took place this summer in China would stay for a long time in their young minds, or perhaps even a lifetime.

　　For Studio Plus, I'm XU Fei.

1 majestic   

adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的

参考例句：

• In the distance rose the majestic Alps.远处耸立着雄伟的阿尔卑斯山。
• He looks majestic in uniform.他穿上军装显得很威风。

2 imperial   

adj.帝王的，至尊的；n.特等品

参考例句：

• They made an objection to the imperial system with resolution.他们坚决反对帝制。
• The Prince Imperial passed away last night.皇太子昨晚去世了。

3 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

4 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

5 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。

6 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。

7 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

8 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

9 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

10 Mandarin   

n.中国官话，国语，满清官吏；adj.华丽辞藻的

参考例句：

• Just over one billion people speak Mandarin as their native tongue.大约有十亿以上的人口以华语为母语。
• Mandarin will be the new official language of the European Union.普通话会变成欧盟新的官方语言。

11 lingering   

a.拖延的，依依不舍的

参考例句：

• a painful and lingering death 痛苦而拖延时日的死亡
• Unemployment and lingering disease cooperated to make his family broken. 失业加上长期的疾病，使他倾家荡产。

12 heritage   

n.传统，遗产，继承物

参考例句：

• The ancient buildings are part of the national heritage.这些古建筑是民族遗产的一部分。
• We Chinese have a great cultural heritage.我们中国人有伟大的文化遗产。

13 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。