【英语语言学习】非美籍学生让美国发展得更好

Welcome back to As It Is.

 

Today we will be talking about people who move to the United States from other countries.

 

Some are immigrants who bring their traditions with them. On our show, we look at families from Latin American nations. Many of them celebrate a young woman’s quinceañera—that is, her 15th birthday.

 

But first, we talk about foreign students in the United States. A new report says the government should make it easier for foreigners working toward high-level degrees to stay in the country.

 

Mario Ritter has this report from VOA’s Joe DeCapua.

 

The United States educates many foreign students, especially in areas like science and engineering. But what do international students add to the country after they finish their study programs?

 

Three economists¹ decided² to investigate. The head of the team was Keith Maskus, a professor at the University of Colorado in Boulder³. He says after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the U.S. made it much harder for students from some parts of the world to enter graduate programs.

 

At the time, many American officials and educators warned that limiting foreign students would harm scientific development and innovation.

 

“And I thought, well, that’s very interesting, but do we really know if that’s true?”

 

Professor Maskus worked on the study with Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak of Yale and Eric Stuen of the University of Idaho. The three men gathered data—a lot of data.

 

They studied over 75,000 Ph.D students in the top U.S. science and engineering universities from the late 1970s to the late 1990s.

 

They found that diversity improved productivity and efficiency. In other words, a mix of American and foreign students made schools and workplaces better and faster.

 

“It seems to have something to do with the fact that networks and laboratory sciences [are] really a function of how the graduate students and the post- doctoral students and everyone else can specialize in some element of science - and also the fact that their undergraduate training and possibly some graduate training in whatever it is - mathematics or bench science or laboratory science - gives them different approaches to thinking about problems.

 

"And when these people can get together and bounce ideas off each other the sort of outcome of that is more dynamic intellectual process. And you get more ideas with having some diversity like that.”

 

Professor Maskus says his group’s findings suggest that the U.S. should change its policies toward foreign students. Right now, students have to demonstrate that they or their family has enough money to pay for their education, even if schools offer aid.

 

He also says the government should make it easier for foreign students to get green cards so they can live permanently⁴ in the United States.

 

He notes that countries like Canada and Australia let international students with Ph.Ds in science, technology or engineering become permanent residents. But the United States requires students who want to remain in the country to find a local employer who will give them a temporary visa.

 

“That does have the effect, we’re convinced, of pushing too many of these innovative⁵ people back outside the borders of the United States.”

 

Professor Maskus and his team want the U.S. to offer more temporary visas, or even just a quick and easy process for permanent residence.

 

Of course, others might argue that permitting foreign students to stay in the U.S. will take jobs away from American workers.

 

But the researchers say the economic and creative gains of diversity outweigh⁶ any harmful effects for native-born Americans.

 

Their report appeared in the journal Science.

 

I’m Kelly Jean Kelly. 

 

Many cultures celebrate the passage from childhood to adulthood⁷. In some Latin American countries, young women mark this passage at age 15. Many Latin American families in the United States not only continue the tradition, but go to great lengths to celebrate quinceañera.

 

Recently, party planners organized a show all about quinceañera in Los Angeles, California. Thirteen-year-old Adilen Torres and her mother attended the exhibit to research prices and gather ideas. Adilen Torres says the celebration will be a time to express her identity.

 

“I want people to know that what they see on the outside isn’t everything that I am. So I want my quinceañera to represent everything I am."

 

Her mother, Nellie Viveros, says the celebration is an important part of Latino culture.

 

“Kids nowadays, our kids, are very Americanized and this is a part of their culture that we want them to follow tradition with. This is my only daughter and it’s once in a lifetime thing. I’m willing to sacrifice and work overtime⁸ to do the quinceañera for her.” 

 

Experts say that over the past 10 years quinceañera have grown in size. Norma Capitanachi works for Quinceanera Magazine. She says the celebrations have also become more costly⁹. The average family spends about $10,000, she says. But some families pay $50,000 or up to $80,000.

 

Celia Barrios is a professional quinceañera planner. She has organized about 300 of the parties in Los Angeles, California. Ms. Barrios says people often want to celebrate in a fancy, pricey place. And, they want others to make and serve the food, choreographers to organize the event, and designers to create specially-made dresses.

 

“Latino Americans that are born and raised here or have spent at least 10 to 15 years here, they’re wanting more. They kind of want to blend the tradition with something contemporary. And you know that’s where I come in.”

 

Some people criticize quinceañeras as a waste of money. They say the money could be used instead to pay for education or other things. But for many parents it is a special event that helps keep traditions alive.

 

It may also be a way for a family to celebrate their own success in their new country. Helen Hernandez says her family struggled in the United States at first. But by the time their daughter Tatyana turned 15, they were able to throw her the kind of party she wanted.

 

“We’re so blessed and thankful that we were able to move it around and do this.”

 

Tatyana says she really appreciated the sacrifices her parents made for her.

 

And her parents say seeing her happy made all their efforts worth it.

 

And that’s As It Is. I’m Kelly Jean Kelly.

 

 

1 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 boulder   

n.巨砾；卵石，圆石

参考例句：

• We all heaved together and removed the boulder.大家一齐用劲，把大石头搬开了。
• He stepped clear of the boulder.他从大石头后面走了出来。

4 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

5 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

6 outweigh   

vt.比...更重，...更重要

参考例句：

• The merits of your plan outweigh the defects.你制定的计划其优点胜过缺点。
• One's merits outweigh one's short-comings.功大于过。

7 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

8 overtime   

adj.超时的，加班的；adv.加班地

参考例句：

• They are working overtime to finish the work.为了完成任务他们正在加班加点地工作。
• He was paid for the overtime he worked.他领到了加班费。

9 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。