英语高级口语教程(11)

II. Read

Read the following passages. Underline the important viewpoints while reading.

l. Give Students More Leeway

Ten years ago, the Shanghai Public Security Bureau issued four passports each day. Now the staff must work long hours to process more than 1, 000 a day.

People's Daily reports that more than 70,000 Chinese students and scholars are now studying abroad with still more ready to go.

While many people are worried about the brain drain problem, the article said that

whatever the motives of students who leave, there is no doubt that they cherish a deep feeling towards the motherland.

It has been suggested that people who fail to return on time should be granted "temporary leave from their posts" to encourage them to return at any time.

Among those who joined the recent rush abroad, more than half went to further their

studies and keep up with the latest academic achievements. According to a survey conducted among some 7, 000 scientific researchers in Shanghai, 82 percent believed that their experiences abroad were "fruitful". Half said they had made headway in their work.

Meanwhile, they said they continued to follow with great concern the development of

their country's economic reforms. A scholar with a doctorate from New York University had written over 100, 000 words of suggestions to the Chinese central government, the article reported.

Loneliness was found to be the worst enemy of the students living away from their families and homeland.

The brain drain from developing to developed countries is an international phenomenon.

In China, backward management and unreasonable distribution systems, together with poor living and working conditions, have led to the departure of many intellectuals.

"After my graduation from university, I have spent four years in my office reading a

newspaper with a cup of tea every day I want to go abroad to start a new life, " said a 25-year-old technical worker who was waiting for a visa from the Japanese Consulate.

Some students and scholars had stayed in foreign countries beyond their time limit for one reason or another. For this they had been labelled unpatriotic.

But People's Daily called for more trust and understanding of those students.

A scholar studying and working at an American university said he would return to China

as soon as his daughter finished secondary school in the US.

A young scholar at a Shanghai research institute said he could not manage to conduct research with a meagre State allocation of 2, 000 yuan a year. In America, he can get $ 24, 000 a year for use in research, so he decided to stay on after getting his degree.

In such cases, most work units back in China dismiss those who fail to return on time.

This hurts the feelings of many who are willing to return later, the article said.