精英到平民海外求学史.docVIP

精英到平民海外求学史 　　Every September, Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport turns into Platform 9 3/4 out of the Harry Potter series, with boys and girls running around pushing overloaded luggage carts, nodding and promising their parents to take good care of themselves over the next 10 months. China has become the leading source of overseas students, and these young Chinese are bound for schools around the world. Last year alone, 339,700 Chinese students began studying abroad, according to the Ministry of Education, and an even larger number are applying this year. Studying abroad was not always such a popular or accessible education choice for ordinary Chinese. Over 150 years ago, few understood the necessity of learning from the outside world. Later, only the best students were granted the opportunity, as well as the task, of repatriating knowledge. 　　Past or present, studying abroad is an eye-opening experience for the individuals involved, and for the country as a whole, overseas education has had a greater effect than one might notice at first glance. 　　 THE GROUNDBREAKER 　　These days, Chinese students at Yale University are a dime a dozen, but in the mid-19th century, Yung Wing (容闳) was the only Asian at what was then called Yale College. Born a villager’s son on a small island four miles from Macau in 1828, Yung was one of only two male students who attended a missionary school for girls. While his male peers at other schools were trained for the imperial examination, Yung grew up learning the language of the “red-haired people,” a name given to foreigners during the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911). 　　When he turned 19, Yung bravely accepted an offer from his headmaster, an American missionary, to continue his study in the New World. This was a destination beyond the reach of most Chinese at the time, and little did Yung know that he would go all the way to study at Yale, where by all accounts he became something of a socialite. 　　As to his academic li