Is studying abroad worth your time?

江蘇南菁高級中學 薛海燕

作者簡介

薛海燕，江蘇省南菁高級中學高級教師，英國安格利亞魯斯金大學文學碩士，應用語言學和對外英語教學（Applied Linguistics and TESOL）專業，市學科帶頭人，“四環閱讀研究會”常務理事兼核心創作成員，《瘋狂英語》高考研究與培訓科研組核心成員。主持第十一期江蘇省中小學教學研究課題（2015JK11-L037），運用“產出導向法”研究英語的閱讀輸入與寫作輸出的結合，屢次應邀到各地做各類分享。實驗班學生中有多人獲英語各類競賽全國一等獎；課題組中有多人獲優質課全國、省、市一等獎。

悅讀貼士

本刊所有文章中注釋的詞匯均為非課標詞匯，無須記憶與理解;在文后注釋的詞匯為課標詞匯，建議同學們將后者整理為詞匯掌中寶，以便隨帶隨記。

Step 1感知·閱讀導航

話題導入

“留學光環褪去，海歸價值何在？”本文由案例、數字表明留學生回國求職遇冷，隨即討論其背后原因，引發留學價值思考。近年來，準備出國讀研的中國學生數量持續增長，有意向學成回國工作的約占七成，踩不準國內求職季和缺乏實習經驗往往成為海歸求職時的絆腳石，但是海外學習所培養的語言能力、交際能力、獨立能力和全球化的思維模式幫助海歸更好地符合職業訴求。海歸求職能否破冰，你對留學怎么看？

本文為社會熱點討論，全文420字，建議用時7分鐘。

閱讀立意

閱讀時應達到以下三個目標：

1.學會討論一個具體的社會熱點問題，理解案例和數字的作用；

2.掌握多角度分析的方法，培養對相關話題進行批判性思維的能力；

3.培養基于同一主題，換角度陳述的能力，掌握原文語言的重組和自我觀點的合理表達。

When Guo Shuai graduated from Zhengzhou University in Henan in 2015,he didn’t hesitate topursuean MBA at Fort Hays State University in the United States.

He is just one of many Chinese students following their dreams at foreign universities.

The number of Chinese students studying for master’s degrees overseas continued to rise this year,according to a study released in May by Chinese education consultants New Oriental Vision Overseas and UK marketresearch company Kantar Millward Brown.

According to the study,68 percent of all those planning to study abroad this year want to study for master’s degrees or above,which is 8 percent higher than last year.

And about 78 percent of those planning to study abroad choose to return to China to work,either after finishing their overseas studies or after working abroad for a while.

However,different from decades ago,a foreign degree no longer guarantees a graduate a well-paid job.

According to a 2017 study by the Center for China and Globalization (CCG),a Beijingbased think tank（智囊團）,about 45 percent of Chinese graduates with a foreign degree get a starting salary of less than 6,000 yuan per month.And nearly 70 percent of them think their salary doesn’t meet their expectation.

For example,Lucy Liu,a woman from Beijing,felt disappointed after being interviewed by a famous film studio in Beijing.She had just finished her postgraduate studies in documentary production at New York University in the US.

“The pay would be 150,000 yuan for one documentary,and at best I could finish one documentary a year,”Liu told South China Morning Post.

“After spending so much money on my studies,I couldn’t accept that pay,” said Liu.She spent about one million yuan in tuition and living expenses while studying abroad.

Worse still,it takes over four months for over 50 percent of returned students to land a job,and only 20 percent get job offers before graduation,according to Qi Bin,vice-general manager of Haiwei Career Services,a company that specializes in employment for returnees.

Two major reasons are that they often miss the main job-seeking seasons whilethey’re abroad and they lack internship experience,Qi told China Daily.

However,it doesn’t mean studying overseas is completely useless.On the contrary,it could provide students with good language and communication skills,an independent character and a global mindset,which are important for their career development,according to Qi.

“Studying overseas cannot guarantee everything,but foreign-educated students have great potential,and at some point their break will come,”Li Qing,a researcher from CCG,told South China Morning Post.

Step 2 實踐·文本解讀

酷詞解碼

1.pursue v.繼續進行；追求

2.consultant n.顧問；咨詢公司

3.guarantee v.保證；擔保

4.documentary n.紀錄片

5.tuition n.學費

6.mindset n.思維模式

7.on the contrary正相反

立意呈現

Ⅰ.Understand the structure

Complete the table and fill in each blank with only one word according to the text．

【點石成金】社會熱點討論類文本具有鮮明的時代性。本文反映中國學生海外求學和海歸求職的最新動向與最新趨勢，在諸多的社會矛盾中，該問題比較突出，又普遍存在，關系你我；而且，該社會問題具有挑戰性，考驗學生的自我選擇，應當從本文的對比分析中學習看待問題的多重視角，厘清自己的需求，尋求應變之策。

Ⅱ.Understand the issue

Weigh the advantages and disadvantages carefully．

1．What problems do overseas graduates encounter when seeking jobs back in China?

2．What encourages so many students to further study abroad?

Step 3 運用·讀寫整合

觀點重組

Para.1～5 the current situation

How is the current trend of studying abroad?(Using statistics to support your writing)

Para.6～11 descriptions of the problems and phenomena

Para.12～14 reflections

Comparing the advantages with disadvantages of studying abroad,what’s your choice if possible?

Step 4 提升·素養建構

【寫作技巧】

How to write essays on social issue?

● Applying examples&statistics．

● Making comparisons from different perspectives．

● Arousing readers’ reflections．

【讀后改寫】通過對海歸求職難這一熱點問題的呈現、根源的分析，以及優劣的對比，我們進行語篇解讀，達成了對篇章的概括和理解；通過對該話題的分析和反思，我們做到了感同身受，不禁設身處地地考慮起自己未來的求學方向和職業打算。閱讀2007—2017年海歸回國意向占比圖，了解未來發展趨勢。對于是否當一個海歸，你是不是也有自己的見解要表達？

寫作要求：

1.描述圖表中反映的海外求學及回國趨勢；

2.呈現海歸求職難的問題并進行分析；

3.感同身受，表達自己對海外求學的態度。

According to the bar chart revealing the repatriation rates of overseas students from 2007 to 2017,

【點石成金】范文應用了社會熱點討論的技巧：

1.作比較：分析討論話題的成因、特點、優劣，以及影響等；

2.舉例子：使文章表達的意思更明確，更生動形象，增加信服力；

3.列數字：準確客觀地反映事實情況，增強說服力。