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試著擴展你的生活范圍，參與到身邊更廣闊的社會中去。這肯定是個挑戰，會是困難和不愉快的，但這也是有趣和充實的、有價值并從長遠來看有最大收益的。
An American Professor’s Advice to Chinese Students
Try a little to stretch yourself and integrate into the greater society around you．It’ s definitely1) a challenge．It can be difficult and unpleasant．But it can also be fun and enriching，rewarding and of the utmost benefit in the long run．
Chinese TOEFL scores are averaging a little above 600, an amazing standard．But U．S．admissions officers2) are keenly aware that elevated TOEFL scores do not necessarily indicate truly superior command of the language．
The phenomenon that the Chinese graduate student can’t speak English is quite common and widespread among U．S．universites．
Some U．S．universities now conduct phone interviews of prospective Chinese graduate students．All this to insure that students culled3) from the highly reputed Chinese talent pool have the linguistic4) skills to bring their talents to bear on those tasks with which the university needs help．
For most Chinese graduate students t he language problem soon begins to resolve itself after arrival in the U．S．Be that as it may，a large number of Chinese graduate students continue to struggle with English years after arrival and even years into their professional lives here，which does have a negative impact on employment especially in times like these when market downturns dictate massive layoffs across many industrial sectors．
The crux5) of the problem lies in the Chinese student community．Not surprisingly，most Chinese graduate students begin their U．S．experience in a shared apartment or house exclusively with other Chinese．If they happen to work in a lab where there are other Chinese graduate students then there is often hardly any need to interact with Americans．
The long and short of this is that it is well worth a Chinese student‘s trouble to learn English well．Spoken English．Not just test－taking，TOEFL－blasting English．U．S．university admissions officers are less and less to be fooled by only a poor to middling command of the spoken language．And for those with little or no opportunity of improving this aspect6) of their foreign language skill while still in China，if you are lucky enough to get a chance to come to the U．S．for study，take full advantage of opportunities here．Take an English as a second language class．Most universities have them．City governments and community colleges offer them．Join some university clubs to begin to get to know some American students．Get to know your American classmates and office mates．Do Not Be Shy．Force yourself to join conversations．Find an American roommate．This last can be such a big boost in so many ways if you find the right match．
by George Tseo
