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Many foreign students are attracted not only to the academic programs at a particular U.S. college
許多留學生不僅僅被美國大學的學術課程所吸引，
but also to the larger community, which affords the chance to soak up the surrounding culture.
同時還因為有機會去一個更大的社區汲取更多的文化。
Few foreign universities put much emphasis on the cozy communal life that characterizes American campuses,
這些構成美國校園別具一格的舒適的公共生活，很少有外國大學將重點放在這上面。
from clubs and sports teams to student publications and drama societies.
從俱樂部和體育團隊到學生刊物以及戲劇協會
"The campus and the American university have become identical in people's minds,"
“在人們眼里，大學和美國的大學是有區別的。”
says Brown University President Vartan Gregorian.
布朗大學的理事長Vartan Gregorian表示，
"In America, it is assumed that a student's daily life is as important as his learning experience."
“在美國，學生的日常生活被認為和他的學術生活一樣重要。”
Foreign students also come in search of choices.
外國學生也有許多選擇。
America's menu of options - research universities, state institutions,
美國擁有許多選擇：研究型大學、國家機構、
private liberal-arts schools, community colleges, religious institutions, military academies - is unrivaled.
私立藝術學校、社區大學、宗教機構和軍事學院。這是無以倫比的。
"In Europe,"says history professor Jonathan Steinberg, who has taught at both Harvard and Cambridge,
在哈佛和劍橋大學任職的歷史教授喬納森·斯坦伯格表示，
"there is one system, and that is it."
“在歐洲，有且僅有一種制度。”
While students overseas usually must demonstrate expertise in a specific field,
當海外的學生需要在特定領域獲得專業技能，
whether law or philosophy or chemistry.
無論是法律、哲學或是化學。
Most American universities insist that students sample natural and social sciences,
大部分的美國大學堅持學生在選定專業之前，
languages and literature before choosing a field of concentration.
學習基礎的自然和社會科學。
Such opposing philosophies grow out of different traditions and power structures.
這種巨大的差異是由于不同的傳統和不同的權力架構造成的。
In Europe and Japan, universities are answerable only to a Ministry of Education,
在歐洲和日本，大學由教育部管轄，
which sets academic standards and distributes money.
教育部制定學術標準和發放經費。
While centralization ensures that all students are equipped with roughly the same resources and perform at roughly the same level,
這樣集中化管理使得所有的學生有大致上相同的資源、表現和學術水平，
it also discourages experimentation.
但同時也導致創新不足。
"When they make mistakes, they make big ones," says Robert Rosenzweig,
“一旦他們出錯，那么會是巨大的錯誤。”
president of the Association of American Universities.
美國大學聯合協會的理事長羅伯特·羅森茨維格表示，
"They set a system in wrong directions, and it's like steering a supertanker."
“他們在錯誤的道路上制定框架，他們就像是駕駛者一輛巨型油輪。”
