Thia dialogue takes place in Bāijīng. Early one morning, Professor Armstrong is out for a walk near his hotel when he runs into Lin XiXohé of the China Travel Service. L:   Jiàoshòu, nín zào.' A:   Zāo, ni hāo! Zāoshangde kōngqì bījiāo xīnxian yidiānr. W3 hén xīhuan zāoshang zài wàimian zòuyizSu. L: Jíntiǎn tiānqi y? bú cuò, méiyou féng, chūlai zSuzou duì shèntī y3u hāochu. A:   Shi a! Jíntiǎnde tiānqi zhen shūfu. L: Jiàoshòu, nín jíntiǎn hāoxiàng hān gāoxìng ma! A: W3 hān gāoxìng. Nī zhīdao, duó jiú le, w3 xiāng qù kànkan Bāidà, kāshi yìzhí méiyou jfhui qù. L: Jíntiǎn wSmen jiu kéyi qù cānguān le. A: Shi a. W3 shi gāo jiàoyu gòngzuòde. Zài Māiguéde shihou, vS chāngchéng xlhuan kàn xie guānyú Zhōngguó jiàoyu qíngkuàngde shǔ, kāshi, yào zhènde yínjiúde huà, z3ng juéde cāiliào bú gòu, y3u hān duo dSngxi bú gòu liāojiā, érqiā, yòu shihou yāude céiliào hé Zhǒngguóde qíngkuàng chābié hān dà, suāyī . . . L: Nín y8u shénme wèntí jiu tíchulai, yāxú wō kéyi bāng nín yidiānr māng ne? A: Nī dāngyidāng, wō shìshi, kàn néng bu néng shuǒqíngchu a! L: Mei guānxi, nín mànmānr shuǒ. Good morning, Professor! Good morning, how are you. The morning air is a little fresher. I like to go for a walk outside in the morning. The weather is pretty nice today too. There’s no wind. It’s good for the health to go out and do some walking. Yes. The weather today is ranily pleasant. Professor, you seem so happy today. Yes, I am. You know, I've been wanting to go visit Bāijíng University for such a long time, but I never had the chance to. But we’re going today. That's right. I’m in education. When I'm in the States I often like to read books about education in China, but I always feel that we don't have enough data to do actual research on it. There's a lot we don’t understand well enough. Furthermore, some of the data is very different from the Ctrue2 situation in China, so . . . Ask me any questions you have, maybe I can help you with them. Wait a second, let me try and see if I can explain it clearly. It doesn't matter, take your time. so A:   Zài nimen zhèr, dàxué fen yllèi èrlèi, zhōngxué xiāoxué y? y3u zhòngdíān zhSng- xiāoxué hé pútōng zhōng- xiloxuéde qíTbié. Zhèiyang zuòde mùdi shi shénme ne? WS shi shuo . . . Here, your universitiet are divided into Class I and Class II, and your middle schools and elementary schools distinguish between key and regular ones. What is the purpose for doing that? I mean ... L: ftg, nl shuǒxiaqu. A: WSde yìsi shi, yàoshi bā zhòng-diān fang zai Jlgè xuéxiào-shang, néng bu néng pùbiàn tí-gāo Jiàoyu shulpíng ne? L:   Zhèi shi yíge hèn hāode wèntí. Nl zhidao, Zhōngguó ySu shíyìduō rénkBu, ySu name duo rén xūyào shòu Jiàoyu, késhi Jiàoyude qíngkuàng bù néng rang rén mXnyì. A: fig. L: Tebié shi Jīngguà Wénhuà Dà Gé-mlng ylhèu, Jiàoyu fāngmian zhēn y3u bù shío wèntí, suSyl zài mùqiánde qíngkuàng xià, wSmen déi bà zhòngdiān fang zai yíbùfen dàxué, zhSngxué, hé xiāoxuéshang. A:   Name, zài zhòngdiān dàxuéli, nimen rènwéi zuì zhūyàode gōngzud you shi shénme ne? L: ShSuxiǎn déi xiíng bànfā tígāo Jiáoshlde shulpíng. Xiànzài Jiàoshi shùliàng bú gōu, shulpíng bù gāo. A: ftg, zhèi shi yíge zhángyàode wèntí. L: Shi, zhèige wèntí hé tígāo zhénggèr mínzúde Jiàoyu shulpíng ySu hén dàde guānxi. A: Hlo, name dìèr ne? L:   Gāo Sìge Xiàndàihuà xūyào hén duo shòuguo Jiàoyude rén, kèshi zhèijiàn shi bú shi zài duín 5Í Uh-huh, ga on. I mean, if you put the emphasis on a few schools, will you be able to make a general improvement in the level of education? That’s a very good question. You know, China has over a billion people people. There are so many people who who need to get an education, but educational conditions are not satisfactory. Uh-huh. Especially since the Cultural Revolution, there have been a lot of problems in the area of education, so under the present conditions, we must put the emphasis on a portion of our colleges, middle schools, and elementary schools. Then in key colleges, what do you consider to be the principal Job? First of all we must try to raise the level of the instructors. At present the number of instructors is insufficient and their level is low. Mm, that's an important problem. Yes, it's a question that has great bearing on raising the educational level of the whole nation. Okay, then the second thing? To carry on the Four Modernizations we need a lot of educated people, but this can't be accomplished in shíjiínli kéyi zuōhàode. Zhèi yidiàn nín digit tōngyì ba? A: Wō dōng, v8 dōng. L:   Suoyi, wōmen bin yixiē zhōng- diàn xuéxiào, wèide shi JiSkuài Jiàoyu sùdu. A: Jiākuài Jiàoyu sùdu? Nīde yìsi shi shuō, zhōngdiàn xuéxiàode tiíojiàn bījiào hào, xuésheng, Jiàoshīde shuípíng y? bījiào gāo, zhèiyang, xuésheng Jiu yōu Jīhui zài bījiào duànde shíjiàn-li xué bījiào duode dōngxi. L:    Duì le. A: Name nīmen pài chū guōde liúxué-shěng shì bu shi dōu shi cōng zhòngdiXn xuéxiàoli láide ne? L: Tǎmen duōbànr shi cōng zhōngdiàn dàxué láide, tèbié shi yánj iūshēng. A: Wō Jiànguo Jīwèi líi Méiguō niàn shūde liúxuéshěng, tamen dōu shi xué kexué Jìshude. Tīngshuō támen xuéde fetching nùlì. Zhōngguō liúxuéshēngde xuéxí zhōngdiàn shi kexué Jìshu, duì bu dui? L: Nín shuōde duì, tāmen zhùyào shi xué zirán kexué. Zhèi shi wōmen mùqián zuì dàde xūyào. A: Tǎmen huí guō yīhōu dōu gào yánjiū gōngzuō ma? L: Bù yídìng. Wō xiàng yōu yí dà bùfen hái dll zài dàxué danrèn Jiàoshīde gōngzuō. Shíxiàn Sìge Xiàndàihuà líbukíi Jiàoyu ma! Jiàoshōu, yōu shíjiān géi wō Jièshao Jieshao Méiguōde Jiàoyu qíngkuàng a! A: HXo, nī duì nXifángmiànde qíngkuàng zuì yōu xìngqu? a short time. You probably agree with that point, don't you? I understand, I understand. So we are setting up some key schools in order to speed up the educational process. To speed up the educational process? You mean, key schools have better conditions, and the level of their students and teachers is higher, so the students have the opportunity to learn more things in a shorter time. Right. Then are all the students you send abroad from key schools? They're mostly from key universities, especially the graduate students. I've met several Chinese going to school in the United States. They were all studying science and technology. I hear that they were very hard-working. Chinese students abroad concentrate on science and technology, isn't that right? That's right, they mainly study the natural sciences. That's our greatest need at present. After they return home do they all do research work? Not necessarily. I think that a large portion of them still have to take up teaching positions in universities. Education is essential to achieving the Four Modernizations! Professor, when you have the time, tell me about education in America! Sure. What aspect are you most interested in? L:   W8 duì xiāoxué Jiàoyu, értóng Jiàoyu suì yōu xìngqu, yínwei, vS xiXng yíge rén kāishí shòu Jiào-yude nèiduàn shiJiàn shi fetching zhdngyàode. A: W3 tóngyì níde kànfā, érqiě, chúle shàng xué ylwài, Jiātíng he shèhuìde Jiàoyu y? féicháng zhòngyào. Y3ude shihou, fùmùmen-de Jiàoyu qíngkuàng he háizimen yōu féicháng dàde guānxi. L:   Duì. Suóyi gSohāo Jiàoyu shi zhenggèr shèhuìde gōngzuò, wǒmen méige rén dǒu ySu zéren. A: Ni shuōde zhěn hāo. Duì le, Jintiǎn wǒmen cānguānde Béidà, shi bu shi Zhōngguó zuì hāode dàxué ne? L: Běidà shi hěn yōu míngde dàxué, kěshi hěn nán shuo shi bu shi zuì hāode. Zài Zhōngguó yōu Jíge dàxué dōu bú cud. Béidàde Jiàoyu zhiliang Jlbenshang ràng rén minyì. ShiJian bù zio le, nín chi zāo-fàn le meiyou? A: Ou, vS hái méi chi zíofàn ne, wǒ mlshàng Jiù qù. L:   Bié Jí, wǒmen děngzhe nín. A:   Hāo, vS hěn kuài Jiu lái. I’m most interested in primary school and child education, because I think the period when a person begins his education is very important. I agree with you. Furthermore, besides attending school, the education one gets in the home and in society are also very important. Sometimes the parents' education has a great bearing on the children ' s. Right. So improving education is the Job of our entire society. Each of us has the responsibility for it. Well said. Oh yes—is Běijlng University, which we're going to visit today, the best university in China? B.U. is a very famous university, but it's difficult to ssy if it's the best. There are several universities in China that are pretty good. The quality of education.at B.U. is basically satisfactory. It's getting late, have you had breakfast? Oh, I haven't had breakfast yet. I'll go right away. No hurry, we'll wait for you. Okay, I'll be there shortly.