I had often dreamt of the possibility of spending a year away from my hometown of Leeds in England, living in a foreign country. When I was old enough, however, I thought that my language was going to hold me back.
However, luckily for me, University of Leeds, where I was studying at the time, made it possible for any student, even people like me speaking only one language, to study abroad. Before I knew it I was boarding a plane for Salzburg, Austria. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect of the experience ahead of me but I was prepared to accept the challenge.
The university was quite small but the classes were large. Also, Austrian students usually take five years to complete their courses, so studying there was somewhat more relaxing than at home. Austrian students go home quite often, too. Therefore, the foreign students had to socialise with each other quite a lot, which didn’t help with our language skills.
Salzburg itself is a picture-postcard Austrian city. It is also famous for being the birthplace of Mozart and the setting for The Sound of Music. As a result, it is usually very busy with tourists. I also found that it doesn’t have a lot of entertainment for young people, in comparison with Leeds.
There are, however, many advantages of living in Salzburg. For example, get on a train and you can be in Prague, Rome or Krakow within a matter of hours. By the end of my year in Salzburg, I had visited eight other countries in Europe.
After spending a year overseas, I went back to my courses in Leeds and I was much more focused on what I wanted to get out of my last year and more appreciative of the opportunity the university provided. The year in Salzburg really showed me that you get a lot more out of a place when you live there compared to when you are just travelling through. I’d recommend all students spend a year studying abroad if they can.
【小题1】In the author’s opinion, what may have prevented his studying abroad?
| A．His not being old enough. | B．His fearing the culture shock. |
| C．His becoming homesick easily. | D．His not knowing a foreign language. |
【小题2】Compared with University of Leeds, the university in Salzburg ________ .
| A．provides more social events | B．has longer university years |
| C．has more foreign students | D．offers more small classes |
【小题3】One advantage the author mentions about Salzburg is that ________ .
| A．it’s convenient for people to travel | B．it has a high-speed rail network |
| C．it’s the hometown of Mozart | D．it’s full of foreign tourists |
【小题4】What does the author think of his experience of studying abroad?
| A．He benefited a lot from it. | B．He thought it made no difference to him. |
| C．It was far from what he had expected. | D．It badly affected his studies at home. |
