exchange - Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

THE EXCHANGE
SUPPLEMENT
No.3, February 2011 Brand and Marketing Office & Surf Zone Student English Magazine Club
XJTLU Ranks 1st in the
“China Top Ten Sino-Foreign
Cooperative Universities”
Xi’an Jiaotong–Liverpool University heads
the list of Top 10 Sino-Foreign Cooperative
Universities, which was announced during an
Education Forum held by xinhuanet.com in Beijing
on Jan. 18, 2011.
The forum reviewed proposals and policies on
education reform gathered over the year of 2010
and elected top educationists and universities based
on the measurement of people’s satisfaction.
XJTLU won the widest acclaim and topped
the tally for its orientation to be a research-led
and non-profitable university and its remarkable
achievements in 2010.Xinhuanet.com is a statelevel
media and held a year-end education forum of
such kind for the first time.
XJTLU also scooped, for the third consecutive
year, a top award for its powerful comprehensive
News of the Month
strength among Sino-Foreign cooperative
universities in China, at the China Education Gala
2010, held lately by Sina.com in collaboration with
more than 40 media groups from 30 provinces.
XJTLU Toptalk: Talking to
President Xi
As the first guest to the XJTLU Toptalk, Professor
Xi, President of the Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool
University, attended the inaugural ceremony of this
student organisation activity on the 25th February,
2011.
During this two-hour visit, President Xi talked
about his opinions on life, education, society and
development with more than 300 XJTLU students.
President Xi answered many students’ questions
regarding their interest in his life experiences, his
beliefs about higher education, university life, Sinoforeign
cooperation in education, and postgraduate
education and employment.
XJTLU Number1
The University heads the list of "China
Top 10 Sino-Foreign Cooperative
Universities".
British Council visits XJTLU
A delegation from the British Council visited
Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University this week,
which is a further enhancement of the University's
reputation and explaining why it has recently
been picked as the best Sino-foreign cooperative
University in China.
The group, headed by Gavin Anderson – the
British Consulate General in Shanghai, was met
by Vice President Professor David Sadler, and Dr.
Jeanette Henderson and Tom Ennis from the Centre
of Academic Affairs.
Mr. Anderson explained the reasoning behind
his 6th visit in the past 3 years to XJTLU. “Today
is an opportunity for those in my office who are
familiar with education promotion but not with
this University in particular. Hopefully they can
come away from today with a better understanding
of the place and what I believe is a significant
manifestation of British education in China.”

No.3, February 2011
Dr. Manuela Ender, what did you
do before joining XJTLU?
I got a Diploma in Business Mathematics /
Economathematics, the German equivalent
degree to B.Sc. + M.Sc., from the University of
Karlsruhe / Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in
2004. After graduation I wrote my doctoral thesis
in financial mathematics about "Model Risk in
Option Pricing" at the post graduate programme
“Risk Management” of the University of
Cologne.
Before I came to XJTLU I was employed by
a German software company that is ranked
among the companies leading the market
for financial software solutions in Germany
as a Research Manager and Management
Consultant. I was responsible for the
development and implementation of recent
results of research in banking and actuarial
mathematics.
What is your role here?
Lecturer at the Department of Mathematical
Sciences.
EXCHANGE
"Meet with..."
What are your first impressions of XJTLU?
One of the first events I attended was the graduation
ceremony of the first intake last August. I was really
impressed by the quality and the achievements of the
students and by the rapid growth of the University in the
last few years.
What is your favourite book, movie, meal,
hobby?
Favourite book: "Chinese–English Dictionary";
Favourite movie: "Forrest Gump";
Favourite meal: Spaghetti Carbonara, Chef Salad, and a
piece of cake;
Favourite hobby: Hiking, Cycling, Travelling
What has been, either your most embarrassing or most exciting moment
at work?
Every morning, I am excited about the new day at XJTLU :)
Meet...
Joseph
What did you do before XJTLU?
Before I came to XJTLU, I just graduated
from Soochow University. I used to work in
Changzhou TV, then came back to Suzhou
to XJTLU, because I have been in here for 7
years, and I love this city.
What is your role here?
I am a Chinese Journalist of BMO (Brand &
Marketing Office), I report the news of XJTLU
and contact with the media.
What are your first impressions of XJTLU?
Very international.
What is your favourite book, movie, meal, hobby?
Favourite book and movie: "Gone With the Wind";
Favourite meal: I like cooking myself. I am good at making the Korean
Egg Roll, it is really yummy with ketchup;
Favourite hobby: I like swimming. By the way, I love Britney Spears.
What has been, either your most embarrassing or most
exciting moment at work?
The most exciting moment at XJTLU, I think it was the Christmas party
last year. We chatted with our friends and had the nice food, some
persons even got the prize gift, I admired them, they were very lucky.
Meet...
Cara (Min WANG)
SUPPLEMENT
The chance to get to know things about XJTLU staff that normally would not be revealed, is back. "Meet with…" was a very popular
section in the old newsletter and it has finally returned to fill you in on staffs deepest, darkest secrets…
(Haifeng FU)
THE
Meet...
Dr. Manuela Ender
What did you do before XJTLU?
I graduated from The Australian National University last July and
started my work in XJTLU last October.
What is your role here?
I am now one of the department
secretaries of Business,
Economics and Management.
What are your first
impressions of XJTLU?
Internationalised.
What is your favourite
book, movie, meal, hobby?
Favourite book: too difficult to say;
Favourite movie: "Inception", perhaps;
Favourite meal: Japanese Buffet;
Favourite hobby: Watching DVD at home when it is rainy outside.
What has been, either your most embarrassing or
most exciting moment at work?
Still needs time to experience.

SUPPLEMENT THE EXCHANGE
Surf Zone Page
Campus Life
A Brand-new Start In Suzhou
Recently, we interviewed Clare Watson, a new
English teacher at XJTLU. She shared her
great experiences and her fantastic feeling about
this school with us.
Clare comes from a city in the North of England called “Durham.” It is a
wonderful place with a famous cathedral and a very well-known university.
People who live there are extremely friendly, and so is Clare. Clare has been
a teacher for approximately 15 years in colleges and universities and has so
far taught in the UK, Greece, China (Shanghai and Chengdu) and Singapore,
she has met different kinds of students during her teaching career.
Clare chose to teach in XJTLU because this school has got a very good
reputation. Besides, she is a British, and Liverpool University is very famous
in her country. Now she has been here for almost one month. She thinks
that everything is better than she thought. She found that XJTLU is a very
organized university and was satisfied with the management systems.
As a teacher in ELC, Clare teaches two different classes----EAP class and
Skill class. The ways she teaches these two classes are different. In her view,
EAP class is serious and very academic. She teaches students reading and
writing skills during the class. On the contrary, she treats Skill class more
vividly. She encourages students to talk and discuss more in the class to
improve their speaking and listening skills.
There often comes a stage waiting when Clare puts forward a question
Are you anxious to improve the capability of English?
Are you expecting to an attractive play? Then The
Big Bang Theory is what you are asking for.
The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom which
premiered on CBS on September 24, 2007 and currently
the 4th season of it is being played. Set in the California
Institute of Technology, the show is centered on four
geniuses of physics and their attractive neighbor-Penny.
There are five main characters in this show: two
roommates Caltech (California Institute of Technology)
genius, theoretical physics Sheldon and experimental
physics Leonard; an aerospace engineer Howard; a
particle astrophysicist Rejesh and penny-a waitress and
an aspiring actress. Conflicts between theses geeky and
socially clumsy physics and their blonde friend Penny is
where we get fun, besides, the relationship between Penny
and Leonard is what people are concerning about.
The background of the science is considered as an
attractive element of this show and a substantially change
compared to the former TV series. People who have
watched Friends may not forget that Ross has always been
sneered as a palaeontologist and scientist, the job which
are always known as boring in that show, which shows
the fashion of the era that science and scientists had not
get the esteem that they deserve. However the scientific
elements of this show, the relevant lore in this sitcom
express the respect to science and scientists. Main cast in
By Lingxin Dong and Yixing Yuan
without response to it. “I used to teach Chinese students and I’m used to the
situation.” She said. However, when it happens she often picks students to
answer her question to break the silence. Therefore, she wants Chinese students
be more open and initiative.
When talking about her suggestions to all freshmen, she mentioned that
freshmen should learn how to manage their time. “Making a timetable would
be a good idea.” She said with a sweet smile. She is also happy to offer her help
to students.
This is her third time in China. “I’m keen to learn about Chinese culture
and I can’t seem to stay away from the busy streets and the food so here I am
again.” She said. When it came to the culture shock, Clare said that when she
came to Cheng Du for the first time, she was shocked by many things in China.
But now, she has been adapted to the life in China and the lifestyle here has
attracted her as well.
Additionally, as for Clare, Su Zhou is an attractive city, and it gives her a
pretty good impression. China is so huge that Clare intends to visit more tourist
attractions such as Xi’ an.
We really had a pleasant conversation with Clare and this interview meant
a lot to us. We knew more about our university and our country in foreigners’
eyes. Moreover, we realized some differences between western and eastern
countries and they will bring positive effects on communicating with our
foreign teachers and students in our daily life. The most important thing is that
the precious suggestions which Clare gave us will encourage us to work better
in XJTLU .
The way to have more fun
By Xinyi Liu
A comedy about genius of physics
Cater for the needs of the audience in
accordance with their class
A superb American TV series you
cannot let it slip
Make you burst into laugh
Best entertainment and fashionable
resources of English training
this role might be known as nerds but
on the other hand they are talented,
audiences are addicted in their
intelligence though sometimes the
behaviors of them are ridiculous. It
might be true that what the executive
producers try to express that smart is
a new kind of sexy.
The Big Bang Theory is worth
to be watched, in addition a perfect
material of English study due to the
vivid dialogues, it’s a method to
enrich our life, a way for us to have
more fun.

Campus Life Surf Zone Page
THE EXCHANGE
The most
fantastic
dream
--Movie review of Twilight Saga
When I was a little girl, I dreamt of marrying with a prince
who is brilliant, intelligent, handsome, and strong enough
to defeat the bad guys. Also, it is better if he has supernatural
abilities, like mind reading, flying, predicting the future, etc. In
the Twilight Saga, there is a boy who meets all these requests,
and his name is: Edward Cullen.
The Twilight Saga is a series of the books which consists of four
parts: twilight, new moon, eclipse, and breaking dawn. It tells a story about
a clumsy, kind hearted teenager with a knack of getting into trouble (Bella
Swan) and an intelligent, good looking vampire (Edward Cullen). They
came cross by chance and then fell in love. Because of the huge gap between
vampires and human beings, they have to face lots of challenges. For example,
Edward needs to control himself strictly for not drinking Bella’s blood though
it is his habit of doing it. Nevertheless, their love help them overcome all the
difficulties, and after having a tough loving travel, they gradually realized they
can not live alone without another one’s love. In the end, they have a halfvampire-half-human
daughter. In order to save Bella’s life, Edward injects
Bella with his venom to turn her into a vampire.
To some extent, the whole story is just like a fairy tale which we read when
we were young: The brave prince defeats the monster, and then the prince
Book Review:
In order to understand the theories of the International
Relations, I borrowed a book which name is Classic
Readings of International Relations from the library. I haven’t
read it until I received a mail from my BUS tutor, who informed
me to do the presentation about this book.
Though I had tried my best to read, the book is still difficult for me to
understand. Not only the word used in this book, but also the sentences with
strange sentence pattern confused me a lot. But the most difficult part for me is
the instances referenced in this book, for example, the Cold War, the Gulf War,
the conflict along the fault line between Western and Islamic civilizations, in
other words, the lack of historical knowledge and the ignorance of the world is
the major barrier for me to understand the book, In addition, I believe that this
problem is not only to me, but occurred among lots of students. There was a
saying that Egyptian lads are organizing the uprising on the “Face book” while
By Miaomiao Feng
SUPPLEMENT
and princess live happily ever after. Though it can not exist in the real world,
it attracts a great number of people to read and enjoy the wonderful dream
which the author made for them. In fact, I suppose reading the Twilight Saga
is just like having a fantastic and romantic dream.
However, some people said The Twilight Saga gave teenagers the distorted
values. It is true that “love” is almost the most important thing in Bella and
Edward’s world. In order to be together with Edward, Bella gives up her life
and her relationship with her parents as a normal human being. Nonetheless,
I still agree with what the author said:’’The books are about ‘life, not death’
and ‘love, not lust’”. Exactly, because of the love which has the ability to let
people ignore everything, many people are touched after reading it; because
of the soulful vampire who only cares about his lover, many people dream of
madly falling in love now; because of Edward’s talent, many people try their
best to be better. The story is not only about romance, but also it is basically
about a love fantasy that every girl dreams of. For a great number of girls, The
Twilight Saga is the most fantastic dream: being with him whose heart only
has you and living together, forever.
Classic readings of International
relations By Xinyi.liu
Chinese students are spreading the “astrology prediction” for fun on “renren.
com”. The comparison between two groups of younkers made people fall into
deeply thought.
Therefore the reason of the common problem that the students, even college
students, are so poor at history and are ignorant of the current events need
to be found out. In my opinion, the case cannot be easily explained by the
“disadvantages of the current education system” actually it is pathetic to the
whole Chinese society. While we’re talking about “One world, one dream”,
while we are trying to catch up with the trend, it should not only stay at a
skin-deep such as get along well with the rest countries or follow the step of
the fashion. Chinese students, especially college students are highly expected
to have deep thought of the situation of the world and abound with the
knowledge of the globe.
I’d like to recommend the book Classic Readings of International Relations
as an instrument to improve the knowledge of the international situation (on
the other hand a challenged of your English). While reading you can find the
historical events arrayed well and lots of them had be analyzed in a rational
way. Though it’s tough to read, but after the reading it is believed that both of
your thought and your English level will be improved. Read it, I believe you
will appreciate it.