1 . Welcome to UCLA Exchange Program! Let’s get started by checking out Student Guide for your academic journey!

Signing up for ESL (English as a Second Language)

ESL courses are designed to help international students improve academic English language skills. Enrollment (课程注册) priority is given to degree students. If space is available, you may enroll. You will then be asked to take an ESL Placement Test. The test results will help you choose the class that is appropriate for you.

Changing Your Course Enrollment List

You may change your class schedule during the first two weeks of the term by adding or dropping courses from your enrollment list. After the second week of classes, there will be a charge for each schedule change. Students often attend classes in which they are not enrolled on the first day of instruction to try adding this new course to the list, as other students may have dropped it.

Withdrawing from Courses

If you choose to drop a course, you must follow the UCLA procedures for removing it from your schedule. If you forget to officially drop that course, a “F” (Fail) grade will be registered on your record at the end of the term. If, at a later date, you wish to apply for a job or graduate school where an official copy of your UCLA record is required, it will be to your advantage to provide an impressive academic record.

Taking Exams

Some instructors choose to put previous test papers on library reserve, making them available to all students. These exams, which students commonly use for practice, can give you an idea of how instructors ask questions and what they regard as relevant material. You can also access the exams online.

2 . Many English learners have difficulty deciding what kind of English accent they want to have. A US accent, perhaps imitates (模仿) a Hollywood star speaker? Or maybe you want to imitate the British accent of a BBC news reader?

Young British people find the US accent attractive while young US people like a British accent. Especially when the person speaking is of the opposite sex (异性)! Let’s listen to what they have to say.

Stephen Yang, 17, from London, UK

A US accent is cute, especially when a girl speaks it. Whether it’s Jessia Alba speaking or the girl-next-door, the way US girls speak has a sweet tingle (感觉) that is really fashionable. A girl from Texas recently moved into our neighborhood. Her Texan twang (鼻音) had all the boys here on their knees within seconds of meeting her.

To me, accents reflect the attitudes, characteristics (特征) and lifestyles of the people.

Jennifer Sun, 16, from New Jersey, US

From watching English actors like Daniel Radcliffe, my friends and I have developed a soft spot (好感) for British men. Some are attracted to the qualities of English males, while others admire their sense of style.

Everyone, however, agrees that the most appealing aspect of an English man is his accent. For example, many American girls watch Harry Potter movies over and over again just to listen to the actors speak.

The English accent seems almost like art.

3 . A scientist goes to a forest to study monkeys. He or she wants to study their habits and behavior. But the problem is: how to know who’s who?

In the past, scientists had to make marks on each of the animals to distinguish them. But in the future, they may have a much easier way to tell them apart thanks to facial recognition technology.

A research team from China’s Northwest University is using facial recognition technology to identify thousands of snub-nosed monkeys (金丝猴) that live on Qinling Mountain in Shaanxi province.

Similar to human facial recognition, the technology that is used to identify monkeys uses their facial features to create a database that includes every monkey, Xinhua reported.

“When the system is fully developed, we can connect it with cameras set up in the mountains. The system will automatically recognize the monkeys, name them and analyze their behavior,” said Zhang He, a member of the research team.

“For each snub-nosed monkey, we have 700 to 800 image samples, and the recognition success rate is 94 percent,” Zhang added.

Compared with facial recognition technology for humans, facial recognition technology for monkeys is more complicated because monkeys have hairier faces. The color of their hair causes them to blend into their environment. These factors make it harder for computers to do the job.

“Monkeys do not cooperate with researchers in the same way humans do. It is difficult to take high-quality pictures and videos of them, which are needed to improve the system,” said Li Baoguo, leader of the research team.

Currently, there are about 4,000 snub-nosed monkeys living on Qinling Mountain. The team’s goal is to successfully identify every monkey that lives there.

4 . Edward rose early on the New-year morning. He looked in every room and wished a Happy New Year to his family. Then he ran into the street to repeat that to those he might meet.

When he came back, his father gave him two bright, new silver dollars.

His face lighted up as he took them. He had wished for a long time to buy some pretty books that he had seen at the bookstore.

He left the house with a light heart, expecting to buy the books. As he ran down the street, he saw a poor family.

“I wish you a Happy New Year.” said Edward, as he was passing on. The man shook his head.

“You are not from this country.” said Edward. The man again shook his head, for he could not understand or speak his language. But he pointed to his mouth and to the children shaking with cold, as if (好像) to say, “These little ones have had nothing to eat for a long time.”

Edward quickly understood that these poor people were in trouble. He took out his dollars and gave one to the man, and the other to his wife.

They were excited and said something in their language, which doubtless meant, “We thank you so much that we will remember you all the time.”

When Edward came home, his father asked what books he had bought. He hung his head a moment, but quickly looked up.

“I have bought no books”, said he. “I gave my money to some poor people, who seemed to be very hungry then.” He went on, “I think I can wait for my books till next New Year.”

“My dear boy,” said his father, “here are some books for you, more as a prize for your goodness of heart than as a New-year gift.”

“I saw you give the money cheerfully to the poor German family. It was nice for a little boy to do so. Be always ready to help others and every year of your life will be to you a Happy New Year.”

6 . Acupuncture (针灸) is a traditional Chinese medical practice of treating various physical and mental conditions. It won respect and interest in the United States after New York Times reporter James Reston visited China with President Nixon and needed an operation.

Chinese doctors used acupuncture on James after surgery (外科手术) to reduce his pain, and his recovery was quick. Curious about this, James was allowed to watch surgery on patients who received acupuncture for anesthesia (麻醉). Patients talked with their doctors during the operation and then walked back to their rooms on their own.

Acupuncture left James such a deep impression that he wrote a front-page article in New York Times about his operation upon returning to the United States. “A leading medical expert sent by Premier Zhou Enlai removed my appendix (阑尾). I was awake in the whole process.”

The National Institutes of Health began to organize some of their top doctors to visit China to investigate acupuncture and its possible functions in western medicine. With years going by, acupuncture has become popular across the world with magical effect.

8 . Long long ago, there was a king who liked to write stories. He was so proud of his stories that he showed them to many people. Although the people didn’t like the stories, they were afraid to say that. Instead, they all said his stories were good.

One day he showed his stories to a well-known critic (评论家) . The critic said that they were bad. The king got very angry and sent him into prison.

After sometime the king sent his men to the critic to tell him that he was free. When the critic returned from the prison, the king invited him to his palace to dinner. Again he showed him some of his stories and once again asked him what he thought of them. The critic said nothing but turned to the soldiers who were standing behide him, and said, “Take me back to prison.”

9 . Driving to a friend’s house on a recent evening,I was attracted by the sight of the full moon rising just above my friend’s rooftops.I stopped to watch it for a few moments,thinking about what a pity it was that most city people,myself included,usually miss sights like this because we spend most of our lives indoors.

My friend had also seen it.He grew up living in a forest in Europe,and the moon meant a lot to him then.It had touched much of his life.

I know the feeling.Last December I took my seven-year-old daughter to the mountainous jungle of northern India with some friends.We stayed in a forest rest-house with no electricity or hot water.Our group had campfires outside every night,and indoors when it was too cold outside.The moon grew to its fullest during our trip.Between me and the high mountains lay three or four valleys.Not a light shone in them and not a sound could be heard.It was one of the quietest places I had ever known,a bottomless well of silence.And above me was the full moon,which struck me deeply.

Today our lives are filled with glass,metal,plastic and fibre-glass.We have televisions,cellphones,heaters,ovens,air-conditioners,cars and computers.

Struggling through traffic that evening at the end of a tiring day,most of it spent indoors,I thought:before long,I would like to live in a small cottage.There I will grow vegetables and read books and walk in the mountains.I may become an old man there,and wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled and measure out my life in coffee spoons.But I will be able to walk outside on a cold silent night and touch the moon.

10 . How to Be a Good Tourist

We travel not only for work but also for fun and learning. Restaurants, galleries, temples and architecture...These places are like homes for people who live and work there. How would you want visitors to behave in your own home?     1     There are many ways of doing this without sacrificing our own holiday.

Do your homework.     2     Guides will help you when you get to the site, but is that the best place to go? Is it popular only because the one-day tourist can see it easily or because it is really a worthwhile place to visit？You’d better check it out.

    3     Walk around, even if in the streets closest to your hotel. Eat in local restaurants. Talk to the locals. Learn a few in the local language and use them. You will surely get a smile from the hotel staff and street sellers.

Help preserve the sites. Most of the sites you visit may be visited by millions of people a year, so care needs to be taken to allow others to enjoy them as well. Some of these monuments are so old and fragile that they are sensitive to the touch of hands or bags and shows.     4     This way, you don’t encourage the use of those plastic bags that fly all over many sites.

And here’s the big one — good manners are nearly universal.     5     If that doesn’t sound like you, then give the world a break and stay home.