When I was studying at Yale, some phenomena puzzled me greatly. I found that Chinese students or Asian students were very polite in class while American students often interrupted the professor, asking questions and dominating the discussion. The Chinese students were not as aggressive as American students. I was impressed by the role of the professor in the seminar(讨论会). The professor didn’t act as an authority, giving final conclusions, but as a reseac her looking for answers to questions together with the students. One lingui stic(语言的) feature of his interacting with his students was that he used many modal(情态的) verbs—far more than I did in Beiwai. When answering questions, he usually said, “This is my personal opinion and it could be wrong.” or “You could be right, but you might find this point of view also interesting.” In China, authorities are always supposed to give wise decisions and correct di rections. Therefore, students always expect the professor to give an answer to th e question. I still remember how frustrated they were when foreign teachers did not provide such an answer. Their expectations from authorities are much higher than that of American students. Once the Chinese students got the answer, they w ere sure about it. Education in China is valued for united thinking. I remember American teachers who taught in our university complaining about the fact that Chinese students u niformly expressed the same idea in their English composition. The examinations in America usually do not test a student’s ability to memorize the material but his ability to analyze and solve problems. Education in America is valued not on ly as a means to obtain employment but as a process of enhancing critical thinking. In the USA, when the students are in class, ____.