This the VOA Special English Education Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语教育报道。
Many thousands of Chinese are studying at schools in the United States. And writer Liel Leibovitz says the students are following an example that began in the eighteen seventies.
成千上万的中国人在美国学校里就读。作家利奥·莱博维茨（Liel Leibovitz）表示，这些学生追随着始于19世纪70年代的榜样。
Mr. Leibovitz and writer Matthew Miller joined forces to tell the story of the students in their book, "Fortunate Sons." The book says China sent one hundred twenty boys to America to learn about developments that could help modernize their country.
莱博维茨先生和作家马修·米勒（Matthew Miller）强强联手，在他们的著作《幸运之子》中讲述了这些学生的故事。该书称中国派遣了120名男童到美国学习可以帮助实现本国现代化的各类发展。
Mr. Leibovitz got the idea for the book about the boys a few years ago when he was traveling with his wife in China.
莱博维茨先生几年前和妻子在中国旅游时产生了写这本书的想法。
LIEL LEIBOVITZ: "One afternoon it was raining in Beijing, and so we decided to stay in our hotel room and flip through television stations. And we came across this very arresting photograph of a young Chinese boy dressed in what appeared to be traditional Chinese dress. And he was standing next to a building that was very clearly Yale University."
莱博维茨：“一天下午，北京下着雨，所以我们决定呆在酒店翻看电视，无意中发现了一张非常引人注意的照片，一个中国小男孩穿的似乎是中国传统服饰，站在一幢建筑旁，那明显是耶鲁大学。”
Mr. Leibovitz learned that the Qing government sent a whole delegation of boys to learn the ways of the West. The goal was for them to return to China and help their country.
莱博维茨先生了解到清政府派遣了一个代表团的男童学习西方的发展道路，其目的是让他们回到中国帮助自己的国家发展。
LIEL LEIBOVITZ: "A little bit later on, I was delighted and amazed to discover that these boys, who later turned out to be very, very remarkable men, had left behind an archive of letters, of diaries, of closing articles detailing their entire journey and also what happened to them once they finally returned to China."
莱博维茨：“没过多久，我欣喜并惊讶地发现这些男孩后来成为了非常了不起的人。他们留下了详细记述他们整个在美国的经历，以及回国后经历的归档的信件、日记和文字。”
The book says the boys received their American training in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It must have been a very good education. Mr. Leibovitz says the first prime minister of the Chinese Republic completed this program. And so did the first engineer to build a large-scale railroad without foreign help. The same was true of the fathers of Chinese education, diplomacy and the Navy.
该书称，这些男孩在马萨诸塞州，纽约州，新泽西州和康涅狄格州受到了他们的美国培训。那肯定是非常一次好的教育。莱博维茨表示，中华民国首位总理就完成了这项课程，还包括在没有外国帮助的情况下建设了大规模铁路的首位工程师，以及中国教育、外交和海军之父。
51voa注：首位总理指唐绍仪；首位铁路工程师指詹天佑，他也被称为中国铁路之父。后面提到的中国教育、外交和海军之父在作者眼中分别指谁不得而知。51VOA猜测，教育之父可能指清华首任校长唐国安，外交之父可能指梁敦彦，留美幼童中41人进入过海军，海军之父不知指谁。
The book-writers had only to open some boxes containing the writings of these men to learn about them. Their notebooks, journals, letters and postcards were in English. Mr. Leibovitz said he was lucky to have so much information from events that took place long ago.
该书作者只能打开装有这些人著作的一些箱子去了解他们。他们的笔记、日记、信件和明信片都是英文。莱博维茨先生表示，他很幸运有这么多发生在很久以前的事件的信息。
LIEL LEIBOVITZ: "It was an unbelievable gift. I was expecting a lot of piecing together. And instead, we were amazed to find how meticulous these men had been about documenting their lives."
莱博维茨：“这是一份不可思议的礼物。我以为会是很多拼凑。但我们惊奇地发现这些人如此细致地记录了他们的生活。”
The students returned to China after about nine years. They no longer spoke Mandarin well enough to answer questions. Police welcomed them home by putting them in jail. The young men were released after about a week. But they were given low-level jobs.
这些学生们约9年后回到中国，他们普通话说得不再好到足以回答问题。警方把他们投进了监狱作为见面礼，大约一个星期后才被释放。但他们获得的职位不高。
Mister Leibovitz says it took about ten years for them to rise to higher positions. He said their story continues today with large numbers of Chinese studying in the United States.
莱博维茨先生说，他们花了近10年才升上高的职位。他说，现在大量中国人在美国学习，他们的故事得以延续至今。
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