If sheer numbers provide any proof, America's universities are the envy of the world. For all their troubles, the United States' 3500 institutions were flooded with more than half a million students from 193 countries last year. Asia led the way, with the biggest number from China, followed by Japan and India. Most European and Asian universities provide an elite service to a small number of people. While fully 60% of all US high school graduates attend college of some point in their life, just 30% of the comparable German population, 28% of the French, 20% of the British, and 37% of the Japanese proceed beyond high school. Britains who pass their A levels may still not qualify for a top university at home, but find American universities far more welcoming. Some US schools acknowledge the rigor of European secondary training, and will give up to a year's credit to foreigners who have passed their high school exams. "The conception that everyone has a right to an education appropriate to his potential is a highly democratic and compassionate standard," says Marven Breselor, a professor at Princeton University. True, not all US students can match the performance of their foreign counterparts, but the American institutions do offer students from rich and poor families alike the chance to realize their full potential."America educates so many more people at university that one can't expect all those who go to be as intelligent as the much narrower band in British universities," says professor Christopher Rakes at Boston university, "I'm not against elitism, but I happen to like having people who are more eager to learn."

Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.

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