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All in all, it is now beyond doubt that in size and scope the rapid global spread of the habit to wear jeans, however it may be explained, is an accident without precedent in the history of human attire.

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The Navajo people of Arizona and New Mexico build their hogans, cone-shaped dwellings made of logs and earth, during the summer.

The most significant finding of the original research was __________.

中国教育　　政府已对全国农村义务教育阶段学生全部免除学杂费、全部免费提供教科书，对家庭经济困难寄宿生提供生活补助，使1.5亿学生和780万名家庭经济困难寄宿生受益。西部地区如期完成了基本普及九年义务教育、基本扫除青壮年文盲的计划。国家提供资金支持了2.2万多所农村中小学改造危房、建设7000多所寄宿制学校，远程教育已覆盖36万所农村中小学，更多的农村学生享受到优质教育资源。更加重视职业教育发展，2007年中、高等职业教育在校生分别达到2000万人和861万人。普通高等教育院校本科生和研究生规模达到1144万人。高校重点学科建设继续加强。2007年开始在教育部直属师范大学实施师范生免费教育试点。我们在实现教育公平上迈出了重大步伐。

The auctioneer’s hammers were not the only thing falling as the spring auction season got underway in New York. So were prices for works by some of the major names in contemporary arts.

A female mantis does not hesitate to devour her own mate if she is hungry.

Elvis Presley blazed a trail in pop music and was considered one of the greatest pop icons in American history.

Globalization for Change in Higher Education　　What is globalization and how does it affect higher education policy and academic institutions? The answer is deceivingly simple and the implications are surprisingly complex. For higher education, globalization implies the social, economic, and technological forces that shape the realities of the 21st century. These elements include advanced information technology, new ways of thinking about financing higher education and a concomitant acceptance of market forces and commercialization, unprecedented mobility for students and professors, and other developments. Significantly, the idea of mass access to higher education has meant unprecedented expansion of higher education everywhere—there are about 134 million students in postsecondary education worldwide, and many countries have seen unprecedented and sustained expansion in the past several decades. These global trends are for the most part inevitable. Nations, and academic institutions, must constructively cope with the implications.　　MassificationMassification is without question the most ubiquitous global influence of the past half century or more.  The United States had the first mass higher education system, beginning as early as the1920s. Europe followed in the 1960s, and parts of Asia a decade or so later. The developing countries were the last to expand. Most of the growth of the 21st century is taking place in developing and middle-income countries. North America, Europe, and a number of Pacific Rim nations now enroll 60 percent or more of the relevant age group6 in higher education. What has massification brought?　　Public good vs. private good.Stimulated in part by the financial pressures of massification and also by broader changes in economic thinking, including the neoliberal agenda, higher education is increasingly considered in economic terms a private good—a benefit accruing mainly to individuals who should pay for it rather than a public good that contributes benefits to society and thus should be financially supported by the state.Varied funding patterns.For most countries, the state has traditionally been the main funder of higher education. Massification has placed great strains on state funding, and in all cases governments no longer believe they can adequately fund mass higher education. Other sources of funding need to be found—including student tuition and fees (typically the largest source), a variety of government-sponsored and private loan programs, university income generating programs (such as industry collaboration or consulting), and philanthropic support.Decline in quality vs. conditions of study. On average in most countries, the quality of higher education has declined. In a mass system, top quality cannot be provided to all students. 11 It is not affordable, and the ability levels of both students and professors necessarily become more diverse. University study and teaching are no longer a preserve for the elite—both in terms of ability and wealth. While the top of a diversified academic system may maintain its quality12 (although in some countries the top sector has also suffered), the system as a whole declines.　　Globalization of the Academic MarketplaceMore than 2 million students are studying abroad, and it is estimated that this number will increase to 8 million in a few years. Many others are enrolled in branch campuses and twinning programs, There are many thousands of visiting scholars and postdocs studying internationally. Most significantly, there is a global circulation of academics. Ease of transportation, IT, the use of English, and the globalization of the curriculum have tremendously increased the international circulation of academic talent. Flows of students and scholars move largely from South to North—from the developing countries to North America and Europe. And while the “brain drain” of the past has become more of a “brain exchange”, with flows of both people and knowledge back and forth across borders and among societies, the great advantage still accrues to the traditional academic centers at the expense of the peripheries. Even China, and to some extent India, with both large and increasingly sophisticated academic systems, find themselves at a significant disadvantage in the global academic marketplace. For much of Africa, the traditional brain drain remains largely a reality.