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find the first non Anglophone establishment, the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technology, and surprisingly, France’s renowned Ecole Polytechnique only
comes in thirty ninth.
Alice: Ah, so American universities dominate the top of the list, but
what does he mean about the first non-Anglophone establishment being at
number fifteen?
Rob: Well, Anglophone means English speaking. So the first non-
Anglophone university in the list was ...
Alice: The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. But come on Rob,
who was number one?
Rob: Wait and see Alice! Let’s find out about some of other countries in
the list.
Here’s Jonny Hogg again…
Extract 3
Elsewhere, Asia has done well, with Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and
China all having universities in the top forty. Only two African institutions,
one, the university of Capetown in South Africa, the other, the University of
Alexandria in Egypt, make the top two hundred.
Rob: So Jonny Hogg said universities in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea
and China were in the top forty.
Alice: Yes, mainland China has six universities on the list and there are
two in Africa.
Rob: OK here’s another question – when you choose a university does it
really matter if it has a good ranking?
Alice: Hmmm, the reasons for choosing a university? I suppose its
reputation is important.
Rob: Of course, although the authors of this new list say reputation is not
as important as it used to be. I chose my university because it offered the
subject I wanted to do.
Alice: Really? I chose mine because it was close to home and it had a
lively social scene.
Rob: Agood reason! Let’s hear the reasons why Kate and Kaz chose their
places to study.
Extract 4
Well I went to Edinburgh University, and I chose Edinburgh because
I love the city, the university had a very good reputation, and it was close