Questions 28 to 31 are based on the following passage.

The number of international students at colleges and universities in the United States has increased continually for fifthyear.

The Institute of International Education in New York released its annual ” Open Doors ” report this week. It says a record ofmore than 720,000 students from other countries were studying in America during the last school year. The number was 5%higher than the year before and almost one-third higher than ten years ago.

There were big increases from China, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Iran and Venezuela. Almost 22% of international studentswere Chinese, with increases especially at the undergraduate level. Together, almost half of all international students camefrom China, India and South Korea.

Peggy Blumenthal at the institute says that Chinese students are now studying throughout the United States. Twenty yearsago, students from China only knew of a handful of the US institutions, but now they are admitted into the US communitycolleges, small liberal arts institutions, and research universities — really spread across the US. Ms. Blumenthal suggests thatone reason for the increase is a lack of space in Chinese colleges for everyone who wants an education. She says studentsand their parents are also looking for a different educational experience.

More international students study in California than in any other states. For ten years in a row, the University of SouthernCalifornia in Los Angeles led the country, with more than 8,600 foreign students.

The most popular area of study for international students is business and management, followed by engineering.

28.Big increases in the number of international students were mainly from __________