Question

American teenager Thomas Cheatham had planned to study Latin during his sophomore year at Hebron High School in Texas. But when he learned that the school district was going to offer a Mandarin class, he quickly changed his mind. “I thought it (Mandarin) would be more beneficial than Latin,” said Cheatham, who is now in his second year of studying the language.

He speaks Mandarin to order food at Chinese restaurants and can read Face book posts from his Chinese-speaking friends.

While it’a difficult language to master, the high school junior, who plans to study computer engineering, thinks it will be a valuable thing in his career.

“Chinese is a good language to know, especially with China becoming a growing power,” he said.

Many experts agree that proficiency in a language spoken by a billion people worldwide will give American students an edge in the global economy.

“People are looking at China as our next economic competitor, and interest in Mandarin is growing,'' said Marty Abbott, executive director of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. ''We're seeing it in all parts of the country.”

The number of students studying Mandarin in public schools nationwide in grades 7 through 12 grew from 20,000 in 2004-2005 to 60,000 three years later, according to the council’s most recent survey.

Abbott estimates that as many as 100,000 students are now studying Mandarin, in public and private schools, throughout the nation.

She said the US government has considered Mandarin to be an “important needs” language and provides professional development programs for teachers.

“Our government wants to increase our language ability for national security and economic competitiveness,” Abbott said.

At the same time, the Chinese government is spreading knowledge of the Chinese language and culture through Confucius Institutes established in many states.

The Confucius Institute at the University of Texas in Dallas, founded in 2007, opens Confucius Classrooms at 11 local public and private schools where more than 700 students are learning Mandarin.

1.Why does the writer mention Thomas in the passage?

A. To tell us how changeable he is.

B. To introduce the topic of the passage.

C. To introduce his college life.

D. To tell us Latin is less popular now.

2.Many experts in America agree that _______.

A. Mandarin is becoming more beneficial than Latin

B. Mandarin is very difficult to learn for most American students

C. Mandarin will be of some help to American students in the global economy

D. China is a competitor of America in culture

3.Why does Mandarin become so popular in America?

A. Because Mandarin is more interesting than Latin.

B. Because there are many good teachers in the Confucius Institutes.

C. Because Mandarin is very helpful in the global economy.

D. Because the Chinese government has tried his best.

4.From the passage we know that the Confucius Institutes _______.

A. have trained 100,000 students to learn Mandarin in America

B. provide professional development programs for teachers

C. have been established in many states in America

D. were founded in 2007

5.What does the passage mainly talk about?

A. An increasing number of students in America are learning Mandarin.

B. Confucius Institutes have been established in many states in America.

C. Latin is less popular in America now.

D. China now is becoming a growing power.

 

Answer 1

1.B

2.C

3.C

4.C

5.A

【解析】

試題分析：本文主以一個(gè)美國學(xué)生的經(jīng)歷為例來講述隨著中國經(jīng)濟(jì)的發(fā)展，越來越多的美國人開始學(xué)習(xí)普通話，許多美國人意識(shí)到普通的重要性，隨著孔子學(xué)院的開辦，很多美國學(xué)生學(xué)習(xí)漢語

1.B 細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段和第三段提到He speaks Mandarin to order food at Chinese restaurants and can read Face book posts from his Chinese-speaking friends.他說普通話為了以有在中國餐館吃飯While it’a difficult language to master, the high school junior, who plans to study computer engineering, thinks it will be a valuable thing in his career.雖然普通話很難，但對(duì)于他的事業(yè)非常有好處，都是為了以此為例來引出話題，故選B項(xiàng)。

2.C 細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第四段提到Many experts agree that proficiency in a language spoken by a billion people worldwide will give American students an edge in the global economy許多專家認(rèn)為精通一門幾億人都知道的語言使美國學(xué)生更好的了解世界經(jīng)濟(jì)，故選C項(xiàng)。

3.C 推斷題。根據(jù)第六段提到People are looking at China as our next economic competitor, and interest in Mandarin is growing,人們把中國看作未來的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)者，第七段提到The number of students studying Mandarin in public schools nationwide in grades 7 through 12 grew from 20,000 in 2004-2005 to 60,000 three years later學(xué)習(xí)普通話的學(xué)生人數(shù)逐年增長(zhǎng)，故選C項(xiàng)。

4.C 細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)最后一段提到The Confucius Institute at the University of Texas in Dallas, founded in 2007, opens Confucius Classrooms at 11 local public and private schools where more than 700 students are learning Mandarin.可知孔子學(xué)院在2007年建立，開辦11個(gè)分校，有700多名學(xué)生學(xué)習(xí)普通話，故選C項(xiàng)。

5.A 主旨大意。本文主要在講述隨著中國經(jīng)濟(jì)的發(fā)展，越來越多的美國人開始學(xué)習(xí)普通話，許多美國人意識(shí)到普通的重要性，隨著孔子學(xué)院的開辦，很多美國學(xué)生學(xué)習(xí)漢語，故選A項(xiàng)。

考點(diǎn)：文化類閱讀。