A
With the Chinese language growing in popularity,the UK government plans to invest (投资)10 million pounds to help more kids learn Mandarin(普通话).Do you think it is necessary for the UK pupils to learn Mandarin?Some people share their opinions online.
Tsd(UK):The learning of any language can be valuable and rewarding,but it is not suitable for everyone. Chinese is a difficult language to learn and the UK has a poor reputation for teaching foreign languages.Why should they learn Chinese when most people in the world speak English?
Mark(US):I studied French for 2 years in high school and German for 4 years in college.I studied Mandarin informally for about 4 months before moving to China.Now I speak Mandarin every day as my wife doesn’t speak English.But it is far from being fluent.learning additional languages is a great thing,which offers a different perspective on the world around us. Nowadays,it’s almost necessary to be able to speak more than just your native tongue.
George(UK):No,unless they’re taught from a very early stage of childhood.Mandarin is so difficult. If China really is going to dominate the world, it’ll have to do so by speaking the world’s dominant language---English.
Sam(UK):I don’t think Chinese will become as widely spoken throughout the world as English.It is too difficult to learn as a second language,To learn Chinese you completely have to devote yourself to learning how to write and read it.If you have to learn it besides other subjects you can’t be good at it.But Chinese will become more popular,and that is a good thing.
1. What is probably Mark’s main motivation(动机)for learning Chinese?
A. Further education.
B. Effective communication.
C. His frequent travel.
D. The official policy.
2. What does Sam think of learning Chinese?
A. It’s necessary.
B. It’s of little use.
C. It takes too much time.
D. It’s not popular.
3. What seems to be the major problem when foreigners try to learn Chinese?
A. Its difficulty as a language.
B. Misunderstanding about China.
C. The great popularity of English.
D. A lack of learning resources.
【答案】1. B 2. C 3. A
【解析】
本文主要介绍了外国人关于学汉语普通话的一些看法。
【1题详解】
推理判断题。根据第三段中Now I speak Mandarin every day as my wife doesn't speak English. Nowadays,it's almost necessary to be able to speak more than just your native tongue.可知,现在我每天都说普通话,因为我妻子不会说英语。现在,必须比你的母语讲更多的汉语。由此可推知Mark学汉语的动机是为了有效的交流。故选B。
【2题详解】
推理判断题。根据最后一段中Sam(UK): It is too difficult to learn as a second language.To learn Chinese you completely have to devote yourself to learning how to write and read it.If you have to learn it besides other subjects you can’t be good at it.Sam认为作为第二语言学习汉语太难了。要学中文,你必须全身心地学习如何写作和阅读。除了其他科目,你还必须学习它,你不可能擅长它。因此推断他认为学习汉语要花太多的时间。故选C。
【3题详解】
推理判断题。根据文中Chinese is a difficult language to learn(汉语难学)和It is too difficult to learn as a second language.(作为第二语言,汉语很难学)可推断,外国人尝试学外语的主要问题在于太难学。故选A。