Question

【題目】David Cameron is urging today’s youngesters to abandon French to concentrate on the tongue of the future—Mandarin(普通話)。

Cameron said: “I want Britain linked up to the world’s fast-growing economies. And that includes our young people learning the languages to seal tomorrow’s business deals.”

“By the time the children born today leave school, China is to be the world’s largest economy. So it’s time to look beyond the traditional focus on French and German and get many more children learning Mandarin.” To strengthen his message , he quoted Nelson Mandela—the former president of South Africa who said “If you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head; if you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heart.”

Cameron said that a partnership between the British Council (英國文化協(xié)會) and Hanban will double the number of Chinese language assistants in the UK by 2016 and provide increased funding to schools of offering Mandarin as a language choice. In a development of the UK—China School Partnership programme, funding will also be provided for 60 headteachers to make study visits to China in 2014.

In recent research the British Council found only 1% of the adult population speaks Mandarin to a level that allows them to conduct a basic conversation. Just 3,000 pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland entered for Chinese languages GCSEs in 2013, putting it far behind the traditional choices of French with 177,000, Spanish with 91,000 and German with 62,000 entrants(加入者), as well as Urdu, Polish and Arabic.

Professor Dame Helen Wallace, the British Academy’s foreign secretary, said, “ a lack of qualified teachers could be a barrier to improve its popularity.”

Laura Chan, one of the co—founders of a bilingual Mandarin—English primary school, said the prime minister’s announcement was good news for the status of Mandarin. She said, “It’s a great help. It will increase people’s awareness of Mandarin as a language they can learn.”

【1】What is the text mainly talking about?

A. David Cameron calls for British students to learn Mandarin.

B. David Cameron has visited China for three days.

C. Chinese language is very popular with British people.

D. The cooperation is important between the UK and China.

【2】Why does David Cameron urge students to learn Chinese?

A. Because Chinese will be a widely—used language in the world.

B. Because there are many Chinese people living in Britain.

C. Because he thinks China will become the largest economy.

D. Because only a few of British people can communicate in Chinese.

【3】What is the writer’s attitude to the popularity of Mandarin?

A. It’s wonderful but it also has some problems.

B. It can be a great waste of time and energy.

C. It’s only a design for the youngsters later.

D. It’s only a way to help students to travel abroad.

【4】What is the purpose of David Cameron by quoting Mandela’s words in Paragraph3?

A. To compare different ideas.

B. To show his rich knowledge.

C. To share Mandela’s opinion.

D. To persuade people to learn Mandarin.

Answer 1

【答案】根據第一段的總結A選項 David Cameron calls for British students to learn Mandarin.

【解析】本文是一篇新聞報道。英國首相卡梅倫呼吁英國年輕人放棄法語學習，集中精力學習“未來的語言”——漢語。

【1】主旨大意題。通讀全文可知，第一段是文章主題段，主要講述英國首相卡梅倫呼吁英國年輕人放棄法語學習，集中精力學習“未來的語言”——漢語。故選A項正確。

【2】推理判斷題。根據第二段和第三段前兩句“‘By the time the children born today leave school, China is to be the world’s largest economy. So it’s time to look beyond the traditional focus on French and German and get many more children learning Mandarin.’”可知，卡梅倫希望英國能緊跟世界經濟發(fā)展的腳步，其中之一就是讓年輕一代為了未來經濟貿易發(fā)展學習語言。等到這一代學生畢業(yè)的時候，中國很可能已經是世界最大的經濟體了。所以現在是時候將注意力從傳統(tǒng)的德、法語學習轉向漢語學習了。因此可知，卡梅倫要求學生學習漢語是因為他認為中國將會成為最大的經濟體。故選C項正確。

【3】觀點態(tài)度題。根據文章提到的卡梅倫說的話和第五段第一句“In recent research the British Council found only 1% of the adult population speaks Mandarin to a level that allows them to conduct a basic conversation.”以及第六段最后一句“a lack of qualified teachers could be a barrier to improve its popularity.”可知，目前僅有1%的英國人可以用漢語進行基本對話，缺乏專業(yè)老師是漢語普及的問題。因此推斷作者認為英國漢語普及狀況良好但是仍然存在很多問題。故選A項正確。

【4】推理判斷題，根據第三段最后一句“To strengthen his message, he quoted Nelson Mandela—the former president of South Africa who said ‘If you talk to a man in a language he understands that goes to his head; if you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heart.’”可知，此處的the message指代上文提到的呼吁學生學習漢語，因此推斷他引用曼德拉的話是為了增強說服力，說服人們學習漢語。故選D項正確。