Question

【題目】 Chinese A-level has overtaken German for the first time, as it becomes the UK's third most popular language.

This year 3,334 students took Chinese A-level, compared to 3,058 taking German. While entries（報(bào)名者）for Chinese have increased by 8.6 percent since last year, the number of German entries has dropped by 16.5 percent. French remains the most popular modern language followed by Spanish（西班牙語(yǔ)），but both have seen a fall in entries compared to last year by eight and four percent separately.

Barnaby Lenon, expert of the independent Schools Council (ISC), said that the teachers used to tell pupils "It will really help your future if you learn German", but this is no longer the case.

In the 1960s, the 1970s and even the 1990s, pupils were strongly encouraged to study German because of the importance of the German economy（經(jīng)濟(jì)）．Although it is still strong, that argument has disappeared gradually, and China has become known in the last 25 years for the fastest growing economy in the world.”

Mr. Lenon, a former headmaster at Harrow School, said the increase in Chinese A-level is partly driven by private schools. Many of them have put more money in the subject in recent years. "It is not the case that a large number of state schools are now teaching Chinese A-level. They are not," he said. Many of the entries will be Chinese native speakers, adding that independent schools have attracted（吸引）"large numbers" of Chinese pupils in recent years.

Mark Herbert, director of schools and skills at the British Council, welcomed the rise in Chinese A-level entries. Our research shows that Mandarin（漢語(yǔ)）will be one of the most important languages for the UK's future and position-but we mustn't give no attention to Spanish, French and German which will still be important post-Brexit（脫歐后）．

Nick Gibb, the school minister, said, "It has never been more important for young people to learn a foreign language than now."

【1】The underlined word overtake in Paragraph 1 means _________．

A.catch up and begin to do better thanB.be strongly against

C.come suddenly and unexpectedly toD.be in control of

【2】Which language has the second largest number of entries in the UK this year?

A.Chinese.B.German.C.French.D.Spanish.

【3】Students were encouraged to learn German in _________because Germany's economy was in good condition.

A.the late ninetieth centuryB.the early twentieth century

C.the late twentieth centuryD.the early twenty-first century

【4】According to Mr. Lenon, the rise in Chinese A-level is, in some ways, caused by _________．

A.private schoolsB.state schoolsC.Chinese schoolsD.German schools

【5】What can we learn from Mark Herbert's speech in Paragraph 6?

A.He is against learning Chinese.

B.It's difficult to learn Chinese well.

C.Spanish, French and German are easy to learn.

D.Britain should take all kinds of foreign languages seriously.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】D

【3】C

【4】A

【5】D

【解析】

這篇短文主要介紹了英國(guó)A-Level考試漢語(yǔ)考生首次超過(guò)德語(yǔ)及人們對(duì)此的看法。

【1】詞義猜測(cè)題。根據(jù)后文“This year 3,334 students took Chinese A-level, compared to 3,058 taking German.” 今年有3334名學(xué)生報(bào)考了漢語(yǔ)A-level考試，德語(yǔ)有3058人，可以推斷“Chinese A-level has overtaken German for the first time”意為“漢語(yǔ)A-level考試人數(shù)首次超過(guò)德語(yǔ)” ，故選A。

【2】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)“French remains the most popular modern language followed by Spanish（西班牙語(yǔ)）”可知法語(yǔ)仍然是A-level中選考人數(shù)最多的現(xiàn)代語(yǔ)言，其次是西班牙語(yǔ)，所以西班牙語(yǔ)是第二個(gè)選考人數(shù)最多的語(yǔ)言，故選D。

【3】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)“In the 1960s, the 1970s and even the 1990s, pupils were strongly encouraged to study German because of the importance of the German economy（經(jīng)濟(jì)）．”可知因?yàn)榈聡?guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)的重要性，學(xué)生在二十世紀(jì)六七十年代甚至九十年代被大力鼓勵(lì)學(xué)習(xí)德語(yǔ)，即二十世紀(jì)晚期，故選C。

【4】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)“Mr. Lenon, a former headmaster at Harrow School, said the increase in Chinese A-level is partly driven by private schools.”可知萊農(nóng)認(rèn)為報(bào)考漢語(yǔ)人數(shù)增長(zhǎng)一定程度上是私立學(xué)校推動(dòng)的，故選A。

【5】歸納理解題。根據(jù)第六段赫德博的話(huà)可知漢語(yǔ)非常重要但是也不能忽視西班牙語(yǔ)、法語(yǔ)和德語(yǔ)，即英國(guó)應(yīng)該認(rèn)真對(duì)待各種語(yǔ)言，故選D。