全球掀起“汉语热”

浙江 江 丽

汉语有着悠久的历史，是联合国规定的六种工作语言之一，也是当今世界上母语使用人口最多的语言。

主题语境：人与社会 篇幅：396词 建议用时：6分钟

1More than 70 countries have officially included Chinese language teaching into their national education systems,including the UK,Russia,South Africa,Japan,and Australia.

2Kensington Wade in London, Britain's first Eng⁃lish⁃Chinese primary school,recruited(招收)its 15 stu⁃dents from Europe, the United States and South America recently for the first time. The school, the first of its kind in Europe, is an example of the rising popularity of the Chinese language around the world.Mastering the Chinese language means advantages and opportu⁃nities in the job market and the business world, because Chinese companies and projects are on the rise around the world.

3A recent survey by the British Council,the United Kingdom's international organiza⁃tion for cultural relations and educational opportunities,shows Chinese has become the lan⁃guage that British parents want their children to learn most, and is considered“the most useful language in the future”.

4Statistics from American Councils for International Education show the number of students learning Chinese at primary and middle schools in the US doubled between 2009 and 2015. And statistics show the number of primary and middle school students learning Chinese in France has quadrupled (使……变为四倍) over the past 10 years. It is esti⁃mated that the number of people learning Chinese around the world has increased to 100 million from 30 million in 2004.

5Behind the growing popularity of Chinese language learning is the international community's positive attitude towards China's future development, as well as people's longing to learn about Chinese civilization and culture.With the rise of China's interna⁃tional influence, the Chinese language will enter more classrooms in foreign countries,helping young people around the world better understand the country.

Reading Check

1.What can we know about Kensington Wade?

B.It is Britain's first school.

C.It is an English⁃Chinese primary school.

D.It is a training center for language learning.

2.Which language is the most useful in the future according to British parents?

A.English. B.French.

C.Spanish. D.Chinese.

3.Why does the author list numbers in paragraph 4?

A.To show the great changes around the world.

十几天后，西大街那孩子王钓鱼，不想失了足，掉入河里，偏他不会水，头冒了两下，就沉下去了。跟他一起来的孩子都慌了，没一个敢去救他。

B.To prove the increasing popularity of Chinese.

C.To compare middle schools in different countries.

D.To describe the history of education in France.

4.What's the author's attitude to the status of Chinese?

A.Neutral. B.Unclear.

C.Doubtful. D.Positive.

Language Study

Difficult sentence

Behind the growing popularity of Chinese language learning is the international com⁃munity's positive attitude towards China's future development, as well as people's longing to learn about Chinese civilization and culture. 在汉语学习日益受欢迎的背后，是国际社会对中国未来发展的积极态度，以及人们对了解中华文明和文化的渴望。

【点石成金】该句中，介词短语Behind the growing popularity of Chinese language learning 位于句首，句中的主语和谓语完全倒装。

注意：

在通常情况下，介词短语置于句首时，其后的句子是不用倒装的。如：

On the platform she kissed her mother.她在月台上吻了她的母亲。

但是，有时为了保持句子的平衡或使上下文衔接紧密，可将用作地点状语的介词短语置于句首，此时句中的主语和谓语完全倒装。如：

On the top of the hill stood an old castle.山顶上有一座古堡。