Question

【题目】 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（报名者）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（西班牙语），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（经济）．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（汉语）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（脱欧后）．

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】

这篇短文主要介绍了英国A-Level考试汉语考生首次超过德语及人们对此的看法。

【1】词义猜测题。根据后文“This year 3,334 students took Chinese A-level, compared to 3,058 taking German.” 今年有3334名学生报考了汉语A-level考试，德语有3058人，可以推断“Chinese A-level has overtaken German for the first time”意为“汉语A-level考试人数首次超过德语” ，故选A。

【2】细节理解题。根据“French remains the most popular modern language followed by Spanish（西班牙语）”可知法语仍然是A-level中选考人数最多的现代语言，其次是西班牙语，所以西班牙语是第二个选考人数最多的语言，故选D。

【3】细节理解题。根据“In the 1960s, the 1970s and even the 1990s, pupils were strongly encouraged to study German because of the importance of the German economy（经济）．”可知因为德国经济的重要性，学生在二十世纪六七十年代甚至九十年代被大力鼓励学习德语，即二十世纪晚期，故选C。

【4】细节理解题。根据“Mr. Lenon, a former headmaster at Harrow School, said the increase in Chinese A-level is partly driven by private schools.”可知莱农认为报考汉语人数增长一定程度上是私立学校推动的，故选A。

【5】归纳理解题。根据第六段赫德博的话可知汉语非常重要但是也不能忽视西班牙语、法语和德语，即英国应该认真对待各种语言，故选D。