李奕群
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerbergrecently surprised Chinese students when hespoke to them in Chinese. In a talk at TsinghuaUniversity in Beijing, Zuckerberg spoke Chinesefor about 30 minutes. Although his Mandarin wasfar from perfect, students and teachers cheeredhis effort.
Clayton Dube is the head of the US?China Institute at the University of SouthernCalifornia. He praises Zuckerbergs effort and thinks more American CEOs should learnforeign languages.“ To speak Chinese means you begin to think as Chinese people do,and begin to understand how Chinese speakers have the world organized and how theyperceive things. And that is a vital step if youre going to be culturally competent,” he says.Zuckerbergs talk raises a larger question: Is Chinese the language of the future? Could itreplace English as the worlds international language? Mandarin already has the most na?tive speakers of any language.
A small but growing number of American parents are even sending their children tobilingual Chinese schools. Leianne Clements has no cultural connection to China, but herchildren are learning Chinese at the Yu Ying Public Charter School in Washington D.C..Every other day, classes at this school are 100 percent in Chinese. Ms Clements thinksknowing Chinese could give her children a competitive advantage.
So far, English has been the universal language. With more and more Chinese busi?nesses and industry that they have there, the logical thing could be happening that moreand more people come to learn Chinese and it makes you a valuable employee if you canspeak Chinese. Clayton Dube thinks Chinese will grow in importance, especially forpeople who want to work and do business in China.
ReadingCheck
1. What does the author want to show by mentioning Zuckerbergs talk?
A. Zuckerberg is good at public speaking.
B. Chinese language is complex for a beginner.
C. Zuckerberg has a talent for language learning.
D. Chinese language is increasingly popular in the world.
2. How many American college students were studying Chinese in 1990?
A. 20,000. B. 30,000.
C. 40,000. D. 60,000.
3. What is Clayton Dubes suggestion to those who want to do business in China?
A. Learning Chinese culture. B. Learning Chinese cuisine.
C. Learning Chinese language. D. Learning Chinese custom.
4. What is the text mainly about?
A. The suggestion on how to learn Chinese.
B. The influence of Chinese as a language.
C. The introduction to bilingual Chinese schools.
D. The reason why more and more people visit China.
語(yǔ)篇解碼
本文是一篇議論文。文章以扎克伯格用漢語(yǔ)做演講這一事件引出話題,談?wù)摑h語(yǔ)在世界范圍內(nèi)產(chǎn)生的影響和“漢語(yǔ)熱”產(chǎn)生的原因。
語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)
Ⅰ. 語(yǔ)料薈萃
Ⅱ. 語(yǔ)句分析
1. To speak Chinese means you begin to think as Chinese people do, and begin tounderstand how Chinese speakers have the world organized and how they perceive things.說漢語(yǔ)意味著你開始像中國(guó)人一樣思考,你開始理解說漢語(yǔ)的人是如何看待這個(gè)世界和如何看待事物的。
【點(diǎn)石成金】該句的主語(yǔ)是不定式To speak Chinese,means后面省略了一個(gè)that。begin to think 和begin to understand 為并列結(jié)構(gòu),how Chinese speakers have the worldorganized和how they perceive things為并列結(jié)構(gòu)。
2. Clayton Dube thinks Chinese will grow in importance, especially for people whowant to work and do business in China. 克萊頓·杜布認(rèn)為,漢語(yǔ)將會(huì)越來越重要,特別是對(duì)那些想在中國(guó)工作和做生意的人。
【點(diǎn)石成金】該句中,thinks后面省略了that,that引導(dǎo)的是一個(gè)賓語(yǔ)從句;who引導(dǎo)的是一個(gè)定語(yǔ)從句,修飾先行詞people。
語(yǔ)言運(yùn)用
Ⅰ. 例句仿寫
1. 掌握一門外語(yǔ)對(duì)我們其他學(xué)科的學(xué)習(xí)很有幫助。
gives us much help in the study of other subjects.
2. 老師告訴我們地球圍著太陽(yáng)轉(zhuǎn)。
The teacher told us
Ⅱ. 寫作實(shí)踐
假定你是李華,你班上的交換生Smith在漢語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)中遇到了困難,發(fā)來郵件向你求助,請(qǐng)你給他回一封郵件。
內(nèi)容包括:
1. 你的建議;
2. 你的祝愿。
注意:
1. 詞數(shù)80左右;
2. 可以適當(dāng)增加細(xì)節(jié),以使行文連貫。
Dear Smith,
Yours,
Li Hua