A growing number of Chinese learners

广东 李奕群

1Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg recently surprised Chinese students when he spoke to them in Chinese.In a talk at Tsinghua University in Beijing, Zuckerberg spoke Chinese for about 30 minutes.Although his Mandarin was far from perfect, students and teachers cheered his effort.

2Clayton Dube is the head of the US-China Institute at the University of Southern California.He praises Zuckerberg's effort and thinks more American CEOs should learn foreign 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 they perceive things.And that is a vital step if you're going to be culturally competent,”he says.Zuckerberg's talk raises a larger question: Is Chinese the language of the future? Could it replace English as the world's international language? Mandarin already has the most native speakers of any language.

3The study of the Chinese language is increasing in the United States and around the world.In 2009, about 60,000 American college students were studying Chinese.That is three times as many as in 1990.

4A small but growing number of American parents are even sending their children to bilingual Chinese schools.Leianne Clements has no cultural connection to China, but her children 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 thinks knowing Chinese could give her children a competitive advantage.

5So far, English has been the universal language.With more and more Chinese businesses and industry that they have there, the logical thing could be happening that more and more people come to learn Chinese and it makes you a valuable employee if you can speak Chinese.Clayton Dube thinks Chinese will grow in importance,especially for people who want to work and do business in China.

Reading Check

1.What does the author want to show by mentioning Zuckerberg's 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 Dube's 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.

➢语篇解码

本文是一篇议论文。文章以扎克伯格用汉语做演讲这一事件引出话题，谈论汉语在世界范围内产生的影响和“汉语热”产生的原因。

➢语言学习

Ⅰ.语料荟萃

语篇单词growing adj.生长的；成长中的；增长的recently adv.近来；最近cheer v.喝彩；欢呼；加油；鼓舞effort n.努力；吃力；费力的事institute n.机构；协会；研究院perceive v.意识到；察觉；发觉；理解vital adj.必要的；至关重要的competent adj.有能力的；能胜任的；称职的replace v.替换；以……取代；更新native adj.出生地的；本地的；本国的competitive adj.竞争的；有竞争力的advantage n.有利条件；优势；优点；好处universal adj.普遍（存在）的；全体的；宇宙的；全世界的logical adj.逻辑（上）的；符合逻辑的；推理正确的；合乎常理的_____________employee n.受雇者；雇员

（续表）

Ⅱ.语句分析

1.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 they perceive things.说汉语意味着你开始像中国人一样思考，你开始理解说汉语的人是如何看待这个世界和如何看待事物的。

【点石成金】该句的主语是不定式To speak Chinese，means 后面省略了一个that。begin to think 和begin to understand 为并列结构，how Chinese speakers have the world organized和how they perceive things为并列结构。

2.Clayton Dube thinks Chinese will grow in importance, especially for people who want to work and do business in China.克莱顿·杜布认为，汉语将会越来越重要，特别是对那些想在中国工作和做生意的人。

【点石成金】该句中，thinks后面省略了that，that引导的是一个宾语从句；who引导的是一个定语从句，修饰先行词people。

➢语言运用

Ⅰ.例句仿写

1.掌握一门外语对我们其他学科的学习很有帮助。

___________________________________gives us much help in the study of other subjects.

2.老师告诉我们地球围着太阳转。

The teacher told us ___________________________________.

Ⅱ.写作实践

假定你是李华，你班上的交换生Smith 在汉语学习中遇到了困难，发来邮件向你求助，请你给他回一封邮件。内容包括：

1.你的建议；

2.你的祝愿。

注意：

1.词数80左右；

2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Dear Smith,

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua