汉语学习热

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.

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

Ⅱ. 语句分析

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 worldorganized和how they perceive things为并列结构。

2. Clayton Dube thinks Chinese will grow in importance， especially for people whowant 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