单选题
The fourth-graders at Chicago’s McCormick Elementary School don’t know Chinese is supposed to be hard to learn. For most, who speak Spanish at home, it’s becoming their third language. They’ve been hearing and using Chinese words since nursery, and it’s natural to give a “ni hao” when strangers enter the classroom, “it’s really fun!” says Miranda Lucas, taking a break from a lesson that includes a Chinese interview With Jackie Chan. “I’m teaching my mom to speak Chinese.”
The classroom scene at McCormick is unusual, but it may soon be a common phenomenon in American Schools, Where Chinese is rapidly becoming the hot new language. Government officials have long wanted more focus on useful languages 1ike Chinese, and pressure from them-as well as from business leaders, politicians, and parents-has produced a quick growth in the number of programs.
Chicago city officials make their best effort to include Chinese in their public Schools. Their program has grown to include 3, 000 students in 20 schools, with more Schools on a waiting list. Programs have also spread to places like Los Angeles, New York City, and North Carolina．Supporters see knowledge of the Chinese language and culture as an advantage in a global economy where China is growing in importance. “This is an interesting way to begin to engage with the world’s next superpower,” says Michael Levine, director of education at the Asia Society, which has started have new public high schools that offer Chinese. “Globalization has already changed the arrangements in terms of how children today are going to think about their careers. The question is when, not whether, the schools are going to adjust.”
The number of students learning Chinese is tiny compared With how many study Spanish or French. But one report shows that before-college enrollment (报名人数) nearly quadrupled between 1992 and 2002, from 6, 000 to 24, 000．Despite the demand, though, developing programs isn’t easy. And the NO.one difficulty, everyone agrees, is having enough teachers. Finding teacher “is the challenge,” says Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser for a language institute and a Chinese teacher for 15 years at the college level “Materials are easy in comparison. Or getting schools funded.”
单选题
The most difficult thing to do is finding______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查考生对文章细节的理解。根据第四段中的“And the No. one difficulty, everyone agrees, is having enough teachers.”可知发展汉语课程最大的困难是缺乏师资，因此应该选C项。No. one difficulty其实是最大的困难的同义转换，这一考点是阅读里经常会碰到的考点，考生应注意掌握。而A项的课本不足，B项的资金不足和D项的生源不足，都是不符合题意的。
单选题
We learn from the passage that______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查考生对文章大意的把握。根据第四段中的Finding teacher “is the challenge,” says Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser for a language institute and a Chinese teacher for l5 years at the college level.可知A项是正确的。而由第一段可知Jackie Chan (成龙)是芝加哥McCormick小学一个四年级学生的采访对象。因此B项是不对的。C项说芝加哥的官员都必须学汉语，文章没有提及，因此不能选C。D项说Scott McGinnis善于对任何事情给出自己的观点，文章也没有说明，因此不能选D。
单选题
According to the passage, all the following statements are true EXCEPT______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查考生对文章细节的理解，要求选择一个不正确的选项。根据第四段中的“The number of students learning Chinese is tiny compared with how many study Spanish or French.”可知A项是正确的。根据第三段中的“Programs have also spread to places like Los Angeles, New York City, and North Carolina.”可知汉语课程已经在美国的很多大城市中开展，因此B项是正确的。而由第三段的“Chicago city officials make their best effort to include Chinese in their public schools.”可知芝加哥的官员竭尽全力地在公立中学推广汉语，而C项却说芝加哥的官员不想开展汉语课程，可见C项是与原文意思相悖的。D项说中国在世界上的影响力正在加大，这可以从文章所讨论的汉语热中看出。本题要求选择一个不正确的选项，因此应选C项。
单选题
The word “quadrupled” in the last paragraph is close in meaning to “multiplied by ______.”
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查考生对生僻词的词义理解。“quadrupled”的意思就是增长到四倍，词根quadr-是“四”的意思，同时还可以由文中数字进行推断，But one report shows that before-college enrollment (报名人数) nearly quadrupled between 1992 and 2002,from 6,000 to 24,000，故本题应该选B。
[长难句分析]
1．Government officials have long wanted more focus on useful languages like Chinese, and pressure from them-as well as from business leaders，politicians，and parents-has produced a quick growth in the number of programs.政府官员早就希望像汉语这样的实用语言能得到更多的关注，正是来自于这些政府官员、商业领袖、政治家和学生家长等各方面的压力使得汉语教学项目迅速发展。
本句是由and连接的两个并列句。后一句中又用as well as连接几个并列成分作为主语，即“来自政府官员、商业领袖、政治家和学生家长等方面的压力”。只要理清这两个并列结构就不难理解这个句子。
2．The number“students learning Chinese is tiny compared with how many study Spanish or French.”相对于学习西班牙语或法语的学生来说，学习汉语的人数很少。
本句用“compared with”连接比较成分，“the number of students learning Chinese”和“how many study Spanish or French”是并列比较的两个成分。