汉语会成为世界第一语言吗？

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg 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.

Clayton Dube is the head of the U.S.-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. You begin to understand how Chinese speakers have the words organized, how they understand things. And that is an important step if you’re going to be culturally competent.”

Zuckerberg’s talk raises a larger question: Is Chinese the future of language? Could it replace English as the world’s international language? Mandarin Chinese already has the most native speakers. And, China may soon pass the United States as the world’s largest economy. The 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 was three times as many as in 1990.

Clayton Dube thinks Chinese will grow in importance, especially for people who want to work and do business in China. But he does not think Chinese will supersede English any time soon. Chinese is a more difficult language to learn. The U.S. Foreign Service Institute estimates(估计) it would take a native English speaker 2,200 hours to reach professional fluency in Chinese. That is four times longer than it would take to reach the same level in Dutch, French, or Spanish. While Chinese grammar is much simpler, Chinese has a tone and writing system that is more difficult for adult learners to master.

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1.Where did Mark Zuckerberg give a talk?

A In a hall.

B In a park.

C In a university.

D In a gym.

解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据第一段第二句“In a talk at Tsinghua University in Beijing, Zuckerberg spoke Chinese for about 30 minutes.”可知该演讲是在一所大学里进行的。故选C。

2.What is Clayton Dube’s attitude towards learning Chinese?

A He doesn’t care about it.

B He is against it.

C He is for it.

D It’s not mentioned.

解析：选C。C 观点态度题。根据第二段“praises Zuckerberg’s effort and thinks more American CEOs should learn foreign languages”和“that is an important step if you’re going to be culturally competent”可知Clayton Dube对学汉语持支持态度，故选C。

3.How many American college students learned Chinese in 1990?

A About 60,000.

B About 30,000.

C About 20,000.

D About 180,000.

解析：选C。C 数字计算题。根据第四段最后两句“In 2009, about 60,000 American college students were studying Chinese. That was three times as many as in 1990.”2009年是1990年的三倍，即1990年为20000人。故选C。

4.What does the underlined word “supersede” mean?

A Get hold of.

B Play the role of.

C Take the place of.

D Take advantage of.

解析：选C。C 词义猜测题。根据最后一段第一句的“Chinese will grow in importance”可知，Clayton Dube认汉语的重要性在增长，下一句中But表达转折含义，即他认为汉语并不会很快取代英语。故选C。

5.What’s the text mainly about?

A Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

B Is Chinese the future of language?

C The differences between Chinese and English.

D Languages all over the world.

解析：选B。B 主旨大意题。根据全文可知，文章围绕汉语是否会取代英语成为国际主要语言展开，B选项更符合文意，故选B。