Declining Interest in Developing Foreign Language Skills

　　Australia's foreign language skills are declining, Voice of America1 has reported. New figures show that only 13 percent of high school graduates can speak a foreign language. But four decades ago, 40 percent had foreign language skills.2

　　Professor Elise Tipton, from the University of Sydney, says increasingly students do not feel the need to learn another language to boost their career. She believes that Australia's economic boom, which is driven by red-hot demand for its minerals, is helping mask serious deficiencies in its language skills.

　　Australia does business very successfully in English with most of its trading partners. But as the world's economic power shifts to emerging regions such as Asia, its language gap could soon be exposed. According to the new figures, less than 6.5 percent of high school graduates are proficient in an Asian language. Academics worry that this means Australia will increasingly be isolated from its economically important Asian neighbors. Dilip Dutta, from the economics and business faculty at Sydney University, says language skills can enhance trading opportunities. If Australians want to trade with Asian countries, it is very important for them to learn the language that will help them to get closer to the culture.

　　But students have different opinions about Asian language learning. Pippa McCowage, a 22-year-old Australian student, says many young Australians have a half-hearted approach to foreign languages3, and the language curriculum is often weak. "While we're encouraged in high school to learn another language, it's not really apparent to me as a realistic expectation that you will have to speak it," said McCowage. "For example, I learned Japanese in high school, when I went on an exchange in Year 10, I found that the Japanese students of my age had a much greater proficiency in English than I did in Japanese. So in that sense, it almost discourages you.

　　At present, about 70 percent of Australia's major exports go to Asia and the Australian government has been keen on developing closer economic and diplomatic ties with Asia. Academics say that, as Asia becomes one of the world's economic powerhouses, Australia needs to improve its language skills if it is to take full advantage of the business opportunities on its doorstep.

　　詞匯：

　　red-hot adj. 非常有活力的

　　academic n. 學者

　　half-hearted adj. 不熱心的

　　powerhouse n. 經濟體

　　注釋：

　　1.Voice of America 美國之音

　　2.She believes that Australia’s economic boom, which is driven by red-hot demand for its minerals, is helping mask serious deficiencies in its language skills.她相信，由瘋狂的礦物需求驅動的澳大利亞經濟的繁榮進一步掩蓋了該國語言技能方面存在的嚴重缺陷。

　　3.a halfhearted approach to foreign languages半心半意地對待外國語言

　　練習：

　　1. How much percent of high school graduates were proficient in foreign languages forty years ago?

　　A) 70.

　　B) 13.

　　C) 40.

　　D) 6.5.

　　2. What can be inferred from paragraph 2?

　　A) Australia has rich deposits of minerals.

　　B) Australia is essentially a self-sufficient country.

　　C) Australia has no intention to trade with Asian countries.

　　D) Australian students are not required to learn a foreign language.

　　3. What does Dilip Dutta think language skills can do?

　　A) Improve your relation with your partner.

　　B) Help settle international conflicts.

　　C) Remove barriers in negotiations.

　　D) Increase trading opportunities.

　　4. Why has the Australian government been keenly interested in strengthening ties with Asia?

　　A) Because Asia is where Australia is located.

　　B) Because Asia is where Australia's major exports go.

　　C) Because Asia is where Australians go and spend their holidays.

　　D) Because Asia is where Australia can play a big role in international affairs.

　　5. The word faculty in paragraph 3 can be replaced by

　　A) college.

　　B) institute.

　　C) university.

　　D) department.

　　答案與題解：

　　1.C 問題問的是：四十年以前多少百分比的高中畢業生外語是熟練的?答案在第一段。該段是這么說的：根據美國之音的報道，澳大利亞的外語技能在滑坡。新的數字表明，只有13%的高中畢業生能說一種外語，而四十年前是40%。

　　2.A 問題問的是：從第2段我們能推出什么?答案可以從第二句話中找到，見注釋2。

　　3.D 問題問的是：DilipDutta認為語言技能能干什么?答案在第三段的一句話中，這句話是這么說的：Dilip Dutta, from the economics and business faculty at Sydney University, says language skills Can enhance trading opportunities.悉尼大學經濟和商務系的Dilip Dutta說道，語言技能可以增加就業機會。

　　4.B 問題問的是：澳大利亞政府為什么熱心于加強與亞洲的聯系?最后一段的第一句話是這么說的：目前，澳大利亞主要的出口貨物的70%流向了亞洲，因此澳大利亞政府熱心于發展與亞洲的經濟和外交聯系。

　　5.D 問題問的是：第3段中的“faculty”(系)由哪個詞替換最合適?“department”也是“系”。

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