中國英語能力已落后？
中國英語能力已落后？
英孚教育編制的排行榜顯示，中國的名次下降了10位，降至70個國家中的第47名。這家教育集團表示，中國最初為英語教學(xué)安排了大量課時，從而躋身英語熟練程度較高國家行列，而英語能力的持續(xù)提高需要“更先進的、注重溝通理解的教學(xué)方式，而不是注重考試能力的方式”。
測試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識：
hitherto 迄今為止
proficiency 熟練水平
sophisticated 復(fù)雜的
mastery 掌握
enrolment 注冊
閱讀即將開始，建議您計算一下閱讀整篇文章所用時間，并對照我們在文章最后給出的參考值來估算您的閱讀速度。
China cedes ground to Brazil in English proficiency rankings （408words）
By Patti Waldmeir in Shanghai
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China is losing ground to other emerging markets including Brazil in the drive to learn English, according to a study ranking worldwide proficiency in the international language of commerce.
English proficiency is at a premium as the balance of power between China and English-speaking countries such as the UK and US shifts and Beijing seeks to carve out a more powerful leadership role on the world stage. On last month’s state visit to the UK, first lady Peng Liyuan impressed with her fluent English —— although her husband, Xi Jinping, depended upon translators.
Despite this, some regional governments in China have recently opted to cut the time spent teaching and testing English in Chinese public high schools, lowering the weighting of English in the national university entrance exam, the gaokao.
The study, due for public release on Tuesday, shows China fell 10 places to 47th in a ranking of 70 countries compiled by EF Education First, which based its rankings on test data from more than 900,000 adults sitting online tests.
EF said most of the countries that moved ahead of China this year were from Latin America. “These Latin American countries have kicked off ambitious national initiatives focused on English-language training, including Brazil’s English Without Borders programme and Mexico’s Project 100,000,” EF said in a statement.
“The Chinese government, on the other hand, has questioned how much emphasis should be placed on English training in the public education system.”
The education group said China had initially scaled the top ranks by devoting plenty of class time to English instruction, whereas continued improvement would require “more sophisticated approaches focused on communicative mastery rather than testing abilities”.
But some would-be students are also querying the value of studying overseas, hitherto a popular choice. Employees bearing postgraduate degrees from overseas command similar salaries to their peers who stayed home, according to Jennifer Feng, chief human resources expert at 51job, the leading Chinese employment agency.
That may explain the slowdown in growth of the number of Chinese enrolled in US higher education. Last year the expansion in their numbers was the slowest in seven years, according to the Institute of International Education and the US state department. China remains the biggest country of origin for international students at US universities.
The US Council of Graduate Schools said late last year that the number of Chinese first-time enrolments at postgraduate level had fallen for the first time in at least a decade.
請根據(jù)你所讀到的文章內(nèi)容，完成以下自測題目：
1. which developing country moved ahead of China on the list?
a. India
b. Thailand
c. Brazil
d. Russia
2. Which of the following is correct for first lady Peng Liyuan?
a. She is not good at English.
b. Her oral English is good.
c. Her oral English is so so.
d. She depended upon translators.
3. Where need to be paid more attention to on English training by Chinese government?
a. public education system
b. learning time at school
c. exchange student program
d. the weighting of English in gaokao
4. Why some people are also querying the value of studying overseas?
a. spend more time
b. far away from hometown
c. similar salaries to their peers
d. make no improvement in English
[1] 答案 c. Brazil
解釋：根據(jù)名單顯示，中國的名次已落后于包括巴西在內(nèi)的其他新興市場國家。
[2] 答案 b. Her oral English is good.
解釋：正確答案是對原文fluent English的轉(zhuǎn)述。
[3] 答案 a. public education system
解釋：而中國政府卻提出了一個問題，即應(yīng)在公共教育體系中給予英語培訓(xùn)多大的重視。
[4] 答案 c. similar salaries to their peers
解釋：從海外拿到研究生學(xué)位的雇員與待在國內(nèi)的同齡人相比，薪酬水平差不多。
