Declining Interest in Developing Foreign Language Skills

　　1. Australias foreign language skills are declining, voice of America 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 Australias economic boom, which is driven by red-hot demand for its minerals, is helping mask serious deficiencies in its language skills.

　　3. Australia does business very successfully in English with most of its trading partners. But as the worlds 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.

　　4. 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 languages, and the language curriculum is often weak. While were encouraged in high school to learn another language, its 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.

　　5. At present, about 70 percent of Australias 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 worlds economic powerhouses, Australia needs to improve its language skills if it is to take full advantage of the business opportunities on its doorstep.

　　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 Australias major exports go.

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

　　C) 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.

　　解題目：Declining衰退的Interest興趣 in Developing發展、開發 Foreign Language外語 Skills技能，所以串在一起可以將之理解成：逐漸喪失提高外語技能的興趣。通過理解題目，我們可以推測一下，在文章中foreign languages和declining interest應是核心詞。

　　接下來，來看5道題的題目，對出題方式加以判斷：1，3，4都是細節題，而2題是推斷題;5題是詞語釋義題。針對不同出題方式的題目要以不同的方法加以應對。

　　1. How much percent百分數of high school graduates were proficientin foreign languages forty years ago?

　　A) 70. B)13. C) 40. D) 6.5.

　　分析：這是細節題，關鍵詞：high school graduates，forty years ago。位于第一題的位置，所以答案應該來源于第一段：

　　Australias foreign language skills are declining, Voice of America has reported. New figuresshow that only 13 percent of high school graduates can speak a foreign language. But four decades ago, 40 percent had foreign language skills.

　　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.

　　分析：題目中有infer，所以該題是推斷題。因此，需要讀第二段，尋找核心內容，主要是要找到關鍵句：

　　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 Australias economic boom, which is driven by red-hot demandfor its minerals礦物, is helping mask掩蓋 serious deficiencies不足 in its language skills.

　　注意：一般發現A、B、C、D四個選項中，哪個選項出現中心詞，一般該選項就是正確答案。

　　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.

　　分析：這是一道標準的細節題，中心詞就是：Dilip Dutta。帶著它，我們可以在第三段里搜索到相關的語句：

　　Dilip Dutta, from the economice 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.

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

　　A) Because Asia is where Australia is located.

　　B) Because Asia is where Australias major exports go.

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

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

　　分析：從題目的類型來說，一定是細節題，找到核心詞：Australian government，keenly interested in，ties with Asia。我們會發現核心詞沒有出現在第四段中，而在最后一段中出現了：

　　At present, about 70 percent of Australias 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 worlds economic powerhouses, Australia needs to improve its language skills if it is to take full advantage of the business opportunities on its doorstep.

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

　　A) college學院. B) institute學會、研究所

　　C) university大學. D) department系.

　　分析：這是一道詞語釋義題。大家可以自學庫，也可以根據單詞出現的前后文來判斷：Dilip Dutta, from the economics and business faculty at Sydney University,。。。因為后面有...university, 因此自然想到是大學里的系。

　　Declining Interest in Developing Foreign Language Skills

　　1. Australias foreign language skills are declining, voice of America 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 Australias economic boom, which is driven by red-hot demand for its minerals, is helping mask serious deficiencies in its language skills.

　　3. Australia does business very successfully in English with most of its trading partners. But as the worlds 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.

　　4. 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 languages, and the language curriculum is often weak. While were encouraged in high school to learn another language, its 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.

　　5. At present, about 70 percent of Australias 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 worlds economic powerhouses, Australia needs to improve its language skills if it is to take full advantage of the business opportunities on its doorstep.

　　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 Australias major exports go.

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

　　C) 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.

　　解題目：Declining衰退的Interest興趣 in Developing發展、開發 Foreign Language外語 Skills技能，所以串在一起可以將之理解成：逐漸喪失提高外語技能的興趣。通過理解題目，我們可以推測一下，在文章中foreign languages和declining interest應是核心詞。

　　接下來，來看5道題的題目，對出題方式加以判斷：1，3，4都是細節題，而2題是推斷題;5題是詞語釋義題。針對不同出題方式的題目要以不同的方法加以應對。

　　1. How much percent百分數of high school graduates were proficientin foreign languages forty years ago?

　　A) 70. B)13. C) 40. D) 6.5.

　　分析：這是細節題，關鍵詞：high school graduates，forty years ago。位于第一題的位置，所以答案應該來源于第一段：

　　Australias foreign language skills are declining, Voice of America has reported. New figuresshow that only 13 percent of high school graduates can speak a foreign language. But four decades ago, 40 percent had foreign language skills.

　　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.

　　分析：題目中有infer，所以該題是推斷題。因此，需要讀第二段，尋找核心內容，主要是要找到關鍵句：

　　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 Australias economic boom, which is driven by red-hot demandfor its minerals礦物, is helping mask掩蓋 serious deficiencies不足 in its language skills.

　　注意：一般發現A、B、C、D四個選項中，哪個選項出現中心詞，一般該選項就是正確答案。

　　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.

　　分析：這是一道標準的細節題，中心詞就是：Dilip Dutta。帶著它，我們可以在第三段里搜索到相關的語句：

　　Dilip Dutta, from the economice 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.

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

　　A) Because Asia is where Australia is located.

　　B) Because Asia is where Australias major exports go.

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

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

　　分析：從題目的類型來說，一定是細節題，找到核心詞：Australian government，keenly interested in，ties with Asia。我們會發現核心詞沒有出現在第四段中，而在最后一段中出現了：

　　At present, about 70 percent of Australias 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 worlds economic powerhouses, Australia needs to improve its language skills if it is to take full advantage of the business opportunities on its doorstep.

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

　　A) college學院. B) institute學會、研究所

　　C) university大學. D) department系.

　　分析：這是一道詞語釋義題。大家可以自學庫，也可以根據單詞出現的前后文來判斷：Dilip Dutta, from the economics and business faculty at Sydney University,。。。因為后面有...university, 因此自然想到是大學里的系。