A、Tones and characters. B、Reading and writing. C、Grammar and vocabulary. D、Idioms and culture. A男士说，学习汉语最有挑战性的两个方面是声调和汉字。故选A。

1. W：Scientists say rest is one of the most important things a human brain needs. Do you know you will have more creative ideas if you are well-rested?
M：To be honest I hardly have any good ideas. I drink a lot of coffee and can manage to finish my work, but I don’t have any creative ideas.
W：Maybe that’s because your brain is overloaded.
Q: What do scientists say about rest?
2. M：I’ve had it with Tim! I think I’m going to quit! He’s all nice and friendly to my face. But the second I turn around he stabs me in the back!
W：You know I had a worker like that once. She was always taking credit for my ideas. After a while I learned to document my work very clearly so the boss knew 100% that this was my work.
M：Yeah! That’s a good idea. I should keep a better record of my correspondence with the clients, so if necessary I can prove it was my effort.
Q: How did the woman cope with the problem she met?
3. M：Well, I started learning Chinese a long time ago. First I learned a little bit when I was in college. But I probably picked up most of it when I was overseas in Beijing.
W: Did you meet any difficulties in your learning?
M：Two of the most challenging things when you study Chinese are the tones and the characters. I think that’s just extremely difficult. And it was frustrating to be teaching... teaching kindergarten students and realizing that their reading was much better than mine.
Q: What are the most challenging things for the man in learning Chinese?
4.W: Hey, do a lot of people in America know about The Art of War?
M: Not many. They say the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers has a copy of The Art of War and he teaches his players some of its strategies. Miss Yang, you know who the Lakers are, right?
W: Of course, I know the Lakers, it’s a great team.
Q: How does the head coach of Lakers use The Art of War according to the man?
5.W: Traffic in New York can be a nightmare during rush hours. It’s bumper-to-bumper everywhere in the city.
M: Doesn’t the subway service get really backed up too? I’ve heard there’re lots of delays.
W: Yeah, the subway can run late sometimes too, but it’s still more dependable than the bus.
M: Yeah, the subway is probably a good idea, but I hate being squeezed into those smelly coaches with all those strangers.
Q: How is the subway service in New York according to the man?