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  3. Australia’s foreign language skills are in decline, Voice of America has reported. New figures show that only 13% of high school

Australia’s foreign language skills are in decline, Voice of America has reported. New figures show that only 13% of high school

admin2012-06-20  27
问题     Australia’s foreign language skills are in decline, Voice of America has reported. New figures show that only 13% of high school graduates can speak a foreign language. But four decades ago, 40 percent had foreign language skills.
    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 (缺陷) 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 language, 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 (经济体), Australia needs to improve its language skills if it is to take full advantage of the business opportunities on its doorstep.
What percentage of high school graduates were proficient in foreign languages 40 years ago?
选项 A、Only 13 percent.
B、About 70 percent.
C、Less than 6.5 percent.
D、40 percent.
答案D
解析 根据题干中的foreign languages和40 years ago将本题出处定位到首段末句。该句提到，But four decades ago，40 percent had foreign language skills，题干中的40 years ago与该句提到的four decades ago对应，were proficient in foreign languages与foreign language skills对应，故答案为[D]。only 13％指现在能够说外语的高中毕业生的比例，而不是40年前的比例，故排除[A]。根据末段首句可知，About【C4】______percent指的是目前澳大利亚的出口产品销往亚洲的比例，故排除[B]。第三段第三句提到，新的数字显示，只有less than 6．5percent的高中生are proficient in an Asian language，并未说是40 years ago，故排除[C]。
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