首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
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
admin
2012-06-20
48
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 can be inferred about Australia from the passage?
选项
A、It has rich deposits of minerals.
B、It is essentially a self-sufficient country.
C、It has no intention to trade with Asian countries.
D、Its students are not required to learn a foreign language.
答案
A
解析
根据题干中的Australia将本题出处定位到第二段末句。该句提到,…澳大利亚的经济腾飞是由于对其矿产的热需拉动的…,也就是说,澳大利亚的经济繁荣是靠大量出口矿产推动的,由此可推断出,澳大利亚的矿产资源很丰富,故答案为[A]。根据第三段首句提:到的“澳大利亚能够成功地用英语和大部分贸易伙伴做生意”可知,澳大利亚不是自己自足的国家,故排除[B];[C]与末段首句提到的“澳大利亚政府一向热衷与亚洲国家建立紧密的经济和外交关系”矛盾,故排除;文中提到the language curriculum is often weak(外语课程通常质量不高),但这并不代表学生不被要求学外语,故排除[D]。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/xpf7777K
0
大学英语四级
相关试题推荐
A、agroupofpeopleshehasnevermetbefore.B、agroupofpeopleshehasmetbefore.C、agroupofyoung,juniorpeople.D、agro
ManypeopleintheliterarywouldsaythatBritishliteraturehaslostits【C1】______nowadays.Manyothers【C2】______withthisopi
Canada’sCompetitionBureauhassomenewguidelinesgoverningon-lineadvertisingandmarketingthatbusinesseswithwebsitessh
A、ThattheBritishwouldattackbysea.B、ThattheBritishwereretreating.C、ThattheBritishwerewillingtosignatreaty.D、
JOBSApersonplanningforacareertodaymustlookcarefullyattheexpectedoccupationaltrendsandchangesinthejobmar
Forthispart,youareallowedthirtyminutestowriteacompositiononthetopicwhetherSchoolsWillBeReplacedbyComputers
____________(缺乏良好的交际技能)canbeaseriousbarriertosuccess.
Timeisveryimportantinourlives.It【S1】______oureverydaymoments.However,timeneverhadanyimportanceinmylifeuntilI
A、Hehadforgottentopayanimportantbill.B、Hehadmadeamistakeinhiswork.C、Thepolicemancametoinquireintoatraffic
A、Assoonassherealizedthatsomethingwaswrong.B、Onlywhenherhusbandadvisedherto.C、Alongtimeafterthetroublebega
随机试题
某患者,女,15岁,就诊时发热,表情极度恐怖,恐水,怕风,咽肌痉挛,呼吸困难,第三天四肢软瘫,呼吸肌麻痹而死亡。该病人的诊断应该是()
患者男,45岁。颅脑内癌术后3年,期间一直不间断做放射治疗。近来临床可见全身各系统功能低下,低血糖、低血钠、高血钾、高血钙等生物化学检查改变,以及红细胞、白细胞、血小板、中性粒细胞减少,淋巴细胞和嗜酸性粒细胞增多现象,血浆促肾上腺皮质激素(ACTH)降低。
以下关子甲状腺功能亢进症的叙述哪一项是不正确的()
检测尿中β2-微球蛋白是监测
患者女,60岁,确诊为急性呼吸窘迫综合征,给予面罩吸氧,为了使吸入氧浓度能够达到53%,需将氧流量调至
()又称统计调查,是根据统计分析的目的,对大量零星的原始资料进行技术分组。
通货紧缩有可能引发银行危机,其原因是通货紧缩()。
孔子曾经说过:“君子和而不同,小人同而不和。”这一观点蕴含的哲学道理有()。
黑盒测试是通过软件的外部表现来发现软件缺陷和错误的测试方法,具体地说,黑盒测试用例设计技术包括(42)等。现有一个处理单价为1元的盒装饮料的自动售货机软件,若投入1元币,按下“可乐”、“雪碧”或“红茶”按钮,相应的饮料就送出来,若投入的是2元币,在送出饮料
Whenitcomestotheslowingeconomy,EllenSperoisn’tbitinghernailsjustyet.Butthe47-year-oldmanicuristisn’tcutti
最新回复
(
0
)