【推荐1】When Faith Wanjiku graduated from the Technical University of Kenya last year, she immediately registered at the Confucius Institute in Kenyatta University. She wanted to learn Chinese, as she believed that it would help her land a good job.

She has just completed the hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (HSK) 3 exam. HSK is a test of Chinese language level for non-native speakers, organized by the Confucius Institute Headquarters.

However, this level isn’t enough for Wanjiku, who plans to pass HSK 6. She wanted to increase her level of Chinese and improve her spoken Chinese. And Wanjiku isn’t alone. The number of people taking the HSK reached 6.8 million in 2018 and went up 4.6 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Education said on May 31.

Chinese is becoming an increasingly popular choice of language to study around the world. Currently, middle school students in Russia can take Chinese as an elective language test in the country’s national college entrance exam, Sputnik News reported.

In May, Zambia became the fourth country in Africa-after Kenya, Uganda and South Africa — to introduce Chinese language to its schools.

And many English-speaking countries have shown an interest in allowing their students to learn Chinese. The US government announced the launch of “1 Million Strong” in 2015, a plan that aims to bring the total number of learners of Chinese to 1 million by 2020.

Behind the growing popularity of Chinese language learning is the international community’s positive attitude toward China’s future development, as well as the people’s longing to learn about Chinese civilization and culture.

Indeed it’s as the former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela put it, “if you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”

1. What did Wanjiku do after graduating from university?

A．She found a job.

B．She went abroad.

C．She’d learn Chinese.

D．She travelled to China.

2. Who is HSK test for?

A．Native speakers.

B．Non-native speakers.

C．Middle school students.

D．College undergraduate students .

3. What does the underlined sentence mean?

A．Wangiku has lots of friends.

B．Wangjiku has passed HSK3 exam.

C．Many people want to live in China.

D．Lots of people want to pass HSK6 exam.

4. What may be the best title for the text?

A．Chinese Language Study Takes Off

B．Chinese Play an Important Role in Economy

C．People Share the Experience of Learning Chinese

D．Different Opinions about the Function of Chinese

【推荐2】Do you ever wonder why the English have one word for some animals and a different one for their meat?
Why do they use pig and pork, cow and beef, and sheep and mutton?
To find out, we have to go back to 1066, when the Norman French invaded England and put a French king on the English throne (王位), which not only changed the government but also changed the language. French became the language of the upper classes of society. And it remained that way for 300 years. Only these high society people could afford to eat meat. As a result, French words like porc（pork）and beouf （beef） came into the English language. However, poor English farmers raised the animals. So the English language retained the words pig and cow from the Native Anglo-Saxon．
The Norman French added about 10,000 French words to the English language. Seventy-five percent of them are still in use today.
According to language experts, English speakers who have never studied French may already know 15,000 French words! Between one-third and two-thirds of all English words have French origins. Some words such as “possible” and “avenue” are the same in French and English; only the pronunciations change. Other words such as “ballet” keep their French pronunciations in both languages.
In French grammar, nouns have either a male or female gender (性别), so adjectives take different forms for each. English has only one adjective that does this, and it came from French. The word “blond” describes someone with light-colored hair. “Blond” is used for men, and “blonde” describes women. And they are also nouns.
Some French words that entered the English language have completely different meanings. The French phrase “a la mode” means “in style”. In English, the phrase means “with the ice cream”. Someone must have decided something eaten with ice cream was in style!
Now, as you learn English, you’re on your way to learning French!
1. French was once popular among the upper classes of the UK because __________.

A．too many French moved to Britain

B．French brought animals with them

C．the king and his officials spoke French

D．the king allowed French to be spoken

2. Why does an English speaker find French easy to learn?

A．Because English and French share similar pronunciations．

B．Because English grammar and French grammar are similar．

C．Because a large number of English words have French origins．

D．Because English has great influences on the French language．

3. What conclusion can we draw from the text?

A．Language is closely related to history and culture.

B．French and English words have little in common.

C．Language is controlled by the upper classes of society.

D．French combines English and the Native Anglo-Saxon.

【推荐3】How did we get the alphabet? It was a long process, covering thousands of years.

The first people to write things down carved symbols onto rocks or shells. These symbols represented people or things.

These people who lived a long time ago had simple lives with simple needs. One of the most basic needs was food. Before the introduction of agriculture, people were called Hunter­Gatherers because they hunted animals and gathered nuts and berries for food. To tell each other about how to hunt animals or where to find them, these people drew on cave walls or on animal hides. Soon, people were growing their own crops. They were also using a system of symbols to stand for people, places and things. The best ancient example of this was found in Egypt, where hieroglyphs (象形字) were used. These people believed in many different gods. Each god had its own symbol. Symbols were also used to stand for water, buildings, food, and other parts of life.

But these picture drawings and hieroglyphs represented whole words, not just sounds. How did we get an alphabet? Recent research suggests that the idea of an alphabet was first used in Egypt about 1900 BC. Civilizations that traded with or fought against Egypt were exposed to this alphabet, and the idea spread.

The ancient Greeks adapted this alphabet and created their own. The ancient Romans polished it up to a state almost like our modern alphabet. The idea of stringing letters together to make words was born. You can see by looking at letters from the Roman alphabet that these letters survive almost unchanged in our modern English alphabet.

This was the case in the Western world. Actually, a similar thing also happened in the East. You can see many examples in such areas’ language development.

1. Why did Hunter­Gatherers use drawings?

A．To assist them in searching for food.

B．To put a series of symbols into a system.

C．To warn their companions to hide safely.

D．To record some methods of growing crops.

2. What does the development of the alphabet reflect?

A．The difficulties ancient people have learning languages.

B．The different kinds of religious beliefs in the same god.

C．The poor living conditions and agricultural development.

D．The needs of ancient people to survive and communicate.

3. How did the ancient Romans influence the alphabet?

A．They made improvements to it.

B．They created it all by themselves.

C．They managed to keep it unchanged.

D．They turned it into the modern one.

4. What will the author probably write about next?

A．The effects of the alphabet on global languages.

B．Why the alphabet grew better in Western world.

C．How the alphabet appeared in the Eastern world.

D．A number of examples of language evolution.