</p> 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 languages3, 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.
9 {" P! X& c3 S' N" T 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.
0 Q+ o9 N# Q: B2 a& W (1).How much percent of high school graduates were proficient in foreign languages forty years ago?& I, E( X# ^8 \: S3 g) v( i, u5 N
A. 70.
5 _: V- d' F1 e, w8 ~: \; f# h& `; ~ B. 13.
/ Z: `: q5 M% R1 W8 r2 O C. 40.9 T2 V& _1 y* d3 ?1 A- ^
D. 6.5.: @: b# z2 g9 F
(2). What can be inferred from paragraph 2?! g5 H3 Q+ k" `' W
A. Australia has rich deposits of minerals.
" w$ L* X2 t5 q* q B. Australia is essentially a self-sufficient country.7 ?5 P% L! ]& \! F
C. Australia has no intention to trade with Asian countries.
! Y& Z( c; \5 t. q2 w D. Australian students are not required to learn a foreign language.2 b1 e: I. F0 x4 {
(3).What does Dilip Dutta think language skills can do?( i' x, P: @( F2 G- p/ I0 I
A. Improve your relation with your partner.7 e7 p) \) d; Y) t$ ?/ D: S
B. Help settle international conflicts.( P6 c7 s0 N6 Z$ p) d' z' j! t$ K
C. Remove barriers in negotiations.( b; X6 ^$ Q5 h& `1 i5 `% A
D.Increase trading opportunities.
% ~5 Q1 n, p. \' ]9 h5 o (4).Why has the Australian government been keenly interested in strengthening ties with Asia?
' }2 M7 p T9 V) S; G3 |, A; R A. Because Asia is where Australia is located.0 Q5 f# s1 z9 S' f
B. Because Asia is where Australias major exports go.
1 y" B9 p( I$ Q2 M3 u C. Because Asia is where Australians go and spend their holidays.4 J) P- D& j& G) O
D. Because Asia is where Australia can play a big role in international affairs.
# ~9 X7 I0 g, ? (5).The word faculty in paragraph 3 can be replaced by! O# \, _9 c9 y# j9 p
A. college.) M4 z$ h" T$ t" v( k
B. institute.
9 l1 M# q4 |2 ] C. university.1 \* P- k6 I* n# Z2 x6 ]- O
D. department.
' D' X# _3 }# ~" k5 I* ?7 Q 3.
, d4 U% D" h6 I. G8 | Memory f1 a! ^0 B& i; S! V, j
It is difficult to imagine what life would be like without memory. The meanings of thousands of everyday perceptions, the basis for the decisions we make, and the roots of our habits and skills are to be found in our past experiences, which are brought into the present by memory.+ t7 z4 \$ g; V, z1 s: x5 U
Memory can be defined as the capacity to keep information available for later use. It includes not only “ remembering” things like arithmetic or historical facts, but also involves any change in the way an animal typically behaves. Memory is involved when a rat gives up eating grain because he has sniffed something suspicious in the grain pile.
2 x4 X& |* [. @3 T+ A Memory exists not only in humans and animals but also in some physical objects and machines. Computers, for example, contain devices for storing data for late use. It is interesting to compare the memory storage capacity of a computer with that of a human being. The instant-access memory of a large computer may hold up to 100,000 “words”--- strings of alphabetic or numerical characters---ready for instant use. An average U.S. teenager probably recognizes the meaning of about 100,000 words of English. However, this is but a fraction of the total amount of information which the teenager has stored. Consider, for example, the number of faces and places that the teenager can recognize on sight.
0 W+ t2 n7 {+ c0 u" T
) A# V) _$ ?, G8 u) Z The use of words is the basis of the advanced problem-solving intelligence of human beings. A large part of a person’s memory is in terms of words and combinations of words. But while language greatly expands the number and kind of things a person can remember, it also requires a huge memory capacity. It may well be this capacity that distinguishes humans, setting them apart from other animals. |