Passage 8（2019 •山西）
请阅读下面图文内容，按要求完成所给任务，并将答案写在答题卡相应的位置上。
In a school, you may hear a student saying in Chinese，“我对汉语很感兴趣。“___44___but you're not in China. You're in a foreign country. Like the student, many foreigners are learning Chinese. But it's not easy. The Chinese use a different character( 汉 字 ) for each word. People have to memorize about 600 characters before they can do even basic reading and writing. For foreigners, it's hard to memorize them. And the following chart shows the top 3 difficulties for foreigners while learning Chinese.
 
 
However, Chinese is more popular around the world today. The long history and colorful culture of China attract many foreigners to learn Chinese. With the rapid development, China is staying ahead in many fields and is playing its role in the world. Chinese is becoming a global (全球的) language and its popularity has risen around the world. Many countries set up Chinese courses in their schools.
For example, in the UK, students used to choose between Spanish, Latin, French and other foreign languages. But now schools encourage their students to study Chinese. The increase in popularity of Chinese has been surprising. 1031 people took Chinese language exams in 2001, and the number was 2062 last year, while 2561 people chose Spanish. It's predicted that studying Chinese in the UK could overtake (超过) Spanish in less than five years.
Just like the foreigners do, we also learn foreign languages. Different languages carry different cultures. So exchanges are necessary. By learning a foreign language, we not only have a useful tool of communicating, but experience a new culture, what's more important, learning a foreign language well will help us tell our own stories to the world.
44. Please translate the underlined sentence into English.
45. According to the passage, why is it difficult for foreigners to learn Chinese?
46. Please translate the underlined sentence into Chinese.
47. How does the UN celebrates Chinese Language Day?
48. Compared with 2001, how many more people took Chinese language exams in the UK last year? What does the result tell us?
49. What can you do by learning a foreign language?
【答案与解析】
【文章大意】现在越来越多的外国人都在学习汉语，很多人都觉得汉语非常难学，如他们要记住很多的汉字、汉字很难写、一个汉字在不同的句子里有不同的意思等等。但现在学习汉语是一个趋势，汉语的重要性日益明显。文章还以英国为例，说明了汉语越来越受欢迎。
44. I’m very/ really/ quite interested in Chinese./ I take / show a great interest in Chinese/...    
【解析】根据句意可知，这句话中可以使用短语be interested in…意为“对…感兴趣”；或者动词短语take/show interest in….。这句话表示客观事实，应用一般现在时，故应该是：I’m very/ really/ quite interested in Chinese./ I take / show a great interest in Chinese.
45. Because they have to memorize a large number of characters./ Because Chinese characters are not easy to write./ Because the same word has different meaningin different sentences./ Because they have difficulties in reading poems.(答出其中一条即可)。    
【解析】根据短文第一段中The Chinese use a different character( 汉 字 ) for each word. People have to memorize about 600 characters before they can do even basic reading and writing. For foreigners, it's hard to memorize them.可知，外国人觉得汉语难学，其中一个原因是他们要记住大量的汉字。短文中的表格中也列出了一些其他的困难，如写汉字、不同句子中汉字的意思不同以及读汉语诗歌的困难等等。故答案为Because they have to memorize a large number of characters./ Because Chinese characters are not easy to write./ Because the same word has different meaningin different sentences./ Because they have difficulties in reading poems.
46. 中国悠久的历史和灿烂的文化吸引了许多外国人学习中文。    
【解析】The long history悠久的历史；colorful culture灿烂的文化，这两个并列的名词短语是该句的主语；attract吸引，是谓语动词；many foreigners 许多外国人；to learn Chinese学习汉语。故该句意为：中国悠久的历史和灿烂的文化吸引了许多外国人学习中文。
47. It holds colorful activities./ By holding colorful activities.    
【解析】根据短文中As one of the six official working languages of the United Nations, Chinese Language Day has been celebrated since 2011. The UN holds colorful activities on this day可知，在汉语日这一天，联合国举行丰富多彩的活动来庆祝。故答案为It holds colorful activities./ By holding colorful activities.
48. 1031. (It tells us) the increase in popularity of Chinese is surprising in the UK./ Chinese is becoming more and more popular in the UK.    
【解析】根据短文中1031 people took Chinese language exams in 2001, and the number was 2062 last year, while 2561 people chose Spanish. It's predicted that studying Chinese in the UK could overtake (超过) Spanish in less than five years.可知，2001年参加汉语考试的有1031人，去年参加的有2012人，多了1031人。这说明越来越多的英国人学习汉语，汉语在英国变得越来越受欢迎。故回答1031. (It tells us) the increase in popularity of Chinese is surprising in the UK./ Chinese is becoming more and more popular in the UK.
49. We / I can tell our own stories to the world./ We/ I can spread colorful Chinese culture to the world. / We/ I can teach foreign people Chinese./ We/ I can have more chances to find a good job.
【解析】短文的最后By learning a foreign language, we not only have a useful tool of communicating, but experience a new culture, what's more important, learning a foreign language well will help us tell our own stories to the world.这几句话讲述了学习外语的作用，学生们也可以根据实际情况回答，符合情理即可。如We / I can tell our own stories to the world./ We/ I can spread colorful Chinese culture to the world. / We/ I can teach foreign people Chinese./ We/ I can have more chances to find a good job.