中国英语能力已落后？

所属教程:金融时报原文阅读

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2020年07月08日

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中国英语能力已落后？

英孚教育编制的排行榜显示，中国的名次下降了10位，降至70个国家中的第47名。这家教育集团表示，中国最初为英语教学安排了大量课时，从而跻身英语熟练程度较高国家行列，而英语能力的持续提高需要“更先进的、注重沟通理解的教学方式，而不是注重考试能力的方式”。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

hitherto 迄今为止

proficiency 熟练水平

sophisticated 复杂的

mastery 掌握

enrolment 注册

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China cedes ground to Brazil in English proficiency rankings （408words）

By Patti Waldmeir in Shanghai

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China is losing ground to other emerging markets including Brazil in the drive to learn English, according to a study ranking worldwide proficiency in the international language of commerce.

English proficiency is at a premium as the balance of power between China and English-speaking countries such as the UK and US shifts and Beijing seeks to carve out a more powerful leadership role on the world stage. On last month’s state visit to the UK, first lady Peng Liyuan impressed with her fluent English —— although her husband, Xi Jinping, depended upon translators.

Despite this, some regional governments in China have recently opted to cut the time spent teaching and testing English in Chinese public high schools, lowering the weighting of English in the national university entrance exam, the gaokao.

The study, due for public release on Tuesday, shows China fell 10 places to 47th in a ranking of 70 countries compiled by EF Education First, which based its rankings on test data from more than 900,000 adults sitting online tests.

EF said most of the countries that moved ahead of China this year were from Latin America. “These Latin American countries have kicked off ambitious national initiatives focused on English-language training, including Brazil’s English Without Borders programme and Mexico’s Project 100,000,” EF said in a statement.

“The Chinese government, on the other hand, has questioned how much emphasis should be placed on English training in the public education system.”

The education group said China had initially scaled the top ranks by devoting plenty of class time to English instruction, whereas continued improvement would require “more sophisticated approaches focused on communicative mastery rather than testing abilities”.

But some would-be students are also querying the value of studying overseas, hitherto a popular choice. Employees bearing postgraduate degrees from overseas command similar salaries to their peers who stayed home, according to Jennifer Feng, chief human resources expert at 51job, the leading Chinese employment agency.

That may explain the slowdown in growth of the number of Chinese enrolled in US higher education. Last year the expansion in their numbers was the slowest in seven years, according to the Institute of International Education and the US state department. China remains the biggest country of origin for international students at US universities.

The US Council of Graduate Schools said late last year that the number of Chinese first-time enrolments at postgraduate level had fallen for the first time in at least a decade.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1. which developing country moved ahead of China on the list?

a. India

b. Thailand

c. Brazil

d. Russia

2. Which of the following is correct for first lady Peng Liyuan?

a. She is not good at English.

b. Her oral English is good.

c. Her oral English is so so.

d. She depended upon translators.

3. Where need to be paid more attention to on English training by Chinese government?