VOA标准英语2010年-China Helps American Students Learn Ch

As communities across the United States face declining revenues and shrinking budgets, local school officials are laying off teachers, increasing classroom sizes and eliminating classes in a wide variety of subjects. But in the northwestern state of Oregon, lawmakers are hoping to add a new subject to the school curriculum - Mandarin¹ Chinese. And they're looking to the Beijing government as a source of funding for Chinese language education.

At St. Mary's School in Medford, Oregon, an 11th-grade class is running through a list of words for traditional Chinese instruments. These 16 and 17-year olds are in their fourth year of learning Mandarin Chinese.

Mandarin Chinese language classes are a popular choice

Carly Irvine is not sure when she'll use her Chinese language skills outside the classroom. But she figures that day will come. "Since China and America are working so closely and our relationship is growing more and more," she points out. "I think it will be very important in the future to know Chinese," Irvine adds.

St. Mary's added Mandarin to its foreign language curriculum in 2005, and two years ago, became the first school in the country to sign up for the Confucius classroom program.

Confucius classroom, a program from the Chinese government aimed at teaching high school students Chinese culture and language, is expanding rapidly around the world.

Here's how it works: The Chinese ministry² of education sends a teacher to a school in the United States, pays about half of that teacher's salary and living expenses, and supplies educational materials such as books and computer programs.

St. Mary's principal, Frank Phillips, says parents of some of the students at the private college-prep school were skeptical³ when Mandarin classes were first offered. "It was so off-beat and weird⁴ then," he recalls. "We got a lot of feedback from parents, 'Why would you teach Chinese off all things? Why not Spanish?'" St. Mary's does offer Spanish, along with German and Latin. But Phillips says knowing Chinese will give his students an advantage in a world where China is fast becoming a global economic superpower.

Funding source worries some, wins support of others

He admits the idea of accepting money from the government in Beijing raises eyebrows⁵ in his southern Oregon community. "The question I always get is, 'Is this a gigantic propaganda move, is this an evil Communist plot on the part of China?' That's the number one kind of lingering Cold War suspicion about this program. From what I can detect, having been involved in it for two years, I see none of that," Phillips says.

In fact, the Chinese language education program has won the support of the community's representative in the state legislature. Dennis Richardson even sat in on some classes. He has his own concerns over alleged⁶ h u m a n r i g h t s violations⁷ by the Chinese government. But he thinks it's okay to take the money. "We can do more good [by] setting an example and being friends and business associates than we can by ostracizing⁸ them," he reasons. 
D. Richardson
Dennis Richardson (right) hopes to convince other lawmakers that the Confucius classroom program offers a way to make Mandarin language lessons more widely available in state schools.

Richardson is among several Oregon lawmakers who have been pushing their colleagues to fund more Chinese language education in Oregon's public schools. While a handful of districts do offer it, efforts to expand the classes have fallen flat in the legislature, in part due to concerns over cost. Richardson says the Confucius classroom program is a way around much of the funding dilemma⁹.

Language forms the basis for broader exchange

Back at St. Mary's, teacher Zheng Ling continues her lesson on Chinese music by playing examples of each instrument. She came to Medford from China in 2008 to teach. She says one of her goals is to help American students learn more about her homeland. "People do not know much about China, especially the latest developments. So I think this is a chance for them to know more about China, what China is really like. It's quite different from what it was 20 years ago," Ling says.

And 20 years from now, say advocates of teaching Mandarin, China will play an even bigger role on the global stage.

For now, St. Mary's remains¹⁰ the only school in Oregon to take part in the Confucius classroom program.  But the program is offered in more than 50 other schools and universities across the United States and around the world and in more than three dozen countries including Argentina, Pakistan, Kenya and Russia.
 

1 Mandarin   

n.中国官话，国语，满清官吏；adj.华丽辞藻的

参考例句：

• Just over one billion people speak Mandarin as their native tongue.大约有十亿以上的人口以华语为母语。
• Mandarin will be the new official language of the European Union.普通话会变成欧盟新的官方语言。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

4 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

5 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

6 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

7 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

8 ostracizing   

v.放逐( ostracize的现在分词 )；流放；摈弃；排斥

参考例句：

9 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。