Question

Chinese A-level has overtaken German for the first time, as it becomes the UK's third most popular language.

This year 3,334 students took Chinese A-level, compared to 3,058 taking German. While entries（报名者）for Chinese have increased by 8.6 percent since last year, the number of German entries has dropped by 16.5 percent. French remains the most popular modern language followed by Spanish（西班牙语），but both have seen a fall in entries compared to last year by eight and four percent separately.

Barnaby Lenon, expert of the independent Schools Council (ISC), said that the teachers used to tell pupils "It will really help your future if you learn German", but this is no longer the case.

In the 1960s, the 1970s and even the 1990s, pupils were strongly encouraged to study German because of the importance of the German economy（经济）．Although it is still strong, that argument has disappeared gradually, and China has become known in the last 25 years for the fastest growing economy in the world.”

Mr. Lenon, a former headmaster at Harrow School, said the increase in Chinese A-level is partly driven by private schools. Many of them have put more money in the subject in recent years. "It is not the case that a large number of state schools are now teaching Chinese A-level. They are not," he said. Many of the entries will be Chinese native speakers, adding that independent schools have attracted（吸引）"large numbers" of Chinese pupils in recent years.

Mark Herbert, director of schools and skills at the British Council, welcomed the rise in Chinese A-level entries. Our research shows that Mandarin（汉语）will be one of the most important languages for the UK's future and position-but we mustn't give no attention to Spanish, French and German which will still be important post-Brexit（脱欧后）．

Nick Gibb, the school minister, said, "It has never been more important for young people to learn a foreign language than now."

1.The underlined word overtake in Paragraph 1 means _________．

A.catch up and begin to do better than B.be strongly against

C.come suddenly and unexpectedly to D.be in control of

2.Which language has the second largest number of entries in the UK this year?

A.Chinese. B.German. C.French. D.Spanish.

3.Students were encouraged to learn German in _________because Germany's economy was in good condition.

A.the late ninetieth century B.the early twentieth century

C.the late twentieth century D.the early twenty-first century

4.According to Mr. Lenon, the rise in Chinese A-level is, in some ways, caused by _________．

A.private schools B.state schools C.Chinese schools D.German schools

5.What can we learn from Mark Herbert's speech in Paragraph 6?

A.He is against learning Chinese.

B.It's difficult to learn Chinese well.

C.Spanish, French and German are easy to learn.

D.Britain should take all kinds of foreign languages seriously.

Answer 1