雅思阅读素材——世界普通话

下文将带来雅思阅读素材——美人搬到中学汉语的中英文对照文本。

American families are uprooting their entire lives and relocating their families to China to give their children a leg up in learning Mandarin as China's influence continues to grow, according to The Wall Street Journal.

据《华尔街日报》报道，因为中的影响在日益增强，为了给孩子增加一个学习汉语的优势，许多美人正改变以前的生活方式，举迁往中生活。

High-powered American couples reportedly move to China and enroll their children in elementary schools that teach Mandarin. Instruction is completed in two years in these schools, and then the families move back to the United States.

报道称，有钱的美夫妇举迁往中，并在教普通话的小学里给孩子报了名注了册。在学完了学校的两年课程后，全人又搬回美去。

And even if parents aren't moving there, they are choosing Mandarin submersion programs, hiring tutors, using Skype to talk with teachers in Beijing, and even hiring Chinese-speaking nannies.

即使长没有搬过来，他们会选择含有汉语内容的教程，或请教，或使用Skype和在北京的老师对话，甚至是雇佣说汉语的计划姆。

Sources told The WSJ that prospective employees who speak Mandarin have a leg-up in the job market, and doting American parents are trying to do everything they can possible to give them that edge.

消息人士告诉《华尔街日报》，未来的求职者，如果是会说汉语的求职者，那么他们在就业市场拥有更多的优势。溺爱孩子的美长在尽他们的一切可能让孩子们拥有这样的优势。

Learning Mandarin is hardly an easy task. It's a tonal language and there's no "right" way to learn it.

学习汉语并非易事。汉语是一种声调语言，学习它没有所谓的“好”方法。

To earn certification in Mandarin, it takes 2,200 class hours, and half of that time spent must be spent in a Mandarin-speaking country. For comparison's sake, Spanish can be learned in 600 to 750 class hours.

要获得汉语等证书需要花2,200学时，其中有一半时间必须要生活在说汉语的里。作为对比，学习西班牙语只要600到750个学时。

Ironically in China, where a huge emphasis is placed on education, 85 percent of people whose household income is more than $950,000 recently said they planned on sending their children abroad to study.

不过具有讽刺意味地是，在非常重视教育的中，85% 庭收入超过950,000美元的庭近表示，他们计划着要把自己的孩子送出深造。

So, Americans are still playing catch up.

因此，美人正在迎头赶上。