五、阅读短文,回答问题
Passant teaches Chinese at the Confucius Institute of Cairo University (开罗大学孔子学院) in Egypt. Her first Chinese teacher was a friendly lady from Beijing who made funny faces to help her remember tones (声调).
However, Passant had problems learning Chinese. “Chinese is very different from my own language. So I had to work harder to learn it,” she said. At first, she couldn't tell the difference between “mā” (mother) and “mǎ” (horse), which led to some funny situations.
With hard work, Passant became better at Chinese. In 2018, she got to study at Shandong University. She fell in love with jiaozi and made many local friends. During her studies, she became the only foreign student in a volunteer teaching team and went to Ji'an, Jiangxi Province, to teach for 10 days. The village children taught her how to make paper-cuts in return.
That experience made her want to be a Chinese teacher. In 2019, she won a big Chinese competition for foreign college students. After she finished school in Cairo in September 2019, she went to Beijing Normal University to get further education. In 2021, she got her master's degree (硕士学位) and began teaching Chinese at the Confucius Institute of Cairo University. Her first class had only 5 students, but now she teaches over 50 learners.
Today, Passant often tells her students stories about China and its culture during classes. Last week, she brought Chinese tea leaves for them to smell and taste. Like her, her students find it hard to say Chinese words, put sentences together, and write Chinese characters. She often tells them her tips for learning Chinese—practise a lot and don't be afraid of challenges (挑战). She also shows them pictures of places of interest in Beijing such as the Great Wall.
1. How did Passant's first Chinese teacher help her remember tones?
By making funny faces.
2. What experience encouraged Passant to be a Chinese teacher?
The volunteer teaching experience in Ji'an.
3. How many students does Passant teach now?
Over 50 students.
4. What did Passant bring to class last week?
Chinese tea leaves.
5. If you teach Chinese in a foreign country, what other parts of Chinese culture will you show your students?
I will introduce traditional festivals like Dragon Boat Festival./I will show them delicious Chinese dishes like Beijing duck./I will show them traditional Chinese clothes like hanfu.
