中国的官方语言普通话在美国的学校中突然热起来。由于中国经济在21世纪的快速发展，美国的公立和私立学校纷纷在外语课程中加入汉语这一科目，或将已有的汉语教学项目进行扩展。据统计，在美国的学校中，有5万名孩子在学习汉语。但推动汉语项目的发展不是没有遇到困难。由于缺乏受过专业训练、持有证书的教师，一些学校很难加入汉语教学的竞争。当学校聘用教师时，它们通常直接从中国招聘，这种方式为文化冲突埋下了隐患。

　　【翻译词汇】

　　官方语言 official language

　　普通话 Mandarin

　　快速的 rapid

　　课程 curriculum (pl.curricula)

　　已有的 in place

　　缺乏 shortage

　　受过专业训练 professionally trained

　　证书 certificate

　　招聘 recruit

　　文化冲突 culture clash

　　【精彩译文】

　　Mandarin, the official language of China, is suddenly hot in American schools. With the rapid development of China’s economy in the 21th century, both public and private schools in America are scrambling to add Mandarin to their curricula of foreign languages or expanding Chinese language programs already in place. By some estimates, as many as 50 000 children nationwide are taking Mandarin in American schools. To develop Chinese-language programs has met some difficulties. A shortage of professionally trained teachers with certificates has made it difficult for some schools to join the competition. When schools need to employ teachers, they often recruit them from China directly, which is a hidden trouble for culture clash.a