In China, Children of the Rich Learn Class
By HOWARD W. FRENCH
Published: September 22, 2006
SHANGHAI, Sept. 21 — Everyw________①this summer, Rose Lei drove her daughter, Angelina, 5, to a golf complex at the edge of central Shanghai for a two-hour, $200 individual lesson with a teachingpro[1]from Scotland.
But now that the school year has started, little Angelina will have to cut back on the golf, limiting herself to weekend sessions at a local driving range. In addition to her demanding school schedule, she will be attending private classes at an after-school academy for children as young as 4 that bills itself as a junior M.B.A. program.
Ms. Lei, 35, af________②information technology expert and the wife of a prosperous newspaper advertising executive, is part of a new generation of affluent parents here who are planning ways to cement their children’s place in a fast-emerging elite.
（1）A generation ago, when people still dressed in monochromes[2] and acquiring GREat wealth, never mind flaunting it, was generally illegal, the route to success was to join the right Communist Party youth organization or to attend one of the best universities.
Now the race starts early, with ane________③not on ideology but on the skills and experiences the children will need in the elite life they are expected to lead. In addition to early golf training, which has become wildly popular, affluent parents are enrolling their children in everything from ballet and private music lessons, to classes in horse riding, ice-skating, skiing and even polo.
（2）The intense interest in lifestyle training speaks not just to parents’ concern for their children’s futures but also to a general sense of social insecurity among China’s newly rich.
“These people are riche_________④but lacking in basic manners, and they are not very fond of their own reputation,” said Wang Lianyi, an expert in comparative cultural studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in Beijing. Of the 35 million Chinese who traveled overseas last year, he said, many were shocked to discover that they were often viewed as having bad manners.
The best known of these programs is run by a bluntly spoken Japanese woman, June Yamada, who charges about $900 for a two-week course that includes a brief stay at a five-star hotel here. Teenagers must bathe before dinner, take afternoon tea, wear formal dress and relearn how to walk, how to eat, how to dance and how toe________⑤politely with members of the opposite sex.
Zhong Yu, 36, a manufacturing supervisor whose wife is a senior accountant with an international firm and whose 7-year-old son has been enrolled in the junior M.B.A. classes. “Every day we see stories in the newspapers about graduates unable to find good jobs._______________________.（中国教育在主要学科〔core subjects〕上质量已经很好了，但我想要我的儿子有更多创新思维，因为光掌握基础知识已经不够了。）”said she.
（3）To some extent, the trend is driven by a collision of rising affluence and China’s one-child policy, which forces parents to focus all their energy and resources on a single child.But experts say there is more atw_______⑥,that it reflects fear of a new kind of rat race, in which the entire society ishustling[3]for advancement. Indeed, some of the newly well-to-do have broadened their quest for respectability, enlisting their children in charity activities at the same time as they push them into classes.
NOTES:
[1]pro n.职业人员，专家
[2]monochrome n.单色
[3]hustle vi.急速，赶忙，硬挤
试一试：
1．根据首字母提示和译文，填入适当单词：
①Everyw________this summer（今年夏天每周一至周五）（名词）
②af________information technology expert（曾是一名信息技术专家）（形容词）
③with ane________not on ideology but on the skills and experiences（受重视的不再是意识形态，而是技能和经验）（名词）
④These people are riche_________but lacking in basic manners（这些人生活富裕了，但缺乏基本的礼仪知识）（副词）
⑤how toe________politely with members of the opposite sex（如何礼貌地与异性打交道）（动词）
⑥experts say there is more atw_______（但专家说，还有更多其它因素在发挥作用）（名词）
参考答案：
①weekday ②former ③emphasis ④economically ⑤engage ⑥work
2．翻译划线部分英文：
参考答案：
（1）二三十年以前，取得成功的方式是加入共青团，或者是上最好的大学。当时，人们还穿着色彩单一的服装，拼命追求财富，往往都以非法方式获得财富，而且毫不避讳地炫耀财富。
（2）对生活方式方面的训练内容兴趣浓厚，不只表达了父母对孩子未来的担忧，也说明在中国新贵中存在普遍的社会不安全感。
（3）在一定程度上，这一趋势是由不断增长的财富与中国的独生子女政策之间的矛盾引发的。计划生育政策迫使父母将所有精力和财力都投放到惟一的孩子身上。
3．根据译文，写出句子：
参考译文：Education in China is already good in the core subjects, but I want my son to have more creative thinking, because basic knowledge isn’t sufficient anymore（是不是您的翻译与原文相去甚远？这不奇怪，同一意思表达方式成千上万，只要您愿意尝试学习作者的用法，您就达到学习的目的了。）
