One of the latest trends(趨勢) in American childcare is Chinese au pairs. Au Pair in Stamford, Conn, for example, has got increasing numbers of requests for Chinese au pairs from zero to around 4，000 since 2004. And that's true all across the country.

“I thought it would be useful for him to learn Chinese at an early age，” Joseph Stocke, the managing director of a company, says of his 2­year­old son. “I would at least like to give him the chance to use the language in the future.” After only six months of being cared for by a 25­year­old woman from China, the boy can already understand basic Chinese daily expressions, his dad says.

Li Drake, a Chinese native raising two children in Minnesota with an American husband, had another reason for looking for an au pair from China: she didn't want her children to miss out on their roots.“Because I am Chinese, my husband and I wanted the children to keep exposed to(接觸) the language and culture，” she says.

“Staying with a native speaker is better for children than simply sitting in a classroom，” says Suzanne Flynn, a professor in language education of children.“But parents must understand that just one year with an au pair is unlikely to produce wonders. Complete mastery demands continued learning until the age of 10 or 12.”

The popularity of au pairs from China has been strengthened by the increasing numbers of American parents who want their children to learn Chinese. It is expected that American demand for au pairs will continue to rise in the next few years.

29. What does the term “au pair” in the text mean?

A. A mother raising her children on her own.

B. A child learning a foreign language at home.

C. A professor in language education of children.

D. A young foreign women taking care of children.

30. Li Drake has her children study Chinese because she wants them ________.

A. to live in China some day

B. to speak the language at home

C. to catch up with other children

D. to learn about the Chinese culture

31. What can we infer from the text?

A. Learning Chinese is becoming popular in America.

B. Educated women do better in looking after children.

C. Chinese au pairs need to improve their English skills.

D. Children can learn a foreign language well in six months.

【要點(diǎn)綜述】 本文介紹了美國出現(xiàn)的一個(gè)新的趨勢：為孩子找一個(gè)中國保姆，這可以讓孩子從小接觸中文，了解中國文化。

29. D　推理判斷題。 根據(jù)第二段Joseph請(qǐng)了一位25歲的女士照顧他兩歲的兒子以便兒子學(xué)習(xí)漢語，以及第三段一位生于中國的母親讓自己的兩個(gè)孩子接觸漢語和中國文化，和第四段一位語言教育學(xué)教授提到“通過和說母語的人在一起來學(xué)習(xí)語言比在教室里學(xué)習(xí)好”等信息可知，au pair指的是負(fù)責(zé)照顧孩子的外國女子。

30. D　細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段中的“‘Because I am Chinese, my husband and I wanted the children to keep exposed to(接觸) the language and culture，’she says.”可知她這樣做的目的是讓孩子們了解中國的文化。

31. A　推理判斷題。本文通過列舉一些具體的例子，說明了美國的父母們正在興起“au pairs熱”，即通過請(qǐng)說漢語的中國保姆來照顧自己的孩子，讓孩子們學(xué)習(xí)漢語， 這說明在美國，漢語正在日益受到歡迎，因此選A。