TEXT 40
Selling the sage of Qufu
推销孔圣人（陈继龙 编译）
Jul 6th 2006 | TOKYO
From The Economist print edition
THE old man would surely be proud. This week some 300 representatives, from 35 different countries, gathered in Beijing's Great Hall of the People for the first-ever Confucius Institute conference. （1）This was no philosophical pow-wow[1], but the world's largest-ever conference on teaching Chinese as a foreign language. Confucius Institutes are China's answer _______① the Alliance Fran?aise, Germany's Goethe Institut and the British Council, and officials hope they will help meet a growing global demand for Chinese-language education.
孔老夫子肯定会感到自豪。本周，来自35个国家的近300名代表在北京人民大会堂召开了首届孔子学院大会。这不是一次讨论哲学思想的会议，而是迄今为止最大的一次研究对外汉语教学的大会。孔子学院的意义如同法兰西联谊会、德国歌德学院和英国文化协会，中国官员希望它将有助于满足全球对汉语教学日益增长的需求。（译者注：“sb’s answer to somehitng”是指“someone or something that is considered to be just as good as a more famous person or thing”，即“与……一样有名、出色”、“具有与……等同的意义或重要性”）
Confucius Institutes have got _______② to a roaring start. The first was established in Tashkent in Uzbekistan in June 2004, the 75th in Cracow in Poland exactly two years later. No other Chinese international franchise has done as well. Officially, they are overseen by Hanban, the agency charged by the Education Ministry with promoting the teaching of Chinese overseas. （2）But Hanban's staff of only around 50 can barely cope with the volume of applications, on top of[2] its other duties which include administering Hanyu Shuipin Kaoshi, the standard test of proficiency in Chinese. 孔子学院一开始发展就非常迅猛。（译者注：get off to a bad/good start意为“开局不顺/顺利”，roaring表示“迅猛的”）第一所孔子学院于2004年6月在乌兹别克斯坦塔什干成立，短短两年后在波兰克拉科夫就成立了第75所。目前中国还没有哪一家国际机构能与之媲美。这些孔子学院的官方主管部门为国家汉办（国家汉语国际推广领导小组办公室），后者是教育部下属机构，负责海外汉语教学推广。不过，仅有50名左右工作人员的汉办实在难以应付纷至沓来的办学申请，而且它还担负其它一些职责比如汉语水平考试管理（考查汉语掌握程度的标准考试）。
So Hanban has let the network grow organically. One key to its success has been the use of joint ventures. The institutes are not run by Hanban, but by partnerships between Chinese universities and local universities in the host country. _____________________________________________（所在国大学负责安排校舍，而中方则负责提供师资和教材。） 因此，汉办有条不紊地扩大办学网络。其成功的秘诀之一是采取合资办学的方式。这些学院不归汉办管理，而归一些中国大学和所在国大学联合主办。所在国大学负责安排校舍，而中方则负责提供师资和教材。
（3）A second advantage is the institutes' ability to adapt to local demands, rather than following a set curriculum. Thus, in Nairobi, you can learn how to make Tianjin dumplings, while in Singapore you can sign _______③ for a 14-day study tour of the sage's hometown, Qufu, in Shandong province.
这种做法的第二个好处在于，学院可以因地制宜，而不用遵循固定课程模式。这样一来，在内罗毕可以学做天津包子，而在新加坡则可以报名参加赴孔圣人故乡——山东曲阜的为期14天的学术旅行团。
（4）Hanban claims that the primary role of the Confucius Institutes is to teach Chinese, but their name is also evocative of China's former influence in Asia, and its growing presence now. Despite the iciness of official relations between China and Japan, universities there are falling _______④ each other to set up the next institute. Already there are four, the most in any Asian country; the number is set to double by the end of the year. Even in the 21st century, Confucius is proving to be China's best ambassador.
汉办称，孔子学院的首要任务是汉语教学，但是它们的名字也让人想起了中国在亚洲曾经拥有的影响力及其越来越重要的地位。虽然目前中日官方之间关系冷淡，但是日方的大学都在争先恐后地申办孔子学院。日本现已有4所孔子学院，居亚洲各国之首，到今年年底这一数字肯定还会翻一番。虽说已经到了21世纪，但事实表明孔子仍是中国最杰出的使者。
[QUIZ]
1. 选择适当介词或副词填入空中：
①a. on b. of c. to d. for ②a. off b. out c. with d. up ③a. in b. up c. over d. on ④a. upon b. over c. at d. for
2. 英译汉（将划线部分英文翻译成中文）：
3．汉译英（根据译文提示和上下文，在空白处填入相应英文）：
[NOTES](LONGMAN)
1. pow-wow n. （北美印第安人）议事会；会议，聚会 2. on top of 另外，紧接着（祸不单行）
[KEY TO QUIZ]
1. ①c. to ②a. off ③b. up (sign up报名) ④b. over (fall over each other 竞争，争夺) 2.（见译文，仅供参考，欢迎指正）
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