Учебное пособие G. G. Gubina english for tourists in professional communication part I textbook

threaten (threated, threatened, threatening), threatens, v угрожать 
tonal, a тональный 
Nationalities living in China: Chuang чжуан; Han Chinese ханьцы; Koreans корейцы; Manchus 
маньчжуры; Mongols монголы; Tibetans тибетцы; Uyghurs уйгуры. 
Task 11. Read information about ethnic relations and languages of China. How do you think these 
relations will be further developed?  
Ethnic Relations and Languages of China 
 
China’s population is the biggest in the world with over 1.2 billion people, representing more than 
one-fifth of the world’s population. Chinese society is surprisingly homogeneous. It has the same way of 
life, customs and traditions. More than ninety percent of the population are Han Chinese. The Chinese 
government officially recognises fifty-five minorities, only eight percent, living on its territory. Among 
them are the Chuang, Uyghurs, Tibetans, Manchus, Mongols, Koreans. They all have their customs and 
traditions. The government of China tries to increase its influence on the minorities by means of migration 
of Han Chinese to the territories of minorities. The government controls the birth of Han children, but the 
minorities are often out of control and there is the rise in population in minority groups. The Chinese 
Government believes that the increase in births among minorities is threatening the country’s stability. The 
official language is Mandarin Chinese. This language is based on the Beijing dialect. There also exist oral 
dialects in some provinces. The writing system has not changed and remains the same for all dialects.
The Chinese alphabet is not phonetic. It does not represent sounds. It has sixty thousands of 
pictographs and ideographs, representing concepts. The Chinese differentiate words not by sounds but by 
means of falling or rising tone. The language is tonal.