If Confucius(孔子)were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of candles. He’d need a fan or a strong wind to help him put them out.
While many people in China will remember Confucius on his special day ,few people in the United States will give him a passing thought. It’s nothing personal. Most Americans don’t even remember the birthdays of their own national heroes.
But this doesn’t mean that Americans don’t care about Confucius. In many ways he has become a bridge that foreigners must cross if they want to reach a deeper understanding of China.
In the past two decades, the Chinese studies programs have gained huge popularity in Western universities. More recently, the Chinese government has set up Confucius Institutes in more than 80 countries. These schools teach both Chinese language and culture. The main courses of Chinese culture usually include Chinese art, history and philosophy(哲学).Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantage of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up for the drawbacks of Western philosophy. Students in the United States, at the same time, are racing to learn Chinese. So they will be ready for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States. Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about Confucius to understand their Chinese customers.
So the old thinker’s ideas are still alive and well.
Today China attracts the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West.
As for the old thinker, he will not soon be forgotten by people in the West, even if his birthday is.
小题1:The opening paragraph is mainly intended to .
A．provide some key facts about Confucius
B．attract the readers’ interest in the subject
C．show great respect for the ancient thinker
D．prove the popularity of modern birthday celebrations小题2:We can learn from Paragraph 4 that American students .
A．have a great interest in studying Chinese
B．take an active part in Chinese competitions
C．try to get high scores in Chinese exams
D．fight for a chance to learn Chinese小题3:What is the best title for the passage?
A．Forgotten Wisdom in America
B．Huge Fans of the Chinese Language
C．Chinese Culture for Westerners
D．Old Thinker with a Big Future小题4:The passage is likely to appear in .
A．a biography
B．a history paper
C．a newspaper
D．a philosophy textbook
小题1:B
小题2:A
小题3:D
小题4:C
题目分析：本文主要讲述了外国人对中国文化的兴趣越来越浓，对于孔子的思想也越来越感兴趣这一社会现象。
小题1:B 推理题。根据文章第一段If Confucius(孔子)were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of candles. He’d need a fan or a strong wind to help him put them out.是以孔子生日这一个有趣的话题来引起本文要讨论的真正话题，故B正确。
小题2:A 推理题。根据Today China attracts the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West.说明中国对每个人有很强的吸引力，很多美国人对中国都很感兴趣，故A正确。
小题3:D 主旨大意题。本文主要讲述的正是中国越来越引起世界的关注，同样，中国的文化也引起了世界人民的兴趣，很多人都开始了解中国的文化，这给孔子这位中国的思想家带来了新生，故D正确。
小题4:C 推理题。本文主要讲述了外国人对中国文化的兴趣越来越浓，对于孔子的思想也越来越感兴趣这一社会现象，那么很有可能是新闻报道的内容，故C项正确。
点评：本文主要讲述了外国人对中国文化的兴趣越来越浓，对于孔子的思想也越来越感兴趣这一社会现象。本文主旨鲜明,很容易在文中找到答案。做题时要注意文章的首段和每一段的首句或尾句，因为它们往往就是文章的主题句。阅读中要注意要点之间的关系。然后带着问题，再读全文，找出答题所需要的依据，完成阅读任务。