Question

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 included Chinese art, history and philosophy． Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantage of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up for the drawbacks of Westerners 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

Answer 1

【小题1】A
【小题2】D
【小题3】C
【小题4】C

解析试题分析：
【小题1】推理题，由第一段说“如果孔子还活着话，他将会用大蛋糕庆祝生日”，可以推出是吸引读者的兴趣，所以选A
【小题2】推理题，由第四段的主要意思“在西方大学课程里，涉及了中国文化”，可以推出美国学生对学习汉语有很大的兴趣，所以选D
【小题3】推理题，由倒数第三段So the old thinker’s ideas are still alive and well可以推出思想家的重要性，所以思想家和大的前程很有关系，所以选C
【小题4】推理题，由本文的主要意思，在西方国家里，涉及了一些中国文化，可以推出是在报纸可以看到，也可以用排除法，所以选C
考点：本文说明文。
点评：本文说明了思想家想法很重要，，在西方国家里，涉及了一些中国文化，美国学生对于汉语比较感兴趣。先通读全文，然后带着问题，再读全文，找出答题所需要的依据，完成阅读。本文主要考查推理题，要求学生有很强的推理分析能力。