A
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 strong wind to help him put them out.
While many people in China will remember Confucius on this 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 (哲学). Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantage of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up for the drawbacks (缺点) 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.
语篇解读：本文阐述了西方学生学习中国文化的现象，并告诉我们中国古代伟大的思想家——孔子的思想仍然受到世界人们的追捧。
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
解析：选B 写作意图题。第一段说如果孔子仍然活着并能庆祝生日的话，将会有很多的蜡烛，他需要很大的风才能吹灭，是为了吸引读者的兴趣，让读者继续读下去。
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
解析：选A 推理判断题。根据第四段第一句和第六句中的“are racing to learn Chinese”可知，美国学生对中国文化很感兴趣。
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
解析：选D 标题归纳题。本文主要向我们介绍了孔子的思想对西方的影响，以及将来可能产生的影响。
