阅读下列短文.从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳选项.If Confucius were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 bi

【题目】阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中选出最佳选项。

(2012年辽宁卷，C)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.

【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

【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

【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

【4】The passage is likely to appear in ________.

A．a biography

B．a history paper

C．a newspaper

D．a philosophy textbook

【答案】【1】B

【2】A

【3】D

【4】C

【解析】【1】推理判断题。开篇用了虚拟语气，为的是吸引读者对孔子这一话题的注意。

【2】推理判断题。根据第四段内容特别是Students in the United States，at the same time，are racing to learn Chinese可知美国学生对学习汉语感兴趣。

【3】主旨大意题。文章首段提及Confucius (the old thinker)，然后谈到只要外国人想更好地了解中国就要研究孔子，中国政府在80个国家建立孔子研究院，特别是美国学生争相学习汉语。所以文章题目应为D。

【4】文章出处题。文章讲述了外国人学习汉语的热潮，中国政府在西方国家设立孔子研究院，孔子思想将长存。应该出现在报纸上，而不是生物上，也不是历史书上，更不是哲学课本上。