阅读试题

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 advantages 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.

阅读试题

64. 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

65. 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

66. 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

67. The passage is likely to appear in ___________.

A. a biography

B. a history paper

C. a newspaper

D. a philosophy textbook

参考译文

如果孔子现在依然活着，并且能够庆祝他九月二十八日的生日，那么在蛋糕上一定会有很多蜡烛。他需要一台电风扇或是一阵强风来帮助他吹灭蜡烛。

虽然许多中国人还记得孔子的生日，但很少有美国人会对他有片刻的思绪。这不是个人的问题。大多数美国人甚至都不记得他们本国英雄的生日。

但是这并不意味着美国人不关注孔子。在很多方面，孔子已经成为外国人必须跨过的一座桥，如果他们想要更深入地了解中国（就必须了解孔子）。

在过去的二十年，中文的学习课程在西方大学得到了广泛普及。最近，中国政府在80多个国家设立了孔子研究学院。这些学校既教汉语也教中国文化。中国文化的主要课程包括中国的艺术、历史以及哲学。一些社会科学家建议西方人要充分运用古代中国人的智慧来弥补西方哲学的不足。同时，在美国的学生也在竞相学习中文。这样他们就可以生活在一个中美实力相当的世界里。想要在中国赚钱的商人都在读与孔子有关的书来了解他们的中国消费者。

于是这位老思想家的思想依然好好地留存着。

当下的中国比以前更加吸引西方人的注意，它需要更多的老师来向西方人介绍孔子以及中国文化。

对于这位老思想家，即便他的生日会被很快忘记，但是他本人将不会很快地被西方人民忘记。

答案解析

64. B 考查推理判断。从全文来看，第一段以孔子的寿辰作为引子，介绍孔子思想在中西方文化交流中的重要作用，因此第一段是为了引起读者对这个话题的兴趣。

65. A 考查推理判断。第四段提到美国学生争先恐后地学汉语，他们准备应对那个中国与美国同样强大的世界，由此可知美国学生对汉语感兴趣。

66. D 考查主旨大意。本文介绍中国古代思想家孔子成为中西方文化交流的桥梁，中国政府在80多个国家开办了孔子学院，文章最后提到中国需要更多的老师将孔子和中国文化介绍给西方，由此可知D项是最佳标题。

67. C 考查推理判断。本文主要讲的是随着中国国力的增强，孔子的儒家思想在西方也受到重视，因此本文可能出自报纸。