河南省许昌市三校2015-2016学年高一上学期第三次联考 英语试题
第一部分 阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）
第一节 （共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
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，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
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 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(短暂的) 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 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 forgotten.
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
