If Confucius 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 study 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 old 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.25. The first paragraph is mainly intended to_________.A. show great respect for the old thinkerB. prove the popularity of modern birthday celebrationsC. attract the readers’ interest in the subjectD. provide some key facts about Confucius26. The reason why few Americans remember Confucius on his birthday is probably that______.A. they consider their own national heroes more important.B. they don’t pay much attention to the birthdays of famous people.C. he has bee a bridge between foreigners and China.D. they don’t care about Confucius at all.27. We can learn from Paragraph 4 that American students________.A. were not interested in Chinese studies beforeB. take an active part in Chinese businessC. have a great interest in studying ChineseD. hope to make money in China28. What is the best title for the passage?A. Forgotten Wisdom in AmericaB. Chinese Culture for WesternersC. Huge Fans of the Chinese LanguageD. Old Thinker with a Big Future
