If Confucius(孔子) were 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 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 that 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 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 to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West.
As for the old thinker, he will not be forgotten by people in the West, even if his birthday is.The opening paragraph is mainly intended to _______.
| A．attract the readers’ interest in the subject |
| B．provide some key facts about Confucius |
| C．show great respect for the ancient thinker |
| D．prove the popularity of modern birthday celebrations |
We can learn from Paragraph 4 that American students _______.
| A．take an active part in Chinese competitions |
| B．try to get high scores in Chinese exams |
| C．fight for a chance to learn Chinese |
| D．have a great passion in studying Chinese |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．Forgotten Wisdom in America. |
| B．Huge Fans of the Chinese Language. |
| C．Old Thinker with a Big Future. |
| D．Chinese Culture for Westerners. |
The passage is likely to appear in ______.
| A．a biography | B．a history paper |
| C．a newspaper | D．a philosophy textbook |
Once upon a time in a land far away, there was a wonderful old man who loved everything：animals, spiders, insects．．．
One day while walking through the woods, the nice old man found a cocoon（茧）of a butterfly．He took it home．A few days later, a small opening appeared; he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole．Then it seemed to stop making any progress．It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther．Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and cut off the remaining bit of the cocoon．
The butterfly then appeared easily．
But it had a swollen body and small, fragile wings．The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would be smaller in time．Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling （慢慢爬行）around with a swollen body and fragile wings．
It never was able to fly．
What the man in his kindness and hurry did not understand was that the limited cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were Nature’s way of forcing fluid （液体）from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon．
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life．If we were allowed to go through our life without any obstacles and difficulties, it would disable us．We would not be as strong as what we could have been．And we could never fly．The butterfly could never fly because ________．
| A．it was too fat and strong． |
| B．it loved crawling around． |
| C．it got out of the cocoon easily． |
| D．it didn’t get through the cocoon ． |
The text is most likely to be found in a book about__________．
| A．popular science | B．humorous stories． |
| C．successful people | D．philosophy events ． |
What is the implied meaning of the passage?
| A．Life without any obstacles and difficulties is perfect． |
| B．Obstacles and difficulties contribute to success． |
| C．Never help a butterfly to get out of the cocoon． |
| D．A butterfly can never fly without going through the cocoon． |
Ireland has had a very difficult history. The problems started in the 16th century when English rulers tried to conquer Ireland. For hundreds of years, the Irish people fought against the English. Finally, in 1921, the British government was forced to give independence to the south of Ireland. The result is that today there are two “Irelands”. Northern Ireland, in the north, is part of the United Kingdom. The Republic of Ireland, in the south, is an independent country.
In the 1840s the main crop, potatoes, was affected by disease and about 750,000 people died of hunger. This, and a shortage (短缺) of work , forced many people to leave Ireland and live in the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. As a result of these problems, the population fell from 8.2 million in 1841 to 6.6 million in 1851.
For many years, the majority of Irish people earned their living as farmers. Today, many people still work on the land but more and more people are moving to the cities to work in factories and offices. Life in the cities is very different from life in the countryside, where things move at a quieter and slower pace.
The Irish are famous for being warm-hearted and friendly. Oscar Wilde, a famous Irish writer, once said that the Irish were “the greatest talkers since the Greeks”. Since independence, Ireland has revived(复兴) its own culture of music, language, literature and singing. Different areas have different styles of old Irish song which are sung without instruments. Other kinds of Irish music use many different instruments such as the violin, whistles, etc.What does the author tell us in paragraph 1?
| A．How the Irish fought against the English. |
| B．How Ireland gained independence. |
| C．How English rulers tried to conquer Ireland. |
| D．How two “Irelands” came into being.. |
We learn from the text that in Ireland .
| A．food shortages in the 1840s led to a decrease in population |
| B．people are moving to the cities for lack of work in the countryside |
| C．it is harder to make a living as a farmer than as a factory worker |
| D．different kinds of old Irish songs are all sung with instruments |
The last paragraph is mainly about .
| A．the Irish character | B．Irish culture |
| C．Irish musical instruments | D．a famous Irish writer |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．Life in Ireland |
| B．A Very Difficult History |
| C．Ireland, Past and Present |
| D．The Independence of Ireland |
Student Membership-----Cambridge Arts Cinema
Cambridge Arts Cinema is one of the art houses in Britain and home of the internationally celebrated Cambridge Film Festival. Since 1947 generations of students have discovered the wealth of world cinema. Now you too can make most of it and save money.
If you’re a member of Cambridge Arts Cinema, you will enjoy free .
| A．Darkroom Gallery shows |
| B．mailed programmes |
| C．special film events |
| D．film shows |
How long will the membership for Cambridge Arts Cinema last?
| A．Four months. | B．Eight months. |
| C．Nine months. | D．One year. |
For what purpose is the text written?
| A．Offering students cheaper tickets． |
| B．Announcing the opening of a premiere. |
| C．Telling the public of the cinema’s address. |
| D．Increasing the cinema’s membership. |
F. Scott Fitzgerald, born on September 24,1896, an American novelist, was once a student of St. Paul Academy, the Newman School and attended Princeton. University for a short while. In 1917 he joined the army and was posted in Alabama, where he met his future wife Zelda Sayre. Then he had to make some money to impress her. 
His life with her was full of great happiness, as he wrote in his diary : “ My own happiness in the past often approached such joy that I could share it even with the person dearest to me but had to walk it away in quiet streets and take down parts of it in my diary. ”
This side of paradise, his first novel, was published in 1920. encouraged by its success, Fitzgerald began to devote more time to his writing. Then he continued with the novel the Beautiful and Damned (1922), a collection of short stories Thales of the Jazz Age (1922), and a play The Vegetable (1923). But his greatest success was The Great Gatsby, published in 1925,which quick brought him praise from the literary world. Yet it failed to give him the needed financial security. Then, in 1926, he published another collection lf short stories All the Sad Young Men.
However, Fitzgerald’s problems with his wife Zelda affected his writing. During the 1920s he tried to reorder his life, but failed. By 1930, his wife had her first breakdown and went to a Swiss clinic. During this period he completed novels Tender Is the Night in 1934 and The love of the last Tycoon in 1940.While his wife was in hospital in the United States, he got totally addicted to alcohol. Sheila Graham, his dear friend, helped him fight his alcoholism. How many novels written by Fitzgerald are mentioned in the passage ?
| A．5 | B．6 | C．7 | D．8 |
Which of the following is the correct order to describe Fitzgerald’s life according to the passage?
a. He became addicted to drinking.
b. He studied at St. Paul Academy.
c. He published his first novel This Side of Paradise.
d. The Great Gatsby won high praise.
e. He failed to reorder his life.
f. He joined the army and met Zelda.
| A．f-c-e-a-b-d | B．b-e-a-f-c-d |
| C．f-d-e-c-b-a | D．b-f-c-d-e-a |
We can infer from the passage that Fitzgerald .
| A．had made some money when he met Zelda in Alabama. |
| B．was well educated and well off before he served in the army |
| C．would have completed more works if his wife hadn’t broken down |
| D．helped his friend get rid of drinking while his wife was in hospital |
The passage is probably followed by a concluding paragraph about_______ .
| A．Zelda’s personal life |
| B．Zelda’s illness and treatment |
| C．Fitzgerald’s friendship with Graham |
| D．Fitzgerald’s contributions to the literary (文学的)world |
Brave Frenchman Found Half-way Around the World
(NEW YORK) A French tourist highly praised for rescuing a two-year-old girl in Manhattan said he didn’t think twice before diving into the freezing East River.
Tuesday’s Daily News said 29-year who left the spot quickly after the rescue last Saturday.
He lifted the little girl out of the water after she fell off the bank at the South Street Scaport museum. He handed the girl to her father, David Anderson, who had dived in after him.
“I didn’t think at all,” Duret told the Daily News. “It happened very fast. I reacted very fast. ”
Duret, an engineer on vacation ,was walking with his girlfriend along the pier(码头)when he saw something falling into the water . He thought it was a doll, but realized it was a child when he approached the river. In an instant ,he took off his coat and jumped into the water.
When he reached the girl, she appeared lifeless, he said . Fortunately, when she was out of the water, she opened her eyes.
Anderson said his daughter slipped off the bank when he was adjusting his camera. An ambulance came later for her, said Duret, who was handed dry clothes from cookers. Duret caught a train with his girlfriend shortly after.
The rescue happened on the day before he left for France. Duret said he didn’t realize his tale of heroism until he was leaving the next morning . “I don’t really think I’m a hero,” said Duret. “Anyone would do the same ting. ” Why was Duret in New York?
| A．To meet his girlfriend | B．To work as an engineer |
| C．To spend his holiday | D．To visit the Andersons. |
What did Duret do shortly after the ambulance came?
| A．He was interviewed by a newspaper |
| B．He asked his girlfriend for his dry clothes |
| C．He went to the hospital in the ambulance |
| D．He disappeared from the spot quickly |
Who dived after Duret into the river to save the little girl?
| A． David Anderson | B． A passer-by |
| C． His girlfriend | D． a taxi driver. |
When was duet most probably found to be the very hero?
| A．The day when he was leaving for home. |
| B．A couple of days after the girl was rescued |
| C．The first day when he was in New York |
| D．The same day when he was interviewed. |
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