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.

1.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

2.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

3.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.

4.The passage is likely to appear in ______.

A.a biography B. a history paper

C. a newspaper D. a philosophy textbook

Ask any group of teenagers in the UK what they most like to eat, and foods like pizza, burgers and chips are always mentioned.

But what teenagers like to eat is not necessarily what they should be eating. According to the National Diet and Nutrition (营养) Survey, far too many young people in the UK between the ages of 4 and 18 eat too much fat, sugar and salt in their diet and take in too many calories. And their intake of starchy carbohydrates (含淀粉的碳水化合物), fiber, iron, vitamins and calcium (钙) is too low.

For a growing body, eating foods containing plenty of calcium, such as milk, yoghurt and cheese, is very important as calcium is essential for the development of healthy, strong bones. Similarly, foods that are rich in iron are good for young rapidly developing bodies, so red meat, bread, green vegetables, and dried fruit are also good to eat.

It is during our teenage years that lifestyle habits can become entrenched (根深蒂固的), so it is important that young people are educated about what foods are good for them. In 2005, in order to change eating habits and open teenagers' minds to new tastes, chef Jamie Oliver started a "Feed Me Better" project. As part of a television series, "Jamie' s School Dinners", he worked with teachers and cooks in a number of schools across the UK to provide more nutritious school meals. Although some teenagers and parents refused to have a try at first, the project went very well and helped to influence governmental policy on nutritional standards for school meals.

No one expects to end the teenage love affair with fast and junk food but, hopefully, if projects like "Feed Me Better" continue to give out the right messages, more young people will understand the importance of eating healthily.

1.What problem do teenagers in the UK have?

A. Most of them are too fat.

B. Most of them eat too little.

C. Many of them don' t eat healthily.

D. Many of them are short of exercise.

2.The underlined word "essential" in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to" "

A. difficult B. possible C. common D. necessary

3.According to the text, the "Feed Me Better" project _ _

A. proved to be a success

B. taught teachers how to cook

C. was started by the government

D. was started at Jamie's school first

4.Which of the following opinions does the author probably agree to?

A. Lifestyle habits are difficult to change.

B. Too much red meat is also bad for health.

C. Teenagers should learn to feed them better.

D. Teenagers should stop eating fast and junk food.

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