公共英语五级阅读理解专项试题(三)

XX年PETS5阅读模拟试题及答案导语：平时多做阅读的练习，多做阅读的模拟试题，有助于提高你的阅读能力哦。

Reading is not the only way to gain knowledge of the work in the past. There is another large reservoir (知识库) which may be called experience， and the college student will find that every craftsman (工匠) has something he can teach and will generally teach gladly to any college student who does not look down upon them . The information from them differs from (不同于) that in textbooks and papers chiefly in that its theoretical (理论的) part ——the explanations of why things happen —— is frequently quite fantastic (神奇的) . But the demonstration (示范) and report of what happens ， and how it happens are correct even if the reports are in pletely unscientific terms (术语)。

Presently the college student will learn， in this case also， what to aept and what to reject. One important thing for a college student to remember is that ifAristotle could talk to the fisherman， so can he.Another source of knowledge is the vast store of traditional (传统的) practices handed down from father to son ， or mother to daughter， of old country customs (习惯)， of folklore (风俗)。

最新公共英语五级备考试题阅读理解训练及答案最新公共英语五级备考试题阅读理解训练及答案读书是学习，使用也是学习，而且是更重要的学习。

以下是店铺为大家搜索整理的最新公共英语五级备考试题阅读理解训练及答案，希望对正在关注的您有所帮助!No one should be forced to wear a uniform under any circumstance. Uniforms are demeaning to the human spirit and totally unnecessary in a democratic society. Uniforms tell the world that the person who wears one has no value as an individual but only lives to function as a part of the whole. The individual in a uniform loses all self-worth. There are those who say that wearing a uniform gives a person a sense of identification with a large, more important concept. What could be more important than the individual oneself? If an organization is so weak that it must rely on cloth and buttons to inspire its members, that organization has no right to continue its existence. Others say that the practice of making persons wear uniforms, say in school, eliminates all envy and competition in a matter of dress, such that a poor person who cannot afford good-quality clothing, why would anyone strive to be better? It is only a short step from forcing everyone to wear the same clothing to forcing everyone to drive the same car, have the same type of house, eat the same type of food. When this happens, all incentive to improve one’s life is removed. Why would parents bother to work hard so that their children could have a better life than they had when they know that their children are going to be forced to have exactly the same life that they had? Uniforms also hurt the economy. Right now, billions of dollars are spent on the fashion industry yearly. Thousands of persons are employed in designing,creating, and marketing different types of clothing. If everyone were forced to wear uniforms, artistic personnel would be unnecessary. Salespersons would be superfluous as well: why bother to sell the only items that are available? The wearing of uniforms would destroy the fashion industry which in turn would have a ripple effect on such industries as advertising and promotion. Without advertising, newspapers, magazines, and television would not be able to remain in business. Our entire information and entertainment industries would founder.1、The author’s viewpoint on uniforms can best be described as __________.A. practicalB. hystericalC. radicalD. critical(本题分值：1.5分)【正确答案】C2、Judged from its style, this passage might be found in __________.A. a children’s comics bookB. an editorial in a paperC. a sociology textbookD. a political platform(本题分值：1.5分)【正确答案】B3、It can be inferred that the author believes that __________.A. individuals have no self-worth when they become part of an organizationB. individuals are more important than organizationsC. individuals are not so important as organizationsD. individuals are the same important as organizations(本题分值：1.5分)【正确答案】B4、The author brings in the example of a parent striving to make life better for his children to make the point that __________.A. parents have responsibilities for their childrenB. uniforms would be less expensive than clothing for childrenC. uniforms cause dissension between parents and childrenD. individual motivation would be destroyed by uniforms(本题分值：1.5分)【正确答案】D5、The last word of the passage "founder" probably means __________.A. collapseB. shrinkC. disappearD. establish(本题分值：1.5分)【正确答案】A【最新公共英语五级备考试题阅读理解训练及答案】。

A man once had a dream about the Black Forest in Germany. In his ( 1) he was walking in the forest ( 2) two men ran out and tried to throw him ( 3) the ground. He ran off as ( 4) as he could, ( 5) they immediately followed. He reached a place where he.( 6) two roads in front of him, one to the right and the other to the left. Which road should he ( 7)? He heard the two men behind him, ( 8) nearer and at the same time he heard ( 9) voice in his ears. It (10) him to go to the right, and he did so. He ran on and on and soon (11) to a small home, he was (12) there kindly and (13) a room to rest in, and so he was saved (14) the two men. That was the dream.Twenty years later he was (15) in the Black Forest and (16) happened in the dream long before, two men suddenly ran out (17) him. He ran and ran, and came to a place with two roads as in the dream. He (18) the dream and went to the (19). He soon reached a small house. And so he got rid of the two men. His dream of twenty years (20) had saved his life.1.way story (故事，新闻报道) experience dream2.which where when from which3.at over in to4.rapid quick soon fast5.then and but so6.searched watched saw had7.go lead pick take8.becoming running following getting9.a the his their10.persuaded warned stopped told11.entered went found got12.received met accepted settled13.taken given needed made14.with by from behind15.separately really once again16.like what that as17.across at towards for18.realize reminded remembered had19.right left house forest20.after ago later before 答案:DCDDC CDDADDABCB DBCAD。

全国公共英语等级考试五级阅读练习2017年全国公共英语等级考试五级阅读练习天才就是百分之九十九的汗水加百分之一的灵感。

以下是店铺为大家搜索整理的2017年全国公共英语等级考试五级阅读练习，希望能给大家带来帮助!更多经常内容请及时关注我们店铺!The most obvious purpose of advertising is to inform the consumer of available products or services.The second (31)___is to sell the product.The second purpose might be more important to the manufacturers than the (32) ___.The manufacturers go beyond only telling consumers about their products.They also try to persuade customers to buy the(33) ___by creating a desire(34) ___it.Because of advertisement，consumers think that they want something that they do not need.After buying somethin9，the purchaser cannot always explain why it was(35) ___.Even(36) ___—the purchaser probably does not know why he or she bought something，the manufacturers (37) ___.Manufacturers have analyzed the business of(38) ___and buyin9.They know all the different motives that influence a consumer’s purchase--some rational and(39) ___emotional.Furthermore，they take advantage of this(40) ___.Why(41) ___so many products displayed at the checkout counters in grocery stores? The store management has some good(42) ___.By the time the customer is(43) ___to pay for a purchase，he or she has already made rational，thought—out decisions(44) ___what he or she needs and wants to buy.The(45) ___feels that he or she has done a good job of choosing the items.The shopper is especially vulnerable at this point.The(46) ___of candy，chewing gum，and magazines are very attractive.They persuade the purchaser to buy something foremotional，not(47) ___motives.For example，the customer neither needs nor plans to buy candy.but while the customer is standing，waiting to pay money，he or shemay suddenly decide to buy(48) ___.This is exactly(49) ___the store and the manufacturer hope that the customer will(50) ___.The customer follows his or her plan.答案及解析：31.purpose 【解析】从文中的第一句话“The most obvious purpose...”可以看出后面还有别的目的，而不是仅仅有最明显的目的。

全国英语等级考试PETS五阅读真题全国英语等级考试PETS五阅读真题SECTION IIIReading prehension( 50 minutes)Part ARead the following texts and answer the questions which acpany them by choosing A, B, Cor D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.Text 1England's binge-drinking habit is one of the most entrenched in Europe --even Roman invad- ers wrote about it with horror. Many feared that the habit would worsen after the relaxation of licen- sing hours last November. Doctors, academics and newspapers were joined in opposition by the po- lice and judges, who warned that the reforms were “close to lunacy”. The gover____ent disagreed and abolished a restrictive regime first imposed during the First World War byDavid Lloyd George, the prime minister, who wanted to prevent munitions workers from getting too drunk.While ministers never denied that Britons had an unhealthy attitude to liquor, they argued that much of the crime and disorder that blighted city streets at night was caused by hordes of drunkards rolling out of pubs and clubs at the same time and fighting for the same taxi home. They cited the wartime experience in Australia, where an early closing time had led to a phenomenon dubbed the“six o'clock's swill”, in which people drank themselves silly against the clock. The hope was that, once hours were relaxed, Britons would adopt more civilised, continental habits, sipping delicately at glasses of Chablis rather than downing ten pints. Were the optimists or the pessimists right?The police remain cautious about such positive signs, saying it is still too early to tell whateffect liberalisation will have on crime. They point out that local forces have diverted time and money to police late-night drinking, and have been given extracash by the gover____ent. That will run out on Christmas Eve, at which point things may bee trickier.In the meantime, pessimists are marshalling new, more ambitious arguments. Martin Plant of the University of the West of England maintains that freer drinking can lead to long-term problems that are not immediately apparent. Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, softened drinking laws seven years ago. While policing became easier, more drunkards pitched up at hospital and drink-driving rates soared.51. The following statements are true EXCEPT thatA. the English indulgence in alcohol evenhorrified Roman invaders.B. the police and judges were in favor of the relaxation of licensing hours.C. the gover____ent did away with a law regulating drinking hours last year.D. World War I first saw the implementation of the law regulating drinking hours.52. Why did the gover____ent want to reform the drinking-hour restrictions?A. To follow the exle of Australia.B. To change Britons' attitude to alcohol.C. To reduce the amount of alcohol consumed.D. To reduce crime rates caused by drinking.53. What happens now in big cities?A.Hordes of drunkards flood out of pubs at llp. m. and 2a.m.B. More licenses are granted to pubs and clubs.C. There are fewer criminal offences related to drinking.D. Things are different in London from other big cities.54. The police hold the view thatA. the changes are due to more police efforts rather than the reform.B. extension of drinking hours has produced a negative oute.C. the gover____ent obscures the truth by providing extra money.D. the success of the reform can only be guaranteed with more gover____ent input.55. Those who do not see a good prospect of the drinking reformA. are trying to find more effective solutions.B. are convinced that the reform will lead to more violent crimes.C. believe that there should be adequate medical service for the drunkards.D. believe that softened drinking laws may produce negative long-term effects.Text 2The best estimate of humanity's ecologicalfootprint suggests that it now exceeds the Earth's re- generative capacity by around 20 percent. This fact is mentioned early on in the latest book from Lester R. Brown. The subtitle of Plan B 2.0 makes the bold claim of rescuing a pla under stress and a civilization in trouble. So will Brown's Plan B work?The green movement divides broadly into two cs technological optimists and social revolu- tionaries. For every person like Brown proposing new ways to produce protein, there is an indige- nous movement ina developing country struggling for land redistribution. Another divide is be- tween those who see the biggest enviro____ental problem as population pressure in the developing South, and those who say it is'consumption patterns in the rich North. When push es to shove, Brown qualifies as a technological optimist who is worried about population. The giveaway is his eulogy to green techno-fixes, coupled with the fear of fast-growing developing countries copying Western consumer lifestyles.Brown's picture of climate-change-induced chaos is terrifying and convincing. It includes the awful image of the world's poorest people peting for food with an ever-hungrier bio-fuels indus- try, whose job will be to keep the developed world's SUVs on the road as oil bees ever more expensive and then runs out. The bination of industrial inertia and the influence of industry on lobbyists is making this vision increasingly plausible. The poor get a bad deal because the world is run by the economic equivalent ofgunboat diplomacy, as the recent World Tracie Organization talks showed.Technologically optimistic visions often have too much faith that change will flow from a ration- al discussion about sensible policies, while tiptoeing around the real problems of power and politics. Even with Brown's Plan B to tell us which renewable energy technologies to use and which resilient food crops to grow, we are going to need a way to deal with economic vested interests and the demo- cratic deficit in global financial institutions that excludes the poor. For that, we need Plan C.56. What is the issue that Brown tries to address in his newly published book?[ A]The word's population has increased by 20 percent.B. Human activities have gone beyond what the earth is able to sustain.C. Human beings have developed in a certain ecological pattern.D. The green movement has failed to produce needed enviro____ental changes.57. Brown believes that the spread of consumerism to less developed countries hasA. led to land shortage and redistribution.B. narrowed down the difference in lifestyle.C. contributed to enviro____ental deterioration.D. increased high-protein food consumption.58. Talking about Brown's dismal picture ofenviro____ental degradation, the author thinks thatA. his optimism does not seem to be well-grounded.B. too many depressing statistics were listed in his book.C. his description of the enviro____ental problems lacks a focus.D. he is trying to force his optimism on the readers.59. The phrase “gunboat diplomacy” ( line 6, para. 4) meansA. to deal with industrial relations in the automobile sector by way of lobbying.B. to threatento use force to make a smaller country agree to your demand.C. to negotiate within the WTO framework in dealing with bilateral relations. A. Because new sensible policies may bring about positive changes.B. Because the gap between the rich and poor should be narrowed.C. Because new technologies and crops can be introduced under this plan.D. Because the core problems of international politics should be addressed first.Text 3The average person sees tens of thousands of images a day--images on television, in news- papers and magazines, and on the sides of buses. Images also grace soda cans and T-shirts, and In- ter search engines can instantly procure images for any word you type. On Flickr. , a photo- sharing Web site, you can type in a word such as “love” and find photos of couples in embrace or parents hugging their children. Type in “terror”, and among the results is aphotograph of the World Trade Center towers burning. “Remember when this was a shocking image?” asks the per- son who posted the picture.The question is not merely rhetorical. It pointsto something important about images in our cul- ture: they have bee less magical and less shocking. Untilthe development of mass reproduc- tion, images carried more power and evoked more fear.We love images and the democratizing power of technologies that give us the capability to make and manipulate images. What we are less eager to consider are the broader cultural effects of a society devoted to the image. Historians and anthropologists have explored the story of mankind's movement from an oral-based culture to a written culture, and later to a printed one. But in the past several decades we have begun to move from a culture based on the printed word to one based largely on images.Two things in particular are at stake in our contemporary confrontation with an image-based culture. First, technology has considerably undermined ourability to trust what we see, yet we have not adequately grappled with the effects of this on our notions of truth. Second, if we are in- deed moving from the era of the printed word to an era dominated by the image, what impact will this have on. culture? Will we bee too easily accustomed to verisimilar rather than true things, preferring appearance to reality and in the process rejecting the demands of discipline and patience that true things often require of us if we are to understand their meaning and describe it with preci- sion?61. The first paragraph of the text tells us thatA. we are exposed to a multitude of images every day.B. consumer goods with images look more graceful.C. the Inter can instantly present images of anything we want to buy.D. Inter search engines give us undesired and shocking images.62.With the development of mass reproduction, imagesA. have bee le,ss important in popular culture.B. are not as impressive as they were to viewers.C. will be more magical and shocking in the future.D. will bee more and more thought-provoking.63. The power of the image has been strengthenedin the sense thatA. populist technologies enable almost everybodyto manipulate images.B. images have gradually won popularity among mon people.C. images are forcing us to municate via gestures rather than language.D. with populist technologies, texts might giveway to pictures gradually.A.Images.B. Written words.C. Printed images.D. Texts.65. From the text, it can be inferred that the authorA. agrees that images offer a better form of munication than the print.B. does not share the opinion that an image-based culture is less advanced.C. shows deep concern about the impact of images on culture.D.prefers the image era to that of the printed word.SECTl0N IIIReading prehensionPartAText l在欧洲，英格兰的豪饮是最根深蒂固的风俗，甚至罗马侵略者都战战兢兢的对其进展了描绘。

全国英语等级考试pets5级阅读历年真题全国英语等级考试pets5级阅读历年真题2016下半年全国英语等级考试五级pets5考试备考正在进行中，yjbys网店铺提供全国英语等级考试五级pets5级历年真题并进行汇总，希望能帮助大家顺利备考!Part BIn the following article, some paragraphs have been removed. For Questions 66 to 70, choose the most suitable paragraph from the list A-F to fit into each of the numbered gaps. There is one paragraph which does not fit in any of the gaps, Mark your answers on ANSWE SHEET 1.For Richard Leakey, head of the Kenya Wildlife Service ( KWS ), conservation often seems to be a continuation of war by other means. His first period as director of the agency saw the introduc- tion of a "shoot to kill" policy to deal with illegal hunters. He also ceremonially burnt the country's stockpile of confiscated ivory--even though, as critics pointed out, the haul could have paid for a dozen new schools66.His second session in the director's chair began eight months ago (the interregnum was caused by his resignation to enter politics in 1994, after clashes with Daniel arap Moi, Kenya's president). The years, however, have not softened him. His approach this time is almost as aggressive as shooting illegal hunters--it is a system of heavily defended frontiers for the areas under the KWS' orotection, which he refers to as "hard edges".67.The extent to which wildlife and people can co-exist has long been a worry to conservationists. Some of them argue thatpeaceful co-existence is possible, especially if the animals are made to pay their way through tourism and the "cropping" of surplus beasts to provide food. But others, though in general willing these days to fall in with the line that nature must earn its keep if it is to survive, suspect that the benefits will frequently accrue to people other than those whose activities actually threaten the animals--and thus that the invisible hand of self-interest will not give animals any pro- tection.68.The first place to be the target of this attitude is Lake Nakuru. It is surrounded by settlements, and its.boundaries have become "blurred" as a result. Now, thanks to a two-metre-high fence, those boundaries will be clear--and people who have been squatting on government land will have to leave.69.This valley is home to two rare species of monkey, the red colobus and the Tana River manga- bey. People have lived there since before it was declared a protected area, but their numbers have expanded considerably in recent years. One or other group of primates must, in Dr. Leakey's view, therefore go. He plans that it will be the people.The Tana River resettlement scheme is supposed to be voluntary, and comes with incentives such as money for new schools, water supplies and clinics.70.Whether "hard edges" will work as well as "shoot to kill" remains to be seen. But it could prove a risky strategy. People moved off their land have long memories, and when political circum- stances change they may translate those memories into action. Even in Europe, many of those whose homes have beenflooded by reservoirs still mourn their lost villages, and would go back giv- en the chance. And dams--with all the attitudes that back them up--are going out of fashion.A.But there are still some locals who would rather stay. In ——eory, they can. But they will have to put up with a series of restrictive measures designed to make life more comfortable for monkeys and less comfortable for people. Nobody, for instance, will be allowed to cut down trees; and human movements will be strictly controlled. The message is thus pretty clear: "please leave".B.Richard Leakey's second stint in charge of Kenya's wild animals looks likely to be as contro-versial as his first.C.Dr. Leakey seems to take the second approach--at least as far as the beasts in his custody are concerned. He is aware of the fact that his actions will be supported by the government only because of the income they bring to the tourist industry ( one of Kenya's biggest export earn- ers). And if it is to be an industrial project, then industrial public-policy methods should be applied.A western government, he points out, would not hesitate to use compulsory land purchase for a scheme deemed to be in the public interest (a hydroelectric dam, for exam- pie). So why should similar methods not apply to tourist-attraction wildlife reserves?D.That, though it will no doubt produce some complaints, is probably reasonable--the squatters should not have been there in the first place. More controversial, however, is a scheme to "encourage" people to leave the valley of the Tana River.E.Such harsh measures (backed, admittedly, by an international ban on all trade in ivory) ap- pear..to have worked. After decades of decline, the elephant population in Kenya has sta- bilised, and even begun to creep up again.F.This scheme means that Kenya's national parks are, in effect, declaring independence from the rest of the country. They will be surrounded by fences and defended by border guards. Those fences, which will often be electrified, will, of course, serve to keep the animals in and thus stop them damaging the crops on surrounding farms. But their main purpose is to keep unwanted humans out.Part B对于理查德·利基——肯尼亚野生动物保护局(KWS)的负责人来说，保护区往往是一种用另一种方式延续的战争。

上半年公共英语五级考试wsk阅读经典试题2017年上半年公共英语五级考试wsk阅读经典试题Walk the road you want to walk and do what you want to do , keep moving ahead and that’s not the silence of failure.以下是店铺为大家搜索整理的2017年上半年公共英语五级考试wsk阅读经典试题，希望能给大家带来帮助!说明：阅读下面的'短文，从短文后所给各项的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中选出能填入相应空白处的最佳选项。

A Frenchman had arrived at a small Italian (意大利的，意大利人) town and was staying with his wife at the best hotel there. One evening he went out for a walk ( 1). It was late and the small street was dark and ( 2). Suddenly he ( 3) some footsteps behind him. He ( 4) his head and saw an Italian young man quickly walk ( 5) him. The man was nearly ( 6) sight when the Frenchman suddenly found his ( 7) was gone. He thought ( 8) it was the Italian who ( 9) his watch. He decided to follow him and force him (10) the watch. Soon the Frenchman (11) up with the Italian. They didn’t understand (12) language. The Frenchman threatened (威胁) the Italian (13) signs and pointed to his watch-pocket. (14) thought that the Frenchman was demanding his (15) watch. The Italian, in the end, (16) his watch to the Frenchman. When he returned to the hotel the Frenchman told his wife (17) had happened. He was greatly (18) when his wife pointed to the watch on the table. (19) he realized that by mistake he had (20) the Italian of his watch.ually lonely together alone2.clean alone quietly lonely3.looked at saw heard listened to4.raised turned shook threw5.on past over through6.out of in out away from7.clock watch glasses walking-stick8.who which what that9.had taken took got had brought10.to give return to return give back11.kept caught put ran12.each other’s each others’the other’s others’e in with by14.The Italian An Italian A Frenchman The Frenchman15.lovely gold new own16.gave up giving up giving back gave back17.that what which /18.disappointed moved interested surprised19.Then However So As20.stolen taken robbed bought答案:DDCBB ABDAC BACAD ABDAC。

全国公共英语PETS五级阅读练习全国公共英语PETS五级阅读练习英语考试的过程中除了掌握一定的知识积累外，还需要掌握一些必要的'做题技巧，这有利于我们提高做题效率。

以下是店铺为大家搜索整理的全国公共英语PETS五级阅读练习，希望能对大家有所帮助!1. Jack Maple started his career in _______。

[ A ] Philadelphia[ B ] Oregon[ C ] New Orleans[ D ] New York2. According to Jack Maple, to cut crime _______。

[ A ] the heads of police department should make more contact with the criminals[ B ] the government should educate the residents more[ C ] a computer system called Comstat should be adopted by the police[ D ] the criminals should be severely punished3. In New York_______。

[ A ] violent crime dropped by 23% in one year[ B ] police departments pay as much as $50, 000 for Jack Maple[ C ] the crime rate is high[ D] Comstat’s statistical maps are analyzed every week4. The meaning of the word "anomalies" in the second line of 4th paragraph is[ A ] something strange[ B ] enjoyable things[ C ] anormally[ D ] comparison5. It can be inferred from the passage that[ A ] the drop of crime rate is caused by Jack Maples’s two-tier system[ B ] the drop of crime rate is caused by the increased imprisonment[ C ] it is difficult to identify the exact cause for the fall of crime rate[ D ] the increased imprisonment is not the reason for the fall of crime rate6.According to the author，which of the following resulted from the passage or revival of state laws limiting the work hours of women workers?[A]Women wooers were compelled to leave their jobs in factories.[B]Many employers had difficulty in providing jobs for returning veterans.[C]Many employers found it hard to attract women workers.[D]The health of most women factory workers improved.7.According to the first paragraph of the passage，the author considers which of the following to be most helpful in determining the value of special protective labor legislation for women?[A]A comparative study of patterns of work-related illnesses in states that had such laws and in states that did not.[B]An estimate of how many women wooers ale in favor of such laws.[C]An analysis of the cost to employers of complying with such laws.[D]An examination of me actual effects that such laws have had in the past on women wooers.8.The main point of the passage is that special protective labor laws for women workers are___.[A]unnecessary because most workers are well protected by existing labor laws[B] harmful to the economic interests of women wooers while offering them little or no actual protection[C]not worth preserving even though they do represent a hard won legacy of the labor movement[D]controversial because male workers receive less protection than they require9.The author implies that which of the following is characteristic of many employee health insurance plans?[A]They cover all the common medical conditions affecting men，but only some of those affecting women.[B]They lack the special provisions for women workers that proposed special labor laws for women would provide.[C]They pay the medical costs associated with pregnancy and childbirth only for the spouses of male employees，not for female employees.[D]They meet minimum legal requirements，but do not adequately safeguard the health of either male or female employees.10.According to the passage，special labor laws protecting women workers tend generally to have which of the following effects?[A]They tend to modify the stereotypes employees often hold concerning women.[B]They increase the advantage to employers of hiring men instead of women，making it less likely that women will be hired.[C]They decrease the likelihood that employers will offermore protection to women workers than that which is absolutely required by law.[D]They increase the tendency of employers to deny health insurance and disability plans to women workers。

全国英语等级考试pets五级阅读练习全国英语等级考试pets五级阅读练习锲而舍之，朽木不折;锲而不舍，金石可镂。

以下是店铺为大家搜索整理的全国英语等级考试pets五级阅读练习，希望能给大家带来帮助!Part BIn the following article, some paragraphs have been removed. For Questions 66 to 70, choose the most suitable paragraph from the list A-F to fit into each of the numbered gaps. There is one paragraph which does not fit in any of the gaps. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.There are as many definitions of philosophy as there are philosophers--perhaps there are even more. After three millermia of philosophical activity and disagreement, it is unlikely that we'll reach consensus, and I certainly don't want to add more hot air to the volcanic cloud of unknow- ing. What I'd like to do in the opening column in this new venture is to kick things off by asking a slightly different ouestion: What is a ohilosooher?66.Socrates tells the story of Thales, who was by some accounts the first philosopher. He was looking so intently at the stars that he fell into a well. Some witty Thracian servant girl is said to have made a joke at Thales' expense--that in his eagerness to know what went on in the sky he was unaware of the things in front of him and at his feet. Socrates adds, in Seth Benardete's transla- tion, "The same jest suffices for all those who engage in philosophy. "What is a philosopher, then? The answer is clear: a laughing stock, an absent-minded buf- foon, the butt of countless jokesfrom Aristophanes' "The Clouds" to Mel Brooks' "History of the World",. Whenever the philosopher is compelled to talk about the things at his feet, he gives not only the Thracian girl but the rest of the crowd a belly laugh.67.But as always with Plato, things are not necessarily as they first appear, and Socrates is the greatest of ironists. First, we should recall that Thales believed that water was the universal sub- stance out of which all things were composed. Water was Thales' philosophers' stone, as it were. Therefore, by falling into a well, he inadvertently presses his basic philosophical claim.But there is a deeper and more troubling layer of irony here that I would like to peel off more slowly. Socrates introduces the "digression" by making a distinction between the philosopher and the lawyer, or what Benardete nicely renders as the "pettifogger".68.By contrast, we might say, the philosopher is the person who has time or who takes time.Theodorus, Socrates' interlocutor, introduces the "digression" with the words, "Aren't we at leis- ure, Socrates?" The latter's response is interesting. He says, "It appears we are. " As we know, in philosophy aooearances can be deceotive.69.Pushing this a little further, we might say that to philosophize is to take your time, even When you have no time, when time is constantly pressing at your back. The busy readers of The New York Times will understand this sentiment.70.Socrates says that those in the constant press of business,like lawyers, policy-makers, mort- gage brokers and hedge fund managers, become "bent and stunted" and they are compelled "to do crooked things". The pettifogger is undoubtedly successful, wealthy and extraordinarily honey- tongued, but, Socrates adds, "small in his soul and shrewd and a shyster. " The philosopher, by contrast, is free by virtue of his or her other-worldliness, by their capacity to fall into wells and ap- pear silly.A.The philosopher's clumsiness in worldly affairs makes him appear stupid, or, "gives the im- pression of plain silliness. " We are left with a rather Monty Pythonesque definition of the philosopher: the one who is silly.B.The lawyer is compelled to present a case in court and time is of the essence. In Greek legal proceedings, a strictly limited amount of time was allotted for the presentation of cases. Time was measured with a water clock or clepsydra, which literally steals time, as in the Greek kleptes, a thief or embezzler. The pettifogger, the jury, and by implication the whole socie- ty, live with the constant pressure of time. The water of time's flow is constantly threatening to drown them.C.But the basic contrast here is that between the lawyer, who has no time, or for whom time is money, and the philosopher, who takes time. The freedom of the philosopher consists in ei- ther moving freely from topic to topic or simply spending years returning to the same topic out of perplexity, fascination and curiosity.D.It is our hope that some of them will make the time to read The Stone. As Wittgenstein says,"This is how philosophers should salute each other: ' Take your time. ' "E.Socrates believes that the philosopher neither sees nor hears the so-called unwritten laws of the city, that is, the moresand conventions that govern public life. The philosopher will dis- regard the societal rifles given to a person.As Alfred North Whitehead said, philosophy is a series of footnotes to Plato. Let me risk adding a footnote by looking at Plato's provocative definition of the philosopher that appears in the middle of his dialogue, "Theaetetus," in a passage that some scholars consider a "di- gression". But far from being a footnote to a digression, I think in this moment Plato tells us something hugely important about what a philosopher is and what philosophy does.Part B就像有很多哲学家一样，哲学的定义也有很多——或许比哲学家更多。

Why the inductive and mathematical sciences, after their first rapid development at the culmination of Greek civilization, advanced so slowly for two thousand years-and why in the following two hundred years a knowledge of natural and mathematical science has accumulated, which so vastly exceeds all that was previously known that these sciences may be justly regarded as the products of our own times-are questions which have interested the modern philosopher not less than the objects with which these sciences are more immediately conversant. Was it the employment of a new method of research, or in the exercise of greater virtue in the use of the old methods, that this singular modern phenomenon had its origin? Was the long period one of arrested development, and is the modern era one of normal growth? Or should we ascribe the characteristics of both periods to so-called historical accidents-to the influence of conjunctions in circumstances of which no explanation is possible, save in the omnipotence and wisdom of a guiding Providence?The explanation which has become commonplace, that the ancients employed deduction chiefly in their scientific inquiries, while the moderns employ induction, proves to be too narrow, and fails upon close examination to point with sufficient distinctness the contrast that is evident between ancient and modern scientific doctrines and inquiries. For all knowledge is founded on observation, and proceeds from this by analysis, by synthesis and analysis, by induction and deduction, and if possible by verification, or by new appeals to observation under the guidance of deduction-by steps which are indeed correlative parts of one method; and the ancient sciences afford examples of every one of these methods, or parts of one method, which have been generalized from the examples of science.A failure to employ or to employ adequately any one of these partial methods, an imperfection in the arts and resources of observation and experiment, carelessness in observation, neglect of relevant facts, by appeal to experiment and observation-these are the faults which cause all failures to ascertain truth, whether among the ancients or the moderns; but this statement does not explain why the modern is possessed of a greater virtue, and by what means he attained his superiority. Much less does it explain the sudden growth of science in recent times.The attempt to discover the explanation of this phenomenon in the antithesis of “facts”and “theories”or “facts”and “ideas”-in the neglect among the ancients of the former, and their too exclusive attention to the latter-proves also to be too narrow, as well as open to the charge of vagueness. For in the first place, the antithesisis not complete. Facts and theories are not coordinate species. Theories, if true, are facts-a particular class of facts indeed, generally complex, and if a logical connection subsists between their constituents, have all the positive attributes of theories.Nevertheless, this distinction, however inadequate it may be to explain the source of true method in science, is well founded, and connotes an important character in true method. A fact is a proposition of simple. A theory, on the other hand, if true has all the characteristics of a fact, except that its verification is possible only by indirect, remote, and difficult means. To convert theories into facts is to add simple verification, and the theory thus acquires the full characteristics of a fact.。