No one can be a great thinker who does not realizethat as a thinker it is her first duty to follow herintellect to whatever conclusions it may lead. Truthgains more even by the errors of one who with duestudy and preparation, thinks for himself, than bythe true opinions of those who only hold thembecause they do not suffer themselves to think. Nothat it is solely, of chiefly, to form great thinkers thatfreedom of thinking is required. One the contrary, it is as much or even more indispensableto enable average human beings to attain the mental stature which they are capable of.There have been and many again be great individual thinkers in a general atmosphere ofmental slavery. But there never has been, nor ever will be, in that atmosphere anintellectually active people. Where any of heterodox speculation was for a time suspended,where there is a tacit convention that principles are not to be disputed: where the discussionof the greatest questions which can occupy humanity is considered to be closed, we cannothope to find that generally high scale of mental activity which has made some periods ofhistory so remarkable. Never when controversy avoided the subjects which are large andimportant enough to kindle enthusiasm was the mind of a people stirred up from itsfoundation and the impulse given which raised even persons of the most ordinary intellect tosomething of the dignity of thinking beings.

　　She who knows only her own side of the case knows little of that. Her reasons may be food,and no one may have been able to refute them. But if she s equally unable to refute thereasons of the opposite side; if she does not so much as know what they are, she has no groundfor preferring either opinion. The rational position for her would be suspension of judgment,and unless she contents herself with that, she is either led by authority, or adopts, like thegenerality of the world the side to which she feels the most inclination. Nor is it enough thatshe should heat the arguments of adversaries from her own teachers, presented as they statethem, and accompanied by what they offer as refutations, That is not the way to do justice tothe arguments, or bring them into real contact with her own mind. She must be able to hearthem form persons who actually believe them; who defend them in earnest, and do their veryutmost for them. She must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form; shemust feel the whole force of the difficulty which the true view of the subject has to encounterand dispose of; else she will never really possess herself of the portion of truth which meetsand removes that difficulty. Ninety-nine in a hundred of what are called educated persons are inthis condition; even of those who can argue fluently for their opinions. Their conclusion maybe true, but it might be false for anything they know; they have never thrown themselves intothe mental position of those who think differently form them and considered what such personsmay have to say; and consequently they do not, in any proper sense of the word, know thedoctrines which they themselves profess.

　　1. The best title for this passage is

　　[A] The Age of Reason [B] The need for Independent Thinking

　　[C] The Value of Reason [D] Stirring People's Minds

　　2. According to the author, it is always advisable to

　　[A] have opinions which cannot be refuted.

　　[B] adopt the point of view to which one feels the most inclination.

　　[C] be acquainted with the arguments favoring the point of view with which one disagrees,

　　[D] suspend heterodox speculation in favor of doctrinaire approaches.

　　3. According to the author, in a great period such as the Renaissance we may expect to find

　　[A] acceptance of truth [B] controversy over principles

　　[C] inordinate enthusiasm [D] a dread of heterodox speculation

　　4. According to the author, the person who holds orthodox beliefs without examinationmay be described in all of the following ways EXCEPT as

　　[A] enslaved by tradition [B] less than fully rational

　　[C] determinded on controversy [D] having a closed mind

　　5. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree withwhich of the following statements

　　[A] A truly great thinker makes no mistakes.

　　[B] Periods of intellectual achievement are periods of unorthodox reflection,

　　[C] The refutation of accepted ideas can best be provided by one's own teachers.

　　[D] excessive controversy prevents clear thinking.

　　答案詳解

　　1. B. 獨立思考的必要性。見難句譯注1。這里說明進行獨立思考的人即使犯錯誤，真理也能從中獲得東西，而那些懶于思考人，即使持有正確的觀點，真理也難以獲得東西。第一段還點明思想禁錮時期，即不能進行獨立思考時期，難以討論重大議題，產生不了活躍的人民，絕不會出現像輝煌的文藝復興那種時期(見第二題注)。第二段也是圍繞獨立思考而寫，只是從具體點著眼：人只知自己，不知對方無法獲得真理，只有獨立思考兩方，才能不為權威所左右，不會跟著自己感覺走，最終知道自己的真正主張。A. 理性時代。C.駁斥的價值。D. 激發人民的思想。

　　2. C. 熟悉有利于自己不同意/反對觀點的論點。這是作者在第二段講述的重要論點。他認為一個人只知自己一方，推理極好，無人能反駁，卻不知對方的推理，也不能夠予以反駁的話，他就無權選擇兩方的任一論點，其理智位置是停止判斷。否則她就會(像世界上蕓蕓眾生那樣)不是為權威所“引導”，就是跟著感覺(的傾向)走。其二，作者提出：光聽自己的老師講述對立面的論點，以及他們所提出的反駁論點。只是不夠的，必須傾聽那些人(他們真正相信對立的觀點)的論點，并為此積極熱情，竭盡全力辯護，才能使自己的思想和獨立論點接觸，公正的作出公正的判斷。A. 具有不能駁斥的觀點。B. 采取個人感覺最傾向的觀點。 D. 停止有利于教條主義研究的異端思考。

　　3. B. 辯論原則問題。答案在第一段：在思想禁錮的氣氛中，過去，現在可能會產生個別的思想家，但絕不會有思想活躍的人民，在那里有一種心照不宣的慣律：原則決不能討論——認為占據人類心靈的最重大問題的討論應封閉，我們不能期望看到一般高級的思想活動。這種思想活動曾使歷史上某些時期光輝燦爛。而文藝復興就是思想活動的頂峰時期，必然會討論原則問題，所以選B 。A. 接受真理，周經過討論才能接受真理。C. 過度的熱情。 D. 害怕異端思考。

　　4. C. 在辯論上，堅定不移。這是一道推斷題，一般講：持有未經檢驗的正統信仰的人不會獨立思考，更不會懷疑他所信仰的東西。A. 為傳統所奴役。B. 不怎么理智。D. 頭腦閉塞。這種人必然受傳統思想控制，不理智更不愿接受外界新鮮事物。

　　5. B. 在思想方面取得成就的時期就是進行非正統反思的時期。見3題注釋。A. 一個真正的思想家不犯錯誤。C. 一個人的老師最能提供所接受思想觀點的反駁。D. 過度的辯論會制止清晰的思考。