Every culture produces men and women with sharp minds who spend their days thinking about the world and how to live a good and happy life. They are the philosophers.
Born in 551 BC, Confucius, kong zi, has made the greatest contribution to Chinese culture in history and his philosophical ideas are widely known. Although he was raised in a poor family, he visited famous scholars and learned a lot. He developed his thoughts into a system of philosophy known as Confucianism.
Confucius identified (发现) three main truths about how to live a good life. First, he said we should respect the king. Next, we should do everything possible to respect each other. Finally, he believed that we can have a really good and happy life if we learn to live in harmony (和谐). This means that we should try to find a way to live peacefully both with each other and with the natural world.
However, none of his wise sayings were written down while he was alive. His friends and followers collected them after his death. Slowly, people everywhere accepted his wisdom. Now his wise sayings have influenced many people in different countries. For example, one of his famous sayings: “What you know, you know; what you don’t know, you don’t know.”
Confucius was a great teacher as well and promoted (促进) education for ordinary (普通) people. He traveled around to promote his political thinking but failed. But he never gave up.
He is a great Chinese spiritual leader. Over the last 2, 000 years, his philosophy has continued to influence China and rest of the world. It is also regarded as the symbol of oriental (东方的) culture.
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22. Why are Confucius’ philosophical ideas widely known?
A.Because he had some deep views into life and how to live it well. |
B.Because he was a great Chinese philosopher. |
C.Because he taught a large number of students. |
D.Because his work is studied at major world universities. |
23. How did Confucius develop his philosophical ideas—Confucianism?
A.He had a rich family and a lot of good teachers. | B.He visited famous scholars and learned a lot. |
C.He was born a gifted philosopher. | D.He always spent his days thinking about the world. |
24. Which of the following is NOT one of Confucius’ main truths about how to live a good life?
A.Respecting the king. | B.Respecting each other. |
C.Living in harmony. | D.Helping the poor. |
25. From the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4, we can know Confucius’ philosophical ideas about ________.
A.good manners | B.wisdom | C.kindness | D.honesty |
26. What does the text mainly talk about?
A.How to live a good and happy life. | B.Confucius and his philosophical ideas. |
C.How did Confucius develop his Confucianism. | D.Why philosophers think deeply about life. |