Direction: In this part, there are four passages followed by questions or unfinished statements, each with four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the correct answer.
Passage 1
In order to better understand conservatism in China， it is essential that one has a grasp of what the term“Chinese conservatism” means. Chinese conservatism is markedly different from the conservatism of the modern west. The political conservative came about during the French revolution and inspired men that were determined to preserve Christian and aristocratic elements in European society. Chinese conservatism began around the time of the Taping rebellion and had as its primary objectives the preservation of both Confucian society and nonfeudal strains of preopium war in Chinese history. While western conservatism believes in sacredness of private property and distrust of cosmopolitanism, the Chinese conservatism is the defense of a rational cosmopolitan order. Thus, the only common area of agreement between European and Chinese conservatism is the intent to conserve.
During the TungChih restoration, the great aim was the revival of Confucian values and institutions. But these aims had to be modified so that they might endure. Restoration statesmen had no desire to create a new society — they wanted to restore a men of the restoration stretched the traditional ideology to its limits in an effort to make the Confucian system work under new conditions. They were true conservatives in a great tradition, living in an age when revolutionary change was unavoidable. The aim of the restoration was to restore to their original vitality the best of the ancient institutions. During the Restorations, the two immediate problems were the suppression of rebellion and the stabilization of foreign relations. In addition, the people were striving for a restoration of the system of government by superior civil officials.
The men in the hierarchy of the Restoration rose to prominence through proven ability in both civil and military affairs. They emphasized human and social training — that is, indoctrination, morality, and the art of leadership through the cultivation of character. The great majority of the officials rose through the examination system.
During the chaos of this period， the examination system had lost much of is effectiveness. This is important and must be noted because the examination system was the traditional avenue for selecting officials. The senior officials of the restoration realized that their policies would be ineffective unless the quality of the junior officials was improved, so it was their duty to weed out the officials who had attained office in irregular ways and to promote the examination system as the only way to high position. But these men of the restoration had enough foresight to determine that it was impossible to select officials automatically on the basis of objective tests alone. As a result, the system of recommendation was ushered in, whereby a high official sponsored the career of a promising young man. This acted as an important supplement to the examination system.
1. The traditional method for selecting officials was
A. appointment by the civil government. B. the examination system.
C. through a subjective testing system.D. sponsorship by a high government official.
2. A primary objective in the development of restoration thought was
A. to modify traditional Chinese society to reflect new conditions.
B. to create a new society based on truth.
C. the knowledge that Chinese conservatism is superior to western conservatism.
D. the desire to familiarize China with military technology.
3. A major similarity between Chinese and western conservatism is
A. the intent to conserve.
B. that Chinese conservatism developed during the Taping revolution.
C. the cosmopolitan nature of western conservatism.
D. that Chinese conservatism is primarily land oriented.
4. During the restoration, ancient institutions.
A. were no longer accepted as a viable alternative to western technology.
B. were studied only as classical examples of a former glorious past.
C. were to be the cornerstone of a changing but traditional society.
D. were considered as a primary reason for the decline of traditional China.
5. Among the following characteristics of the restoration period, which one is RIGHT?
A. The senior officials weeded out the unqualified junior officials to solidify their own positions.
B. The only way to become a civil official is to pass the civil official examination before recommendation was permitted.
C. The restoration statesmen didnt believe that the traditional examination system was out of date.
D. While preserved the old Confucian values, the men of the restoration also altered them a little bit.
