2. 外语
  3. The sense of honour appears to be dying. Who fights duels to defend his reputation anymore? The idea merely strikes us as odd. H

The sense of honour appears to be dying. Who fights duels to defend his reputation anymore? The idea merely strikes us as odd. H

admin2010-07-19  64
问题    The sense of honour appears to be dying. Who fights duels to defend his reputation anymore? The idea merely strikes us as odd. How often does someone resign public office as a form of protest against his government’s policies about this or that? Most of us submerge our consciences in the policies of our company or organisation (and in our own self-interest) and regard loyalty as more important than dishonour.
   We had an honour code when I went to college; that was in the late 1950s. During exams no one monitored you: instructors came in, handed out the blue books, handed out the exams, and left. During the four years I was there, I can recall only one case of cheating. Students simply did not break the code.
   In World War Il men died more or less willingly for the nation and the nation’s honour, and they were honoured for it in return. Now we have become cynical about such things; the nation lies, fights unjustifiable wars; the nation robs the poor to give to the rich.
   At my college the students used to agree to inform on their friends rather than suffer a breach in the honour code.  A sense of honour is a sense that there are standards of behaviour one must live up to, even at the cost of one’s personal happiness, even at the cost of one’s life. Without such a sense one has to make up one’s rights and wrongs as one goes along--usually, as it happens, to one’s own advantage. Morality thereby becomes a matter of expedience: nothing seems worth dying for, and life loses its beauty and some of its value.
   Our recent history has deprived us of models. I cherish the story of John Stubbs, a Puritan divine of Queen Elizabeth’s time who strongly opposed her projected marriage to the Duke of Alencon. Stubbs knew the penalty for doing so, which was the loss of a hand; nevertheless, he published a pamphlet against, the marriage.  He was accordingly tried, convicted, and led out for public execution of the sentence. Stubbs laid his right hand on the block, the ax fell, and he rose to his feet, lifted the bloody stump high in the air, and cried out to the crowd, "Long live the queen!"
   In spite of the blood and the horror, it is the beauty of such an act that stands out. A man lives up to his beliefs; he acts with courage and great style and literally gives himself in the service of something he feels is greater than himself. We cannot help but honour him, whether we agree with his beliefs or not
The main idea of the passage is that______.
选项 A、more students cheat on exams now than in the past
B、each era has a different concept of honour
C、there are still many individuals today who have a sense of honour
D、our society no longer values a sense of honour
答案D
解析 作者在文章第一句开门见山就说荣誉感似乎在逐渐消失，随后举例说明。第二段作者回顾自己大学阶段的生活，那时学生们都还有荣誉感，考试极少有人作弊。第四段又提到大学时代，说学生们往往宁愿揭发自己的朋友也不愿违背荣誉守则。倒数第二段特别举出伊丽莎白女王时代一位为捍卫荣誉甘愿牺牲生命的英雄，说明我们近代已没有为荣誉而献身的楷模了。总之，作者以直接和间接经历证明，我们这个社会的荣誉感已日趋式微，所以正确答案为D。
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