Good sense is the most equitably distributed thing in the world ,for each man considers himself so well provided with it that even those who are most difficult to satisfy in everything else do not usually wish to have more of it than they have already. It is not likely that everyone is mistaken in this; it shows, rather, that the ability to judge rightly and separate the true from the false, which is essentially what is called good sense or reason, is by nature equal in all men, and thus that our opinions differ not because some men are better endowed with reason than others´, but only because we direct our thoughts along different paths, and do not consider the same things, for it is not enough to have a good mind: what is most important is to apply it rightly. The greatest souls are capable of the greatest vices, and those who walk very slowly can advance much further, if they always keep to the direct road, than those who run and go astray.

For my part, I have never presumed my mind to be more perfect than average in any way; I have, in face, often wished that my thoughts were as quick, or my imagination as precise and distinct, or my memory as capacious or prompt, as those of some other men. And I know of no other qualities than these which make for the perfection of the mind; for as to reason, or good sense, in as much as it alone makes us men and distinguishes us from the beasts, I am quite willing to believe that it is whole and entire in each of us,and to follow in the common opinion of the philosophers who say that there are differences of more or less only among the accidents, and not among the forms,or natures, of the individuals of a single species.

1. Accordiog to the author, the three elements that comprise the perfect mind are _____.

[A] tenacity of thought, capacious memory, quickness of mind.

[B] precise imagination, tenacity of memeory, quickness of thought.

[C] quickness of wit, ease of conscience, quickness of thoaght.

[D] promptness of memory, distinctness of imagination, quickness of thought.

2. The basic idea of the first paragraph may be stated as follows: _____.

[A] all persons have an equal portion of good will when they are born.

[B] great souls are capable of great evil.

[C] good sense, in terms of its distribution among persons, may be called common sense.

[D] good sense is the mark of the truly good person.

3. About himself, the author states that _____.

[A] he had always sensed his mental superiority over most persons.

[B] his awareness of his mental superiority over other was something that grew slowly, with experience.

[C] he actually regards his own mental faculties as inferior in many ways to those of the great majority of persons.

[D] he has never had the feeling that his mind was more than average in any way.

4. The author claims that what sets human beings apart from beasts is _____.

[A] a sense of organization combined with the ability to create.

[B] the ability to adapt to the surroundings.

[C] a sense of reason coupled with a strong sense of practicality.

[D] a sense of reason.

5. According to the author the ability to distinguish between the true and the false is _____.

[A] endowed by nature to all creatures .

[B] endowed in equal measure to all persons.

[C] more heavily present in some persons than in other.

[D] an unnatural cultivated trait in all persons.

答案：D C D D B