Obviously! Until Descartes came along in the seventeenth century, everyone assumed that we exited. Obviously. The fact seemed so mind-blowing obvious that it wasn't really discussed. We could see ourselves in the mirror, we could feel pain and pleasure, we could think thoughts for ourselves and, more importantly, perhaps, all the world's main religions assumed that we do exist. So we exist. No you don't it! You don't exist. That's because it's impossible to show once and for all that you do. There's no proof. You might think you exist-that you are sitting at a table reading this book, for instance-but how could you show with 100 percent certainty that this is true? There's no experiment that could prove it. Although Descartes said just you could prove your own existence by the fact that you are able to think, this isn't actually, according to the British philosopher A. J. Ayer. Just because we know that we are thinking, this doesn't mean that there is a "you" doing the thinking. It just shows that the thoughts are happening, not that anyone is having them. Thoughts exists, "You" don't. _ ! What a waste of time this question is. Although you can argue until the end of time whether you exist or not, it doesn't get you anywhere. Unless you forget about this unanswerable question, you'll be stuck thinking about it forever, and that isn't of any use to anyone. Move on. Think about something more important! This very roughly, is the view of almost all philosophers, who prefer to answer other, apparently more useful, questions. Yes, but... You exist, but not in the way you might think. According to the great French philosopher Ren Descartes, you can't show that anything exists--apart from your own self. The existence of the entire world can be doubted in one way or another, but the facts you're having thoughts shows that there might be something (that's you) having them. This let Descartes to write the famous philosophical phrase, " I think before I am". This passage is anything but a(n) _ . A) comment B) discussion C) argument D) debate
A
The earthquake that shook Japan on March 11, 2011 was the strongest earthquake in that country's recorded history and the fourth strongest recorded on Earth since 1900. It cracked open the ground, knocked people off their feet, and made tall buildings move. Then things got even worse. It created huge waves called a tsunami . Walls of water as tall as 30 feet flooded into the coast and swept six miles inland, wiping out everything in the way. Many human survivors were separated from their pets. Many animal lovers went out of their way to help pets in need after the tsunami. And some pets helped their owners, too. When Kamata heard the tsunami alert , he decided to visit his neighbours to warn them of the coming danger. He put his dog, Shane, in the yard so they could leave as soon as he returned. But later, as he headed home, the tsunami flooded into the city, destroying his path. Kamata was forced to run to higher ground, to a school that served as a shelter. He feared he would never see Shane again. Six hours later, Kamata heard that a dog was waiting outside the school. He went to look: It's Shane! The dog swam through the tsunami and found Kamata, even though Shane had never been to the school. After the huge earthquake ended, 83-year-old Tami Akanuma thought that she and her small dog, Babu, were safe. But Babu was anything but calm. She cried and walked worriedly, as if really wanting to go for a walk. That's strange, since Babu didn't like taking walks. But Akanuma took her out. Outside, Babu headed up a hill instead of toward their normal route near the water. When Akanuma slowed down, the little dog pulled her higher. Once they reached the hilltop, Akanuma looked back and was surprised: The path they had taken was flooded and her home had been destroyed by fast-flowing water. Little Babu helped his owner escape in time. Babu cried and walked worriedy because _ . A) he felt a great flood was coming B) he was frightened by the tsunami C) he wanted to go out for a walk D) he was afraid of being left alone
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It was graduation day at the university where I work and a beautiful day quite unlike the first graduation I attended as a young professor.On that cold day years ago, as we watched the students walking into the hall, one of my colleagues turned to me and said, "Graduation will be one of the happiest and one of the saddest time of your life." At my inquiry, he answered, "Because the students you have gotten to know have to leave." As years went by, my previous confusion about my colleague's words no longer existed.When I came across naughty students, I have had to rethink why I chose to be a teacher.It obviously isn't the money.Once a former computer science student of mine called me, asking me if I wanted to have a change.He was working at Nintendo Corporation.His salary was higher than my current one, though I have more education and have worked for over a decade.With my programming skills, he said he could get me hired.I thanked him, but declined his kind offer. A few days before this current graduation, while working on final grades, I found a note a student had slipped in with her homework.She thanked me for being her teacher and said the things she had learned in my class--not about math, but about life--would be things she would remember long after the math skills had faded away.As I finished reading, I remembered why I had become a teacher. Now, on this sunny graduation day, as I again observed the sea of _ , I did so with renewed dedication and a deeper sense of satisfaction--I will always be grateful that I am a teacher. The author wrote this passage to _ . A) express his devotion to being a teacher B) compare two different graduation ceremonies C) talk about the meaning of graduation D) give advice on how to be a good teacher
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