Question

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”.

1.Which of the following can be the missing heading?

A. Forget about it            B. What a ridiculous point

C. Think about it             D. What a pointless question

2.This passage is anything but a(n)___________.

A. comment   B. discussion

C. argument   D. debate

3.The famous answer to the question “Do I exist?” is ___________.

A. No, you don’t exist.

B. I think, therefore, I am.

C. Yes, you do exist.

D. It won’t get you anywhere

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.B

【解析】

试题分析:本文是一篇议论文。介绍了对于存在这一命题的不同看法。我们既是存在于这个宇宙的也是不存在的，我们存在是因为我们有感情、可以感知思考，我们不存在是因为我们无法证明我们的存在。这种命题是很无意义的，哲学家早已给出了答案，我思故我在。

1.D 细节理解题。由本段首句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.知这是一个浪费时间的问题，你可以一直讨论下去，但是也不能得到答案。故选D。

2.A 主旨大意提。本文就是介绍了四种关于我是否存在这个命题的不同的观点：存在、不存在、无意义的命题、哲学家早已给出答案。故选A。

3. 细节理解题。由最后一句话This let Descartes to write the famous philosophical phrase, “ I think before I am”.知强调了思考的第一性，然后才是存在，故选B。

考点：考查议论文阅读