Question
This passage is about an American author
Throughout his life, the American writer.
philosopher, and naturalist. Henry David
Thoreau, reduced his needs to the simplest level.
He managed to live on very little money, and
in essence, he made living his career. Thoreau
strongly believed in transcendental philosophy and
in transcending. or rising above. animal impulses.
He was always striving to move from the rational
to the spiritual realm. According to Thoreau, this
movement could be accomplished by means of
intuition, which he saw as the ultimate source of
knowledge, rather than a divine being. Intuition, he
thought, had supremacy over sense, perception, and
Thoreau was one of the few transcendentalists
who put his ideas into practice. Spurning material
luxuries, he lived with few amenities. taking a
passionate interest in nature and following his
own interests rather than those of society. A
nonconformist. he tried to live his life in harmony
with mature and according to his own rigorous
principles, many of which were documented in his
masterpiece, Walden. He wrote this book in 1845.
after living alone for two years, two months, and
two days in a cabin he built at Walden Pond.
In Walden. Thoreau. who was a lover of travel.
books and himself the author of several, wrote
an anti-travel book. which was meant to open up
the inner boundaries to self-discovery. This book,
which is a mixture of philosophy, naturalism.
and spiritual autobiography, challenges people
to examine their present lives and live each day
authentically, without pretense. The building of the
cabin. which he described in great detail, can be
seen as a metaphor for building one's soul. Thoreau
insisted that his years at Walden Pond were not
an idle escape from society but an experiment in
simple living, self-reliance, and learning to be
attuned to one's inner being and nature.
109. What was one of the precepts of transcendental
philosophy for Thoreau?
searching for a universal divinity
cherishing your intuition
D. focusing on your reason
110. What does the author imply about other
transcendentalist philosophers?
A. They were not as individualistic
as Thoreau.
B. They didn't practice the ideals they
defended.
C. They were only interested in materialistic
D. They adopted similar behaviors to
Thoreau's.
111. What did Thoreau base Walden on?
A. his experiences at Walden Pond
B. nonconformism as a philosophy of life
C. his lack of material possessions
D. the fact that he was an individualist
112. How is Walden different from other travel
books?
A. It provides an escape from society.
B. It is a description of life by a pond.
C. It does not describe a destination.
D. It describes a personal journey into
the self.
113. Why was the building of the cabin described in
detail in Walden?
A. because it was not pretentious
B. because it took over two years
C. because it showed how simply he lived
D. because it symbolized his spiritual
development
114. In what way did Thoreau embody his
transcendentalist beliefs?
A. by writing a book
B. by living in harmony with nature
C. by escaping from society
D. by making his whole life an experiment
Answer
109. Focusing on reason
110. They did not practice the ideals they defended
111. His experiences at Walden Pond
112. It does not describe a destination
113. It symbolized his spiritual development
114. By living in harmony with nature