第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

He was a funny—looking man with a cheerful face，good—natured and a great talker．He was described by his student，the great philosopher Plato，as“the best and most just and wisest man”．Yet this same man was sentenced to death for his belief．

The man was the Greek philosopher，Socrates．He was sentenced for not believing in the recognized gods and for corrupting young people．The second charge arose from his association with many young men, who came to Athens from all over the civilized world to study under him．

Socrates’ method of teaching was to ask questions and, by pretending not to know the answers，to press his students into thinking for themselves．His teaching had great influence on all the Greek and Roman schools of philosophy．Yet, for all his fame and influence, Socrates himself never wrote a word．

Socrates encouraged new ideas and thinking in the young, and this was frightening to the people who held traditional views．They wanted him silenced．Yet, many were probably surprised that he accepted death so readily．

Socrates had right to ask for less punishment, and he probably could have won over enough of the people who had sentenced him before．But Socrates, as a firm believer in law, reasoned that it was proper to accept the death sentence．So, he calmly accepted his fate and drank accept of poison in the presence of his sorrow-stricken friends and students．

56．Which of the following statements does NOT agree with the passage?

A．Socrates had a strong character．

B．young people in those days admired Socrates very much．

C．Socrates’ teaching methods had little influence on schools of philosophy．

D．Socrates attached importance to the development of his, students creative thinking．

57．Socrates was sentenced to death because    ．

A．he did not respect law                                 B．he was a philosopher

C．he published philosophical articles                D．his beliefs were not accepted

58．By mentioning that Socrates himself never wrote anything，the author implies that    ．

A．Socrates was different from many other philosophers

B．Socrates was not so learned as people thought

C．Socrates used the works of his students in teaching

D．the government forbad publishing Socrates’ works

59．Socrates accepted the death sentence to show    ．

A．his determination to fight against the rulers to the end

B．his recognition of the legal system

C．that he looked down upon the lawmakers

D．how brave he was