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The sense of honor appears to be dying.
In World War Ⅱ men died more or less willingly for the nation and the nation’s honor, and they were honored for it in reture. Now we have become cynical about such things; the nation lies, fights unjustifiable wars; the nation robs the poor to give to the rich.
At my college the students used to agree to inform on their friends rather than suffer a breach in the honor code. A sense of honor is a sense that there are standards of behavior one must live up to, even at the cost of one’s personal hapiness, even at the cost of one’s life. Without such a sense one has to make up one’s rights and wrongs as one goes long-usually, as it happens, to one’s own advantage. Morality thereby becomes a matter of expediency: nothing seems worth dying for, and life loses its beauty and some of its value.
Our recent history has deprived us of models. Ⅰ cherish the story of John Stubbs, a Puritan divine of Queen Elizabeth’s time who strongly opposed her projected marriage to the duke of Alencon. Stubbs knew the penalty for doing so ,which was the loss of a hand; nevertheless, he published, and was led out for public execution of the sentence. Stubbs laid his right hand on the block, the ax fell, and he rose to his feet, lifted the bloody stump high in the air, and cried out to the crowd, "Long live the queen!"
In spite of the blood and the horror, it is the beauty of such an act that stands out. A man lives up to his beliefs; he acts with courage and great style and literally gives of himself in the service of something he feels is greater than himself. We cannot help but honor him, whether we agree with his beliefs or not.
The main idea of the passage is that _____ .
A．there is nothing beautiful in modern life
B．each era has its own conception of honor
C．there are still many people who have a sense of honor today
D．our society no longer highly values the sense of honor
The factor which does NOT account for the dying sense of honor is _____ .
A．people’s selfishness
B．deceit
C．lack of courage
D．unwarranted wars
The inference we can make from this passage is that _____ .
A．earlier in this century, giving one’s life for one’s country was not considered an honourable thing to do
B．in the author’s college days, students valued honor more than loyalty to one another
C．the author admires John Stubbs for his courage in objecting to the queen’s marrage
D．the author himself is a person with the highest sense of honor
The story of John Stubbs is told to convey the idea that _____ .
A．loyalty is the best honor
B．it is the greatest honor to die for one’s belief
C．our recent history lacks such models
D．even bloodshedding brings a person honor