GRE Reading Comprehension

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Source: CHP

It is their sensitive response to human circumstance that accounts for the persistence of certain universal ideas. Rabbi Meir, a second-century scholar, admonished his disciples to look not at the pitcher but at its contents because, he stated, "Many a new pitcher has been found to be full of old wine." Creative ideas not only produce their own instruments of survival as time and circumstances demand, but permit the substitution of new forms for old under the pressure of changed circumstances. For example, democracy, as an idea, originated in ancient Greece and was carried from there to Western Europe and the Americas. But it did not retain the ancient Greek form: it passed through several reforming processes and exists today in many countries. Democratic governments differ in form because democracy is in principle dynamic and has therefore responded to local needs.

Question List: 1 2

According to the passage, democracy is an example of

  • A a human circumstance that has molded creative ideas
  • B an instrument of survival that has altered its original form
  • C an attribute of a creative idea that has allowed that idea to persist
  • D a creative idea that has persisted because of its adaptability
  • E a reforming process that has culminated in the creation of modern governments

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