How To Read A Book- A Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading - Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren [172]
Mill devoted a large part of his last years directly to political activity. In addition to his writings, he was one of the founders of the first women's suffrage society and, in 1865, consented to become a member of Parliament. Voting with the radical wing of the Liberal Party, he took an active part in the debates on Disraeli's Reform Bill and promoted the measures which he had long advocated, such as the representation of women, the reform of London government, and the alteration of land tenure in Ireland.
Largely because of his support of unpopular measures, he was defeated for re-election. He retired to his cottage in Avignon, which had been built so that he might be close to the grave of his wife, and died there May 8, 1873.
370 HOW TO READ A BOOK
Note that the questions in these tests are not all of the same type: there are several kinds of multiple-choice questions and some essay questions as well. Some questions call for information not included in the passage you have read-the background information a capable reader brings to whatever he reads. Select all the answers which seem to you to be valid, whether they are stated or implied in the text, or simply seem to you true on the basis of logic or your background information.
Test A : Questions about the
biographical sketch of John Stuart Mill
1. During the latter part of Mill's life, England was ruled by ( a ) George IV ( b ) William IV ( c ) Victoria ( d ) Edward VII.
2. Mill's early education was largely designed by (a) Jeremy Bentham ( b ) his father, James Mill ( c ) the Encyclopaedia Britannica for which his father wrote articles ( d ) Marmantel's Memoires.
3. By the time he was eight years old, Mill had read (a) Herodotus ( b ) six dialogues of Plato ( c ) Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
4. Mill went to work for the East India Company to support himself at the age of ( a ) 14 ( b ) 17 ( c ) 21 ( d ) 25.
5. At the age of twenty, Mill experienced a ( a ) quarrel with his father ( b ) crisis in his mental history ( c ) "crisis" in his mental history ( d ) love affair with a married woman.
6. Mill, his father, and their friends called themselves
"philosophical radicals" because they believed ( a ) in the overthrow of the government by violence ( b ) that reforms should be made in Parliamentary representation ( c ) that the study of philosophy should be dropped from college curriculums.
7. Among the authors whom Mill read as a young man, and who probably influenced his thinking, were ( a ) Aristotle (b ) Dewey ( c ) Ricardo ( d ) Bentham.
Appendix B 371
8. Which of these well known works of Mill is not mentioned in the text? ( a ) On Liberty ( b ) Representative Government (c) Utilitarianism ( d ) The Suvfection of Women.
9. Were he alive today, is it likely or not likely that Mill would be
LIKELY
NOT LIKELY
( a ) a supporter of the women's liberation movement ( b ) in favor of universal education ( c ) an active segregationist
( d ) a strong advocate of
censorship of newspapers
and other mass media
10. It can be inferred from the text that Mill considered his wife ( the former Mrs. Harriet Taylor ), both during their marriage and after her death, to be ( a ) his severest critic (b ) his best friend ( c ) his greatest enemy ( d ) his muse.
Turn to p. 413 for the answers to Test A.
Sir Isaac Newton is of enormous interest to scholars and historians of science at the present day. There are two main reasons for this. The first is a commonplace. By combining analysis with experimentation-by combining theorizing with systematic observation of natural phenomena-men like Galileo and Newton launched an intellectual revolution and helped to usher in our modern age of science. Not only did they discover truths about the physical world that continue to be relevant and important, but they also developed new methods of studying nature that have proved to be of wide usefulness in many areas of study and research.