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Reading Comprehension Quiz

Text: Early Philosophical Explanations of the World

The earliest deliberate efforts to explain the world focused mainly on describing how it developed from a simple and therefore fully understandable origin. By contrast, questions concerning human life appear to have been addressed through a different line of inquiry, one more closely linked to the poetic tradition, in which older inherited assumptions continued to be accepted, even when they were occasionally contradictory. In addition, both the initial state of the world and the process through which it diversified were imagined in anthropomorphic terms, that is, explained as the result of a single progenitor or a pair of progenitors. This genealogical mode of explanation persisted even after the Milesian philosophers definitively abandoned the traditional mythological framework previously discussed. Part of Heraclitus’ originality lies precisely in his radical rejection of this approach.

Reading Comprehension Quiz

Choose the correct answer for each question.

1. What was the main goal of the earliest conscious attempts to explain the world?

To explain the growth of the world from a simple beginning
To describe human emotions
To defend poetic traditions

2. Questions about human life were treated in the same way as explanations of the natural world.

False
True

3. Why were older assumptions sometimes incompatible?

They conflicted with new philosophical ideas
They were scientifically proven wrong
Poets rejected them

4. What does “anthropomorphic” most nearly mean in the text?

Explained by giving human characteristics
Explained using abstract concepts
Explained using natural forces

5. Why did genealogical explanations continue after mythology was abandoned?

Philosophers still relied on traditional explanatory models
Mythology was officially restored
Poetry replaced philosophy

6. What makes Heraclitus original according to the text?

He radically rejected anthropomorphic explanations
He improved mythological explanations
He combined poetry and philosophy

7. What does “traditional mythological framework” imply?

A belief system inherited from earlier poetic traditions
A scientific structure based on observation
A political system of thought

8. What attitude toward early philosophy is reflected in the text?

Neutral and analytical, recognizing intellectual development
Strong criticism of all early philosophers
Preference for mythology over philosophy