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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.” This was his way of emphasizing the importance of the distinction between form and idea, and of stressing that the integrity of an idea is more important than the form of its expression.
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 circum- stances. 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.
The “new pitcher” mentioned in line 4 is the equivalent of which of the following elements in the author's discussion of democracy (lines 10-12)?
A.Ancient Greece
B.The idea of democracy
C.A modern democratic government
D.A dynamic principle
E.The Greek form of democracy
It can be inferred from the passage that the author would disagree most with which of the following assertions?
A.Changing circumstances sometimes give rise to original ideas.
B.Creative ideas have universal applications.
C.Changing human needs influence universal ideas.
D.Democratic institutions are appropriate in the modern world.
E.An idea must be expressed in a traditional way.
