中考阅读:who will be the next emperor?

往期推送的链接：

most emperors in human history handed down their thrones (王位) to their sons. in the early days of china， however， some rulers went against this tradition. they chose their successors (继承人) for their good abilities and high moral standards (公德标准). this was known as “shan rang.”

yao was the first emperor to pass his throne to a non-family member. although yao ruled the whole country， he led a simple life. he often drank wild vegetable soup and wore plain， rough clothes.

yao had the support of his people， but he was always looking for a better ruler. one day， yao heard about a wise man named xu you. he paid a visit and invited xu to rule the country. the man， however， refused the invitation. “the birds in the forest take only one branch for their nests，” he said. “why would i want to take over the whole country?”

later， some officials suggested making yao’s son the new emperor. yao didn’t like the idea. he thought his son didn’t meet the moral standards of the throne. others recommended shun for his good moral record. his father， stepmother and stepbrother treated him badly， but shun had always been a loving son and a caring older brother.

yao decided to find out about the young man. he tested shun’s ability to rule the people. shun proved his talents more than once. for example， some fishermen on a riverside had long fought over a small island. shun dealt with their arguments and brought peace back to the area. in another example， the people in dongyi were making pottery (陶器) of poor quality. shun helped them improve their skills.

after all kinds of tests， yao finally handed over his throne to shun. as the new emperor， shun continued his hard work. when he got old， shun needed to choose a successor. he had learned from yao and now used the same way to find a new ruler. in the end， he chose yu， a very able and widely respected man.

this was how the three emperors yao， shun and yu became great leaders. they made important contributions to ancient china.

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