《宋史·列传·卷二百零三》
刘恕未受成人冠礼前，参加进士应考。当时皇帝有诏说，能讲经义的人单列考试，所以刘恕和其他数十人得以应诏。在应考中，刘恕以《春秋》、《礼记》对答，他先列出有关《春秋》、《礼记》的注疏，接着援引先儒们的各派学说，最后提出自己的观点和见解，对于试题中的二十个提问，刘恕都以这种形式作答，主考官因此而十分惊异他的才华，擢其为第一名。
未冠，举进士，时有诏，能讲经义者别奏名，应诏者才数十人，恕以《春秋》、《礼记》对，先列注疏，次引先儒异说，末乃断以己意，凡二十问，所对皆然，主司异之，擢为第一。
Before Liu Shu reached adulthood, he participated in the Imperial Examination for Jinshi degree holders. At that time, the emperor ordered that those who could lecture on the meaning of the classics be tested separately, so Liu Shu and dozens of others were able to respond to the order. In the examination, Liu Shu answered questions on the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Book of Rites. He first listed relevant annotations on the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Book of Rites. He then cited the theories of various schools from earlier Confucian scholars and finally put forward his own views and insights. He answered all 20 questions in the examination in this way, and the chief examiner was amazed by his talent and promoted him to first place.