英语励志美文精华 49

Diogenes Didn't Need a Lamp

BY DAVID LOTH

I BELIEVE in people. However much of a mess we seem to make of

the world, it is people who have brought about all the progress we

know, and I don't mean just material progress. All have been for-

mulated and expressed by men and women. Even when people make

mistakes it seems to me they usually make them from right motives¹.

Most of us want to do good.

I believe in people because I have seen a great many of them in dif-

ferent parts of the world. I would rather trust my own experience and

observation than the cynical² remarks of unhappy men. My belief not

only has given me a happy life but has made possible any really useful

work I have done.

Of course I like people, too. As a newspaperman for twenty years

in this country, Europe and Australia, I met all kinds of men and

women and saw them under both favorable and adverse³ conditions.

As a biographer, I learned that the people of other days were not

much different than we are today. The lesson of history, both the

history of the past and the history we are making on this particular

day of today, is that the people's instincts are almost always right.

You can trust them. Their information may be wrong and their

thinking muddled⁴, but their feelings are sound, and progress stems

from this fact.

I lived in Spain at the time of the overthrow⁵ of the monarchy⁶ in

1931, and first heard of the establishment of a new republic when

our cook came from the market, breathless with the news. Her very

first comment, expressing what was uppermost in her mind, was

given with an almost exalted⁷ look: "Seiior, now our children will

learn to read and write."

It was a wonderful thing to see people animated⁸ by these ideals,

carrying out a bloodless revolution. I remember a dance at which

the lights were turned out during the playing of the new republican

anthem⁹ "because," as one republic leader told me 7 "this is a social

affair and we don't want to see who won't stand up!' That the

counterrevolution was cruel and bitter does not change the fact that

the people themselves in those years of progress were gentle and

tolerant.

I know nothing that proves the spirit of divinity in human beings

more than the press's preoccupation with evil. As a newspaperman

myself, I always preferred digging into stories of violence or crime or

betrayal because they were so unusual. I once wrote a history of po-

litical corruption¹⁰ in America, and after years of research I had to

base it on fewer than one per cent of our public servants. Search-

ing for crooks¹¹ brought me into contact historically speaking with

many more honest men. I hardly mentioned them in the book, but

they are much more important to me than the grafters. On the day

that I find myself being surprised by evidences of loyalty¹² and In-

tegrity and tolerance¹³ in my fellow men, then I will have lost my

faith.

1 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

2 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

3 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

4 muddled   

adj.混乱的；糊涂的；头脑昏昏然的v.弄乱，弄糟( muddle的过去式)；使糊涂；对付，混日子

参考例句：

• He gets muddled when the teacher starts shouting. 老师一喊叫他就心烦意乱。
• I got muddled up and took the wrong turning. 我稀里糊涂地拐错了弯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

6 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

7 exalted   

adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的

参考例句：

• Their loveliness and holiness in accordance with their exalted station.他们的美丽和圣洁也与他们的崇高地位相称。
• He received respect because he was a person of exalted rank.他因为是个地位崇高的人而受到尊敬。

8 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

9 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

10 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

11 crooks   

n.骗子( crook的名词复数 )；罪犯；弯曲部分；（牧羊人或主教用的）弯拐杖v.弯成钩形( crook的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The police are getting after the crooks in the city. 警察在城里追捕小偷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cops got the crooks. 警察捉到了那些罪犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

13 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。