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英语专业晨读美文-文化篇 1 Western Civilization I

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[00:02.33]Western Civilization Faces a Stark1 Choice Ⅰ
[00:10.63]In 1900, most westerners were confident and optimistic,
[00:16.18]full of pride about their civilization.
[00:18.48]Since then, the west has made enormous strides in economic,
[00:22.86]scientific, military, political and social terms.
[00:27.21]Yet the earlier confidence has gone.
[00:30.64]We stopped believing in the ideas
[00:33.18]that drove earlier generations to improve the world.
[00:35.71]Six main ideas made the west, century after century,
[00:39.62]progressively successful, powerful,
[00:42.62]and attractive—Christianity, optimism, science,
[00:46.88]economic growth, individualism and liberalism.
[00:51.31]Are these ideas past their sell-by date?
[00:54.29]Optimism
[00:55.83]The importance of optimism in driving success—
[00:58.52]of individuals, of whole civilizations—
[01:01.16]has been greatly overlooked.
[01:03.63]Optimism comes from three Greek and Christian2 “myths”—
[01:07.13]the myth of autonomy, the myth of progress
[01:10.64]and the myth of human goodness.
[01:12.71]Creation is ultimately good.
[01:15.37]So, too, are people—God's creation.
[01:17.78]We have stopped believing people are good.
[01:20.42]After 1760, our stories began to feature bad heroes—
[01:25.34]egotistical people, amoral or immoral3.
[01:29.49]The last century confirmed a dim view of human nature—
[01:33.08]Freud's ideas, Hitler, two world wars,
[01:37.23]horrific and hateful societies.
[01:39.79]A diminished view of people facilitated these horrors.
[01:43.47]Optimism and pessimism4, however, are fancies, not facts.
[01:48.01]Only if we recover belief in human goodness
[01:51.06]can we resume building a better world.
[01:53.05]Christianity
[01:54.90]Western secular5 values, above all the gods of consumption,
[01:59.16]have trumped6 Christian ones. Doubt is rampant7.
[02:02.51]And Christians8 today are deeply divided.
[02:04.97]Yet perhaps we need not worry. Christianity transformed the west.
[02:09.78]It was the world's first individualized, activist9,
[02:13.42]self-help movement. Ordinary people were encouraged to clean up
[02:17.92]their act and given God's help to do so.
[02:20.11]Everyone had a “soul”; individual human dignity
[02:24.21]and responsibility were greatly enhanced.
[02:26.65]Today many of us do not believe in the soul or Christ.
[02:30.13]In a way, however, we all still believe the Christian message.
[02:34.35]We believe we have a self, just like we have arms and legs.
[02:39.07]With the idea of the soul safely transmuted10 in the idea of the self,
[02:44.29]Christianity has permanently11 changed the west.
[02:47.50]The modern self-help movement best exemplifies
[02:50.68]the central Christian innovation-personal responsibility.
[02:54.83]Christianity's crisis does not threaten the west.
[02:57.94]But the attacks on the other five ideas do.
[03:01.05]Science
[03:02.76]Science is preeminently western.
[03:05.47]It arose through belief in a perfect, rational Creator,
[03:09.32]and in our ability to figure out
[03:11.64]the perfect universe that God created.
[03:13.67]Since 1900, we have lost our faith in science.
[03:17.37]Superstition and mumbo-jumbo abound12.
[03:20.25]Science seems to have become weird13.
[03:22.91]It portrays14 a baffling and inscrutable universe,
[03:26.32]ruled by mystery, uncertainty15, random16 chance.
[03:30.13]Also, the dark side of science has emerged:
[03:33.79]monstrous weapons, poisoning the planet.
[03:36.29]Yet science is still fundamentally benign17 and rational.
[03:40.15]The micro-world might be weird.
[03:42.32]But scientists still follow the scientific method-
[03:45.19]reason and investigation18.
[03:47.26]The challenge to understanding is greater,
[03:50.07]but logic19 and research still hold the key.
[03:52.45]We cannot give up our trust in rationality and sciences,
[03:56.19]for the best forms of civilization depend utterly20 upon them.


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1 stark lGszd     
adj.荒凉的;严酷的;完全的;adv.完全地
参考例句:
  • The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
  • He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。
2 Christian KVByl     
adj.基督教徒的;n.基督教徒
参考例句:
  • They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
  • His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。
3 immoral waCx8     
adj.不道德的,淫荡的,荒淫的,有伤风化的
参考例句:
  • She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
  • It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。
4 pessimism r3XzM     
n.悲观者,悲观主义者,厌世者
参考例句:
  • He displayed his usual pessimism.他流露出惯有的悲观。
  • There is the note of pessimism in his writings.他的著作带有悲观色彩。
5 secular GZmxM     
n.牧师,凡人;adj.世俗的,现世的,不朽的
参考例句:
  • We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
  • Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。
6 trumped ccd8981ef2e9e924662f9825da2c2ce2     
v.(牌戏)出王牌赢(一牌或一墩)( trump的过去分词 );吹号公告,吹号庆祝;吹喇叭;捏造
参考例句:
  • That woman trumped up various baseless charges against him. 那个女人捏造种种毫无根据的罪名指控他。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Several of his colleagues trumped up a complaint to get him removed from the job. 他的几位同事诬告他,使他丟掉了工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》
7 rampant LAuzm     
adj.(植物)蔓生的;狂暴的,无约束的
参考例句:
  • Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
  • You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。
8 Christians 28e6e30f94480962cc721493f76ca6c6     
n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
  • His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。
9 activist gyAzO     
n.活动分子,积极分子
参考例句:
  • He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
  • He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。
10 transmuted 2a95a8b4555ae227b03721439c4922be     
v.使变形,使变质,把…变成…( transmute的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • It was once thought that lead could be transmuted into gold. 有人曾经认为铅可以变成黄金。
  • They transmuted the raw materials into finished products. 他们把原料变为成品。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
11 permanently KluzuU     
adv.永恒地,永久地,固定不变地
参考例句:
  • The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
  • The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。
12 abound wykz4     
vi.大量存在;(in,with)充满,富于
参考例句:
  • Oranges abound here all the year round.这里一年到头都有很多橙子。
  • But problems abound in the management of State-owned companies.但是在国有企业的管理中仍然存在不少问题。
13 weird bghw8     
adj.古怪的,离奇的;怪诞的,神秘而可怕的
参考例句:
  • From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来,他好像有点怪。
  • His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。
14 portrays e91d23abfcd9e0ee71757456ac840010     
v.画像( portray的第三人称单数 );描述;描绘;描画
参考例句:
  • The museum collection vividly portrays the heritage of 200 years of canals. 博物馆的藏品让运河200 年的历史再现眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The film portrays Gandhi as a kind of superman. 这部电影把甘地描绘成一个超人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
15 uncertainty NlFwK     
n.易变,靠不住,不确知,不确定的事物
参考例句:
  • Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
  • After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后,压力开始产生影响了。
16 random HT9xd     
adj.随机的;任意的;n.偶然的(或随便的)行动
参考例句:
  • The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
  • On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查,发现肉变质了。
17 benign 2t2zw     
adj.善良的,慈祥的;良性的,无危险的
参考例句:
  • The benign weather brought North America a bumper crop.温和的气候给北美带来大丰收。
  • Martha is a benign old lady.玛莎是个仁慈的老妇人。
18 investigation MRKzq     
n.调查,调查研究
参考例句:
  • In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
  • He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。
19 logic j0HxI     
n.逻辑(学);逻辑性
参考例句:
  • What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑?
  • I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。
20 utterly ZfpzM1     
adv.完全地,绝对地
参考例句:
  • Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民,把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
  • I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。
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