英语名篇诵读 抱负

Ambition

抱负

It is not difficult to imagine a world short of ambition. It would probably be a kinder

world:without demands, without conflicts, without disappointments. People would have time for

reflection. Such work as they did would not be for themselves but for the collectivity .

Competition would never enter in. Conflict would be eliminated , tension become a thing of the

past. The stress of creation would be at an end. Art would no longer be troubling, but purely¹

celebratory in its functions.Longevity² would be increased, for fewer people would die of

heart attack or stroke caused by pressure. Anxiety would be extinct . Time would stretch on and

on, with ambition long departed from the human heart.

Ah, how boring life would be!

There is a strong view that holds that success is a myth, and ambition therefore a sham³ .

Does this mean that success does not really exist?That achievement is at bottom empty?That the

efforts of men and women are of no significance alongside the force of movements and events?

Now not all success, obviously, is worth esteeming⁴, nor all ambition worth cultivating. Which are

and which are not is something one soon enough learns on one's own. But even the most cynical⁵

secretly admit that success exists; that achievement counts for a great deal; and that the true myth

is that the actions of men and women are useless. To believe otherwise is to take on a point of

view that is likely to be deranging⁶ . It is, in its implications , to remove all motives⁷ for

competence⁸, interest in attainment⁹, and regard for posterity¹⁰ .

We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical

epoch¹¹ , the country of our birth, or the immediate¹² circumstances of our upbringing . We do

not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time or conditions of our death. But within all

this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we shall live:courageously or in cowardice¹³,

honorably or dishonorably, with purpose or in drift. We decide what is important and what is

trivial in life. We decide that what makes us significant is either what we do or what we refuse to

do. But no matter how indifferent the universe may be to our choices and decisions, these choices

and decisions are ours to make. We decide. We choose. And as we decide and choose, so are our

lives formed. In the end, forming our own destiny is what ambition is about.

一个缺乏抱负的世界将会怎样？它也许是一个更和善的世界：没有渴求，没有冲突，

没有失望。人们会有时间去反思。他们所做的工作不再是为了自己，而是为了集体。竞争

永远不会有，冲突将会被消除，紧张感也已全无。创造的压力也告结束。艺术再也不费心

劳神，其功能纯粹为了庆典。人的寿命会增加，因为越来越少的人会因压力而死于心脏病

或中风。焦虑会告终。时间缓缓无尽头，因为人们心中早已没有了雄心抱负。

啊，这样的生活会多么乏味呀！

有一种很盛行的观点认为，成功是一种神话，抱负亦属虚幻。这是不是意味着成功真

的不存在呢？是不是意味着成就说到底是虚无的呢？是不是意味着与诸多运动和事件的力

量相比，芸芸众生的努力都是毫无意义的呢？显然，并非所有的成功都值得推崇，并非所

有的抱负都值得培养。孰是孰非，人们很快就会自己弄明白。但是即使是最愤世嫉俗的人

也暗中承认，成功是存在的，成就意义重大，把芸芸众生的所作所为说成是徒劳无用才是

真正的无稽之谈。认为成功不存在的观点很可能造成误导，其言外之意是要除去积极能干

的动机，消除博取功名的兴趣，摒除对子孙后代的关爱。

我们不能选择出身，不能选择父母，不能选择历史时代、国籍和我们成长的直接环

境。我们大多数人不能选择死亡，也不能选择死亡的时间和状况。但在这诸多的无法选择

之中，我们确实能够选择如何生活：勇敢地或是懦弱地，体面地或是可耻地，有目的地或

是随波逐流地。我们决定生活中什么是重要的，什么是鸡毛蒜皮的。使我们人生有意义的

是我们所做的或是我们拒绝做的。但是不论宇宙对我们的选择和决定是多么漠然，这些选

择和决定都是由我们自己做出的。我们决定，我们选择。我们的决定和选择形成了我们的

生活。最终，构筑我们命运的就是抱负之所在。

1 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

2 longevity   

n.长命；长寿

参考例句：

• Good habits promote longevity.良好的习惯能增长寿命。
• Human longevity runs in families.人类的长寿具有家族遗传性。

3 sham   

n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的)

参考例句：

• They cunningly played the game of sham peace.他们狡滑地玩弄假和平的把戏。
• His love was a mere sham.他的爱情是虚假的。

4 esteeming   

v.尊敬( esteem的现在分词 )；敬重；认为；以为

参考例句：

5 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。

6 deranging   

v.疯狂的，神经错乱的( deranged的过去分词 )；混乱的

参考例句：

7 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。

8 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。

9 attainment   

n.达到，到达；［常pl.］成就，造诣

参考例句：

• We congratulated her upon her attainment to so great an age.我们祝贺她高寿。
• The attainment of the success is not easy.成功的取得并不容易。

10 posterity   

n.后裔，子孙，后代

参考例句：

• Few of his works will go down to posterity.他的作品没有几件会流传到后世。
• The names of those who died are recorded for posterity on a tablet at the back of the church.死者姓名都刻在教堂后面的一块石匾上以便后人铭记。

11 epoch   

n.(新)时代；历元

参考例句：

• The epoch of revolution creates great figures.革命时代造就伟大的人物。
• We're at the end of the historical epoch,and at the dawn of another.我们正处在一个历史时代的末期，另一个历史时代的开端。

12 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

13 cowardice   

n.胆小，怯懦

参考例句：

• His cowardice reflects on his character.他的胆怯对他的性格带来不良影响。
• His refusal to help simply pinpointed his cowardice.他拒绝帮助正显示他的胆小。