英语专业晨读美文-人物篇 10 Becoming a Freethinker

[00:03.79]Becoming a Freethinker and a Scientist
[00:06.12]When I was a fairly precocious¹ young man
[00:08.98]I became thoroughly² impressed with the futility³ of the hopes
[00:12.19]and strivings that chase most men restlessly through life.
[00:15.48]Moreover, I soon discovered the cruelty of that chase,
[00:19.60]which in those years was much more carefully covered up
[00:22.74]by hypocrisy⁴ and glittering words than is the case today.
[00:26.32]By the mere⁵ existence of his stomach
[00:28.84]everyone was condemned⁶ to participate in that chase.
[00:32.35]The stomach might well be satisfied by such participation⁷,
[00:35.89]but not man insofar as he is a thinking and feeling being.
[00:40.22]As the first way out there was religion,
[00:42.96]which is implanted into every child
[00:45.02]by way of the traditional education-machine.
[00:47.55]Thus I came through the child of entirely⁸
[00:50.83]irreligious (Jewish) parents to a deep religiousness,
[00:54.78]which, however, reached an abrupt⁹ end at the age of twelve.
[00:58.64]Through the reading of popular scientific books
[01:01.92]I soon reached the conviction that
[01:03.54]much in the stories of the Bible could not be true.
[01:06.35]The consequence was a positively¹⁰ fanatic¹¹ orgy
[01:10.05]of freethinking coupled with the impression
[01:12.41]that youth is intentionally¹² being deceived
[01:14.73]by the state through lies; it was a crushing impression.
[01:17.93]Mistrust of every kind of authority
[01:20.41]grew out of this experience,
[01:22.29]a skeptical¹³ attitude toward the convictions
[01:24.53]that were alive in any specific social environment-
[01:27.85]an attitude that has never again left me, even though,
[01:31.51]later on, it has been tempered by a better insight
[01:34.72]into the causal connections.
[01:37.02]It is quite clear to me that the religious paradise of youth,
[01:40.11]which was thus lost, was a first attempt to
[01:43.22] free myself from the chains of the “merely personal”,
[01:45.58]from an existence dominated by wishes, hopes,
[01:49.20]and primitive¹⁴ feelings.
[01:51.35]Out yonder there was this huge world,
[01:53.44]which exists independently of us human beings
[01:55.80]and which stands before us like a great,
[01:58.57]eternal riddle¹⁵, at least partially¹⁶ accessible to
[02:01.56]our inspection¹⁷ and thinking.
[02:03.77]The contemplation of this world beckoned¹⁸ as a liberation,
[02:07.69]and I soon noticed that many a man
[02:10.26]whom I had learned to esteem¹⁹ and to admire
[02:12.96]had found inner freedom and security in its pursuit.
[02:15.99]The mental grasp of this extra-personal world
[02:19.19]within the frame of our capabilities²⁰
[02:21.40]presented itself to my mind, half consciously,
[02:23.78]half unconsciously, as a supreme²¹ goal.
[02:26.09]Similarly motivated men of the present and of the past,
[02:30.02]as well as the insights they had achieved,
[02:33.35]were the friends who could not be lost.
[02:35.70]The road to this paradise was not as comfortable
[02:38.68]and alluring²² as the road to the religious paradise;
[02:41.17]but it has shown itself reliable,
[02:43.67]and I have never regretted having chosen it.

1 precocious   

adj.早熟的；较早显出的

参考例句：

• They become precocious experts in tragedy.他们成了一批思想早熟、善写悲剧的能手。
• Margaret was always a precocious child.玛格丽特一直是个早熟的孩子。

2 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

3 futility   

n.无用

参考例句：

• She could see the utter futility of trying to protest. 她明白抗议是完全无用的。
• The sheer futility of it all exasperates her. 它毫无用处，这让她很生气。

4 hypocrisy   

n.伪善，虚伪

参考例句：

• He railed against hypocrisy and greed.他痛斥伪善和贪婪的行为。
• He accused newspapers of hypocrisy in their treatment of the story.他指责了报纸在报道该新闻时的虚伪。

5 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

6 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

7 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

8 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

9 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

10 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

11 fanatic   

n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的

参考例句：

• Alexander is a football fanatic.亚历山大是个足球迷。
• I am not a religious fanatic but I am a Christian.我不是宗教狂热分子，但我是基督徒。

12 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

13 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

14 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

15 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。

16 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

17 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

18 beckoned   

v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He beckoned to the waiter to bring the bill. 他招手示意服务生把账单送过来。
• The seated figure in the corner beckoned me over. 那个坐在角落里的人向我招手让我过去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 esteem   

n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• The veteran worker ranks high in public love and esteem.那位老工人深受大伙的爱戴。

20 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

21 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

22 alluring   

adj.吸引人的，迷人的

参考例句：

• The life in a big city is alluring for the young people. 大都市的生活对年轻人颇具诱惑力。
• Lisette's large red mouth broke into a most alluring smile. 莉莎特的鲜红的大嘴露出了一副极为诱人的微笑。