英语专业晨读美文-文化篇 2 Western Civilization II

[00:03.99]Western Civilization Faces a Stark¹ Choice Ⅱ
[00:07.93]Economic Growth
[00:11.42]The west's stunning² economic advance
[00:14.02]over the past 1000 years, and especially the last 200 years,
[00:18.76]has made mankind an ecological³ success and the west dominant⁴.
[00:23.63]Victories over hunger and disease are unprecedented⁵.
[00:27.45]Yet, if non-western countries eventually reached
[00:31.58]western consumption levels, the damage to the environment
[00:35.13]would be multiplied 12 times. The planet cannot cope with that.
[00:39.40]Happily, a new factor is emerging—
[00:42.58]the “personalised economy”,
[00:44.79]driven by imagination and intellect,
[00:47.61]not capital and hierarchy⁶.
[00:49.69]Growth today can be increasingly “weightless”—
[00:53.07]we consume software and services rather than hunks of metal.
[00:56.93]In the last century the US economy grew to
[01:00.13]20 times its earlier size, but the weight
[01:03.17]of output stayed roughly the same.
[01:05.36]Averting ecological suicide requires growth
[01:09.30]using far fewer finite resources.
[01:11.94]Individualism
[01:13.63]This has always been the west's most striking characteristic.
[01:17.76]Now many inside the west are worried by individualism.
[01:21.75]Our highly atomistic society makes it easy to feel a failure.
[01:26.51]Every civilization has had self-made people.
[01:30.25]Ours is the first to foster millions
[01:33.59]of self-destroyed people.
[01:35.31]Yet selfish individualism is a recent heresy⁷,
[01:38.66]a contradiction. Historically,
[01:41.62]individualism has advanced higher standards
[01:44.29]of personal behavior, with community building,
[01:47.25]with leadership. We have stopped requiring that.
[01:50.83]If we do not demand truly responsible individualism,
[01:54.82]from our leaders, role models and ourselves,
[01:58.17]our civilization will disintegrate⁸.
[02:00.80]Liberalism
[02:02.26]The greatest threat to the west comes from liberalism's decline
[02:06.22]and from the “liberal imperialists”
[02:09.31]and neo-conservatives so influential⁹ in America.
[02:12.62]Also from the “ultra-liberals”,
[02:15.63]the relativists who see nothing special
[02:17.76]about western liberal society,
[02:19.91]who deny personal responsibility
[02:22.14]and incubate the “victim mentality”.
[02:24.74]But the greatest threat to liberalism is that
[02:27.96]few still believe passionately¹⁰ in it.
[02:30.08]Liberalism's successes have blunted its appeal.
[02:33.34]Western civilisation¹¹ has reached a fork in the road.
[02:36.81]Down one road lie cynicism, aggression¹²,
[02:40.49]indifference, neo-conservatism and ultra-liberalism.
[02:44.18]Down the other lies a recovery of nerve,
[02:46.95]confidence in ourselves and our culture,
[02:49.38]unity within and between America and Europe,
[02:53.04]a society of individuals held together by self-improvement,
[02:57.36]striving, optimism, reason, compassion¹³,
[03:01.59]equality and mutual¹⁴ identity.
[03:04.42]The road chosen will determine whether our civilisation
[03:08.23]collapses or reaches its destiny.
 

1 stark   

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 stunning   

adj.极好的；使人晕倒的

参考例句：

• His plays are distinguished only by their stunning mediocrity.他的戏剧与众不同之处就是平凡得出奇。
• The finished effect was absolutely stunning.完工后的效果非常美。

3 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

4 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

5 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

6 hierarchy   

n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层

参考例句：

• There is a rigid hierarchy of power in that country.那个国家有一套严密的权力等级制度。
• She's high up in the management hierarchy.她在管理阶层中地位很高。

7 heresy   

n.异端邪说；异教

参考例句：

• We should denounce a heresy.我们应该公开指责异端邪说。
• It might be considered heresy to suggest such a notion.提出这样一个观点可能会被视为异端邪说。

8 disintegrate   

v.瓦解，解体，（使）碎裂，（使）粉碎

参考例句：

• The older strata gradually disintegrate.较老的岩层渐渐风化。
• The plane would probably disintegrate at that high speed.飞机以那么高速飞行也许会四分五裂。

9 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

10 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

11 civilisation   

n.文明，文化，开化，教化

参考例句：

• Energy and ideas are the twin bases of our civilisation.能源和思想是我们文明的两大基石。
• This opera is one of the cultural totems of Western civilisation.这部歌剧是西方文明的文化标志物之一。

12 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

13 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

14 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。