现代大学英语精读5课后句子解释(完整版)

Lesson 10

We still remember that assassinated world as idyllic, secure…., we will speak of it in the reverent tones reserved for the dead.

In our memory , the pre-September 11 world was peaceful ,happy and safe (overlooking the fact that this was not the case) and we will talk about those days with a feeling of deep respect and love which can only be found in talking about dead people.

...the spoils of war include some of our most cherished values and liberties.

In order to win the way, we might have to give up some of the basic values and liberties we treasure most. This might be the cost we have to pay.

Who are attempting to colonize the future with their own repressive agenda?

They are planning to carry out the plan of expanding the power of law enforcement agencies at home and of striking at the “axis of evil ” abroad so as to extend American domination into areas originally beyond American reach ,such as Central Asia .Hence ,the colonization of the future .

Which assumes the public is thinking in red, white and blue, when actually the spectrum of emotions, ideas and opinions is, like America itself, multihued.

Which takes for granted that people think in a simple and uniform way while actually the feelings, thoughts and views of the American people are as varied as America itself?

We too are mired near the bottom of Maslow’s pyramid, struggling to regain our lost sense of safety and security.

The terrorist attacks put us at the bottom of the hierarchy of human needs, trying hard to reestablish our confidence in physical safety, the lowest type of safety.

It is something we associate with repressive regimes, not with participatory democracies.

We are used to thinking that Western democracies practice rule of law and individual rights and freedom are protected by law. Violation of individual rights and suppression of dissenting voices can only be found in repressive regimes.

There was a relaxing of the rampant materialism, along with its ugly stepsisters isolation and compulsion, that has been the undoing of community in this country.

People began to put less emphasis on the pursuit of wealth and possession of worldly goods. And the other two dangerous symptoms that went with materialism, that is physical separation from others and irrational behavior as a result of impulse also became less serious .Materialism, together with the accompanying symptoms of separation and compulsion, had been the cause of the ruin of community in this country.

…D iscourages national introspection at a time when it would be most valuable.

At a time when it is highly important for Americans to look into ourselves and ask ourselves why “they hate us”, this concept directs our attention and thinking away from such analysis.

…H istory is a gallery of unspeakable crimes.

History records many crimes committed by human beings which are so horrible that they defy description. 10. We tend these images like poisonous flowers in a nightmare garden.

In spite of the fact that these images are horrible images, images of large-scale atrocity, we still take care to keep alive these images.

Lesson 1 How to get the poor off our conscience

1.Virtue is ... self-centered.

By right action,we mean it must help promote personal interest.

2....(poverty) was a product of their excessive fecundity...

The poverty of the poor was caused by their having too many children.

3....the rich were not responsible for either its creation or its amelioration.

The rich were not to blame for the existence of poverty so they should not be asked to undertake the task of solving the

problem.

4.It is merely the working out of a law of nature and a law of God.

It is only the result or effect of the law of the survival of the fittest applied to nature of to human society.

5.It declined in popularity, and references to its acquired a condemnatory tone.

People began to reject Social Darwinism because it seemed to glorify brutal force and oppose treasured values of

sympathy,love and friendship.Therefore,when it was mentioned,it was usually the target of criticism.

6....the search for a way of getting the poor off our conscience was not at an end; it was only suspended.

The desire to find a way to justify the unconcern for the poor had not been abandoned,it had only been put off.

7....only rarely given to overpaying for monkey wrenches, flashlights, coffee makers, and toilet seats.

Government officials,on the whole ,are good,it is very rare that some would pay high prices for office equipment to get

kickbacks.

8.This is perhaps our most highly influential piece of fiction.

It is a very popular story and has been accepted by many but it is not true.

9.Belief can be the servant of truth---but even more of convenience.

Belief can be useful in the search for truth,but more often than not it is accepted because it is convenient and self-serving.

10.George Gilder... Who tells to much applause that the poor must have the cruel spur of their own suffering to ensure

effort...

George Gilder advances the view that only when the poor suffer from great misery will they be stimulated to make great

efforts to change the situation,in other words,suffering is necessary to force the poor to work hard.

Lesson 2 The woods were tossing with jewels

1.But these marks of wild country called to may father like the legendary siren song.

Though the place was not pleasant or disagreeable,my father was deeply attracted to it precisely because of its

unexplored,uncultivated natural state,and the challenge.

2."I'm afraid the day's going to catch us," I explained, wondering what great disaster might befall us if it did.

As a little girl,I believed my father's words ,and was genuinely afraid of the possible disaster--if we didn't hurry up,the day

would catch us and terrible things might happen.

3....from time to time he was halfheartedly sought for trial, though few crimes seemed to lead directly to his door.

In this place,though the police wound make some effort without real earnest to investigate Watson and bring him to court,there

seemed to be little concrete evidence to prove that he was responsible for certain illegal activities.

4.The stranglehold Watson had over this section of Florida was not dissimilar to the unscrupulous activities of certain

lawmen, other legal crooks, and even governors that our state was to suffer through its history.

The control Watson had over this part of Florida was much similar to the dishonest or illegal activities of the law-enforcing

officials and governors which Florida witnessed in the 20th century.

5.There was the little shack, not the most gracious of living quarters, and there was a murderer for our nearest and only

neighbor, about thirty miles away.

Before the family built their own house,they lived in a shabby cabin at Gopher Key,close to the merciless Watson.

6.King Richard in his gluttony neer sat at a table more sumptuous than ours was three times a day...

We had abundant food on the island,and even the meals enjoyed by King Richard,who was famous for his love of

food,couldn't possibly compare with ours.

7.Despite the unrelenting heat, we were happy to be let off from our hours of school indoors, sessions which our mother kept https://www.360docs.net/doc/7813180012.html,every day, rain or shine.

Although it was very hot outside in the sun,we were happy to be dismissed from my mother's sessions indoors.we would have

to read and write with her every day no matter what the weather was like.

lesson 3 At war with the planet

1...even droughts, floods, and heat waves may become unwitting acts of man.

What people do may unintentionally cause droughts, floods and heat waves. 2.But this image, now repeatedly thrust before us in photographs, posters, and advertisements, is misleading.

The Earth we see in photos,posters,and ads,which appears so beautiful,is not the true reflection of the world we live in ,such

image lulls us into complacency.

3.The technosphere has become sufficiently large and intense to alter the natural processes that govern the ecosphere.

Human activities have taken place over such large areas and with such intensity that they have already caused disastrous effects

on ecology.

4....which could establish itself only because it fitted properly into the preexisting system.

the fish could play its role because it became a necessary link with the processes preceding it and the processes following it in

the ecological system.

5.Defined so narrowly, it is no surprise that cars have properties that are hostile to their environment.

when cars are produced to serve such narrow purposes,it is not surprising that some of their characteristic qualities are harmful

to the environment.

6.Yields rose, but not in proportion to the rate of fertilizer application...

the farmer applied more and more fertilizer,and the production did rise but did not increase at the same rate of the fertilizer.

7....their waste is flushed into the sewer system altered in composition but not in amount at treatment plant...

people eat plants and animals,and their waste is flushed into the sewer system.After being processed,the waste is still waste.the

residue will go into rivers,oceans,and will have harmful effect on the aquatic ecosystem.

8.Left to their own devices, ecosystems are conservative...

if the ecosystems are not upset by outside intrusion,they will remain the same with very little change

9.In contrast to the ecosphere, the technosphere is composed of objects and materials that reflect a rapid and relentless

process of change and variation.

the characteristics of the objects and materials in the technosphere are rapid change and great variety.

10.But this is done only at the cost of understanding.

if we take side in the war of the two words,we are doing so at the risk of failing to have a clear understanding of the nature and

cause of the war,thus,we lose the chance to really solve the grave environmental crisis.

Lesson4 nettles

1.How all my own territory would be altered, ad if a landslide had gone through it and skimmed off all meaning except loss

of Mike.

the impact of Mike's leaving on my life was beyond my imagination.I didn't expect that Mike's leaving would have such a

tremendous power that it would change the meaning of my existence completely.All my thoughts were about loss of Mike.

2.During that time of life that is supposed to be a reproductive daze, with the woman's mind all swamped by maternal juices,

we were still compelled to discuss Simone de Beauvoir and Arthur Koestler and "The Cocktail Party".

At that time,we were young mothers,and we were supposed to lead a terribly busy life full of confusion and bewilderment

caused by giving birth to and raising babies.and our minds were supposed to be fully occupied by how to feed the babies and

things like that.However,in the midst of all this we still felt the need to discuss some of the important thinkers of our time like

Simone de Beauvoir and Arthur Koestler and T.S.Eliot's sophisticated work"The Cocktail Party".

3....I would be frightened, not of any hostility but of a kind of nonexistence.

I would be frightened,and my fear was not caused by my neighbor's visibly hostile and violent way of life,but by a kind of

formless and hidden emptiness and meaninglessness of human existence.What happened around me was totally irrelevant to

me,and I felt very isolated and alienated. https://www.360docs.net/doc/7813180012.html,4.She did not ask me---was it delicacy or disapproval?---about my new life.

She did not ask me about my new life,either out of subtle consideration for my feeling about this sensitive subject or out of

disapproval for my new life style.

5.It would be a sleazy thing to do, in the house of his friends.

It would be a morally low thing,an indecent thing to commit infidelity in the house of a friend.

6.I knew now that he was a person who had hit rock bottom.

I knew that he was a person who had experienced the worst in life,the hardest experience a person might have to endure.

7.He and wife knew that together and it bound them, as something like that would either break you apart or bind you, for

life.

They experienced the worst together and they knew what it was like and understood the meaning of that experience.such an

experience posed the gravest test to people.if they stood the test,their friendship or marriage would be strengthened,and a sacred

bondage would be formed between them.but if they failed the test,their relationship would be broken and they would flow on

gently and

8.Not risking a thing yet staying alive as a sweet trickle, an underground resource. With the weight of this now stillness on it,

this seal.

If they acted on love,they would take risks.they wouldn't do that or go further in their relationship,but they would rather let

their love remain as a sweet trickle,which would flow on gently and...

Lesson 5 The One Against the Many

1....the national rejection of dogmatic preconceptions about the nature of the social and economic order

As a nation, America has refused to cling to certain rigid principles concerning social and economic development. America has

been adaptable and flexible.

2 Nor can one suggest that Americans have been consistently vulnerability to immune to the ideological temptation...

1.No one can say that Americans have never been tempted by the approach of understanding ,preserving or transforming the

world according to rigid dogmas.

3..and any intellect so shaped was bound to have certain vulnerability to secular ideology ever after

A mind influenced by Calvinist theology would surely find it somewhat difficult to resist other ideological temptations to

ideological thinking.

4.Pragmatism is no more wholly devoid...experience

Pragmatism is not completely free from abstract ideas just as ideology is not completely free from experience,that is to

say,abstract ideas have a place in pragmatism just as experience has a role in ideology.

5.As an ideologist,however,Jefferson....historical curiosity

As a man following a fixed set of beliefs,Jefferson is only an interesting historical figure.His beliefs are out of date and are

irrelevant to present-day reality.

6....(and often )whose central dogma is confided to the custody of an infallible priesthood

Their central beliefs are imprisoned by the whole body of priests who are always effective.

7....where free men may find partial truths,but where ...on Absolute Truth

In this universe a person whose mind is unconstrained may be able to discover relation truths but no man on earth can claim

that he has already grasped the one and only truth.

8.But ideology is a drug; no matter how ...it still persists.

Ideology has the characteristic of a narcotic.In spite of the fact that it has been proved wrong many times by experience, people

still long to commit themselves to ideology.

9....the only certainty in an absolute system is the certainty of absolute abuse.

The only thing that is sure of a despotic system is the unrestricted exercise of power.

10. The distinctive human triumph...lies in the capacity to understand the frailty of human striving ...nonetheless

The most outstanding achievement of humanity is they know that no matter how hard they try,they cannot achieve Absolute

truth,yet they continue to make great efforts and refuse to give up.

Lesson6 Death of a pig

https://www.360docs.net/doc/7813180012.html, 1.It is a tragedy enacted on most farms with ...The murder,being premeditated,is in the first degree..and the smoked bacon

and ham provide...questioned

the tragedy has an ending---the killing of a pig and the serving of its meat.The killing deliberately planned and carried out

efficiently,is the most type of murder.However,whether pigs should end their lives that way has never been questioned.

2.A pig couldn't ask for anything better or none has, at any rate

A pig could not ask for any better living conditions;at least no pig has ever complained.In a word,my pig lived in a pleasant

environment. Note the humor here- a pid couldn't speak, therefore it couldn't let us know whether it was contented with its

living conditions.

3.... And when a pid (or a child ) refuses supper a chill wave of fear runs through any household, or ice-household.

The author is comparing a pig to a child. The two share quite some similarities: hungry all the time and dear to the family.

4. You could see him down there at all hours, his white face parting ...his stethoscope dangling ...and grinning his corrosive

grin

Fred was quite excited about the event.He was down at the pigpen all the time.because of his swollen joints,he moved about

unsteadily.His face set apart the grass along the fence as he moved about.He was like a doctor,with his long ,drooping ears

dangling like a stethoscope,and he scrabbbled on the ground as if he were prescibing some medicine.

5. When the enema bag appeared, and the bucket of warm suds, his happiness...full charge of the irrigation

When it was time to dose the pig,Fred became even more excited,and he managed to get through the fence,and acted as if he

was taking charge of the medical treatment.

6. ...ours was a businesslike procession, with Fred,....so that inwards that... At last resting squarely ...own doing.

Our procession was a serious and efficient one. Fred, who acted as the pallbearer, walked unsteadily in the back, though he was

not qualified for that function. The sorrow of losing a family member was shown clearly in his face. The autopsy of the body's

inwards was done right at the side of the grave. The intestines of the pid were first thrown into the grave, so the pig could lie

exactly on those things that caused his death.

7.....and the premature expiration of a pig is...a sorrow in which it feels fully involved

If a pig dies before he is supposed to ,it is a serious matter for the whole community to remember.The whole community would

share the sadness for his death.

8.I have written this account in penitence and in grief,as a man who...and to explain my...so many raised pigs

The purpose of this essay is to show that I am sorry for what has happened to my pig,since I have failed to raise the pig and

cannot provide a reason why my pig could didn't grow the way other pigs have grown.

9.The grave in the woods is unmarked,but ...and I know he and I...on flagless ..own choosing

The pig's grave in the woods doesn't have a tombstone,but whenever somebody wants to visit it,Fred will show him the way.I

know we will often visit it,separate or together,when we need to ponder over problems or when we are depressed.

Lesson 7 Inaugural address

1.For man holds in his mortal hands....and all forms of human life.

rendering it uninhabitable and lifeless.

2....unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights...

We do not want to see or to allow the slow destruction of those human rights.

3.To those peoples in the huts and villages of half.....of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves...

To the people of the underdeveloped countries living in poverty in rural areas,we are committed to helping them to rid

themselves of mass poverty by their own efforts.

4.But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers.

But we should not let any communist power take advantage of this alliance for progress to expand its influence.

5.And let every other power know that this....of its own house.

We want to make clear to the communist powers that Americas are the Americas of the Americans.do not attempt to penetrate

into this area.

6....before the dark powers of destruction..... or accidental self-destruction. https://www.360docs.net/doc/7813180012.html,before the world is destroyed by a nuclear war launched in a preemptive attack or caused by accident.

7....yet both raing to alter the uncertain...of mankind's final war.

Yet both sides attempt to get an edge in the nuclear arms race so as to break the mutual deterrence which has so far prevented

the outbreak of a nuclear war.

8....civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof.

To be ready to negotiate and establish friendly relations does not mean that we are weak or afraid.declarations of sincere

intention have to be tested by actions.

9.Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors.

Let the two sides use the fruits of science for the benefit of humanity rather than using high-tech weapons to kill and destroy.

10....each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty.

1.There have been occasions for each generations of Americans to be called upon to fight and die for their country.

10 Notes on the English Character

1.Saint George may caper on banner and in the speeches of politicians, but it is John Bull who delivers the goods.

As Saint George is a hero, the patron of arms, symbolizing chivalry, his image often appears on banners, and his name is often mentioned in the speeches of politicians. Saint George is used as a symbolic figure for political purposes. But John Bill is a tradesman and he delivers the goods we need in our daily life while making money at the same time.

2.With its boarding-houses, its compulsory games, its system of prefects and fagging, its insistence on good form and on esprit de corps, it produces a type whose weight is out of all proportion to its numbers.

The English public schools have unique features. First, all boys live in boarding houses. Second, sports and games are organized and compulsory as part of thee school curricula. Third, older students have special duties to help control younger students while the latter must do jobs for the former. Lastly, great emphasis is placed on good form and team spirit. These features enable the public school students to have disproportionately great influence.

3.Note the word "bankrupt". I spoke as a member of a prudent middle-class nation, always anxious to meet my liabilities.

Pay attention to my use of the word"bankrupt", a word related to business. This reveals my identity as a member of the

commercial nation, who would be careful and sensible enough to avoid any risks of failing to pay their debts.

4.But my friend spoke as an Oriental, and the Oriental has behind him a tradition, not of middle-class prudence but of

kingly munificence and splendor.

But my friend expressed his views as a member of the Oriental countries. They are nourished by a tradition of great generosity

and richness, which is different from the English tradition of middle-class prudence.

5."True love in this differs from gold and clay, That to divide is not to take away."

In this aspect, true love is different from material things such as clay or even gold which can be divided and taken away. Yet, if

we share true love, it will never diminish.

6.I will now descend from that dizzy and somewhat unfamiliar height, and return to my business of notetaking.

In the above anecdote, I have become an example of the Englishmen for the moment. That put me in a high position which

makes me dizzy and is unfamiliar to me. I will now come down from that height and return to my role as your commentator on

the characteristics of the Englishman.

7. Such a combination is fruitful, and anyone who possesses it has gone a long way toward being brave.

The Englishman's nervous system acts promptly and feels slowly. The combination of the two qualities is useful, and anyone who has this combination is most likely to be brave.

8.Since literature always rests upon national character, there must be in the English nature hidden springs of fire to produce the fire we see.

As literature is based on national character, there must be in the English nature hidden resources of passion that have produced that great romantic literature we see.

9."Oh, I'm used to Bernard Shaw,;monkey tricks don't hurt me."

That kind of criticism is just like Bernard Shaw's attacks. It is nothing new and I'm used to these tricks and jokes; they won't do any harm to me.

10.And the "tolerant humorous attitude " with which he confronts them is not really humorous, because it is bounded by the titter and the guffaw.

The Englishmen think they have a tolerant and humorous attitude toward criticism. In fact it is not so, because their attitude is limited by uncomfortable laughter, which indicates that beneath the surface of their tolerant humorous attitude, they are uneasy.

When they try to be humorous and brush aside criticism, they would titter and guffaw. Such uncomfortable laughter is a sign of uneasiness.

11.The cats are all out of their bags, and diplomacy cannot recall them.

I have already made all my opinions known to you. What is said is said, and being diplomatic cannot unsay what has been said.