2020专八英语中级阅读习题及解析

Passage Ten The Importance of Independent Thinking

　　No one can be a great thinker who does not realize that as a thinker it is her first duty to follow her intellect to whatever conclusions it may lead. Truth gains more even by the errors of one who with due study and preparation, thinks for himself, than by the true opinions of those who only hold them because they do not suffer themselves to think. No that it is solely, of chiefly, to form great thinkers that freedom of thinking is required. One the contrary, it is as much or even more indispensable to enable average human beings to attain the mental stature which they are capable of. There have been and many again be great inpidual thinkers in a general atmosphere of mental slavery. But there never has been, nor ever will be, in that atmosphere an intellectually active people. Where any of heterodox speculation was for a time suspended, where there is a tacit convention that principles are not to be disputed: where the discussion of the greatest questions which can occupy humanity is considered to be closed, we cannot hope to find that generally high scale of mental activity which has made some periods of history so remarkable. Never when controversy avoided the subjects which are large and important enough to kindle enthusiasm was the mind of a people stirred up fro9m its foundation and the impulse given which raised even persons of the most ordinary intellect to something of the dignity of thinking beings.

　　She who knows only her own side of the case knows little of that. Her reasons may be food, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if she s equally unable to refute the reasons of the opposite side; if she does not so much as know what they are, she has no ground for preferring either opinion. The rational position for her would be suspension of judgment, and unless she contents herself with that, she is either led by authority, or adopts, like the generality of the world the side to which she feels the most inclination. Nor is it enough that she should heat the arguments of adversaries from her own teachers, presented as they state them, and accompanied by what they offer as refutations, That is not the way to do justice to the arguments, or bring them into real contact with her own mind. She must be able to hear them form persons who actually believe them; who defend them in earnest, and do their very utmost for them. She must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form; she must feel the whole force of the difficulty which the true view of the subject has to encounter and dispose of; else she will never really possess herself of the portion of truth which meets and removes that difficulty. Ninety-nine in a hundred of what are called educated persons are in this condition; even of those who can argue fluently for their opinions. Their conclusion may be true, but it might be false for anything they know; they have never thrown themselves into the mental position of those who think differently form them and considered what such persons may have to say; and consequently they do not, in any proper sense of the word, know the doctrines which they themselves profess.

　　1. The best title for this passage is ___________

　　[A]The Age of Reason

　　[B]The need for Independent Thinking

　　[C]The Value of Reason

　　[D]Stirring People’s Minds

　　2. According to the author, it is always advisable to ___________

　　[A]have opinions which cannot be refuted.

　　[B]adopt the point of view to which one feels the most inclination.

　　[C]be acquainted with the arguments favoring the point of view with which one disagrees,

　　[D]suspend heterodox speculation in favor of doctrinaire approaches.

　　3. According to the author, in a great period such as the Renaissance we may expect to find ___________

　　[A]acceptance of truth

　　[B]controversy over principles

　　[C]inordinate enthusiasm

　　[D]a dread of heterodox speculation

　　4. According to the author, the person who holds orthodox beliefs without examination may be described in all of the following ways EXCEPT as ___________

　　[A]enslaved by tradition

　　[B]less than fully rational

　　[C]determinded on controversy

　　[D]having a closed mind

　　5. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements ___________

　　[A]A truly great thinker makes no mistakes.

　　[B]Periods of intellectual achievement are periods of unorthodox reflection,

　　[C]The refutation of accepted ideas can best be provided by one’s own teachers.

　　[D]excessive controversy prevents clear thinking,

　　Vocabulary

　　1. stature 高度，境界，状况

　　2. heterodox 不合乎公认的标准的，异端的，异教的

　　3. tacit 心照不宣

　　4. refute 反驳

　　5. adversary 对立面，对手，敌人

　　6. plausible 善于花言巧语的/辞令的，似乎有理的/有可能的

　　7. doctrine 教义，学说

　　8. profess 表示，明言，承认，自称，信奉

　　难句译注

　　1. True gains more even by the errors of one who with due study and preparation, thinks for himself, then by the true opinions of those who only hold them because they do not suffer themselves to think.

　　[参考译文] 真理甚至从一个经过恰当研究和准备进行独立思考的人的错误中获得更多的东西，而从那些只是因为不予思考却持有正确的观点中获得的少一种经过恰当的研究和准备进行独立思考的人犯的错误，另一种人是不予思考的却持有正确的观点，真理从前者错误中获得的东西比从后者的正确观点中获得的要多。

　　2. mental slavery 思想禁锢，精神受奴役状态

　　3. Never when controversy avoided the subjects which are large and important enough to kindle enthusiasm was the mind of a people stirred up from its foundation and the impulse given which raised even persons of the most ordinary intellect to something of the dignity of thinking beings.

　　[结构简析] 这是一句以Never否定词开头的倒装句，正常的句序应把never放在句中，形成：the mind of people was never stirred up from its foundations

　　[参考译文] 当辩论比开重大课题，重大到足以燃起/激起人们激/热情的课题时，那么一个民族的思想绝不会从天赋的情感和原始的基础上升华，甚至使最普通智力的人上升到优点庄严的思想家水平上。

　　4. The rational position for her would be suspension of judgement, and unless she contents herself with that, she is either led by authority, or adopts, like the generality of the world, the side to which she feels the most inclination.

　　[参考译文] 对她来说理智的立场是停止判断，而且除非她满足于这一点，否则，她不是为权威人物的观点所左右，后者就像世界上芸芸众生一样，倒向她感觉最倾向的一边。

　　5. That is not the way to do justice to the arguments, or bring them into teal contact with her own mind.

　　[结构简析] do justice to 公平对待，适当处理。 Bring……into contact with 　使和……接触/联系。

　　[参考译文] 这不是对正确观点评价的方法，也不能使自己的思想真正接触到论点的实质。

　　6. She must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form; she must feel the whole force of the difficulty which the true view of the subject has to encounter and dispose of; else she will never really possess herself of the portion of truth which meets and removes that difficulty.

　　[结构简析] most plausible and persuasive form 很善于辞令和有说服力形式。　　possess oneself of 获得，据有，把……占为己有。　　them=arguments。　else　　否则的话。

　　7. Their conclusion may be true, but it might be false for anything they know; they have never thrown themselves into the mental position of those who think differently form them and considered what such persons may have to say; and consequently they do not, in any proper sense of the word, know the doctrines which they themselves profess.