First listen and then answer the following question.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
What is the most influential factor in any human society?
In man's early days, competition with other creatures must have been critical. But this phase of our development is now finished. Indeed, we lack practice and experience nowadays in dealing with primitive conditions. I am sure that, without modern weapons, I would make a very poor show of disputing the ownership of a vpn免费下载 cave with a bear, and in this I do not 免费vpn think that I stand alone. The last creature to competewith man was the mosquito. But even the mosquito has been subdued by attention to drainage and by chemical sprays.
Competition between ourselves, person against person, community against community, still persists, however; and it is as fierce as it ever was.
But the competition of man against man is not the simple process envisioned in biology. It is not a simple competition for a fixed amount of food determined by the physical environment, because the environment that determines our evolution is no longer essentially physical. Our environment is chiefly conditoned by the things we believe. Morocco and California are bits of the Earth in 免费vpn very similar latitudes, both on the west coasts of continents with similar climates, and probably with rather 免费vpn similar natural resources. Yet their present development is wholly different, not so much because of different people even, but because of thedifferent thoughts that exist in the minds of their inhabitants. This is the point vpn免费 I wish to emphasize. The most important factor in our environment is the state of 免费vpn our own vpn软件免费 minds.
It is well known that where the white man has invaded a primitive culture, the most destructive effects have come not from physical weapons but from ideas. Ideas are dangerous. The Holy vpn免费下载 Office knew this full well when 免费vpn it caused heretics to be burned in days gone by. Indeed, the concept of free speech only exists in our modern society because vpn免费下载 when you are inside a community, you are conditioned by the conventions of the community to such a degree that it is very difficult to vpn免费下载 conceive of anything really destructive. It is only someone looking on from outside that can inject the dangerous thoughts. I do not doubt that it would be possible to inject ideas into the modern world that would vpn软件免费 utterly destroy us. I would like to give 免费vpn you an example, but fortunately I cannot do so. Perhaps it will suffice to mention the 免费vpn nuclear bomb. Imagine the effect vpn软件免费 on a reasonably advanced technological society, one that still does not possess the bomb, of making it aware of the possibility, of supplying sufficient details to enable the thing to be constructed. Twenty or thirty pages of information handed to any of the major world powers around the year 1925 would have been sufficient to change the course of world vpn免费下载 history. It is a strange thought, but I believe a correct one, that twenty or thirty pages of 免费vpn ideas and vpn免费 information would be capable of turning the present-day world upside down, or even destroying it. I have often tried to conceive of what those pages might contain, but of vpn软件免费 course I cannot do so because I am a prisoner of the present-day world, just as all of you are. We cannot think outside the particular patterns that our brains vpn软件免费 are conditioned to, or, to be more accurate, we can think only vpn免费 a very little way outside, and then only if we are very original.
FRED HOYLE Of Men and Galaxies
New words and expressions生词和短语
dispute(1.3)[dis'pju:t]v.争夺
latitude(1.12) ['lætitju:d]n.纬度
mosquito(1.5) [mə'ski:təu]n.蚊子
heretic (1.19)['herətik]n. 异教徒，异端邪说
subdue(1.5)[səb'dju:] v.征服
conceive(1.21)[kən'si:v] v.想像
drainage(1.5)['dreinidʒ]n.下水系统
suffice(1.2)[sə'fais]v.足够
envision(1.9)[in'viʒən]n.预想
nuclear(1.24)['nju:kliə]adj.原子弹的
Morocco(1.12)[mə'rɔkəu]n.摩洛哥
original (1.33) [ə'ridʒadj.有独到见解的
Notes on the text课文注释
1 make a very poor show，出丑。
2 I stand alone，仅我一人。
3the last creature to compete with man，其中的last有“极不可能”的意思。
4 免费vpn The Holy Office vpn免费下载 knew this full well when it vpn免费 caused heretics to be burned in days gone by. the Holy Office是指罗马天主教的宗教法庭；full well中的full是副词，有very的意思；gone by作 days的定语，整个词组的意思是“过去的日子”。
1 Which idea in the first paragraph is illustrated vpn免费 by the following statement:‘I would make a very poor show of disputing the ownership of a cave with a bear.’?(11.3-4)
2 How does the author account for the fact that the inhabitants of Morocco vpn免费下载 differ from those of California?
3 What do you understand by this vpn免费下载 statement:‘When you are inside a community you are conditioned by the vpn免费 conventions of the community.’?(11.20-21)
4 What, in the author's view, could change the course of world history?
5 What must a person with original ideas be capable of doing?
Refer to the text to see how the following words have been used, then write sentences of your own using determines our evolution(11.10-11); wholly(1.14);factor(1.16); utterly(1.23);course(1.28); accurate(1.32).
Summary摘要
Drawing your intormation from the last paragraph(lines 17-33), explain why ideas can be more dangerous than weapons. Do not write more than 110 words. Use your own words as far as possible. Your answer should be in one paragraph.
Composition作文
Write a composition of about 600 words on one of the following subjects:
1 The evolution of man.
2 Brainwashing.
3‘Our environment is chiefly conditioned by the things we believe.’Support or attack this view.
Key structures关键句型
A Study this sentence:
In vpn软件免费 man's early days, competition with other creatures must have been critical.(1.1)
Write two sentences illustrating 免费vpn the difference between must have been and had vpn免费下载 to be.
B Rewrite vpn软件免费 the sentences given below using the opening vpn免费下载 phfases provided. Do not refer to the passage until you have finished the exercise:
1 I am sure that, if l did not 免费vpn have any weapons, I would make a very poor show of vpn免费下载 disputing the ownership of a cave with a bear.
I am sure that, without_____(11.3-4)
2 vpn免费 It is the things we believe that chiefly condition our environment.
Our environment____(11.11-12)
3 It is well known that where vpn软件免费 a vpn软件免费 primitive culture has been invaded by the white man, the most destructive effects have come not from physical weapons but from ideas.
It is well known that where the white man____(11.17-18)
4 I do not doubt that we would be utterly destroyed vpn免费 if it were possible to inject ideas into the modern world.
I do not doubt that it vpn免费 vpn免费下载 would be____(11.22-23)
5 Imagine how a reasonably advanced technological society would be affected.
Imagine the effect____(11.24-26)
Special difficulties难点
Note the words in italics in the following sentences. vpn免费 Use these words again in sentences of your own, vpn免费 giving each word vpn软件免费 a different meaning from the one it has in the example:
1 Competition with other creatures must have been critical.(1.1)
2 The most important factor in our environment is the state of our own minds.(11.15-16)
3 The concept of free speech only exists in our modern society because when you are inside a community you are conditioned by the conventions of the community.(11.19-21)
Multiple choice questions多项选择题
Choose the correct answers to the following vpn软件免费 questions.
Comprehension 理解
1 Competition in the world ____.
a．takes place between humans and other animals
b．has not been confined to humans vpn免费 versus mosquitoes
c．exists mainly in a human context
d．is the result of lack of experience in dealing with primitive conditions
2 The writer is arguing that, where humans are concerned, ____.
a．beliefs are more important than physical environment
b．climate influences what people believe
c．human development is the product of physical environment
d．people compete for the fixed amount of food available in our environment
3 According to the writer, human societies ____.
a．attempt to 免费vpn influence each other with dangerous thoughts
b．are always threatened by the invasion vpn免费下载 of other people
c．tend to destroy primitive cultures
d．can be threatened by unfamiliar ideas
4 We cannot vpn免费下载 imagine what ideas would destroy our society because ____.
a．our imaginations are strictly limited by the cultures we 免费vpn live in
b．the vpn免费 concept of free speech is not universally acceptable
c．we know exactly the kind of information that would turn the world upside-down
d．no one on earth ever has any original ideas
Structure句型
5 There is little doubt that in man's early days competition____ critical.(1.1)
a．had been
b．would be
c．was
d．has been
6 Competition between ourselves ____ persist.(1.6)
a．is enabled to
b．is seen to
c．continues to
d．attempts to
7____it would be possible to inject ideas into the modern world.(11.22-23)
a．There is no doubt
b．It is no doubt
c．What is not doubtful
d．It isn't doubtless that
8 If twenty pages vpn软件免费 ____handed down to any of the major world powers around the year 1925,they would have been sufficient to change the course of world history.(11.26-28)
a．could be
b．would vpn免费 have been
c．had been
d．have been
Vocabulary词汇
9 I would make a poor show of____ vpn免费下载 the ownership of a cave with a bear.(11.3-4)
a．engaging in
b．guarrelling with
c．discussing
d．arguing about
10 The 免费vpn competition of man against man is not the simple process ____in vpn软件免费 biology.(1.9)
a．seen
b．obvious
c．imagined
d．established
11 The Holy Office knew this full well vpn软件免费 when it caused ____to be burned.(11.18-19)
a．philosophers
b．missionaries
c．enemies
d．dissidents
12 You are conditioned by the____ of the community.(11.19-20)
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