Close
1 Man has a blood tie with nature and nobody can live outside nature. Nature provides
us with we need: the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat.
For quite a long time after man began to live in the realm of nature, he lived in fear of its destructive forces. he used to regard nature with its elemental forces as something hostile to him. And even the forest was something wild and frightening to him. very often ,he was unable to obtain the merest daily necessities though he worked together with others stubbornly and collectively with his imperfect tools , through his interaction with nature , man changed it gradually . he cut down forest , cultivated land , transferred various species of plants and animals to different climatic conditions, changed the shape and climate of his environment and transformed pants and animals. he subdued and disciplined electricity and compelled it to serve the interests of society.
Nonetheless , with the consta expansion of agriculture and industry , man has robbed nature of too much of its irreplaceabl resources , poluted his own living environment and caused about 95% of the species that have existed over the past 600 million years to become extinct and still many others to be endangered . the previous dynamic balance between man and nature is on the verge
of breaking down . man is now faced with the problem of how to stop , or at least to moderate the destructive effect of technology on nature .
The crisis of the ecological situation has become a global problem . the solution to the problem depends on rational and wise organization both of production itself and care for mother nature . this can only be done by all humanity , rather than by individuals , enterprises or separate countries.
2 Technology is a hot issue nowadays. the defenders of technology stress its advantages while the opponents emphasize its disadvantages. Neither side has ever taken the time to look at the opposite point of view.
The defenders of technology hold that with technology peoples living conditions have been greatly improved. For example the boom in productivity has made goods better and cheaper. Therefore ，tings that were once luxuries，such as jet travel and long-distance phone calls have become necessities. Medical technology in particular has benefited us a lot ，especially in prolonging life expectancy.
On the other hand，the opponents of technology argue that technology makes life obviously worse. Telemarketing traffic jams and identity theft are all phenomena that make people consciously unhappy. In addition many people believe technology disrupts relationships and fractures community.
Ever since the Industrial Revolution the relationship between happiness and technology has been an eternal subject for social critics and philosophers, though economists and social scientists have seldom touched on the topic. However in 1974 the economist Richard Easterlin did groundbreaking work on the relationship between prosperity and well-being. In his famous paper entitled Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot Easterlin showed that there was no real correlation between a nations income level and its citizens happiness in the developed countries.
In fact technology is neither good nor bad. It depends on what we want to do with it. Therefore the responsibility belongs exclusively to humans who have to acquire a social conscience to respect human beings nature and its balances.
3 According to craig Russell , when we make an initial effort in our personal quests for knowledge , we may not even know that a certain fild of learning exists . but , after we have done some reading ,we will get to know more about the topic .at the same time ,we may feel that all the reading creates more questions rather than answers them . we then realize how little we really know and how much more we need to read and think and write . Russell suggests that we write after reading each time . his experience tells him that it is his writing that has led him to acquire a better grasp of the topic he studies . people may think that only those who know and who are ( sure ) of themselves write . for Russell , however , it’s just the opposite,for writing doesn’t close
things off ----it opens things up .
To say that the more we know , the more we know we don’t know seems contradictory .according to Russell , modern physics tells us that reality itself is contradictory . the more closely scientists look into our physical reality , the more it slips away from . in a way , the more they learn , the less they know .
Craig Russell believes that a proper understanding will inevitably lead us away from the force and rigidity of dogmatism and toward the flexibility and freedom of the individual. Therefore, we must temper our pride in knowing with the humility of not knowing. the truth always exists there ,but , it is like the rainbow because we can never really grasp it , never hold it in our hands and truly know it . we can only , as William james said , “live today by what truth we can get today and be ready to call it falsehood tomorrow.”
4 Most people have work to do. With work, they can enjoy their lives. However people who did physical labor were looked down upon in the past. Many people were compelled to take manual labor because it was an absolute necessity for them to earn a living and to support their families. By contrast, people who did mental work were highly respected. Under the influence of this idea, even today some people still idealize their future when making choices for their career. What they care most about is whether the job can give them enough social
status rather than whether they can realize their values in it. In their eyes, those who do manual labor should still be classified as inferior in social status.
In fact, there is no essential difference between those who work with their hands and those who work with their mind. Whether a job is labor or work does not depend on the job itself but on people‘s attitude toward it. As long as you like your job, you will think you are fortunate enough to take it and you will do it enthusiastically.
5 What dose success mean to you does it mean wealth , fame , power , or something else different people have different in life so they understand success in different ways . some people chase money their whole lives .to them, more money means more success . some people run after fame . With fame and reputation, they can gain the admiration and love of many others. However, some people dedicate themselves to the well-being of society.
Doubtlessly, money is something that can be used as a reward to those who have done valuable work. Those who perform their work excellently should be paid sufficiently. But success cannot be measured in monetary terms, nor in terms of the amount of power one may exercise over others. After all, money and power can assure people neither of happiness nor of respect from others. Fame, too, is a flawed measure of success. Momentary fame can bring great
新世纪大学英语综合教程4完形填空(close)答案及原文
