托?？谡Z(yǔ)練習(xí)素材

托?？谡Z(yǔ)練習(xí)素材托福口語(yǔ)中經(jīng)常會(huì)問(wèn)到大家關(guān)于科技類(lèi)的話題：Somepeoplebelievethatmoderntechnologyhasmadeourlivessimpler.Othersbelievethatmoderntechnologyhasmadeourlivesmorecomplicated.Whatisyouropinion?讓我們首先一起來(lái)閱讀羅素的這篇Onscienceandgoodlife.既可以積累素材，也可以激發(fā)靈感：Thereisprobablynolimittowhatsciencecandointhewayofincreasingpositiveexcellence.Healthhasalreadybeengreatlyimproved;inspiteofthelamentationsofthosewhoidealizethepast,welivelongerandhavefewerillnessesthananyclassornationintheeighteenthcentury.Withalittlemoreapplicationoftheknowledgewealreadypossess,wemightbemuchhealthierthanweare.Andfuturediscoveriesarelikelytoacceleratethisprocessenormously.科學(xué)在增加美好的積極因素方面所能做的事情，很可能是沒(méi)有止境的。衛(wèi)生條件已經(jīng)得到極大的改善;不管那些懷舊者如何哀嘆，與十八世紀(jì)任何階級(jí)和民族相比，我們畢竟延長(zhǎng)了壽命并減少了疾病。只要把我們已有的知識(shí)稍加廣泛地應(yīng)用，我們就會(huì)比現(xiàn)在更加健康。未來(lái)的發(fā)現(xiàn)很可能會(huì)極大地加快這方面的進(jìn)程。Sofar,ithasbeenphysicalsciencethathashadmosteffectuponourlives,butinthefuturephysiologyandpsychologyarelikelytobefarmorepotent.Whenwehavediscoveredhowcharacterdependsuponphysiologicalconditions,weshallbeable,ifwechoose,toproducefarmoreofthetypeofhumanbeingsthatweadmire.Intelligence,artisticcapacity,benevolence―allthesethingsnodoubtcouldbeincreasedbyscience.Thereseemsscarcelyanylimittowhatcouldbedoneinthewayofproducingagoodworld,ifonlymenwouldusesciencewisely.迄今為止，對(duì)我們生活影響最大的當(dāng)數(shù)自然科學(xué)，但是在將來(lái)，生理學(xué)和心理學(xué)的影響很可能遠(yuǎn)在它之上。當(dāng)我們發(fā)現(xiàn)了性格如何依賴(lài)于生理?xiàng)l件時(shí)，只要我們?cè)敢?，我們就能產(chǎn)生出大量我們所稱(chēng)羨的那種人。智力，藝術(shù)能力，仁慈---所有這些東西無(wú)疑可因科學(xué)而增加。只要人們明智地利用科學(xué)，在創(chuàng)造美好世界方面所能做的事情，幾乎是沒(méi)有止境的'。ThereisacertainattitudeabouttheapplicationofsciencetohumanlifewithwhichIhavesomesympathy,thoughIdonot,inthelastanalysis,agreewithit.Itistheattitudeofthosewhodreadwhatis‘unnatural.’Rousseauis,ofcourse,thegreatprotagonistoftheviewinEurope.InAsia,Lao-Tzehassetitforthevenmorepersuasively,and2400yearssooner.Ithinkthereisamixtureoftruthandfalsehoodintheadmirationof‘nature,whichitisimportanttodisentangle.Tobeginwith,whatis‘natural?’Roughlyspeaking,anythingtowhichthespeakerwasaccustomedinchildhood.Lao-Tzeobjectstoroadsandcarriagesandboats,allofwhichwereprobablyunknowninthevillagewherehewasborn關(guān)于科學(xué)應(yīng)用到人生這個(gè)問(wèn)題，存在著一種觀點(diǎn)，對(duì)這種觀點(diǎn)，我有些同感，但是最后分析起來(lái)，我是不能同意的。它是那些害怕‘不自然的’東西的人所持有的觀點(diǎn)。當(dāng)然，盧梭是歐洲這一觀點(diǎn)的偉大創(chuàng)始人。在亞洲，老子對(duì)這一觀點(diǎn)的闡述，更是動(dòng)人心弦，而且要早兩千四百年。我認(rèn)為，他們對(duì)于‘自然’的贊美，不過(guò)是真理與謬誤的混合物，而理清這一問(wèn)題是很重要的。首先要問(wèn)，什么東西是‘自然的?’泛泛說(shuō)來(lái)，是說(shuō)話者幼年時(shí)所習(xí)慣的東西。老子反對(duì)車(chē)道和舟車(chē)，這恐怕是他所出生的那個(gè)村子不知車(chē)道和舟車(chē)為何物的緣故。Rousseauhasgotusedtothesethings,anddoesnotregardthemasagainstnature.Buthewouldnodoubthavethunderedagainstrailwaysifhehadlivedtoseethem.Clothesandcookingaretooancienttobedenouncedbymostoftheapostlesofnature,thoughtheyallobjecttonewfashionsineither.Birthcontrolisthoughtwickedbypeoplewhotoleratecelibacy,becausetheformerisanewviolationofnatureandthelatteranancientone.Inthesewaysthosewhopreach‘nature’areinconsistent,andoneistemptedtoregardthemasmereconservatives.盧梭對(duì)這些東西習(xí)以為常，所以并不認(rèn)為它們是違反自然的。但是，假如他在有生之年看見(jiàn)鐵路，他無(wú)疑會(huì)大加指責(zé)。服裝和烹飪由來(lái)已久，大多數(shù)提倡自然的人都不提出異議，雖然它們一致反對(duì)花樣翻新。節(jié)育被當(dāng)成犯罪，而獨(dú)身則被寬容，因?yàn)榍罢呤沁`反自然的新事物，而后者則古已有之。在所有這些方面，那些提倡‘自然’的人都是自相矛盾的，這只能使人把它們看成是守舊之士。Nevertheless,thereissomethingtobesaidintheirfavor.Takeforinstancevitamins,thediscoveryofwhichhasproducedarevulsioninfavorof‘natural’foods.Itseems,however,thatvitaminscanbesuppliedbycod-liveroilandelectriclight,whicharecertainlynotpartofthe‘natural’dietofahumanbeing.Thiscaseillustratesthat,intheabsenceofknowledge,unexpectedharmmaybedonebyanewdeparturefromnature,butwhentheharmhascometobeunderstooditcanusuallyberemediedbysomenewartificiality.Asregardsourphysicalenvironmentandourphysicalmeansofgratifyingourdesires,Idonotthinkthedoctrineof‘nature’justifiesanythingbeyondacertainexperimentalcautionintheadoptionofnewexpedients.Clothes,forinstance,arecontrarytonature,andneedtobesupplementedbyanotherunnaturalpractice,namelywashing,iftheyarenottobringdisease.Butthetwopracticestogethermakeamanhealthierthanthesavagewhoeschewsboth.然而，他們并非一無(wú)是處。例如，維生素的發(fā)現(xiàn)使人們復(fù)而贊成‘自然的’食物。不過(guò)，維生素似乎也可由魚(yú)肝油和電光提供，此二者無(wú)疑不是人類(lèi)‘自然的’食物。這個(gè)例子表明，如果缺少知識(shí)，一種違反自然的新做法也許會(huì)帶來(lái)意想不到的危害，但是當(dāng)那危害被認(rèn)識(shí)到時(shí)，往往可以用某種新的人造物去補(bǔ)救。就我們的自然環(huán)境和滿足我們欲望的物質(zhì)手段而言，我認(rèn)為，有關(guān)‘自然’的這套理論，除了證明在采取某種新的做法時(shí)應(yīng)謹(jǐn)慎外，并不能證明別的什么。例如，衣服是違反自然的，如果不想讓衣服引起疾病，就需要增加另一種不自然的行為，即洗滌。但是，穿衣與洗滌加在一起卻可使人比與此二者無(wú)緣的野蠻人要健康。Torespectphysicalnatureisfoolish;physicalnatureshouldbestudiedwithaviewtomakingitservehumanendsasfaraspossible,butitremainsethicallyneithergoodnorbad.Andwherephysicalnatureandhumannatureinteract,asinthepopulationquestion,thereisnoneedtofoldourhandsinpassiveadorationandacceptwar,pestilence,andfamineastheonlypossiblemeansofdealingwithexcessivefertility.Thedivinessay:itiswicked,inthismatter,toapplysciencetothephysicalsideoftheproblem;wemust(theysay)applymoralstothehumanside,andpracticeabstinence.Apartfromthefactthateveryone,includingthedivines,knowsthattheiradvicewillnotbetaken,whyshoulditbewickedtosolvethepopulationquestionbyadoptingphysicalmeansforpreventingconception?尊重物質(zhì)的自然是愚蠢的;物質(zhì)的自然應(yīng)當(dāng)加以研究，以便使其盡可能地服務(wù)于人類(lèi)的目的，但它在道德上是無(wú)所謂好壞的。在物質(zhì)的自然和人類(lèi)的天性相互影響的地方，如人口問(wèn)題，我們無(wú)須束手被動(dòng)地敬畏并接受戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)，瘟疫和饑荒為解決過(guò)度繁殖的問(wèn)題的唯一可能的方法。神學(xué)家們說(shuō)，在此事上，應(yīng)用科學(xué)于這一問(wèn)題的物質(zhì)方面是罪惡的;我們應(yīng)當(dāng)(他們說(shuō))應(yīng)用道德于人的方面，并且實(shí)行禁欲。每個(gè)人，這些神學(xué)家也不例外，都知道他們的勸告無(wú)人理睬，撇開(kāi)這個(gè)事實(shí)不談，通過(guò)避孕的物質(zhì)手段來(lái)解決人口問(wèn)題究竟何罪之有?Noanswerisforthcomingexceptonebaseduponantiquateddogmas.Andclearlytheviolencetonatureadvocatedbythedivinesisatleastasgreatasthatinvolvedinbirthcontrol.Thedivinespreferaviolencetohumannaturewhich,whensuccessfullypracised,involvesunhappiness,envy,atendencytopersecution,oftenmadness.Iprefera‘violence’tophysicalnaturewhichisofthesamesortasthatinvolvedinthesteamengineorevenintheuseofanumbrella.Thisinstanceshouldshowambiguousanduncer