應外專閱讀班講義之四
The Evolution of Faith 講義
Paragraph I
1 Rumble Vi 發出隆隆聲
The south-bound express train rumbles past the platform as the conductor cautioned the passengers to step back.
2 Fall on one’s knees v 跪下來
Knowing that his life was at the disposal of his enemy, the captive fell on his knees and begged for his life.
3 Imminent adj. 立即的
Global warming is an imminent threat to the environment that we all have to tackle.
4 Imperative n. 要求
The Decalogue is an imperative that humans are supposed to abide by.
Synonym exercise:
Check your home-insurance policy? Fall on your knees and pray for deliverance?
1 Fall on ones knees means (a) fall down (b) kneel down (c) put down (d) dress down
2 Deliverance means (a) salvation (b) redemption (c) delivery (d) severance
Instead, even when faced with imminent disaster, you’ll spend precious time asking, What was that?
3 Imminent means (a) imperial (b) immediate (c) immense (d) eminent
It’s called the cognitive imperative, the uniquely human, hard-wired instinct to link cause with effect that gave us a vital evolutionary advantage over other animal species.
4 Cognitive means (a) of eating (b) of hearing (c) of knowing (d) of thinking
5 Imperative means (a) imperialism (b) command (c) recommend (d) cooperative
6 Hard-wired means (a) innate (b) acquired (c) accessory (d) hard-core
Paragraph II
1 Delineate Vt 描繪
Gone with the Wind delineates the aristocratic life and clash of interests between the North and South during the American Civil War.
2 Enquiry n. 探討
Shakespeare’s plays are an excellent enquiry into the subtleties and depth of human nature.
3 Be responsible for V 解釋
Media hype of politics is responsible for the social upheaval.
4 Spirituality n. 信仰
Roman Catholicism and Christianity are the common spirituality in Europe and Americas.
5 Provoke Vt.引起
His antagonistic remarks provoked a harsh criticism from the opponents.
6 In terms of 從…的觀點
Biologists tried to explain human aggressive behavior in terms of evolution.
7 Inflict 施以
Rebels say they have inflicted heavy casualties on government troops.
Synonym exercise:
Delineating how we react to an earthquake is just one example of the cognitive imperative described in Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast, British scientist Lewis Wolpert’s enquiry into the evolutionary origins of belief.
1 Delineate means (a) line up (b) define (c) portray (d) deduce
2 Enquiry means (a) exploration (b) investigation (c) interrogation (d) immersion
In his 2004 book The God Gene, U.S. molecular biologist Dean Hamer claimed to have located one of the genes he said was responsible for spirituality.
3 Be responsible for means (a) stick up for (b) account for (c) look for (d) thirst for
4 Spirituality means (a) passion (b) belief (c) disbelief (d) legend
Last month, the American philosopher and evolutionary theorist Daniel Dennet provoked more controversy with Breaking the Spell, in which he cast religion in terms of memes---cultural ideas that can spread, mutate and survive in our minds, whether or not they are good for us.
5 Provoke means (a) gear up (b) stir up (c) give up (d) hold up
6 Cast means (a) explain (b) mold (c) throw (d) chuck
7 In terms of means (a) from the point of view of (b) from the ground of (c) to the purpose of (d) in keeping with a theory
Researchers at the Center for the Science of the Mind are inflicting torture on volunteers to see if religious belief can help them cope with pain.
8 Inflict means (a) impose (b) exact (c) distort (d) intrude
Paragraph III
1 Champion n.倡導人 提倡者,鬥士
Martin Luther King is best remembered as a great champion of human rights, who strived for the equality between the black and white.
2 Survey V 回顧
The author surveyed American literature with sociological point of view.
3 Underpin V 作為…的基礎
In ancient Greek mythology we are easy to find all the mystical themes that underpin all religions.
4 Intuitive Adj. 本能的
The so called sixth sense of a person is actually an intuitive understanding of the things and people around him.
5 Cling to V 緊抓住
The Christians cling to the idea that God will judge the world and deal out justice to all people.
6 Rational Adj.理性的
Human beings are not always rational especially when it comes to political ideology.
7 Displace V 取代
Scientists have been trying to find bio-fuel to displace fossil fuel that causes global warming and is being depleted .
8 Credence N. 信念
I won’t give any credence to such groundless stories as rubbing the Laughing Buddha’s belly bringing riches.
9 Conviction N.深信不疑
All those adverse media reports on the president’s corruption cannot alter his supporter’s conviction in the president’s innocence.
10 Be bound to V 一定會
A trustworthy person is bound to keep his promise.
Synonym exercise:
As a development biologist at London’s University College, and one of Britain’s loudest champions of the public understanding of science, Wolpert covers genes, memes, pain and various other angles in his book.
1 Champion means (a) adversary (b) advocate (c) winner (d) chaser
But rather than just arm wrestling with God’s faithful, his book attempts to survey the science underpinning all intuitive beliefs, including religion, that humans stubbornly cling to, in spite of the best efforts of rational enquiry to displace them: credence in the paranormal, magic and superstition; faith in alternative-health therapies; the conviction that that sooner or later we’re bound to win a lottery jackpot.
2 Underpin means (a) undertone (b) underlie (c) underestimate (d) underpaid
3 Cling to means (a) be payable to (b) hold on to (c) admit to (d) succumb to
4 Rational means (a) endurable (b) admirable (c) sensible (d) sensitive
5 Displace means (a) replace (b) dispense (c) reiterate (d) dissuade
6 Paranormal means (a) international (b) abnormal (c) superstitious (d) supernatural
7 Conviction means (a) uncertainty (b) doubt (c) faith (d) persuasion
It prefers quick decisions, it is bad with numbers, loves representativeness and sees patters where there is only randomness.
8 Randomness means (a) logic (b) causality (c) opportunity (d) chance
Paragraph IV
1 Coincidence N.巧合
What a coincidence! I ran into an old friend of mine whom I have been trying to reach for long time but failed to do so.
Synonym exercise:
It is no coincidence that the stubbornest of our irrational beliefs correspond to our fears of the unknown, the unknowable and the unstoppable---of disease, death and natural disaster.
1 Correspond to means (a) adhere to (b) submit to (c) subscribe to (d) echo
Although Wolpert is a passionate promoter of science, he still recognize that religion has its benefits and that in some things reason will never triumph over superstition.
2 Promoter means (a) expatriate (b) advocate (c) opponent (d) respondent
Paragraph V
1 Fashion Vt 製作
The technology to fashion a human clone is still in the lab.
2 Speculate Vt.推測
It would be unfair to Debby’s family to speculate on the reasons of her suicide.
3 Virtually Adv.幾乎
Virtually every committee voted against the proposal of establishing nuclear power plant.
Synonym exercise:
More likely to start an argument is the author’s novel proposition that the imperative to link cause and effect derived directly from our earliest hominid ancestors’ discovery of tools as many as 2 million years ago.
1 Novel means (a) creative (b) new (c) old (d) traditional
2 Proposition means (a) supposition (b) thesis (c) hypothesis (d) proposal
3 Hominid means (a) future generations (b) homicide (c) aliens (d) primitive mankind
The ability to fashion a flint spear, he speculate, promote a kind of causal thinking that was beyond other species: take a certain type of stone, hit it in just such a way, and it will leave a cutting edge.
4 Fashion means (a) make (b) style (c) mold (d) vogue
5 Speculate (a) reason (b) judge (c) estimate (d) conjecture
Paronym exercise:
1 Mine (Latin root: stand)
立即的 ___________; 著名的___________; 優秀的___________;
2 Uni (Latin root: one)
一致的____________; 單邊的____________; 統一____________; 單位____________; 單細胞的____________; 獨角獸____________; 結合____________; 獨一無二的____________; 中性的____________; 聯合____________; 宇宙____________;
3 Vit (Latin root: 生命)
有活力的_________;活力_________;復甦_________;存活_________;維他命_________;活潑_________;生動的_________;
4 The (Greek root: put)
主題_________;, 假設_________; 命題_________; 反命題_________; 合成_________; 理論_________;, 理論家_________;
5 Mem mnem (Greek root: memory)
記憶_________; 記得_________; 背誦_________; 紀念_________; 紀念的_________; 紀念堂_________; 回憶錄_________; 備忘錄_________; 遺物_________;
6 Claim (Latin root: 叫喊)
宣稱_________; 歡呼_________; 抨擊_________; 否認_________; 驚叫_________; 宣佈_________; 收回權利_________;喧嘩的_________;
7 Voc (Latin root: 呼召)
挑釁_________; 召喚神明_________; 召開會議_________; 喚起_________; 撤銷_________; 天職_________; 大聲疾呼_________; 模稜兩可的_________; 不含糊的_________; 聲音_________; 聲樂的_________; 發聲_________; 吵雜的_________; 字彙_________;
8 Para (Greek prefix: by the side of, assisting, surpassing)
超自然的_________; 民兵_________; 醫護人員_________; 平行_________; 換句話說_________; 行頭_________; 典範_________; 至高無上的_________;
9 Cred (Latin root: believe)
相信_________; 信用_________; 資格_________; 可信的_________; 可信度_________; 不可置信的_________;輕信的_________;信念_________;信條_________;
10 Al (Latin root: 另外一個)
外星人___ ________; 疏離 ___________; 別名___________; 改變(V) ___________; 改變(N) ___________; 輪流(V) ___________; 輪流(N) ___________; 另類的___________; 另一個自我___________; 不在場證明___________;
11 Nov (Latin root: new)
新穎的_________; 創新_________; 翻新_________; 新手_________; 新奇的事物_________; 新鮮感_________;超新星_________;