hce_nthu
113年
英文
第 38 題
📖 題組：
Reading 4: The single greatest enemy of contemporary satisfaction may be the belief in human perfectibility. We have been driven to collective rage through the apparently generous yet in reality devastating idea that it might be within our natural remit to be completely and enduringly happy. For thousands of years, we knew better. We might have been superstitious and credulous, but not without limit. All substantial endeavors—marriage, child-rearing, a career, politics—were understood to be sources of distinctive and elaborate misery. Buddhism described life itself as a vale of suffering; the Greeks insisted on the tragic structure of every human project; Christianity interpreted each of us as being marked by a divine curse. First formulated by the philosopher St Augustine in the closing days of the Roman empire, “original sin” generously insisted that humanity was intrinsically, rather than accidentally flawed. We are broken creatures and have been since our expulsion from Eden, damned—to use the resonant Latin phrase—by peccatum originale. This should feel not like a punishing observation, but more like relief from the pressures of 200 years of scientifically mandated faith in the possibility of progress. There can wisely be “no solutions”, no self-help, of a kind that removes problems altogether. What we can aim for, at best, is consolation—a word tellingly lacking in glamour. To believe in consolation means giving up on cures; it means accepting that life is a hospice rather than a hospital, but one we’d like to render as comfortable, as interesting and as kind as possible. A philosophy of consolation directs us to two important salves: understanding and companionship. Or grasping what our problem is—and knowing that we are not alone with it. Understanding does not magically remove the pain but it has the power to reduce a range of secondary aggravations and fears. At least we know what is racking us and why. Our worst fears are held in check, and tears may be turned into bitter knowledge. It helps immensely too to know that we are in company. Despite the upbeat tone of society in general, there is solace in the discovery that everyone else is, in private, of course as bewildered and regretful as we are. This is simply profound relief that we are not the only ones.
Reading 4: The single greatest enemy of contemporary satisfaction may be the belief in human perfectibility. We have been driven to collective rage through the apparently generous yet in reality devastating idea that it might be within our natural remit to be completely and enduringly happy. For thousands of years, we knew better. We might have been superstitious and credulous, but not without limit. All substantial endeavors—marriage, child-rearing, a career, politics—were understood to be sources of distinctive and elaborate misery. Buddhism described life itself as a vale of suffering; the Greeks insisted on the tragic structure of every human project; Christianity interpreted each of us as being marked by a divine curse. First formulated by the philosopher St Augustine in the closing days of the Roman empire, “original sin” generously insisted that humanity was intrinsically, rather than accidentally flawed. We are broken creatures and have been since our expulsion from Eden, damned—to use the resonant Latin phrase—by peccatum originale. This should feel not like a punishing observation, but more like relief from the pressures of 200 years of scientifically mandated faith in the possibility of progress. There can wisely be “no solutions”, no self-help, of a kind that removes problems altogether. What we can aim for, at best, is consolation—a word tellingly lacking in glamour. To believe in consolation means giving up on cures; it means accepting that life is a hospice rather than a hospital, but one we’d like to render as comfortable, as interesting and as kind as possible. A philosophy of consolation directs us to two important salves: understanding and companionship. Or grasping what our problem is—and knowing that we are not alone with it. Understanding does not magically remove the pain but it has the power to reduce a range of secondary aggravations and fears. At least we know what is racking us and why. Our worst fears are held in check, and tears may be turned into bitter knowledge. It helps immensely too to know that we are in company. Despite the upbeat tone of society in general, there is solace in the discovery that everyone else is, in private, of course as bewildered and regretful as we are. This is simply profound relief that we are not the only ones.
Which of the following best describes the author’s view toward the idea of original sin?
- A The author finds it bewildering.
- B The author finds it farfetched.
- C The author finds it progressive.
- D The author finds it religious.
- E The author finds it comforting.
思路引導 VIP
如果現代社會一直要求你必須達成「完美」才能獲得幸福，而此時有一套理論告訴你：「人類天生就是有缺陷的，不完美是我們的本質」，那麼這套理論對一個感到精疲力竭的人來說，會產生什麼樣的心理作用呢？
🤖
AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
恭喜你精準地捕捉到了這篇文章的核心轉折！這題確實具有相當的難度，因為它要求讀者拋開對特定名詞的既定印象，深入體會作者獨特的哲學立場。
翻轉觀點：從「原罪」中獲得的解脫
通常我們認為「原罪」（original sin）是個沉重且負面的宗教概念，但在這篇文章中，作者卻賦予它極為正向的色彩。文中提到原罪並非一種懲罰性的觀察，反而像是一種 「解脫」（relief）。作者認為，當我們接受人類本質上就是不完美的、是有缺陷的（intrinsically flawed）時，我們就能從現代社會要求「必須完美」或「必須永遠快樂」的巨大壓力中釋放出來。文中使用了「慷慨地堅持」（generously insisted）一詞，正說明了這種觀點能帶給人心理上的撫慰，與選項 (E) Comforting (令人欣慰的/寬慰的) 完全吻合。
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