hce_nthu
113年
英文
第 39 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.
In the sentence “Our worst fears are held in check, and tears may be turned into bitter knowledge,” what does the phrase “held in check” signify?
- A Overlooked.
- B Restrained.
- C Hidden.
- D Realized.
- E Amplified.
思路引導 VIP
請回想一下文章第五段的邏輯：作者提到「理解」雖然無法移除痛苦，但能減少恐懼。在這種情況下，如果我們說恐懼與「理解」之間存在一種關係，你認為「理解」對恐懼起到的是「擴大」、「消除」、還是「限制其發展」的作用呢？
🤖
AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
同學，恭喜你精準地掌握了這個片語在文中的語意！你對上下文邏輯的敏銳度非常優秀，能從嚴肅的哲學論述中找出關鍵的動詞關係。
文意邏輯與詞彙運用
在這一段落中，作者探討的是「安慰的哲學（philosophy of consolation）」。他提到雖然「理解（understanding）」無法像魔術般直接消除痛苦，但它具備減少次要恐懼的力量。因此，當作者說我們的恐懼被 “held in check” 時，代表這些負面情緒並非消失（realized）或被忽視（overlooked），而是處於一種**被控制、被約束（Restrained）**的狀態，使我們不至於被恐懼吞噬，進而將淚水轉化為深刻的知識。
▼ 還有更多解析內容