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新概念英语
85
年上外美音版第四册
第
58
课:
Painting as a Pastime
Lesson 58 Painting as a
Pastime
绘画消遣
A gifted American
psychologist has said, 'Worry is a
spasm of the emotion; the mind catches
hold of something and
will not let it
go.' It is useless to argue with the mind in
this condition. The stronger the will,
the more futile the
task. One can only
gently insinuate something else into its
convulsive grasp. And if this something
else is rightly
chosen, if it is really
attended by the illumination of
another
field of interest, gradually, and often quite
swiftly,
the old undue grip relaxes and
the process of recuperation
and repair
begins.
The cultivation of a hobby and new
forms of interest is
therefore a policy
of first importance to a public man. But
this is not a business that can be
undertaken in a day or
swiftly
improvised by a mere command of the will. The
growth
of alternative mental interests
is a long process. The seeds
must be
carefully chosen; they must fall on good ground;
they
must be sedulously tended, if the
vivifying fruits are to be
at hand when
needed.
To be really happy and really safe, one
ought to have at
least two or three
hobbies, and they must all be real. It is
no use starting late in life to
say
:
'I will take an
interest in this or that.' Such an
attempt only aggravates
the strain of
mental effort. A man may acquire great
knowledge of topics unconnected with
his daily work, and yet
hardly get any
benefit or relief. It is no use doing what you
like, you have got to like what you do.
Broadly speaking,
human beings may be
divided into three classes
:
those who
are toiled to death, those
who are worried to death, and
those who
are bored to death. It is no use offering the
manual labourer, tired out with a hard
week's sweat and
effort, the chance of
playing a game of football or baseball
on Saturday afternoon. It is no use
inviting the politician
or the
professional or business man, who has been working
or
worrying about serious things for
six days, to work or worry
about
trifling things at the week-end.
As for the
unfortunate people who can command everything
they want, who can gratify every
caprice and lay their hands
on almost
every object of desire for them a new pleasure, a
new excitement is only an additional
satiation. In vain they
rush
frantically round from place to place, trying to
escape
from avenging boredom by mere
clatter and motion. For them
discipline
in one form or another is the most hopeful
path.
It may also be said that rational,
industrious, useful
human beings are
divided into two classes
:
first, those
whose work is work and
whose pleasure is pleasure; and
secondly, those whose work and pleasure
are one. Of these the
former are the
majority. They have their compensations. The
long hours in the office or the factory
bring with them as
their reward, not
only the means of sustenance, but a keen
appetite for pleasure even in its
simplest and most modest
forms. But
fortune's favoured children belong to the second
class. Their life is a natural harmony.
For them the working
hours are never
long enough. Each day is a holiday, and
ordinary holidays when they come are
grudged as enforced
interruptions in an
absorbing vocation. Yet to both classes
the need of an alternative outlook, of
a change of atmosphere,
of a diversion
of effort, is essential. Indeed, it may well
be that those whose work is their
pleasure are those who most
need the
means of banishing it at intervals from their
minds.
psychologist n.
心理学家
gifted adj.
有天才的
spasm n.
一阵(感情)发作
catch hold of
抓住
futile adj.
无用的
insinuatevt.
使潜入,暗示
convulsive adj.
起痉挛的
illumination n.
启发,照明
undue adj.
不适合的
grip n.
紧张
improvise vt.
临时作成
sedulously
adv.
孜孜不倦地
tend
vt.
照管
aggravate
vt
加剧
.
broadly speaking
大体上说
toil vt.
劳累
trifling
adj.
微小的
gratify
vt.
使满意
caprice
n.
任性
satiation n.
满足
in
vain
徒劳
frantically
adv.
狂乱地
avenge
vt.
替…报复
boredom
n.
厌烦
clutter n.
喧闹的谈话
sustenance
n.
生计
keen adj.
强烈的
appetite
n.
欲望
favoured
adj.
受到偏爱的
grudge
vt.
怨恨
absorbing
adj.
引人入胜的
banish
vt.
排除,放弃
pastime n.
消遣
单词解析:
1. psychologist n.
心理学家
[
联想
] psychology
n.
心理学
psywar
心理战
psychoanalysis
心理分析
adj.
有天才的
eg. He
is gifted.
他很有天赋。
[
联想
]
表示聪明、有天赋的词还有:
talented
adj.
天才的;
adroit adj.
灵巧的,敏捷的;
genius n.
天才;
brilliant
adj.
有才气的,聪明的;
smart
n.
聪明的(可用于口语)
3. spasm n.
一阵(感情)发作
用法:
…a spasm of wild joy… 狂喜
a
spasm person
被惯坏
的人
4. futile adj.
无用的;(土地)贫瘠的
.
[
反义
] fertile adj.
(思想)睿智的;(土地)肥沃的
[
近义
]
void adj.
没用的;
pointless
adj.
无意义的
5. insinuatevt.
使潜入,暗示
[
记
]
作为一个使动词的用法:
be + adj. v. +
oneself
eg. ~ oneself into one`s favour / the
crowd
向某人献媚、
示爱
/
挤进人群
He always insinuates himself into his
boss`s favour.
他经常向他的头儿献媚。
eg. He insinuated his doubt
of the answer.
他对这个答案稍
有疑问。
p>
(vt.
暗示
)
6. illumination
n.
启发,照明
[
近义
]
enlightenment n.
启迪
edification
n.
启发,教诲
instruction
n.
教育,知道