1006G jinziqi的备考日记—— 年轻不拼待何时

jinziqiUID：2387034

The 30th Day
Beyond Righteousness (adhering to moral principles) and Gain
by Zhou Guoping

"A virtuous man is concerned with righteousness while a mean man, with gain,” Confucius says. The "righteousness" and "gain" have long been a central theme in the Chinese philosophy of life. But, what if I am neither virtuous nor mean?

There was once a time when almost everyone claimed to be a gentleman and every word uttered was about righteousness. At that time, there might have been some truly virtuous men who were so righteous as to give up whatever was profitable. But, more likely, one might meet hypocrites who used righteousness as a fig (微不足道的事) leaf for their cupidity (extreme greed for material wealth), or pedants believed in whatever passed for righteousness. Gone are the old days. The social trend has taken on a dramatic change unawares: the reputation of righteousness nosedived, truly virtuous men became extinct, hypocrites dropped the fig leaf and the scales fell from the eyes of the pedants. With- out exception, they all joined in the scramble for gains. It is believed that the philosophy of life has changed and a new interpretation of righteousness and gain looms large: seeking material gains is not the exclusive patent of the mean, but a golden rule for all.

"Time is money" is a vogue (the popular taste at a given time) word nowadays. Nothing is wrong when entrepreneurs apply it to boost productivity. But, when it is worshipped as a motto of life and commercialism takes the place of other wisdom of life, life is then turned into a corporation and, consequently, interpersonal relations into a market.

I used to mock at the cheap "human touch". But, nowadays even the cheap “touch” has become rare and costly. Can you, if I may ask, get a smile, a greeting, or a tiny bit of compassion for free?

Don’t be nostalgic, though. It is in fact of little help if you try to redeem (restore the honor or worth of) the world or salvage (save from ruin, destruction, or harm) the corrupt minds through preaching various brands of righteousness. Nevertheless, beyond righteousness and gain, I believe, there are other attitudes towards life; beyond virtue and meanness, there are other individualities. Allow me to coin (?) a sentence in the Confucian style: "A perfect man is concerned with disposition."

Indeed, righteousness and gain, seemingly poles apart, have much essence in common. Righteousness calls for a devotion to the whole society while gain drives one to pursue material interests. In both cases, one’s disposition is over- looked and his true “self” concealed. "Righteousness" teaches one to give while "gain" induces one to take. The former turns one’s life into a process of fulfilling endless obligations while the latter breeds a life-long scramble for wealth and power. We must remember, however, the true value of life is beyond obligations and power. Both righteousness and gain are yoked by calculating minds. That’s why we often find ourselves in a tense interpersonal (人与人之间的) relationship whether Mr. Righteousness is commanding or Mr. Gain, controlling (这个放在这里是修饰什么的?).


If "righteousness" stands for an ethical philosophy of life, and "gain," a utilitarian (功利主义者) one, what I mean by "disposition" is an aesthetical philosophy of fife, which advocates taking your disposition as the operational guidance for your fife, whereby everyone is allowed to keep his true "self". You do not five (?) for the doctrines you believe in or the materials you possess. Instead, your true "self" makes you who you are. The true meaning of life lies not in giving or possessing, but in creating, which actively unfolds your true disposition, or, in other words, the emotional gratification (great satisfaction) you obtain through the exertion (hard work) of your essential power. Different from giving, which is the performance of an external responsibility, creating is the realization of one’s true self. The difference between creating and possessing is more than crystal clear. Let’s take creative writing as an example: "Possessing" focuses on the fame or social status a piece of writing may bring, while "creating" highlights the plea- sure in the process of writing. A man of disposition seeks nothing but the communication of feelings while in company, and the cultivation of taste while possessing something. More valuably, in a time when most people are busy hunting for wealth and being hunted by it, a man of disposition is al- ways at ease in social intercourses. Here I' m not talking about the leisure of traditional Chinese scholar-officials, nor the complacency (the feeling you have when you are satisfied with yourself) of conservative peasants, but about a peaceful mind coming from a non-materialistic attitude towards life. Using the writing example again, I’ve been wondering why a writer needs to be prolific. If he dreams of being enshrined, an immortal short poem is enough. Otherwise, he could be pretty much satisfied with a carefree life. In this sense, writing is merely a way for such a life.

Bernard Shaw once said, “There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart’s desire. The other is to get it." With it I couldn’t agree more. I did admire him for his easy and humorous way in describing the quandary (state of uncertainty or perplexity especially as requiring a choice between equally unfavorable options) of life. However, a deep ponder over it has brought home to me that Shaw’s standpoint is no other than 就是 "possessing", which keeps us stranded in a double dosage tragedy of life: it' s a pain not to possess your heart' s desire, and a tedium, to have possessed it. However, if we shift the standpoint from "possessing" to "creating", and look at life with an esthetic eye, we can interpret Shaw’s words the other way round: there are two comedies in life. One is not to get your heart’s desire, so you still have the opportunity to seek or create it. The other is to get your heart’s desire, and then you are able to enjoy tasting or experiencing it--Of course, life can never be free from pains, and a wealth hunter cannot dream of the sadness of a man who places a premium on his true disposition. However, to be free from the mania for pos- session may at least save you many petty worries and pains, and let you enjoy a graceful life. 1 have no intention to prescribe the esthetic viewpoint as the cure for a corrupt world. I just want to express a belief: there is a life more worth living than the one haunted by righteousness and gain. And, this belief will help me sail through the unpredictable waters of my future life.

My Comment
In this article, Zhou Guoping believes that there are other attitude towards life beyond righteousness and gain. Righteous man is always waiting for give, while a “gain” man exerts every effort to get power or money. However, Mr. Zhou prefers a non-materialistic attitude towards life instead. As far as I am concerned, everyone has a dream or you may call it a desire. People will spend the whole life to fulfill his dream. On the middle way to the success, some people give up because they are hurt by the crucial society, some people change his mind to do something else to achieve his goal. What a difficult way. However, will people who succeed in getting the top of the mountain be satisfied? More often, people are disappointed because they find that all he gained is totally not what he has been dreamed of. As the author suggested, we should shift our attitude into creating. So, we can enjoy pursuing our future or tasting or experiencing.

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The 31st Day -- TOT 崩溃的philo长文...

New wordsdivine 神的
insofar as 在...的范围内
inkling 暗示；迹象
simultaneous 同时发生的
infinity 无限
dictum 名言
immobility 静止
omnipresent 无所不在的
tantamount 同等的
compulsion 强迫


Difficult sentences
One who lives in time progresses in the present from the past and into the future.
It never ceases to be and therefore is an imitation of eternity, but it is balanced on the knife / edge of the present, the brief and fleeting instant, which we may call a kind of costume of eternity.
God is eternal but the world is perpetual.

And it is similarly true that his observation does not affect the things he sees that are present to him but future in terms of the flow of time.

Now, if you were to say that what God sees as going to occur cannot not occur and that what cannot not occur happens of necessity, and make a problem of the word ‘necessity,’ I will answer that it is absolutely true but is, indeed, a problem, not so much for logicians as for theologians.
这些句子都好绕啊...
It is not necessary that a man go for a walk, even though it is necessary, when he is walking, that he is walking. 纠结啊...


我再读几遍再写comment..

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The 32nd Day --

clamour  loud and persistent outcry from many people
prominent 显著的
clinical 临床的
mindset 心态
esoteric 深奥的
regulator 管理者
charismatic possessing an extraordinary ability to attract

But business is also changing its mind about it wants from MBA students.

Comment
The debate topic is how do bussiness schools remain relevant in today's changing world. As we all know, our world is developing as a really fast speed. For example, a brand new computer will be produced in just half an year with a higher standard. However, our textbooks in school were edited many years ago.Even the textbook publiced recently, the knowledge will be outdated after 2 years. As the author discussed, because the economic crisis, should we develop new thory about management to adapt the market? I think the issue is not only relvent to business school, but also to the extent to any other area. Although we need to catch up with the pace of time, we should also learn the basic study way in college, so that we can learn anything in the future.

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The 33th Day

putative 想象的
modus 方法
diminution 缩小
planetary 行星的
probe 探测
wobble 不稳定
terrestrial 陆地的
interval 间隔


The passage tells us an issue when astronomers were searching a putative planet but it turned out to be that there is no Vulcan to be found, however, the method they used is sound. Then, the author introduces some other methods and finds facts that are not surprising. In my point of view, astronomy is hard to research for which we cannot see everything directly, we can only use a great deal of complicated formula to get the light year between two planets.


错字 astronomy

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The 34th Day -- Comment
ambivalence 矛盾情绪sordid 肮脏发臭的therapeutic 治病的scrutiny 详细审查introspection 反省toss 扔，掷impetus 推动力exhaustive 彻底详尽的astute 机敏的confess 承认fortuitous 偶然的vibrant 生机勃勃的eloquent 雄辩的nuptials the social event at which the ceremony of marriage is performedtumultuous 乱哄哄的


I think this article is really difficult for me to understand. Not only a lot of GRE words are confusing me, but also I can't get to the main idea. It seems like introducing some books. However, many people reckon marriage in the grave of love. After people married, their relationship will be changed a lot. They meet each other every day and live together. All dilemmas
will be passed through by their efforts. How will they spend the life of marriage peacefully is a hard task for all of us unless you decide to be alone all life. Only if you overcome difficulties and adapt the life can you enjoy a comfortable life. The most important is choosing the right one who can company with you.


错字
comfortable
grave
dilemma
every day

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The 34th Day -- Feeling
I really want to say something about my life recently which I have never experienced before. Getting up at 7 o'clock and going to bed at 12 o'clock. Sometimes, I even stay a whole day in the classroom which makes me really tired. What's worse, the final exams in next term are close to GRE which is on the Jun 12th. However, GRE is not the destination, there will be lots of assignments right after final exams. Could it be worse? I can't imagine how to scramble through all hurdles in this year.
By the way, today's article is so looong and difficult that I even could not understand the first sentence because most words cannot be recognized. All in all, I will do it with a longer time when I recover from the past continued terrible days.
Good Luck!:)

Wrong words
continue
past   not passed
worse   not more worse
recover  v.
recovery  n.

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The 35th DAY  -- Comment

discredited  cause to be distrusted or disbelieved
culpable  有罪的
expedient  a means to an end
maxims  a saying that is widely accepted on its own merits 格言 普遍真理
cunning 狡猾的  = crafty 狡诈的
falsehood 谎言
intrigue 引起…极大兴趣
ephemeral 短暂的
scaffold 脚手架
despised  look down on with disdain
Machiavellian 为达目的而耍手段阴谋的
guillotine 断头台
fraternity  a social club for male undergraduates
massacres  the savage and excessive killing of many people
intervention 插入;介入
precedent 先例
iniquity 邪恶不公正之举
reign 统治
audacity 大胆
finessing  subtly skillful handling of a situation
ceases  put an end to a state or an activity
impartial 公平的
tamper 篡改；干预
tribunal 法庭
circumspect 审慎的
chivalrous 骑士精神的
regime 政权
mire 泥沼；困境
devoid 空的
satiated 饱足的
preservative 有保护能力的
confide 吐露
probity 正直
swerve 突然改变方向
colossal 巨大的
atheism 无神论
conduces 导致
calf 牛犊
omnipotent 全能的
succumb 屈从

Itis possible that people will end by recognizing that in public as inprivate life honesty is the most effective and the most skilful policy.
What is more, there has ceased to be any necessity for a policy of this sort in modern societies.
Apolicy based upon immorality is antiquated and unworthy of modernsociety; it pre-supposes contempt for humanity, and an antagonism thatought not to exist between those who govern and those who are governed.
To change the persons composing the political world would be insufficient, unless a moral reform be affected at the same time.
Welack reasonableness at the present day;our brains are disordered; ourgood sense, a quality that used to be particularly distinctive of theFrench, has been affected by innumerable philosophical, economical, andpolitical sophisms that reach us from Germany,Italy, England, the East,and even from India.

I have to say that this article indeed helps me a lot in reciting GREwords. Most new words are GRE words, which I don't know. Well, thistopic is so profound that it is beyond my understanding which isrelated to politics and history.

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just come back from classroom...…

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The 37th DAY
again, all the day, in the classroom, only one meal...

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The 38th DAY -- Comment

Illiberal politics
America's unjust sex laws

New words
harsh 粗糙的 严厉的
oft 常常  
horrific  可怕的
repetition 重复 循环
paedophile 恋童癖患者
entice 诱惑
convict 证明..有罪
penalty 处罚
ratchet  棘轮
consensual  在双方同意下成立的
indecent  offensive to good taste especially in sexual matters
prosecutor  a government official who conducts criminal prosecutions on behalf of the state
mugshot  脸部照片
harassed  annoy continually or chronically  
congregate 聚集
staggering  so surprisingly impressive as to stun or overwhelm
tabloid  sensationalist journalism

我不认识的词总是这么多...

Good sentences
In their grief, the parents started a petition请愿书, demanding that families should be told if a sexual predator moves nearby. In no time at all, lawmakers in New Jersey granted their wish.

Individual American politicians have great latitude回旋余地 to propose new laws.

The number keeps growing partly because in several states registration is for life and partly because registries are not confined to the sort of murderer who ensnared Megan Kanka.

My Comment

The passage is talking about whether the law is suitable or not. According to the law, every sex-offender will register his name, photograph and address online so that parents could get the information to protect their children. However, even if the murderer wrote true address, he could also move to any other places to live in secret. It is still dangerous for the neighborhood.

On the other hand, if the murderer is set free and decides to behave as a good person who will not break the law forever, the law as the passage said will have some bad effect on him. People around will try to stay away from him when they meet on the street. No one will talk to him and it is so hard for him to get along with someone due to his previous crime.

To sum, the law should be improved. It makes me think of a kind of disease which will not be public to everyone however we may be ill too.

Wrong words
also
true
disease
register

jinziqiUID：2387034

The 39th DAY -- CommentEducation: The Great Evasion


New words
swelling  the undulating movement of the surface of the open sea
chorus  any utterance produced simultaneously by a group
hollow  not solid; having a space or gap or cavity
protestant  the Protestant churches and denominations collectively
clergymen  a member of the clergy and a spiritual leader of the Christian Church
pastor  牧师
suspend  暂时剥夺...的权利
cult 狂热崇拜
scrutiny 详细审查
mockery 嘲笑
fictitious 假的
tenet 信念
falsify 篡改
gadget 小机械
mildew the process of becoming mildewed
sovereign  a nation's ruler or head of state usually by hereditary right
hermetic 秘术的
countersign
extracurricular 课外的
blasphemy 亵渎
preach  deliver a sermon

Good sentences and main idea
Modern education is nothing more than one gigantic evasion.

education is preparation for the 'good life', but neither the word 'good' nor the word 'life' is given any content.

Man is a romantic creature destined to walk the road of evolution 'more and more unto the perfect day.'

The realm of education may be like a field within a farm: it may cultivate a special crop. But the crop must still serve the purpose of the whole farm.

If God is the sovereign fact of life, God is the sovereign fact for education.

Season according to taste.

You must fight for the rights of the child, and hundreds of educators were still inspired to take up the cry.

My comment
It is necessary to discuss about the way to educate around the world. The passage talks about the purpose of the education. As Harvard's James Bryant Conant said, education is preparation for the good life. However, I have already been received education for almost 15 years, and I really can't believe that I will have a bright future, for example, enough salary can make me to have enough money to buy a comfortable house to live in and to enjoy delicious food whenever I want. The number of graduates keeps growing every year and the opportunity of finding a suitable job is becoming smaller and smaller.

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The 40th Day --
Today, finally, I finish the term and begin to spend winter holiday. I will study how to write a wonderful issue and argument. Also, I will practice reading, listening, and speaking.
Looking back the past days, it is really hard. But it makes me believe that I can do it. So, I believe I will continue studying on vacation without companion.

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The 41st Day -- Comment   Technology

Google Ends China Self-Censorship Policy, Threatens Exit
This piece of news makes me astonished. I used to visit g.cn/music to download songs with high quality, go to Google Translate to understand foreign languages, concern what is happening by Google Reader, and connect with my friends with Gmail. Actually, Google has been spent a long difficult time in China under the control of Chinese Government. Any kinds of media, such as news on TV and newspaper often publish that Google is not safe for the reason that the search result is harmful to children, which I disagree. I reckon the government makes too much limitation on the Internet to conceal the truth. As a member of Chinese, we have the right to know everything about the past and what is happening. Another unacceptable thing is that every industry often tries to conceal the truth as long as possible, and when the news is published, it must be the past at least 2 days before.

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The 42nd Day -- Comment
menial 仆人的
sexism 性别歧视
modicum 少量
invasion 入侵
intervention 介入

Demand for female brains is helping to alleviate some of these problems.

Nowadays, there are a lot of superwomen who are successful in hercareer and holding a family. The number is growing and will surpass theman because there will be 2.6m more female than male universitystudents in America. However, it is difficult to balance career and afamily for women. Sometimes, the majority cannot get the both.Actually, in the real working environment, women often can't get thedeserved esteem. The highest position and thesignificant work often belong to the man for no reason why women can'tdo. Also, there is discrimination on women who may be pregnant. Theywill have rest at home at least 2 months with salary paid which may bea small lose for a company.

Wrong words
surpass
alleviate
environment
esteem