一、Part Ⅱ Listening Comprehension
1、Question 1 is based on the conversation you have just heard.
A、She has not received any letter from the man.
B、Her claim has been completely disregarded.
C、She has failed to reach the manager again.
D、Her house has not been repaired in time.
2、Question 2 is based on the conversation you have just heard.
A、Their caravan was washed away by the flood.
B、The ground floor of their cottage was flooded.
C、Their entire house was destroyed by the flood.
D、The roof of their cottage collapsed in the flood.
3、Question 3 is based on the conversation you have just heard.
A、The woman’s failure to pay her house insurance in time.
B、The woman’s inaccurate description of the whole incident.
C、The woman’s ignorance of the insurance company’s policy.
D、The woman’s misreading of the insurance company’s letter.
4、Question 4 is based on the conversation you have just heard.
A、Revise the terms and conditions of the contract.
B、Consult her lawyer about the insurance policy.
C、Talk to the manager of Safe House Insurance.
D、File a lawsuit against the insurance company.
5、Question 5 is based on the conversation you have just heard.
A、They are both worried about the negative impact of technology.
B、They differ greatly in their knowledge of modern technology.
C、They disagree about the future of AI technology.
D、They work in different fields of AI technology.
6、Question 6 is based on the conversation you have just heard.
A、Stimulating and motivating.
B、Simply writing AI software.
C、More demanding and requiring special training.
D、Less time-consuming and focusing on creation.
7、Question 7 is based on the conversation you have just heard.
A、Old people would be taken care of solely by unfeeling robots.
B、Humans would be tired of communicating with one another.
C、Digital life could replace human civilization.
D、There could be jobs nobody wants to do.
8、Question 8 is based on the conversation you have just heard.
A、It will be smarter than human beings.
B、Chips will be inserted in human brains.
C、It will take away humans’ jobs altogether.
D、Life will become like a science fiction film.
9、Question 9 is based on the passage you have just heard.
A、Try to earn as much money as possible.
B、Invest shrewdly in lucrative businesses.
C、Save one-fifth of their net monthly income.
D、Restrain themselves from high-risk investments.
10、Question 10 is based on the passage you have just heard.
A、Cut 20% of their daily spending.
B、Ask a close friend for advice.
C、Try to stick to their initial plan.
D、Start by doing something small.
11、Question 11 is based on the passage you have just heard.
A、A proper mindset.
B、An ambitious plan.
C、An optimistic attitude.
D、A keen interest.
12、Question 12 is based on the passage you have just heard.
A、She found her outfit inappropriate.
B、She was uninterested in advertising.
C、She often checked herself in a mirror.
D、She was unhappy with fashion trends.
13、Question 13 is based on the passage you have just heard.
A、To save the expenses on clothing.
B、To keep up with the current trends.
C、To meet the expectations of fashion-conscious clients.
D、To save the trouble of choosing a unique outfit every day.
14、Question 14 is based on the passage you have just heard.
A、It boosts one’s confidence when looking for employment.
B、It matters a lot in jobs involving interaction with others.
C、It helps people succeed in whatever they are doing.
D、It enhances people’s ability to work independently.
15、Question 15 is based on the passage you have just heard.
A、Design their own uniform to appear unique.
B、Fight the ever-changing trends in fashion.
C、Do whatever is possible to look smart.
D、Wear classic pieces to impress their clients.
16、Question 16 is based on the recording you have just heard.
A、Their failure to accumulate wealth.
B、Their obsession with consumption.
C、The deterioration of the environment.
D、The ever-increasing costs of housing.
17、Question 17 is based on the recording you have just heard.
A、Things that we cherish most.
B、Things that boost efficiency.
C、Things that cost less money.
D、Things that are rare to find.
18、Question 18 is based on the recording you have just heard.
A、They are mostly durable.
B、They are easily disposable.
C、They serve multiple purposes.
D、They benefit the environment.
19、Question 19 is based on the recording you have just heard.
A、All respondents were afraid of making a high expense claim.
B、A number of respondents gave an average answer of 400 miles.
C、Most of the respondents got compensated for driving 384 miles.
D、Over 10% of the respondents lied about the distance they drove.
20、Question 20 is based on the recording you have just heard.
A、They endeavored to actually be honest.
B、They wanted to protect their reputation.
C、They cared about other people’s claims.
D、They responded to colleagues’ suspicion.
21、Question 21 is based on the recording you have just heard.
A、They seem positive.
B、They are illustrative.
C、They seem intuitive.
D、They are conclusive.
22、Question 22 is based on the recording you have just heard.
A、Older people’s aversion to new music.
B、Older people’s changing musical tastes.
C、Insights into the features of good music.
D、Deterioration in the quality of new music.
23、Question 23 is based on the recording you have just heard.
A、They seldom listen to songs released in their teens.
B、They can make subtle distinctions about music.
C、They find all music sounds the same.
D、They no longer listen to new music.
24、Question 24 is based on the recording you have just heard.
A、The more you experience something, the better you’ll appreciate it.
B、The more you experience something, the longer you’ll remember it.
C、The more you are exposed to something, the deeper you’ll understand it.
D、The more you are exposed to something, the more familiar it’ll be to you.
25、Question 25 is based on the recording you have just heard.
A、Teenagers are much more sensitive.
B、Teenagers are much more sentimental.
C、Teenagers’ memories are more lasting.
D、Teenagers’ emotions are more intense.
二、Part III Reading Comprehension
Social distancing is putting people out of work, canceling school and tanking the stock market. It has been (26)_____ by fear, and it is creating even more fear as money problems and uncertainty grow. However, at its core is love, and a sacrifice to protect those most (27)_____ to the coronavirus’ (冠状病毒) effects—the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, and those whose life-saving resources would be used up by a (28)_____ epidemic.
Americans make life-saving decisions every day as a matter of course. We cut food into bite-sized pieces, we wear seatbelts, and we take care not to exceed the speed limit. But social distancing is (29)_____ in that it is completely self-sacrificing. Those who will benefit may be the elderly relatives of the (30)_____ person we didn’t pass in Starbucks, on the subway, or in the elevator.
Social distancing is millions of people making hundreds of sacrifices to keep the elderly alive. It doesn’t include the (31)_____ to run from society or make an excuse to avoid one’s obligations—such as life-saving medical work or the parental obligation to buy groceries. What it does include is applying love through caution. And in doing so, it offers an (32)_____ opportunity for those who care about the elderly to find new ways to love them.
If we’re not (33)_____ as much in our normal work or school, we have extra time to call parents and grandparents. We can also ask elderly relatives how to best support them (34)_____ and use our sacrifices as an opportunity to bring us, our community and the world (35)_____.
26、(1)
A、thriftier
B、tickled
C、engaged
D、amazing
E、driven
F、unique
G、premises
H、spiritually
I、sentimentally
J、vulnerable
K、temptations
L、oppressing
M、malignant
N、random
O、closer
Social distancing is putting people out of work, canceling school and tanking the stock market. It has been (26)_____ by fear, and it is creating even more fear as money problems and uncertainty grow. However, at its core is love, and a sacrifice to protect those most (27)_____ to the coronavirus’ (冠状病毒) effects—the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, and those whose life-saving resources would be used up by a (28)_____ epidemic.
Americans make life-saving decisions every day as a matter of course. We cut food into bite-sized pieces, we wear seatbelts, and we take care not to exceed the speed limit. But social distancing is (29)_____ in that it is completely self-sacrificing. Those who will benefit may be the elderly relatives of the (30)_____ person we didn’t pass in Starbucks, on the subway, or in the elevator.
Social distancing is millions of people making hundreds of sacrifices to keep the elderly alive. It doesn’t include the (31)_____ to run from society or make an excuse to avoid one’s obligations—such as life-saving medical work or the parental obligation to buy groceries. What it does include is applying love through caution. And in doing so, it offers an (32)_____ opportunity for those who care about the elderly to find new ways to love them.
If we’re not (33)_____ as much in our normal work or school, we have extra time to call parents and grandparents. We can also ask elderly relatives how to best support them (34)_____ and use our sacrifices as an opportunity to bring us, our community and the world (35)_____.
27、(2)
A、thriftier
B、tickled
C、engaged
D、amazing
E、driven
F、unique
G、premises
H、spiritually
I、sentimentally
J、vulnerable
K、temptations
L、oppressing
M、malignant
N、random
O、closer
Social distancing is putting people out of work, canceling school and tanking the stock market. It has been (26)_____ by fear, and it is creating even more fear as money problems and uncertainty grow. However, at its core is love, and a sacrifice to protect those most (27)_____ to the coronavirus’ (冠状病毒) effects—the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, and those whose life-saving resources would be used up by a (28)_____ epidemic.
Americans make life-saving decisions every day as a matter of course. We cut food into bite-sized pieces, we wear seatbelts, and we take care not to exceed the speed limit. But social distancing is (29)_____ in that it is completely self-sacrificing. Those who will benefit may be the elderly relatives of the (30)_____ person we didn’t pass in Starbucks, on the subway, or in the elevator.
Social distancing is millions of people making hundreds of sacrifices to keep the elderly alive. It doesn’t include the (31)_____ to run from society or make an excuse to avoid one’s obligations—such as life-saving medical work or the parental obligation to buy groceries. What it does include is applying love through caution. And in doing so, it offers an (32)_____ opportunity for those who care about the elderly to find new ways to love them.
If we’re not (33)_____ as much in our normal work or school, we have extra time to call parents and grandparents. We can also ask elderly relatives how to best support them (34)_____ and use our sacrifices as an opportunity to bring us, our community and the world (35)_____.
28、(3)
A、thriftier
B、tickled
C、engaged
D、amazing
E、driven
F、unique
G、premises
H、spiritually
I、sentimentally
J、vulnerable
K、temptations
L、oppressing
M、malignant
N、random
O、closer
Social distancing is putting people out of work, canceling school and tanking the stock market. It has been (26)_____ by fear, and it is creating even more fear as money problems and uncertainty grow. However, at its core is love, and a sacrifice to protect those most (27)_____ to the coronavirus’ (冠状病毒) effects—the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, and those whose life-saving resources would be used up by a (28)_____ epidemic.
Americans make life-saving decisions every day as a matter of course. We cut food into bite-sized pieces, we wear seatbelts, and we take care not to exceed the speed limit. But social distancing is (29)_____ in that it is completely self-sacrificing. Those who will benefit may be the elderly relatives of the (30)_____ person we didn’t pass in Starbucks, on the subway, or in the elevator.
Social distancing is millions of people making hundreds of sacrifices to keep the elderly alive. It doesn’t include the (31)_____ to run from society or make an excuse to avoid one’s obligations—such as life-saving medical work or the parental obligation to buy groceries. What it does include is applying love through caution. And in doing so, it offers an (32)_____ opportunity for those who care about the elderly to find new ways to love them.
If we’re not (33)_____ as much in our normal work or school, we have extra time to call parents and grandparents. We can also ask elderly relatives how to best support them (34)_____ and use our sacrifices as an opportunity to bring us, our community and the world (35)_____.
29、(4)
A、thriftier
B、tickled
C、engaged
D、amazing
E、driven
F、unique
G、premises
H、spiritually
I、sentimentally
J、vulnerable
K、temptations
L、oppressing
M、malignant
N、random
O、closer
Social distancing is putting people out of work, canceling school and tanking the stock market. It has been (26)_____ by fear, and it is creating even more fear as money problems and uncertainty grow. However, at its core is love, and a sacrifice to protect those most (27)_____ to the coronavirus’ (冠状病毒) effects—the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, and those whose life-saving resources would be used up by a (28)_____ epidemic.
Americans make life-saving decisions every day as a matter of course. We cut food into bite-sized pieces, we wear seatbelts, and we take care not to exceed the speed limit. But social distancing is (29)_____ in that it is completely self-sacrificing. Those who will benefit may be the elderly relatives of the (30)_____ person we didn’t pass in Starbucks, on the subway, or in the elevator.
Social distancing is millions of people making hundreds of sacrifices to keep the elderly alive. It doesn’t include the (31)_____ to run from society or make an excuse to avoid one’s obligations—such as life-saving medical work or the parental obligation to buy groceries. What it does include is applying love through caution. And in doing so, it offers an (32)_____ opportunity for those who care about the elderly to find new ways to love them.
If we’re not (33)_____ as much in our normal work or school, we have extra time to call parents and grandparents. We can also ask elderly relatives how to best support them (34)_____ and use our sacrifices as an opportunity to bring us, our community and the world (35)_____.
30、(5)
A、thriftier
B、tickled
C、engaged
D、amazing
E、driven
F、unique
G、premises
H、spiritually
I、sentimentally
J、vulnerable
K、temptations
L、oppressing
M、malignant
N、random
O、closer
Social distancing is putting people out of work, canceling school and tanking the stock market. It has been (26)_____ by fear, and it is creating even more fear as money problems and uncertainty grow. However, at its core is love, and a sacrifice to protect those most (27)_____ to the coronavirus’ (冠状病毒) effects—the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, and those whose life-saving resources would be used up by a (28)_____ epidemic.
Americans make life-saving decisions every day as a matter of course. We cut food into bite-sized pieces, we wear seatbelts, and we take care not to exceed the speed limit. But social distancing is (29)_____ in that it is completely self-sacrificing. Those who will benefit may be the elderly relatives of the (30)_____ person we didn’t pass in Starbucks, on the subway, or in the elevator.
Social distancing is millions of people making hundreds of sacrifices to keep the elderly alive. It doesn’t include the (31)_____ to run from society or make an excuse to avoid one’s obligations—such as life-saving medical work or the parental obligation to buy groceries. What it does include is applying love through caution. And in doing so, it offers an (32)_____ opportunity for those who care about the elderly to find new ways to love them.
If we’re not (33)_____ as much in our normal work or school, we have extra time to call parents and grandparents. We can also ask elderly relatives how to best support them (34)_____ and use our sacrifices as an opportunity to bring us, our community and the world (35)_____.
31、(6)
A、thriftier
B、tickled
C、engaged
D、amazing
E、driven
F、unique
G、premises
H、spiritually
I、sentimentally
J、vulnerable
K、temptations
L、oppressing
M、malignant
N、random
O、closer
Social distancing is putting people out of work, canceling school and tanking the stock market. It has been (26)_____ by fear, and it is creating even more fear as money problems and uncertainty grow. However, at its core is love, and a sacrifice to protect those most (27)_____ to the coronavirus’ (冠状病毒) effects—the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, and those whose life-saving resources would be used up by a (28)_____ epidemic.
Americans make life-saving decisions every day as a matter of course. We cut food into bite-sized pieces, we wear seatbelts, and we take care not to exceed the speed limit. But social distancing is (29)_____ in that it is completely self-sacrificing. Those who will benefit may be the elderly relatives of the (30)_____ person we didn’t pass in Starbucks, on the subway, or in the elevator.
Social distancing is millions of people making hundreds of sacrifices to keep the elderly alive. It doesn’t include the (31)_____ to run from society or make an excuse to avoid one’s obligations—such as life-saving medical work or the parental obligation to buy groceries. What it does include is applying love through caution. And in doing so, it offers an (32)_____ opportunity for those who care about the elderly to find new ways to love them.
If we’re not (33)_____ as much in our normal work or school, we have extra time to call parents and grandparents. We can also ask elderly relatives how to best support them (34)_____ and use our sacrifices as an opportunity to bring us, our community and the world (35)_____.
32、(7)
A、thriftier
B、tickled
C、engaged
D、amazing
E、driven
F、unique
G、premises
H、spiritually
I、sentimentally
J、vulnerable
K、temptations
L、oppressing
M、malignant
N、random
O、closer
Social distancing is putting people out of work, canceling school and tanking the stock market. It has been (26)_____ by fear, and it is creating even more fear as money problems and uncertainty grow. However, at its core is love, and a sacrifice to protect those most (27)_____ to the coronavirus’ (冠状病毒) effects—the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, and those whose life-saving resources would be used up by a (28)_____ epidemic.
Americans make life-saving decisions every day as a matter of course. We cut food into bite-sized pieces, we wear seatbelts, and we take care not to exceed the speed limit. But social distancing is (29)_____ in that it is completely self-sacrificing. Those who will benefit may be the elderly relatives of the (30)_____ person we didn’t pass in Starbucks, on the subway, or in the elevator.
Social distancing is millions of people making hundreds of sacrifices to keep the elderly alive. It doesn’t include the (31)_____ to run from society or make an excuse to avoid one’s obligations—such as life-saving medical work or the parental obligation to buy groceries. What it does include is applying love through caution. And in doing so, it offers an (32)_____ opportunity for those who care about the elderly to find new ways to love them.
If we’re not (33)_____ as much in our normal work or school, we have extra time to call parents and grandparents. We can also ask elderly relatives how to best support them (34)_____ and use our sacrifices as an opportunity to bring us, our community and the world (35)_____.
33、(8)
A、thriftier
B、tickled
C、engaged
D、amazing
E、driven
F、unique
G、premises
H、spiritually
I、sentimentally
J、vulnerable
K、temptations
L、oppressing
M、malignant
N、random
O、closer
Social distancing is putting people out of work, canceling school and tanking the stock market. It has been (26)_____ by fear, and it is creating even more fear as money problems and uncertainty grow. However, at its core is love, and a sacrifice to protect those most (27)_____ to the coronavirus’ (冠状病毒) effects—the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, and those whose life-saving resources would be used up by a (28)_____ epidemic.
Americans make life-saving decisions every day as a matter of course. We cut food into bite-sized pieces, we wear seatbelts, and we take care not to exceed the speed limit. But social distancing is (29)_____ in that it is completely self-sacrificing. Those who will benefit may be the elderly relatives of the (30)_____ person we didn’t pass in Starbucks, on the subway, or in the elevator.
Social distancing is millions of people making hundreds of sacrifices to keep the elderly alive. It doesn’t include the (31)_____ to run from society or make an excuse to avoid one’s obligations—such as life-saving medical work or the parental obligation to buy groceries. What it does include is applying love through caution. And in doing so, it offers an (32)_____ opportunity for those who care about the elderly to find new ways to love them.
If we’re not (33)_____ as much in our normal work or school, we have extra time to call parents and grandparents. We can also ask elderly relatives how to best support them (34)_____ and use our sacrifices as an opportunity to bring us, our community and the world (35)_____.
34、(9)
A、thriftier
B、tickled
C、engaged
D、amazing
E、driven
F、unique
G、premises
H、spiritually
I、sentimentally
J、vulnerable
K、temptations
L、oppressing
M、malignant
N、random
O、closer
Social distancing is putting people out of work, canceling school and tanking the stock market. It has been (26)_____ by fear, and it is creating even more fear as money problems and uncertainty grow. However, at its core is love, and a sacrifice to protect those most (27)_____ to the coronavirus’ (冠状病毒) effects—the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, and those whose life-saving resources would be used up by a (28)_____ epidemic.
Americans make life-saving decisions every day as a matter of course. We cut food into bite-sized pieces, we wear seatbelts, and we take care not to exceed the speed limit. But social distancing is (29)_____ in that it is completely self-sacrificing. Those who will benefit may be the elderly relatives of the (30)_____ person we didn’t pass in Starbucks, on the subway, or in the elevator.
Social distancing is millions of people making hundreds of sacrifices to keep the elderly alive. It doesn’t include the (31)_____ to run from society or make an excuse to avoid one’s obligations—such as life-saving medical work or the parental obligation to buy groceries. What it does include is applying love through caution. And in doing so, it offers an (32)_____ opportunity for those who care about the elderly to find new ways to love them.
If we’re not (33)_____ as much in our normal work or school, we have extra time to call parents and grandparents. We can also ask elderly relatives how to best support them (34)_____ and use our sacrifices as an opportunity to bring us, our community and the world (35)_____.
35、(10)
A、thriftier
B、tickled
C、engaged
D、amazing
E、driven
F、unique
G、premises
H、spiritually
I、sentimentally
J、vulnerable
K、temptations
L、oppressing
M、malignant
N、random
O、closer
Slow Hope
【A】Our world is full of—mostly untold—stories of slow hope, driven by the idea that change is possible. They are ‘slow’ in their unfolding, and they are slow because they come with setbacks.
【B】At the beginning of time—so goes the myth—humans suffered, shivering in the cold and dark until the titan (巨人) Prometheus stole fire from the gods. Just as in the myth, technology—first fire and stone tools, and later farming, the steam engine and industry, fossil fuels, chemicals and nuclear power—has allowed us to alter and control the natural world. The myth also reminds us that these advances have come at a price: as a punishment for Prometheus’ crime, the gods created Pandora, and they gave her a box filled with evils and curses. When Pandora’s box was opened, it unleashed swarms of diseases and disasters upon humankind.
【C】Today we can no longer ignore the ecological curses that we have released in our search for warmth and comfort. In engineering and exploiting and transforming our habitat, we have opened tens of thousands of Pandora’s boxes. In recent decades, environmental threats have expanded beyond regional boundaries to have global reach and, most hauntingly, are multiplying at a dizzying rate. On a regular basis, we are reminded that we are running out of time. Year after year, faster and faster, consumption outpaces the biological capacity of our planet. Stories of accelerated catastrophe multiply. We fear the breakdown of the electric grid, the end of non-renewable resources, the expansion of deserts, the loss of islands, and the pollution of our air and water.
【D】Acceleration is the signature of our time. Populations and economic activity grew slowly for much of human history. For thousands of years and well into early modern times, world economies saw no growth at all, but from around the mid-19th century and again, in particular, since the mid-20th, the real GDP has increased at an enormous speed, and so has human consumption. In the Middle Ages, households in Central Europe might have owned fewer than 30 objects on average; in 1900, this number had increased to 400, and in 2020 to 15,000. The acceleration of human production, consumption and travel has changed the animate and inanimate spheres. It has echoed through natural processes on which humans depend. Species extinction, deforestation, damming of rivers, occurrence of floods, the depletion of ozone, the degradation of ocean systems and many other areas are all experiencing acceleration. If represented graphically, the curve for all these changes looks rather like that well-known hockey stick: with little change over millennia (数千年) and a dramatic upswing over the past decades.
【E】Some of today’s narratives about the future seem to suggest that we too, like Prometheus, will be saved by a new Hercules, a divine engineer, someone who will mastermind, manoeuvre and manipulate our planet. They suggest that geoengineering, cold fusion or faster-than-light spaceships might transcend once and for all the terrestrial constraints of rising temperatures, lack of energy, scarcity of food, lack of space, mountains of waste, polluted water—you name it.
【F】Yet, if we envisage our salvation to come from a deus ex machina (解围之神), from a divine engineer or a tech solutionist who will miraculously conjure up a new source of energy or another cure-all with revolutionary potency, we might be looking in the wrong place. The fact that we now imagine our planet as a whole does not mean that the ‘rescue’ of our planet will come with one big global stroke of genius and technology. It will more likely come by many small acts. Global heating and environmental degradation are not technological problems. They are highly political issues that are informed by powerful interests. Moreover, if history is a guide, then we can assume that any major transformations will once again be followed by a huge set of unintended consequences. So what do we do?
【G】This much is clear: we need to find ways that help us flatten the hockey-stick curves that reflect our ever-faster pace of ecological destruction and social acceleration. If we acknowledge that human manipulation of the Earth has been a destructive force, we can also imagine that human endeavours can help us build a less destructive world in the centuries to come. We might keep making mistakes. But we will also keep learning from our mistakes.
【H】To counter the fears of disaster, we need to identify stories, visions and actions that work quietly towards a more hopeful future. Instead of one big narrative, a story of unexpected rescue by a larger-than-life hero, we need multiple stories: we need stories, not only of what Rob Nixon of Princeton University has called the ‘slow violence’ of environmental degradation (that is, the damage that is often invisible at first and develops slowly and gradually), but also stories of what I call ‘slow hope’.
【I】We need an acknowledgement of our present ecological plight but also a language of positive change, visions of a better future. In The Principle of Hope (1954-59), Ernst Bloch, one of the leading philosophers of the future, wrote that ‘the most tragic form of loss... is the loss of the capacity to imagine that things could be different’. We need to identify visions and paths that will help us imagine a different, a more just and more ecological world. Hope, for Bloch, has its starting point in fear, in uncertainty, and in crisis: it is a creative force that goes hand in hand with utopian (乌托邦的) ‘wishful images’. It can be found in cultural products of the past—in fairy tales, in fiction, in architecture, in music, in the movies—in products of the human mind that contain ‘the outlines of a better world’. What makes us ‘authentic’ as humans are visions of our ‘potential’. In other words: living in hope makes us human.
【J】The power of small, grassroots movements to make changes that spread beyond their place of origin can be seen with the Slow Food movement, which began in Italy in the 1980s. The rise of fast-food restaurants after the Second World War produced a society full of cheap, industrially made foodstuffs. Under the leadership of Carlo Petrini, the Slow Food movement began in Piedmont, a region of Italy with a long history of poverty, violence and resistance to oppression. The movement transformed it into a region hospitable to traditional food cultures—based on native plants and breeds of animals. Today, Slow Food operates in more than 160 countries, poor and rich. It has given rise to thousands of projects around the globe, representing democratic politics, food sovereignty, biodiversity and sustainable agriculture.
【K】The unscrupulous (无所顾忌) commodification of food and the destruction of foodstuffs will continue to devastate soils, livelihoods and ecologies. Slow Food cannot undo the irresistible developments of the global food economy, but it can upset its theorists, it can ‘speak differently’, and it can allow people and their local food traditions and environments to flourish. Even in the United States—the fast-food nation—small farms and urban gardens are on the rise. The US Department of Agriculture provides an Urban Agriculture Toolkit and, according to a recent report, American millennials (千禧一代) are changing their diets. In 2017, 6 per cent of US consumers claimed to be strictly vegetarian, up from 1 per cent in 2014. As more people realise that ‘eating is an agricultural act’, as the US poet and environmental activist Wendell Berry put it in 1989, slow hope advances.
36、36. It seems some people today dream that a cutting-edge new technology might save them from the present ecological disaster.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
Slow Hope
【A】Our world is full of—mostly untold—stories of slow hope, driven by the idea that change is possible. They are ‘slow’ in their unfolding, and they are slow because they come with setbacks.
【B】At the beginning of time—so goes the myth—humans suffered, shivering in the cold and dark until the titan (巨人) Prometheus stole fire from the gods. Just as in the myth, technology—first fire and stone tools, and later farming, the steam engine and industry, fossil fuels, chemicals and nuclear power—has allowed us to alter and control the natural world. The myth also reminds us that these advances have come at a price: as a punishment for Prometheus’ crime, the gods created Pandora, and they gave her a box filled with evils and curses. When Pandora’s box was opened, it unleashed swarms of diseases and disasters upon humankind.
【C】Today we can no longer ignore the ecological curses that we have released in our search for warmth and comfort. In engineering and exploiting and transforming our habitat, we have opened tens of thousands of Pandora’s boxes. In recent decades, environmental threats have expanded beyond regional boundaries to have global reach and, most hauntingly, are multiplying at a dizzying rate. On a regular basis, we are reminded that we are running out of time. Year after year, faster and faster, consumption outpaces the biological capacity of our planet. Stories of accelerated catastrophe multiply. We fear the breakdown of the electric grid, the end of non-renewable resources, the expansion of deserts, the loss of islands, and the pollution of our air and water.
【D】Acceleration is the signature of our time. Populations and economic activity grew slowly for much of human history. For thousands of years and well into early modern times, world economies saw no growth at all, but from around the mid-19th century and again, in particular, since the mid-20th, the real GDP has increased at an enormous speed, and so has human consumption. In the Middle Ages, households in Central Europe might have owned fewer than 30 objects on average; in 1900, this number had increased to 400, and in 2020 to 15,000. The acceleration of human production, consumption and travel has changed the animate and inanimate spheres. It has echoed through natural processes on which humans depend. Species extinction, deforestation, damming of rivers, occurrence of floods, the depletion of ozone, the degradation of ocean systems and many other areas are all experiencing acceleration. If represented graphically, the curve for all these changes looks rather like that well-known hockey stick: with little change over millennia (数千年) and a dramatic upswing over the past decades.
【E】Some of today’s narratives about the future seem to suggest that we too, like Prometheus, will be saved by a new Hercules, a divine engineer, someone who will mastermind, manoeuvre and manipulate our planet. They suggest that geoengineering, cold fusion or faster-than-light spaceships might transcend once and for all the terrestrial constraints of rising temperatures, lack of energy, scarcity of food, lack of space, mountains of waste, polluted water—you name it.
【F】Yet, if we envisage our salvation to come from a deus ex machina (解围之神), from a divine engineer or a tech solutionist who will miraculously conjure up a new source of energy or another cure-all with revolutionary potency, we might be looking in the wrong place. The fact that we now imagine our planet as a whole does not mean that the ‘rescue’ of our planet will come with one big global stroke of genius and technology. It will more likely come by many small acts. Global heating and environmental degradation are not technological problems. They are highly political issues that are informed by powerful interests. Moreover, if history is a guide, then we can assume that any major transformations will once again be followed by a huge set of unintended consequences. So what do we do?
【G】This much is clear: we need to find ways that help us flatten the hockey-stick curves that reflect our ever-faster pace of ecological destruction and social acceleration. If we acknowledge that human manipulation of the Earth has been a destructive force, we can also imagine that human endeavours can help us build a less destructive world in the centuries to come. We might keep making mistakes. But we will also keep learning from our mistakes.
【H】To counter the fears of disaster, we need to identify stories, visions and actions that work quietly towards a more hopeful future. Instead of one big narrative, a story of unexpected rescue by a larger-than-life hero, we need multiple stories: we need stories, not only of what Rob Nixon of Princeton University has called the ‘slow violence’ of environmental degradation (that is, the damage that is often invisible at first and develops slowly and gradually), but also stories of what I call ‘slow hope’.
【I】We need an acknowledgement of our present ecological plight but also a language of positive change, visions of a better future. In The Principle of Hope (1954-59), Ernst Bloch, one of the leading philosophers of the future, wrote that ‘the most tragic form of loss... is the loss of the capacity to imagine that things could be different’. We need to identify visions and paths that will help us imagine a different, a more just and more ecological world. Hope, for Bloch, has its starting point in fear, in uncertainty, and in crisis: it is a creative force that goes hand in hand with utopian (乌托邦的) ‘wishful images’. It can be found in cultural products of the past—in fairy tales, in fiction, in architecture, in music, in the movies—in products of the human mind that contain ‘the outlines of a better world’. What makes us ‘authentic’ as humans are visions of our ‘potential’. In other words: living in hope makes us human.
【J】The power of small, grassroots movements to make changes that spread beyond their place of origin can be seen with the Slow Food movement, which began in Italy in the 1980s. The rise of fast-food restaurants after the Second World War produced a society full of cheap, industrially made foodstuffs. Under the leadership of Carlo Petrini, the Slow Food movement began in Piedmont, a region of Italy with a long history of poverty, violence and resistance to oppression. The movement transformed it into a region hospitable to traditional food cultures—based on native plants and breeds of animals. Today, Slow Food operates in more than 160 countries, poor and rich. It has given rise to thousands of projects around the globe, representing democratic politics, food sovereignty, biodiversity and sustainable agriculture.
【K】The unscrupulous (无所顾忌) commodification of food and the destruction of foodstuffs will continue to devastate soils, livelihoods and ecologies. Slow Food cannot undo the irresistible developments of the global food economy, but it can upset its theorists, it can ‘speak differently’, and it can allow people and their local food traditions and environments to flourish. Even in the United States—the fast-food nation—small farms and urban gardens are on the rise. The US Department of Agriculture provides an Urban Agriculture Toolkit and, according to a recent report, American millennials (千禧一代) are changing their diets. In 2017, 6 per cent of US consumers claimed to be strictly vegetarian, up from 1 per cent in 2014. As more people realise that ‘eating is an agricultural act’, as the US poet and environmental activist Wendell Berry put it in 1989, slow hope advances.
37、37. According to one great thinker, it is most unfortunate if we lose the ability to think differently.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
Slow Hope
【A】Our world is full of—mostly untold—stories of slow hope, driven by the idea that change is possible. They are ‘slow’ in their unfolding, and they are slow because they come with setbacks.
【B】At the beginning of time—so goes the myth—humans suffered, shivering in the cold and dark until the titan (巨人) Prometheus stole fire from the gods. Just as in the myth, technology—first fire and stone tools, and later farming, the steam engine and industry, fossil fuels, chemicals and nuclear power—has allowed us to alter and control the natural world. The myth also reminds us that these advances have come at a price: as a punishment for Prometheus’ crime, the gods created Pandora, and they gave her a box filled with evils and curses. When Pandora’s box was opened, it unleashed swarms of diseases and disasters upon humankind.
【C】Today we can no longer ignore the ecological curses that we have released in our search for warmth and comfort. In engineering and exploiting and transforming our habitat, we have opened tens of thousands of Pandora’s boxes. In recent decades, environmental threats have expanded beyond regional boundaries to have global reach and, most hauntingly, are multiplying at a dizzying rate. On a regular basis, we are reminded that we are running out of time. Year after year, faster and faster, consumption outpaces the biological capacity of our planet. Stories of accelerated catastrophe multiply. We fear the breakdown of the electric grid, the end of non-renewable resources, the expansion of deserts, the loss of islands, and the pollution of our air and water.
【D】Acceleration is the signature of our time. Populations and economic activity grew slowly for much of human history. For thousands of years and well into early modern times, world economies saw no growth at all, but from around the mid-19th century and again, in particular, since the mid-20th, the real GDP has increased at an enormous speed, and so has human consumption. In the Middle Ages, households in Central Europe might have owned fewer than 30 objects on average; in 1900, this number had increased to 400, and in 2020 to 15,000. The acceleration of human production, consumption and travel has changed the animate and inanimate spheres. It has echoed through natural processes on which humans depend. Species extinction, deforestation, damming of rivers, occurrence of floods, the depletion of ozone, the degradation of ocean systems and many other areas are all experiencing acceleration. If represented graphically, the curve for all these changes looks rather like that well-known hockey stick: with little change over millennia (数千年) and a dramatic upswing over the past decades.
【E】Some of today’s narratives about the future seem to suggest that we too, like Prometheus, will be saved by a new Hercules, a divine engineer, someone who will mastermind, manoeuvre and manipulate our planet. They suggest that geoengineering, cold fusion or faster-than-light spaceships might transcend once and for all the terrestrial constraints of rising temperatures, lack of energy, scarcity of food, lack of space, mountains of waste, polluted water—you name it.
【F】Yet, if we envisage our salvation to come from a deus ex machina (解围之神), from a divine engineer or a tech solutionist who will miraculously conjure up a new source of energy or another cure-all with revolutionary potency, we might be looking in the wrong place. The fact that we now imagine our planet as a whole does not mean that the ‘rescue’ of our planet will come with one big global stroke of genius and technology. It will more likely come by many small acts. Global heating and environmental degradation are not technological problems. They are highly political issues that are informed by powerful interests. Moreover, if history is a guide, then we can assume that any major transformations will once again be followed by a huge set of unintended consequences. So what do we do?
【G】This much is clear: we need to find ways that help us flatten the hockey-stick curves that reflect our ever-faster pace of ecological destruction and social acceleration. If we acknowledge that human manipulation of the Earth has been a destructive force, we can also imagine that human endeavours can help us build a less destructive world in the centuries to come. We might keep making mistakes. But we will also keep learning from our mistakes.
【H】To counter the fears of disaster, we need to identify stories, visions and actions that work quietly towards a more hopeful future. Instead of one big narrative, a story of unexpected rescue by a larger-than-life hero, we need multiple stories: we need stories, not only of what Rob Nixon of Princeton University has called the ‘slow violence’ of environmental degradation (that is, the damage that is often invisible at first and develops slowly and gradually), but also stories of what I call ‘slow hope’.
【I】We need an acknowledgement of our present ecological plight but also a language of positive change, visions of a better future. In The Principle of Hope (1954-59), Ernst Bloch, one of the leading philosophers of the future, wrote that ‘the most tragic form of loss... is the loss of the capacity to imagine that things could be different’. We need to identify visions and paths that will help us imagine a different, a more just and more ecological world. Hope, for Bloch, has its starting point in fear, in uncertainty, and in crisis: it is a creative force that goes hand in hand with utopian (乌托邦的) ‘wishful images’. It can be found in cultural products of the past—in fairy tales, in fiction, in architecture, in music, in the movies—in products of the human mind that contain ‘the outlines of a better world’. What makes us ‘authentic’ as humans are visions of our ‘potential’. In other words: living in hope makes us human.
【J】The power of small, grassroots movements to make changes that spread beyond their place of origin can be seen with the Slow Food movement, which began in Italy in the 1980s. The rise of fast-food restaurants after the Second World War produced a society full of cheap, industrially made foodstuffs. Under the leadership of Carlo Petrini, the Slow Food movement began in Piedmont, a region of Italy with a long history of poverty, violence and resistance to oppression. The movement transformed it into a region hospitable to traditional food cultures—based on native plants and breeds of animals. Today, Slow Food operates in more than 160 countries, poor and rich. It has given rise to thousands of projects around the globe, representing democratic politics, food sovereignty, biodiversity and sustainable agriculture.
【K】The unscrupulous (无所顾忌) commodification of food and the destruction of foodstuffs will continue to devastate soils, livelihoods and ecologies. Slow Food cannot undo the irresistible developments of the global food economy, but it can upset its theorists, it can ‘speak differently’, and it can allow people and their local food traditions and environments to flourish. Even in the United States—the fast-food nation—small farms and urban gardens are on the rise. The US Department of Agriculture provides an Urban Agriculture Toolkit and, according to a recent report, American millennials (千禧一代) are changing their diets. In 2017, 6 per cent of US consumers claimed to be strictly vegetarian, up from 1 per cent in 2014. As more people realise that ‘eating is an agricultural act’, as the US poet and environmental activist Wendell Berry put it in 1989, slow hope advances.
38、38. Urgent attention should be paid to the ecological problems we have created in our pursuit of a comfortable life.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
Slow Hope
【A】Our world is full of—mostly untold—stories of slow hope, driven by the idea that change is possible. They are ‘slow’ in their unfolding, and they are slow because they come with setbacks.
【B】At the beginning of time—so goes the myth—humans suffered, shivering in the cold and dark until the titan (巨人) Prometheus stole fire from the gods. Just as in the myth, technology—first fire and stone tools, and later farming, the steam engine and industry, fossil fuels, chemicals and nuclear power—has allowed us to alter and control the natural world. The myth also reminds us that these advances have come at a price: as a punishment for Prometheus’ crime, the gods created Pandora, and they gave her a box filled with evils and curses. When Pandora’s box was opened, it unleashed swarms of diseases and disasters upon humankind.
【C】Today we can no longer ignore the ecological curses that we have released in our search for warmth and comfort. In engineering and exploiting and transforming our habitat, we have opened tens of thousands of Pandora’s boxes. In recent decades, environmental threats have expanded beyond regional boundaries to have global reach and, most hauntingly, are multiplying at a dizzying rate. On a regular basis, we are reminded that we are running out of time. Year after year, faster and faster, consumption outpaces the biological capacity of our planet. Stories of accelerated catastrophe multiply. We fear the breakdown of the electric grid, the end of non-renewable resources, the expansion of deserts, the loss of islands, and the pollution of our air and water.
【D】Acceleration is the signature of our time. Populations and economic activity grew slowly for much of human history. For thousands of years and well into early modern times, world economies saw no growth at all, but from around the mid-19th century and again, in particular, since the mid-20th, the real GDP has increased at an enormous speed, and so has human consumption. In the Middle Ages, households in Central Europe might have owned fewer than 30 objects on average; in 1900, this number had increased to 400, and in 2020 to 15,000. The acceleration of human production, consumption and travel has changed the animate and inanimate spheres. It has echoed through natural processes on which humans depend. Species extinction, deforestation, damming of rivers, occurrence of floods, the depletion of ozone, the degradation of ocean systems and many other areas are all experiencing acceleration. If represented graphically, the curve for all these changes looks rather like that well-known hockey stick: with little change over millennia (数千年) and a dramatic upswing over the past decades.
【E】Some of today’s narratives about the future seem to suggest that we too, like Prometheus, will be saved by a new Hercules, a divine engineer, someone who will mastermind, manoeuvre and manipulate our planet. They suggest that geoengineering, cold fusion or faster-than-light spaceships might transcend once and for all the terrestrial constraints of rising temperatures, lack of energy, scarcity of food, lack of space, mountains of waste, polluted water—you name it.
【F】Yet, if we envisage our salvation to come from a deus ex machina (解围之神), from a divine engineer or a tech solutionist who will miraculously conjure up a new source of energy or another cure-all with revolutionary potency, we might be looking in the wrong place. The fact that we now imagine our planet as a whole does not mean that the ‘rescue’ of our planet will come with one big global stroke of genius and technology. It will more likely come by many small acts. Global heating and environmental degradation are not technological problems. They are highly political issues that are informed by powerful interests. Moreover, if history is a guide, then we can assume that any major transformations will once again be followed by a huge set of unintended consequences. So what do we do?
【G】This much is clear: we need to find ways that help us flatten the hockey-stick curves that reflect our ever-faster pace of ecological destruction and social acceleration. If we acknowledge that human manipulation of the Earth has been a destructive force, we can also imagine that human endeavours can help us build a less destructive world in the centuries to come. We might keep making mistakes. But we will also keep learning from our mistakes.
【H】To counter the fears of disaster, we need to identify stories, visions and actions that work quietly towards a more hopeful future. Instead of one big narrative, a story of unexpected rescue by a larger-than-life hero, we need multiple stories: we need stories, not only of what Rob Nixon of Princeton University has called the ‘slow violence’ of environmental degradation (that is, the damage that is often invisible at first and develops slowly and gradually), but also stories of what I call ‘slow hope’.
【I】We need an acknowledgement of our present ecological plight but also a language of positive change, visions of a better future. In The Principle of Hope (1954-59), Ernst Bloch, one of the leading philosophers of the future, wrote that ‘the most tragic form of loss... is the loss of the capacity to imagine that things could be different’. We need to identify visions and paths that will help us imagine a different, a more just and more ecological world. Hope, for Bloch, has its starting point in fear, in uncertainty, and in crisis: it is a creative force that goes hand in hand with utopian (乌托邦的) ‘wishful images’. It can be found in cultural products of the past—in fairy tales, in fiction, in architecture, in music, in the movies—in products of the human mind that contain ‘the outlines of a better world’. What makes us ‘authentic’ as humans are visions of our ‘potential’. In other words: living in hope makes us human.
【J】The power of small, grassroots movements to make changes that spread beyond their place of origin can be seen with the Slow Food movement, which began in Italy in the 1980s. The rise of fast-food restaurants after the Second World War produced a society full of cheap, industrially made foodstuffs. Under the leadership of Carlo Petrini, the Slow Food movement began in Piedmont, a region of Italy with a long history of poverty, violence and resistance to oppression. The movement transformed it into a region hospitable to traditional food cultures—based on native plants and breeds of animals. Today, Slow Food operates in more than 160 countries, poor and rich. It has given rise to thousands of projects around the globe, representing democratic politics, food sovereignty, biodiversity and sustainable agriculture.
【K】The unscrupulous (无所顾忌) commodification of food and the destruction of foodstuffs will continue to devastate soils, livelihoods and ecologies. Slow Food cannot undo the irresistible developments of the global food economy, but it can upset its theorists, it can ‘speak differently’, and it can allow people and their local food traditions and environments to flourish. Even in the United States—the fast-food nation—small farms and urban gardens are on the rise. The US Department of Agriculture provides an Urban Agriculture Toolkit and, according to a recent report, American millennials (千禧一代) are changing their diets. In 2017, 6 per cent of US consumers claimed to be strictly vegetarian, up from 1 per cent in 2014. As more people realise that ‘eating is an agricultural act’, as the US poet and environmental activist Wendell Berry put it in 1989, slow hope advances.
39、39. Even in the fast-food nation America, the number of vegetarians is on the rise.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
Slow Hope
【A】Our world is full of—mostly untold—stories of slow hope, driven by the idea that change is possible. They are ‘slow’ in their unfolding, and they are slow because they come with setbacks.
【B】At the beginning of time—so goes the myth—humans suffered, shivering in the cold and dark until the titan (巨人) Prometheus stole fire from the gods. Just as in the myth, technology—first fire and stone tools, and later farming, the steam engine and industry, fossil fuels, chemicals and nuclear power—has allowed us to alter and control the natural world. The myth also reminds us that these advances have come at a price: as a punishment for Prometheus’ crime, the gods created Pandora, and they gave her a box filled with evils and curses. When Pandora’s box was opened, it unleashed swarms of diseases and disasters upon humankind.
【C】Today we can no longer ignore the ecological curses that we have released in our search for warmth and comfort. In engineering and exploiting and transforming our habitat, we have opened tens of thousands of Pandora’s boxes. In recent decades, environmental threats have expanded beyond regional boundaries to have global reach and, most hauntingly, are multiplying at a dizzying rate. On a regular basis, we are reminded that we are running out of time. Year after year, faster and faster, consumption outpaces the biological capacity of our planet. Stories of accelerated catastrophe multiply. We fear the breakdown of the electric grid, the end of non-renewable resources, the expansion of deserts, the loss of islands, and the pollution of our air and water.
【D】Acceleration is the signature of our time. Populations and economic activity grew slowly for much of human history. For thousands of years and well into early modern times, world economies saw no growth at all, but from around the mid-19th century and again, in particular, since the mid-20th, the real GDP has increased at an enormous speed, and so has human consumption. In the Middle Ages, households in Central Europe might have owned fewer than 30 objects on average; in 1900, this number had increased to 400, and in 2020 to 15,000. The acceleration of human production, consumption and travel has changed the animate and inanimate spheres. It has echoed through natural processes on which humans depend. Species extinction, deforestation, damming of rivers, occurrence of floods, the depletion of ozone, the degradation of ocean systems and many other areas are all experiencing acceleration. If represented graphically, the curve for all these changes looks rather like that well-known hockey stick: with little change over millennia (数千年) and a dramatic upswing over the past decades.
【E】Some of today’s narratives about the future seem to suggest that we too, like Prometheus, will be saved by a new Hercules, a divine engineer, someone who will mastermind, manoeuvre and manipulate our planet. They suggest that geoengineering, cold fusion or faster-than-light spaceships might transcend once and for all the terrestrial constraints of rising temperatures, lack of energy, scarcity of food, lack of space, mountains of waste, polluted water—you name it.
【F】Yet, if we envisage our salvation to come from a deus ex machina (解围之神), from a divine engineer or a tech solutionist who will miraculously conjure up a new source of energy or another cure-all with revolutionary potency, we might be looking in the wrong place. The fact that we now imagine our planet as a whole does not mean that the ‘rescue’ of our planet will come with one big global stroke of genius and technology. It will more likely come by many small acts. Global heating and environmental degradation are not technological problems. They are highly political issues that are informed by powerful interests. Moreover, if history is a guide, then we can assume that any major transformations will once again be followed by a huge set of unintended consequences. So what do we do?
【G】This much is clear: we need to find ways that help us flatten the hockey-stick curves that reflect our ever-faster pace of ecological destruction and social acceleration. If we acknowledge that human manipulation of the Earth has been a destructive force, we can also imagine that human endeavours can help us build a less destructive world in the centuries to come. We might keep making mistakes. But we will also keep learning from our mistakes.
【H】To counter the fears of disaster, we need to identify stories, visions and actions that work quietly towards a more hopeful future. Instead of one big narrative, a story of unexpected rescue by a larger-than-life hero, we need multiple stories: we need stories, not only of what Rob Nixon of Princeton University has called the ‘slow violence’ of environmental degradation (that is, the damage that is often invisible at first and develops slowly and gradually), but also stories of what I call ‘slow hope’.
【I】We need an acknowledgement of our present ecological plight but also a language of positive change, visions of a better future. In The Principle of Hope (1954-59), Ernst Bloch, one of the leading philosophers of the future, wrote that ‘the most tragic form of loss... is the loss of the capacity to imagine that things could be different’. We need to identify visions and paths that will help us imagine a different, a more just and more ecological world. Hope, for Bloch, has its starting point in fear, in uncertainty, and in crisis: it is a creative force that goes hand in hand with utopian (乌托邦的) ‘wishful images’. It can be found in cultural products of the past—in fairy tales, in fiction, in architecture, in music, in the movies—in products of the human mind that contain ‘the outlines of a better world’. What makes us ‘authentic’ as humans are visions of our ‘potential’. In other words: living in hope makes us human.
【J】The power of small, grassroots movements to make changes that spread beyond their place of origin can be seen with the Slow Food movement, which began in Italy in the 1980s. The rise of fast-food restaurants after the Second World War produced a society full of cheap, industrially made foodstuffs. Under the leadership of Carlo Petrini, the Slow Food movement began in Piedmont, a region of Italy with a long history of poverty, violence and resistance to oppression. The movement transformed it into a region hospitable to traditional food cultures—based on native plants and breeds of animals. Today, Slow Food operates in more than 160 countries, poor and rich. It has given rise to thousands of projects around the globe, representing democratic politics, food sovereignty, biodiversity and sustainable agriculture.
【K】The unscrupulous (无所顾忌) commodification of food and the destruction of foodstuffs will continue to devastate soils, livelihoods and ecologies. Slow Food cannot undo the irresistible developments of the global food economy, but it can upset its theorists, it can ‘speak differently’, and it can allow people and their local food traditions and environments to flourish. Even in the United States—the fast-food nation—small farms and urban gardens are on the rise. The US Department of Agriculture provides an Urban Agriculture Toolkit and, according to a recent report, American millennials (千禧一代) are changing their diets. In 2017, 6 per cent of US consumers claimed to be strictly vegetarian, up from 1 per cent in 2014. As more people realise that ‘eating is an agricultural act’, as the US poet and environmental activist Wendell Berry put it in 1989, slow hope advances.
40、40. The deterioration of the ecological system is accelerating because of the dramatic increase of human production and consumption.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
Slow Hope
【A】Our world is full of—mostly untold—stories of slow hope, driven by the idea that change is possible. They are ‘slow’ in their unfolding, and they are slow because they come with setbacks.
【B】At the beginning of time—so goes the myth—humans suffered, shivering in the cold and dark until the titan (巨人) Prometheus stole fire from the gods. Just as in the myth, technology—first fire and stone tools, and later farming, the steam engine and industry, fossil fuels, chemicals and nuclear power—has allowed us to alter and control the natural world. The myth also reminds us that these advances have come at a price: as a punishment for Prometheus’ crime, the gods created Pandora, and they gave her a box filled with evils and curses. When Pandora’s box was opened, it unleashed swarms of diseases and disasters upon humankind.
【C】Today we can no longer ignore the ecological curses that we have released in our search for warmth and comfort. In engineering and exploiting and transforming our habitat, we have opened tens of thousands of Pandora’s boxes. In recent decades, environmental threats have expanded beyond regional boundaries to have global reach and, most hauntingly, are multiplying at a dizzying rate. On a regular basis, we are reminded that we are running out of time. Year after year, faster and faster, consumption outpaces the biological capacity of our planet. Stories of accelerated catastrophe multiply. We fear the breakdown of the electric grid, the end of non-renewable resources, the expansion of deserts, the loss of islands, and the pollution of our air and water.
【D】Acceleration is the signature of our time. Populations and economic activity grew slowly for much of human history. For thousands of years and well into early modern times, world economies saw no growth at all, but from around the mid-19th century and again, in particular, since the mid-20th, the real GDP has increased at an enormous speed, and so has human consumption. In the Middle Ages, households in Central Europe might have owned fewer than 30 objects on average; in 1900, this number had increased to 400, and in 2020 to 15,000. The acceleration of human production, consumption and travel has changed the animate and inanimate spheres. It has echoed through natural processes on which humans depend. Species extinction, deforestation, damming of rivers, occurrence of floods, the depletion of ozone, the degradation of ocean systems and many other areas are all experiencing acceleration. If represented graphically, the curve for all these changes looks rather like that well-known hockey stick: with little change over millennia (数千年) and a dramatic upswing over the past decades.
【E】Some of today’s narratives about the future seem to suggest that we too, like Prometheus, will be saved by a new Hercules, a divine engineer, someone who will mastermind, manoeuvre and manipulate our planet. They suggest that geoengineering, cold fusion or faster-than-light spaceships might transcend once and for all the terrestrial constraints of rising temperatures, lack of energy, scarcity of food, lack of space, mountains of waste, polluted water—you name it.
【F】Yet, if we envisage our salvation to come from a deus ex machina (解围之神), from a divine engineer or a tech solutionist who will miraculously conjure up a new source of energy or another cure-all with revolutionary potency, we might be looking in the wrong place. The fact that we now imagine our planet as a whole does not mean that the ‘rescue’ of our planet will come with one big global stroke of genius and technology. It will more likely come by many small acts. Global heating and environmental degradation are not technological problems. They are highly political issues that are informed by powerful interests. Moreover, if history is a guide, then we can assume that any major transformations will once again be followed by a huge set of unintended consequences. So what do we do?
【G】This much is clear: we need to find ways that help us flatten the hockey-stick curves that reflect our ever-faster pace of ecological destruction and social acceleration. If we acknowledge that human manipulation of the Earth has been a destructive force, we can also imagine that human endeavours can help us build a less destructive world in the centuries to come. We might keep making mistakes. But we will also keep learning from our mistakes.
【H】To counter the fears of disaster, we need to identify stories, visions and actions that work quietly towards a more hopeful future. Instead of one big narrative, a story of unexpected rescue by a larger-than-life hero, we need multiple stories: we need stories, not only of what Rob Nixon of Princeton University has called the ‘slow violence’ of environmental degradation (that is, the damage that is often invisible at first and develops slowly and gradually), but also stories of what I call ‘slow hope’.
【I】We need an acknowledgement of our present ecological plight but also a language of positive change, visions of a better future. In The Principle of Hope (1954-59), Ernst Bloch, one of the leading philosophers of the future, wrote that ‘the most tragic form of loss... is the loss of the capacity to imagine that things could be different’. We need to identify visions and paths that will help us imagine a different, a more just and more ecological world. Hope, for Bloch, has its starting point in fear, in uncertainty, and in crisis: it is a creative force that goes hand in hand with utopian (乌托邦的) ‘wishful images’. It can be found in cultural products of the past—in fairy tales, in fiction, in architecture, in music, in the movies—in products of the human mind that contain ‘the outlines of a better world’. What makes us ‘authentic’ as humans are visions of our ‘potential’. In other words: living in hope makes us human.
【J】The power of small, grassroots movements to make changes that spread beyond their place of origin can be seen with the Slow Food movement, which began in Italy in the 1980s. The rise of fast-food restaurants after the Second World War produced a society full of cheap, industrially made foodstuffs. Under the leadership of Carlo Petrini, the Slow Food movement began in Piedmont, a region of Italy with a long history of poverty, violence and resistance to oppression. The movement transformed it into a region hospitable to traditional food cultures—based on native plants and breeds of animals. Today, Slow Food operates in more than 160 countries, poor and rich. It has given rise to thousands of projects around the globe, representing democratic politics, food sovereignty, biodiversity and sustainable agriculture.
【K】The unscrupulous (无所顾忌) commodification of food and the destruction of foodstuffs will continue to devastate soils, livelihoods and ecologies. Slow Food cannot undo the irresistible developments of the global food economy, but it can upset its theorists, it can ‘speak differently’, and it can allow people and their local food traditions and environments to flourish. Even in the United States—the fast-food nation—small farms and urban gardens are on the rise. The US Department of Agriculture provides an Urban Agriculture Toolkit and, according to a recent report, American millennials (千禧一代) are changing their diets. In 2017, 6 per cent of US consumers claimed to be strictly vegetarian, up from 1 per cent in 2014. As more people realise that ‘eating is an agricultural act’, as the US poet and environmental activist Wendell Berry put it in 1989, slow hope advances.
41、41. It is obvious that solutions must be found to curb the fast worsening environment and social acceleration.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
Slow Hope
【A】Our world is full of—mostly untold—stories of slow hope, driven by the idea that change is possible. They are ‘slow’ in their unfolding, and they are slow because they come with setbacks.
【B】At the beginning of time—so goes the myth—humans suffered, shivering in the cold and dark until the titan (巨人) Prometheus stole fire from the gods. Just as in the myth, technology—first fire and stone tools, and later farming, the steam engine and industry, fossil fuels, chemicals and nuclear power—has allowed us to alter and control the natural world. The myth also reminds us that these advances have come at a price: as a punishment for Prometheus’ crime, the gods created Pandora, and they gave her a box filled with evils and curses. When Pandora’s box was opened, it unleashed swarms of diseases and disasters upon humankind.
【C】Today we can no longer ignore the ecological curses that we have released in our search for warmth and comfort. In engineering and exploiting and transforming our habitat, we have opened tens of thousands of Pandora’s boxes. In recent decades, environmental threats have expanded beyond regional boundaries to have global reach and, most hauntingly, are multiplying at a dizzying rate. On a regular basis, we are reminded that we are running out of time. Year after year, faster and faster, consumption outpaces the biological capacity of our planet. Stories of accelerated catastrophe multiply. We fear the breakdown of the electric grid, the end of non-renewable resources, the expansion of deserts, the loss of islands, and the pollution of our air and water.
【D】Acceleration is the signature of our time. Populations and economic activity grew slowly for much of human history. For thousands of years and well into early modern times, world economies saw no growth at all, but from around the mid-19th century and again, in particular, since the mid-20th, the real GDP has increased at an enormous speed, and so has human consumption. In the Middle Ages, households in Central Europe might have owned fewer than 30 objects on average; in 1900, this number had increased to 400, and in 2020 to 15,000. The acceleration of human production, consumption and travel has changed the animate and inanimate spheres. It has echoed through natural processes on which humans depend. Species extinction, deforestation, damming of rivers, occurrence of floods, the depletion of ozone, the degradation of ocean systems and many other areas are all experiencing acceleration. If represented graphically, the curve for all these changes looks rather like that well-known hockey stick: with little change over millennia (数千年) and a dramatic upswing over the past decades.
【E】Some of today’s narratives about the future seem to suggest that we too, like Prometheus, will be saved by a new Hercules, a divine engineer, someone who will mastermind, manoeuvre and manipulate our planet. They suggest that geoengineering, cold fusion or faster-than-light spaceships might transcend once and for all the terrestrial constraints of rising temperatures, lack of energy, scarcity of food, lack of space, mountains of waste, polluted water—you name it.
【F】Yet, if we envisage our salvation to come from a deus ex machina (解围之神), from a divine engineer or a tech solutionist who will miraculously conjure up a new source of energy or another cure-all with revolutionary potency, we might be looking in the wrong place. The fact that we now imagine our planet as a whole does not mean that the ‘rescue’ of our planet will come with one big global stroke of genius and technology. It will more likely come by many small acts. Global heating and environmental degradation are not technological problems. They are highly political issues that are informed by powerful interests. Moreover, if history is a guide, then we can assume that any major transformations will once again be followed by a huge set of unintended consequences. So what do we do?
【G】This much is clear: we need to find ways that help us flatten the hockey-stick curves that reflect our ever-faster pace of ecological destruction and social acceleration. If we acknowledge that human manipulation of the Earth has been a destructive force, we can also imagine that human endeavours can help us build a less destructive world in the centuries to come. We might keep making mistakes. But we will also keep learning from our mistakes.
【H】To counter the fears of disaster, we need to identify stories, visions and actions that work quietly towards a more hopeful future. Instead of one big narrative, a story of unexpected rescue by a larger-than-life hero, we need multiple stories: we need stories, not only of what Rob Nixon of Princeton University has called the ‘slow violence’ of environmental degradation (that is, the damage that is often invisible at first and develops slowly and gradually), but also stories of what I call ‘slow hope’.
【I】We need an acknowledgement of our present ecological plight but also a language of positive change, visions of a better future. In The Principle of Hope (1954-59), Ernst Bloch, one of the leading philosophers of the future, wrote that ‘the most tragic form of loss... is the loss of the capacity to imagine that things could be different’. We need to identify visions and paths that will help us imagine a different, a more just and more ecological world. Hope, for Bloch, has its starting point in fear, in uncertainty, and in crisis: it is a creative force that goes hand in hand with utopian (乌托邦的) ‘wishful images’. It can be found in cultural products of the past—in fairy tales, in fiction, in architecture, in music, in the movies—in products of the human mind that contain ‘the outlines of a better world’. What makes us ‘authentic’ as humans are visions of our ‘potential’. In other words: living in hope makes us human.
【J】The power of small, grassroots movements to make changes that spread beyond their place of origin can be seen with the Slow Food movement, which began in Italy in the 1980s. The rise of fast-food restaurants after the Second World War produced a society full of cheap, industrially made foodstuffs. Under the leadership of Carlo Petrini, the Slow Food movement began in Piedmont, a region of Italy with a long history of poverty, violence and resistance to oppression. The movement transformed it into a region hospitable to traditional food cultures—based on native plants and breeds of animals. Today, Slow Food operates in more than 160 countries, poor and rich. It has given rise to thousands of projects around the globe, representing democratic politics, food sovereignty, biodiversity and sustainable agriculture.
【K】The unscrupulous (无所顾忌) commodification of food and the destruction of foodstuffs will continue to devastate soils, livelihoods and ecologies. Slow Food cannot undo the irresistible developments of the global food economy, but it can upset its theorists, it can ‘speak differently’, and it can allow people and their local food traditions and environments to flourish. Even in the United States—the fast-food nation—small farms and urban gardens are on the rise. The US Department of Agriculture provides an Urban Agriculture Toolkit and, according to a recent report, American millennials (千禧一代) are changing their diets. In 2017, 6 per cent of US consumers claimed to be strictly vegetarian, up from 1 per cent in 2014. As more people realise that ‘eating is an agricultural act’, as the US poet and environmental activist Wendell Berry put it in 1989, slow hope advances.
42、42. Many people believe changing the world is possible, though it may take time and involve setbacks.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
Slow Hope
【A】Our world is full of—mostly untold—stories of slow hope, driven by the idea that change is possible. They are ‘slow’ in their unfolding, and they are slow because they come with setbacks.
【B】At the beginning of time—so goes the myth—humans suffered, shivering in the cold and dark until the titan (巨人) Prometheus stole fire from the gods. Just as in the myth, technology—first fire and stone tools, and later farming, the steam engine and industry, fossil fuels, chemicals and nuclear power—has allowed us to alter and control the natural world. The myth also reminds us that these advances have come at a price: as a punishment for Prometheus’ crime, the gods created Pandora, and they gave her a box filled with evils and curses. When Pandora’s box was opened, it unleashed swarms of diseases and disasters upon humankind.
【C】Today we can no longer ignore the ecological curses that we have released in our search for warmth and comfort. In engineering and exploiting and transforming our habitat, we have opened tens of thousands of Pandora’s boxes. In recent decades, environmental threats have expanded beyond regional boundaries to have global reach and, most hauntingly, are multiplying at a dizzying rate. On a regular basis, we are reminded that we are running out of time. Year after year, faster and faster, consumption outpaces the biological capacity of our planet. Stories of accelerated catastrophe multiply. We fear the breakdown of the electric grid, the end of non-renewable resources, the expansion of deserts, the loss of islands, and the pollution of our air and water.
【D】Acceleration is the signature of our time. Populations and economic activity grew slowly for much of human history. For thousands of years and well into early modern times, world economies saw no growth at all, but from around the mid-19th century and again, in particular, since the mid-20th, the real GDP has increased at an enormous speed, and so has human consumption. In the Middle Ages, households in Central Europe might have owned fewer than 30 objects on average; in 1900, this number had increased to 400, and in 2020 to 15,000. The acceleration of human production, consumption and travel has changed the animate and inanimate spheres. It has echoed through natural processes on which humans depend. Species extinction, deforestation, damming of rivers, occurrence of floods, the depletion of ozone, the degradation of ocean systems and many other areas are all experiencing acceleration. If represented graphically, the curve for all these changes looks rather like that well-known hockey stick: with little change over millennia (数千年) and a dramatic upswing over the past decades.
【E】Some of today’s narratives about the future seem to suggest that we too, like Prometheus, will be saved by a new Hercules, a divine engineer, someone who will mastermind, manoeuvre and manipulate our planet. They suggest that geoengineering, cold fusion or faster-than-light spaceships might transcend once and for all the terrestrial constraints of rising temperatures, lack of energy, scarcity of food, lack of space, mountains of waste, polluted water—you name it.
【F】Yet, if we envisage our salvation to come from a deus ex machina (解围之神), from a divine engineer or a tech solutionist who will miraculously conjure up a new source of energy or another cure-all with revolutionary potency, we might be looking in the wrong place. The fact that we now imagine our planet as a whole does not mean that the ‘rescue’ of our planet will come with one big global stroke of genius and technology. It will more likely come by many small acts. Global heating and environmental degradation are not technological problems. They are highly political issues that are informed by powerful interests. Moreover, if history is a guide, then we can assume that any major transformations will once again be followed by a huge set of unintended consequences. So what do we do?
【G】This much is clear: we need to find ways that help us flatten the hockey-stick curves that reflect our ever-faster pace of ecological destruction and social acceleration. If we acknowledge that human manipulation of the Earth has been a destructive force, we can also imagine that human endeavours can help us build a less destructive world in the centuries to come. We might keep making mistakes. But we will also keep learning from our mistakes.
【H】To counter the fears of disaster, we need to identify stories, visions and actions that work quietly towards a more hopeful future. Instead of one big narrative, a story of unexpected rescue by a larger-than-life hero, we need multiple stories: we need stories, not only of what Rob Nixon of Princeton University has called the ‘slow violence’ of environmental degradation (that is, the damage that is often invisible at first and develops slowly and gradually), but also stories of what I call ‘slow hope’.
【I】We need an acknowledgement of our present ecological plight but also a language of positive change, visions of a better future. In The Principle of Hope (1954-59), Ernst Bloch, one of the leading philosophers of the future, wrote that ‘the most tragic form of loss... is the loss of the capacity to imagine that things could be different’. We need to identify visions and paths that will help us imagine a different, a more just and more ecological world. Hope, for Bloch, has its starting point in fear, in uncertainty, and in crisis: it is a creative force that goes hand in hand with utopian (乌托邦的) ‘wishful images’. It can be found in cultural products of the past—in fairy tales, in fiction, in architecture, in music, in the movies—in products of the human mind that contain ‘the outlines of a better world’. What makes us ‘authentic’ as humans are visions of our ‘potential’. In other words: living in hope makes us human.
【J】The power of small, grassroots movements to make changes that spread beyond their place of origin can be seen with the Slow Food movement, which began in Italy in the 1980s. The rise of fast-food restaurants after the Second World War produced a society full of cheap, industrially made foodstuffs. Under the leadership of Carlo Petrini, the Slow Food movement began in Piedmont, a region of Italy with a long history of poverty, violence and resistance to oppression. The movement transformed it into a region hospitable to traditional food cultures—based on native plants and breeds of animals. Today, Slow Food operates in more than 160 countries, poor and rich. It has given rise to thousands of projects around the globe, representing democratic politics, food sovereignty, biodiversity and sustainable agriculture.
【K】The unscrupulous (无所顾忌) commodification of food and the destruction of foodstuffs will continue to devastate soils, livelihoods and ecologies. Slow Food cannot undo the irresistible developments of the global food economy, but it can upset its theorists, it can ‘speak differently’, and it can allow people and their local food traditions and environments to flourish. Even in the United States—the fast-food nation—small farms and urban gardens are on the rise. The US Department of Agriculture provides an Urban Agriculture Toolkit and, according to a recent report, American millennials (千禧一代) are changing their diets. In 2017, 6 per cent of US consumers claimed to be strictly vegetarian, up from 1 per cent in 2014. As more people realise that ‘eating is an agricultural act’, as the US poet and environmental activist Wendell Berry put it in 1989, slow hope advances.
43、43. It might be wrong to expect that our world would be saved at one stroke with some miraculous technology.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
Slow Hope
【A】Our world is full of—mostly untold—stories of slow hope, driven by the idea that change is possible. They are ‘slow’ in their unfolding, and they are slow because they come with setbacks.
【B】At the beginning of time—so goes the myth—humans suffered, shivering in the cold and dark until the titan (巨人) Prometheus stole fire from the gods. Just as in the myth, technology—first fire and stone tools, and later farming, the steam engine and industry, fossil fuels, chemicals and nuclear power—has allowed us to alter and control the natural world. The myth also reminds us that these advances have come at a price: as a punishment for Prometheus’ crime, the gods created Pandora, and they gave her a box filled with evils and curses. When Pandora’s box was opened, it unleashed swarms of diseases and disasters upon humankind.
【C】Today we can no longer ignore the ecological curses that we have released in our search for warmth and comfort. In engineering and exploiting and transforming our habitat, we have opened tens of thousands of Pandora’s boxes. In recent decades, environmental threats have expanded beyond regional boundaries to have global reach and, most hauntingly, are multiplying at a dizzying rate. On a regular basis, we are reminded that we are running out of time. Year after year, faster and faster, consumption outpaces the biological capacity of our planet. Stories of accelerated catastrophe multiply. We fear the breakdown of the electric grid, the end of non-renewable resources, the expansion of deserts, the loss of islands, and the pollution of our air and water.
【D】Acceleration is the signature of our time. Populations and economic activity grew slowly for much of human history. For thousands of years and well into early modern times, world economies saw no growth at all, but from around the mid-19th century and again, in particular, since the mid-20th, the real GDP has increased at an enormous speed, and so has human consumption. In the Middle Ages, households in Central Europe might have owned fewer than 30 objects on average; in 1900, this number had increased to 400, and in 2020 to 15,000. The acceleration of human production, consumption and travel has changed the animate and inanimate spheres. It has echoed through natural processes on which humans depend. Species extinction, deforestation, damming of rivers, occurrence of floods, the depletion of ozone, the degradation of ocean systems and many other areas are all experiencing acceleration. If represented graphically, the curve for all these changes looks rather like that well-known hockey stick: with little change over millennia (数千年) and a dramatic upswing over the past decades.
【E】Some of today’s narratives about the future seem to suggest that we too, like Prometheus, will be saved by a new Hercules, a divine engineer, someone who will mastermind, manoeuvre and manipulate our planet. They suggest that geoengineering, cold fusion or faster-than-light spaceships might transcend once and for all the terrestrial constraints of rising temperatures, lack of energy, scarcity of food, lack of space, mountains of waste, polluted water—you name it.
【F】Yet, if we envisage our salvation to come from a deus ex machina (解围之神), from a divine engineer or a tech solutionist who will miraculously conjure up a new source of energy or another cure-all with revolutionary potency, we might be looking in the wrong place. The fact that we now imagine our planet as a whole does not mean that the ‘rescue’ of our planet will come with one big global stroke of genius and technology. It will more likely come by many small acts. Global heating and environmental degradation are not technological problems. They are highly political issues that are informed by powerful interests. Moreover, if history is a guide, then we can assume that any major transformations will once again be followed by a huge set of unintended consequences. So what do we do?
【G】This much is clear: we need to find ways that help us flatten the hockey-stick curves that reflect our ever-faster pace of ecological destruction and social acceleration. If we acknowledge that human manipulation of the Earth has been a destructive force, we can also imagine that human endeavours can help us build a less destructive world in the centuries to come. We might keep making mistakes. But we will also keep learning from our mistakes.
【H】To counter the fears of disaster, we need to identify stories, visions and actions that work quietly towards a more hopeful future. Instead of one big narrative, a story of unexpected rescue by a larger-than-life hero, we need multiple stories: we need stories, not only of what Rob Nixon of Princeton University has called the ‘slow violence’ of environmental degradation (that is, the damage that is often invisible at first and develops slowly and gradually), but also stories of what I call ‘slow hope’.
【I】We need an acknowledgement of our present ecological plight but also a language of positive change, visions of a better future. In The Principle of Hope (1954-59), Ernst Bloch, one of the leading philosophers of the future, wrote that ‘the most tragic form of loss... is the loss of the capacity to imagine that things could be different’. We need to identify visions and paths that will help us imagine a different, a more just and more ecological world. Hope, for Bloch, has its starting point in fear, in uncertainty, and in crisis: it is a creative force that goes hand in hand with utopian (乌托邦的) ‘wishful images’. It can be found in cultural products of the past—in fairy tales, in fiction, in architecture, in music, in the movies—in products of the human mind that contain ‘the outlines of a better world’. What makes us ‘authentic’ as humans are visions of our ‘potential’. In other words: living in hope makes us human.
【J】The power of small, grassroots movements to make changes that spread beyond their place of origin can be seen with the Slow Food movement, which began in Italy in the 1980s. The rise of fast-food restaurants after the Second World War produced a society full of cheap, industrially made foodstuffs. Under the leadership of Carlo Petrini, the Slow Food movement began in Piedmont, a region of Italy with a long history of poverty, violence and resistance to oppression. The movement transformed it into a region hospitable to traditional food cultures—based on native plants and breeds of animals. Today, Slow Food operates in more than 160 countries, poor and rich. It has given rise to thousands of projects around the globe, representing democratic politics, food sovereignty, biodiversity and sustainable agriculture.
【K】The unscrupulous (无所顾忌) commodification of food and the destruction of foodstuffs will continue to devastate soils, livelihoods and ecologies. Slow Food cannot undo the irresistible developments of the global food economy, but it can upset its theorists, it can ‘speak differently’, and it can allow people and their local food traditions and environments to flourish. Even in the United States—the fast-food nation—small farms and urban gardens are on the rise. The US Department of Agriculture provides an Urban Agriculture Toolkit and, according to a recent report, American millennials (千禧一代) are changing their diets. In 2017, 6 per cent of US consumers claimed to be strictly vegetarian, up from 1 per cent in 2014. As more people realise that ‘eating is an agricultural act’, as the US poet and environmental activist Wendell Berry put it in 1989, slow hope advances.
44、44. It is human nature to cherish hopes for a better world.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
Slow Hope
【A】Our world is full of—mostly untold—stories of slow hope, driven by the idea that change is possible. They are ‘slow’ in their unfolding, and they are slow because they come with setbacks.
【B】At the beginning of time—so goes the myth—humans suffered, shivering in the cold and dark until the titan (巨人) Prometheus stole fire from the gods. Just as in the myth, technology—first fire and stone tools, and later farming, the steam engine and industry, fossil fuels, chemicals and nuclear power—has allowed us to alter and control the natural world. The myth also reminds us that these advances have come at a price: as a punishment for Prometheus’ crime, the gods created Pandora, and they gave her a box filled with evils and curses. When Pandora’s box was opened, it unleashed swarms of diseases and disasters upon humankind.
【C】Today we can no longer ignore the ecological curses that we have released in our search for warmth and comfort. In engineering and exploiting and transforming our habitat, we have opened tens of thousands of Pandora’s boxes. In recent decades, environmental threats have expanded beyond regional boundaries to have global reach and, most hauntingly, are multiplying at a dizzying rate. On a regular basis, we are reminded that we are running out of time. Year after year, faster and faster, consumption outpaces the biological capacity of our planet. Stories of accelerated catastrophe multiply. We fear the breakdown of the electric grid, the end of non-renewable resources, the expansion of deserts, the loss of islands, and the pollution of our air and water.
【D】Acceleration is the signature of our time. Populations and economic activity grew slowly for much of human history. For thousands of years and well into early modern times, world economies saw no growth at all, but from around the mid-19th century and again, in particular, since the mid-20th, the real GDP has increased at an enormous speed, and so has human consumption. In the Middle Ages, households in Central Europe might have owned fewer than 30 objects on average; in 1900, this number had increased to 400, and in 2020 to 15,000. The acceleration of human production, consumption and travel has changed the animate and inanimate spheres. It has echoed through natural processes on which humans depend. Species extinction, deforestation, damming of rivers, occurrence of floods, the depletion of ozone, the degradation of ocean systems and many other areas are all experiencing acceleration. If represented graphically, the curve for all these changes looks rather like that well-known hockey stick: with little change over millennia (数千年) and a dramatic upswing over the past decades.
【E】Some of today’s narratives about the future seem to suggest that we too, like Prometheus, will be saved by a new Hercules, a divine engineer, someone who will mastermind, manoeuvre and manipulate our planet. They suggest that geoengineering, cold fusion or faster-than-light spaceships might transcend once and for all the terrestrial constraints of rising temperatures, lack of energy, scarcity of food, lack of space, mountains of waste, polluted water—you name it.
【F】Yet, if we envisage our salvation to come from a deus ex machina (解围之神), from a divine engineer or a tech solutionist who will miraculously conjure up a new source of energy or another cure-all with revolutionary potency, we might be looking in the wrong place. The fact that we now imagine our planet as a whole does not mean that the ‘rescue’ of our planet will come with one big global stroke of genius and technology. It will more likely come by many small acts. Global heating and environmental degradation are not technological problems. They are highly political issues that are informed by powerful interests. Moreover, if history is a guide, then we can assume that any major transformations will once again be followed by a huge set of unintended consequences. So what do we do?
【G】This much is clear: we need to find ways that help us flatten the hockey-stick curves that reflect our ever-faster pace of ecological destruction and social acceleration. If we acknowledge that human manipulation of the Earth has been a destructive force, we can also imagine that human endeavours can help us build a less destructive world in the centuries to come. We might keep making mistakes. But we will also keep learning from our mistakes.
【H】To counter the fears of disaster, we need to identify stories, visions and actions that work quietly towards a more hopeful future. Instead of one big narrative, a story of unexpected rescue by a larger-than-life hero, we need multiple stories: we need stories, not only of what Rob Nixon of Princeton University has called the ‘slow violence’ of environmental degradation (that is, the damage that is often invisible at first and develops slowly and gradually), but also stories of what I call ‘slow hope’.
【I】We need an acknowledgement of our present ecological plight but also a language of positive change, visions of a better future. In The Principle of Hope (1954-59), Ernst Bloch, one of the leading philosophers of the future, wrote that ‘the most tragic form of loss... is the loss of the capacity to imagine that things could be different’. We need to identify visions and paths that will help us imagine a different, a more just and more ecological world. Hope, for Bloch, has its starting point in fear, in uncertainty, and in crisis: it is a creative force that goes hand in hand with utopian (乌托邦的) ‘wishful images’. It can be found in cultural products of the past—in fairy tales, in fiction, in architecture, in music, in the movies—in products of the human mind that contain ‘the outlines of a better world’. What makes us ‘authentic’ as humans are visions of our ‘potential’. In other words: living in hope makes us human.
【J】The power of small, grassroots movements to make changes that spread beyond their place of origin can be seen with the Slow Food movement, which began in Italy in the 1980s. The rise of fast-food restaurants after the Second World War produced a society full of cheap, industrially made foodstuffs. Under the leadership of Carlo Petrini, the Slow Food movement began in Piedmont, a region of Italy with a long history of poverty, violence and resistance to oppression. The movement transformed it into a region hospitable to traditional food cultures—based on native plants and breeds of animals. Today, Slow Food operates in more than 160 countries, poor and rich. It has given rise to thousands of projects around the globe, representing democratic politics, food sovereignty, biodiversity and sustainable agriculture.
【K】The unscrupulous (无所顾忌) commodification of food and the destruction of foodstuffs will continue to devastate soils, livelihoods and ecologies. Slow Food cannot undo the irresistible developments of the global food economy, but it can upset its theorists, it can ‘speak differently’, and it can allow people and their local food traditions and environments to flourish. Even in the United States—the fast-food nation—small farms and urban gardens are on the rise. The US Department of Agriculture provides an Urban Agriculture Toolkit and, according to a recent report, American millennials (千禧一代) are changing their diets. In 2017, 6 per cent of US consumers claimed to be strictly vegetarian, up from 1 per cent in 2014. As more people realise that ‘eating is an agricultural act’, as the US poet and environmental activist Wendell Berry put it in 1989, slow hope advances.
45、45. Technology has given us humans the power to change the natural world, but we have paid a price for the change.
A、A
B、B
C、C
D、D
E、E
F、F
G、G
H、H
I、I
J、J
K、K
Vegetarians would prefer not to be compelled to eat meat. Yet the reverse compulsion (强迫) is hidden in the proposals for a new plant-based "planetary diet". Nowhere is this more visible than in India.
Earlier this year, the EAT-Lancet Commission released its global report on nutrition and called for a global shift to a more plant-based diet and for “substantially reducing consumption of animal source foods.” In countries like India, that call could become a tool to aggravate an already tense political situation and stress already undernourished populations.
The EAT report presumes that “traditional diets” in countries like India include little red meat, which might be consumed only on special occasions or as minor ingredients in mixed dishes.
In India, however, there is a vast difference between what people would wish to consume and what they have to consume because of innumerable barriers around class, religion, culture, cost, geography, etc. Policymakers in India have traditionally pushed for a cereal-heavy “vegetarian diet” on a meat-eating population as a way of providing the cheapest sources of food.
Currently, under an aggressive Hindu nationalist government, Muslims, Christians, disadvantaged classes and indigenous communities are being compelled to give up their traditional foods.
None of these concerns seem to have been appreciated by the EAT-Lancet Commission’s representative, Brent Loken, who said “India has got such a great example” in sourcing protein from plants.
But how much of a model for the world is India’s vegetarianism? In the Global Hunger Index 2019, the country ranks 102nd out of 117. Data from the National Family Health Survey indicate that only 10 percent of infants of 6 to 23 months are adequately fed.
Which is why calls for a plant-based diet modeled on India risk offering another whip with which to beat already vulnerable communities in developing countries.
A diet directed at the affluent West fails to recognize that in low-income countries undernourished children are known to benefit from the consumption of milk and other animal source foods, improving cognitive functions, while reducing the prevalence of nutritional deficiencies as well as mortality.
EAT-Lancet claimed its intention was to “spark conversations” among all Indian stakeholders. Yet vocal critics of the food processing industry and food fortification strategies have been left out of the debate. But the most conspicuous omission may well be the absence of India’s farmers.
The government, however, seems to have given the report a thumbs-up. Rather than addressing chronic hunger and malnutrition through an improved access to wholesome and nutrient-dense foods, the government is opening the door for company-dependent solutions, ignoring the environmental and economic cost, which will destroy local food systems. It’s a model full of danger for future generations.
46、46. What is more visible in India than anywhere else according to the passage?
A、People’s positive views on the proposals for a “planetary diet”.
B、People’s reluctance to be compelled to eat plant-based food.
C、People’s preferences for the kind of food they consume.
D、People’s unwillingness to give up their eating habits.
Vegetarians would prefer not to be compelled to eat meat. Yet the reverse compulsion (强迫) is hidden in the proposals for a new plant-based "planetary diet". Nowhere is this more visible than in India.
Earlier this year, the EAT-Lancet Commission released its global report on nutrition and called for a global shift to a more plant-based diet and for “substantially reducing consumption of animal source foods.” In countries like India, that call could become a tool to aggravate an already tense political situation and stress already undernourished populations.
The EAT report presumes that “traditional diets” in countries like India include little red meat, which might be consumed only on special occasions or as minor ingredients in mixed dishes.
In India, however, there is a vast difference between what people would wish to consume and what they have to consume because of innumerable barriers around class, religion, culture, cost, geography, etc. Policymakers in India have traditionally pushed for a cereal-heavy “vegetarian diet” on a meat-eating population as a way of providing the cheapest sources of food.
Currently, under an aggressive Hindu nationalist government, Muslims, Christians, disadvantaged classes and indigenous communities are being compelled to give up their traditional foods.
None of these concerns seem to have been appreciated by the EAT-Lancet Commission’s representative, Brent Loken, who said “India has got such a great example” in sourcing protein from plants.
But how much of a model for the world is India’s vegetarianism? In the Global Hunger Index 2019, the country ranks 102nd out of 117. Data from the National Family Health Survey indicate that only 10 percent of infants of 6 to 23 months are adequately fed.
Which is why calls for a plant-based diet modeled on India risk offering another whip with which to beat already vulnerable communities in developing countries.
A diet directed at the affluent West fails to recognize that in low-income countries undernourished children are known to benefit from the consumption of milk and other animal source foods, improving cognitive functions, while reducing the prevalence of nutritional deficiencies as well as mortality.
EAT-Lancet claimed its intention was to “spark conversations” among all Indian stakeholders. Yet vocal critics of the food processing industry and food fortification strategies have been left out of the debate. But the most conspicuous omission may well be the absence of India’s farmers.
The government, however, seems to have given the report a thumbs-up. Rather than addressing chronic hunger and malnutrition through an improved access to wholesome and nutrient-dense foods, the government is opening the door for company-dependent solutions, ignoring the environmental and economic cost, which will destroy local food systems. It’s a model full of danger for future generations.
47、47. What would the EAT-Lancet Commission’s report do to many people in countries like India?
A、Radically change their dietary habits.
B、Keep them further away from politics.
C、Make them even more undernourished.
D、Substantially reduce their food choices.
Vegetarians would prefer not to be compelled to eat meat. Yet the reverse compulsion (强迫) is hidden in the proposals for a new plant-based "planetary diet". Nowhere is this more visible than in India.
Earlier this year, the EAT-Lancet Commission released its global report on nutrition and called for a global shift to a more plant-based diet and for “substantially reducing consumption of animal source foods.” In countries like India, that call could become a tool to aggravate an already tense political situation and stress already undernourished populations.
The EAT report presumes that “traditional diets” in countries like India include little red meat, which might be consumed only on special occasions or as minor ingredients in mixed dishes.
In India, however, there is a vast difference between what people would wish to consume and what they have to consume because of innumerable barriers around class, religion, culture, cost, geography, etc. Policymakers in India have traditionally pushed for a cereal-heavy “vegetarian diet” on a meat-eating population as a way of providing the cheapest sources of food.
Currently, under an aggressive Hindu nationalist government, Muslims, Christians, disadvantaged classes and indigenous communities are being compelled to give up their traditional foods.
None of these concerns seem to have been appreciated by the EAT-Lancet Commission’s representative, Brent Loken, who said “India has got such a great example” in sourcing protein from plants.
But how much of a model for the world is India’s vegetarianism? In the Global Hunger Index 2019, the country ranks 102nd out of 117. Data from the National Family Health Survey indicate that only 10 percent of infants of 6 to 23 months are adequately fed.
Which is why calls for a plant-based diet modeled on India risk offering another whip with which to beat already vulnerable communities in developing countries.
A diet directed at the affluent West fails to recognize that in low-income countries undernourished children are known to benefit from the consumption of milk and other animal source foods, improving cognitive functions, while reducing the prevalence of nutritional deficiencies as well as mortality.
EAT-Lancet claimed its intention was to “spark conversations” among all Indian stakeholders. Yet vocal critics of the food processing industry and food fortification strategies have been left out of the debate. But the most conspicuous omission may well be the absence of India’s farmers.
The government, however, seems to have given the report a thumbs-up. Rather than addressing chronic hunger and malnutrition through an improved access to wholesome and nutrient-dense foods, the government is opening the door for company-dependent solutions, ignoring the environmental and economic cost, which will destroy local food systems. It’s a model full of danger for future generations.
48、48. What do we learn from the passage about food consumption in India?
A、People’s diet will not change due to the EAT-Lancet report.
B、Many people simply do not have access to foods they prefer.
C、There is a growing popularity of a cereal-heavy vegetarian diet.
D、Policymakers help remove the barriers to people’s choice of food.
Vegetarians would prefer not to be compelled to eat meat. Yet the reverse compulsion (强迫) is hidden in the proposals for a new plant-based "planetary diet". Nowhere is this more visible than in India.
Earlier this year, the EAT-Lancet Commission released its global report on nutrition and called for a global shift to a more plant-based diet and for “substantially reducing consumption of animal source foods.” In countries like India, that call could become a tool to aggravate an already tense political situation and stress already undernourished populations.
The EAT report presumes that “traditional diets” in countries like India include little red meat, which might be consumed only on special occasions or as minor ingredients in mixed dishes.
In India, however, there is a vast difference between what people would wish to consume and what they have to consume because of innumerable barriers around class, religion, culture, cost, geography, etc. Policymakers in India have traditionally pushed for a cereal-heavy “vegetarian diet” on a meat-eating population as a way of providing the cheapest sources of food.
Currently, under an aggressive Hindu nationalist government, Muslims, Christians, disadvantaged classes and indigenous communities are being compelled to give up their traditional foods.
None of these concerns seem to have been appreciated by the EAT-Lancet Commission’s representative, Brent Loken, who said “India has got such a great example” in sourcing protein from plants.
But how much of a model for the world is India’s vegetarianism? In the Global Hunger Index 2019, the country ranks 102nd out of 117. Data from the National Family Health Survey indicate that only 10 percent of infants of 6 to 23 months are adequately fed.
Which is why calls for a plant-based diet modeled on India risk offering another whip with which to beat already vulnerable communities in developing countries.
A diet directed at the affluent West fails to recognize that in low-income countries undernourished children are known to benefit from the consumption of milk and other animal source foods, improving cognitive functions, while reducing the prevalence of nutritional deficiencies as well as mortality.
EAT-Lancet claimed its intention was to “spark conversations” among all Indian stakeholders. Yet vocal critics of the food processing industry and food fortification strategies have been left out of the debate. But the most conspicuous omission may well be the absence of India’s farmers.
The government, however, seems to have given the report a thumbs-up. Rather than addressing chronic hunger and malnutrition through an improved access to wholesome and nutrient-dense foods, the government is opening the door for company-dependent solutions, ignoring the environmental and economic cost, which will destroy local food systems. It’s a model full of danger for future generations.
49、49. What does the passage say about a plant-based diet modeled on India?
A、It may benefit populations whose traditional diet is meat-based.
B、It may be another blow to the economy in developing counties.
C、It may help narrow the gap between the rich and poor countries.
D、It may worsen the nourishment problem in low-income countries.
Vegetarians would prefer not to be compelled to eat meat. Yet the reverse compulsion (强迫) is hidden in the proposals for a new plant-based "planetary diet". Nowhere is this more visible than in India.
Earlier this year, the EAT-Lancet Commission released its global report on nutrition and called for a global shift to a more plant-based diet and for “substantially reducing consumption of animal source foods.” In countries like India, that call could become a tool to aggravate an already tense political situation and stress already undernourished populations.
The EAT report presumes that “traditional diets” in countries like India include little red meat, which might be consumed only on special occasions or as minor ingredients in mixed dishes.
In India, however, there is a vast difference between what people would wish to consume and what they have to consume because of innumerable barriers around class, religion, culture, cost, geography, etc. Policymakers in India have traditionally pushed for a cereal-heavy “vegetarian diet” on a meat-eating population as a way of providing the cheapest sources of food.
Currently, under an aggressive Hindu nationalist government, Muslims, Christians, disadvantaged classes and indigenous communities are being compelled to give up their traditional foods.
None of these concerns seem to have been appreciated by the EAT-Lancet Commission’s representative, Brent Loken, who said “India has got such a great example” in sourcing protein from plants.
But how much of a model for the world is India’s vegetarianism? In the Global Hunger Index 2019, the country ranks 102nd out of 117. Data from the National Family Health Survey indicate that only 10 percent of infants of 6 to 23 months are adequately fed.
Which is why calls for a plant-based diet modeled on India risk offering another whip with which to beat already vulnerable communities in developing countries.
A diet directed at the affluent West fails to recognize that in low-income countries undernourished children are known to benefit from the consumption of milk and other animal source foods, improving cognitive functions, while reducing the prevalence of nutritional deficiencies as well as mortality.
EAT-Lancet claimed its intention was to “spark conversations” among all Indian stakeholders. Yet vocal critics of the food processing industry and food fortification strategies have been left out of the debate. But the most conspicuous omission may well be the absence of India’s farmers.
The government, however, seems to have given the report a thumbs-up. Rather than addressing chronic hunger and malnutrition through an improved access to wholesome and nutrient-dense foods, the government is opening the door for company-dependent solutions, ignoring the environmental and economic cost, which will destroy local food systems. It’s a model full of danger for future generations.
50、50. How does the Indian government respond to the EAT-Lancet Commission’s proposals?
A、It accepts them at the expense of the long-term interests of its people.
B、It intends them to spark conversations among all Indian stakeholders.
C、It gives them approval regardless of opposition from nutrition experts.
D、It welcomes them as a tool to address chronic hunger and malnutrition.
Back in 1964, in his book Games People Play, psychiatrist Eric Berne described a pattern of conversation he called “Why Don’t You—Yes But”, which remains one of the most irritating aspects of everyday social life. The person adopting the strategy is usually a chronic complainer. Something is terrible about their relationship, job, or other situation, and they moan about it ceaselessly, but find some excuse to dismiss any solution that’s proposed. The reason, of course, is that on some level they don’t want a solution; they want to be validated in their position that the world is out to get them. If they can “win” the game—dismissing every suggestion until their interlocutor (对话者) gives up in annoyance—they get to feel pleasurably righteous (正当的) in their resentments and excused from any obligation to change.
Part of the trouble here is the so-called responsibility/fault fallacy (谬误). When you’re feeling hard done by—taken for granted by your partner, say, or obliged to work for a half-witted boss—it’s easy to become attached to the position that it’s not your job to address the matter, and that doing so would be an admission of fault. But there’s a confusion here. For example, if I were to discover a newborn at my front door, it wouldn’t be my fault, but it most certainly would be my responsibility. There would be choices to make, and no possibility of avoiding them, since trying to ignore the matter would be a choice. The point is that what goes for the baby on the doorstep is true in all cases: even if the other person is 100% in the wrong, there’s nothing to be gained, long-term, from using this as a justification to evade responsibility.
Should you find yourself on the receiving end of this kind of complaining, there’s an ingenious way to shut it down—which is to agree with it, ardently. Psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb describes this as “over-validation”. For one thing, you’ll be spared further moaning, since the other person’s motivation was to confirm her beliefs, and now you’re confirming them. But for another, as Gottlieb notes, people confronted with over-validation often hear their complaints afresh and start arguing back. The notion that they’re utterly powerless suddenly seems unrealistic —not to mention rather annoying—so they’re prompted instead to generate ideas about how they might change things.
“And then, sometimes, something magical might happen,” Gottlieb writes. The other person “might realise she’s not as trapped as you are saying she is, or as she feels.” Which illustrates the irony of the responsibility/fault fallacy: evading responsibility feels comfortable, but turns out to be a prison; whereas assuming responsibility fees unpleasant, but ends up being freeing.
51、51. What is characteristic of a chronic complainer, according to psychiatrist Eric Berne?
A、They only feel angry about their ill treatment and resent whoever tries to help.
B、They are chronically unhappy and ceaselessly find fault with people around them.
C、They constantly dismiss others’ proposals while taking no responsibility for tackling the problem.
D、They lack the knowledge and basic skills required for successful conversations with their interlocutors.
Back in 1964, in his book Games People Play, psychiatrist Eric Berne described a pattern of conversation he called “Why Don’t You—Yes But”, which remains one of the most irritating aspects of everyday social life. The person adopting the strategy is usually a chronic complainer. Something is terrible about their relationship, job, or other situation, and they moan about it ceaselessly, but find some excuse to dismiss any solution that’s proposed. The reason, of course, is that on some level they don’t want a solution; they want to be validated in their position that the world is out to get them. If they can “win” the game—dismissing every suggestion until their interlocutor (对话者) gives up in annoyance—they get to feel pleasurably righteous (正当的) in their resentments and excused from any obligation to change.
Part of the trouble here is the so-called responsibility/fault fallacy (谬误). When you’re feeling hard done by—taken for granted by your partner, say, or obliged to work for a half-witted boss—it’s easy to become attached to the position that it’s not your job to address the matter, and that doing so would be an admission of fault. But there’s a confusion here. For example, if I were to discover a newborn at my front door, it wouldn’t be my fault, but it most certainly would be my responsibility. There would be choices to make, and no possibility of avoiding them, since trying to ignore the matter would be a choice. The point is that what goes for the baby on the doorstep is true in all cases: even if the other person is 100% in the wrong, there’s nothing to be gained, long-term, from using this as a justification to evade responsibility.
Should you find yourself on the receiving end of this kind of complaining, there’s an ingenious way to shut it down—which is to agree with it, ardently. Psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb describes this as “over-validation”. For one thing, you’ll be spared further moaning, since the other person’s motivation was to confirm her beliefs, and now you’re confirming them. But for another, as Gottlieb notes, people confronted with over-validation often hear their complaints afresh and start arguing back. The notion that they’re utterly powerless suddenly seems unrealistic —not to mention rather annoying—so they’re prompted instead to generate ideas about how they might change things.
“And then, sometimes, something magical might happen,” Gottlieb writes. The other person “might realise she’s not as trapped as you are saying she is, or as she feels.” Which illustrates the irony of the responsibility/fault fallacy: evading responsibility feels comfortable, but turns out to be a prison; whereas assuming responsibility fees unpleasant, but ends up being freeing.
52、52. What does the author try to illustrate with the example of the newborn on one’s doorstep?
A、People tend to think that one should not be held responsible for others’ mistakes.
B、It is easy to become attached to the position of overlooking one’s own fault.
C、People are often at a loss when confronted with a number of choices.
D、A distinction should be drawn between responsibility and fault.
Back in 1964, in his book Games People Play, psychiatrist Eric Berne described a pattern of conversation he called “Why Don’t You—Yes But”, which remains one of the most irritating aspects of everyday social life. The person adopting the strategy is usually a chronic complainer. Something is terrible about their relationship, job, or other situation, and they moan about it ceaselessly, but find some excuse to dismiss any solution that’s proposed. The reason, of course, is that on some level they don’t want a solution; they want to be validated in their position that the world is out to get them. If they can “win” the game—dismissing every suggestion until their interlocutor (对话者) gives up in annoyance—they get to feel pleasurably righteous (正当的) in their resentments and excused from any obligation to change.
Part of the trouble here is the so-called responsibility/fault fallacy (谬误). When you’re feeling hard done by—taken for granted by your partner, say, or obliged to work for a half-witted boss—it’s easy to become attached to the position that it’s not your job to address the matter, and that doing so would be an admission of fault. But there’s a confusion here. For example, if I were to discover a newborn at my front door, it wouldn’t be my fault, but it most certainly would be my responsibility. There would be choices to make, and no possibility of avoiding them, since trying to ignore the matter would be a choice. The point is that what goes for the baby on the doorstep is true in all cases: even if the other person is 100% in the wrong, there’s nothing to be gained, long-term, from using this as a justification to evade responsibility.
Should you find yourself on the receiving end of this kind of complaining, there’s an ingenious way to shut it down—which is to agree with it, ardently. Psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb describes this as “over-validation”. For one thing, you’ll be spared further moaning, since the other person’s motivation was to confirm her beliefs, and now you’re confirming them. But for another, as Gottlieb notes, people confronted with over-validation often hear their complaints afresh and start arguing back. The notion that they’re utterly powerless suddenly seems unrealistic —not to mention rather annoying—so they’re prompted instead to generate ideas about how they might change things.
“And then, sometimes, something magical might happen,” Gottlieb writes. The other person “might realise she’s not as trapped as you are saying she is, or as she feels.” Which illustrates the irony of the responsibility/fault fallacy: evading responsibility feels comfortable, but turns out to be a prison; whereas assuming responsibility fees unpleasant, but ends up being freeing.
53、53. What does the author advise people to do to chronic complainers?
A、Stop them from going further by agreeing with them.
B、Listen to their complaints ardently and sympathetically.
C、Ask them to validate their beliefs with further evidence.
D、Persuade them to clarify the confusion they have caused.
Back in 1964, in his book Games People Play, psychiatrist Eric Berne described a pattern of conversation he called “Why Don’t You—Yes But”, which remains one of the most irritating aspects of everyday social life. The person adopting the strategy is usually a chronic complainer. Something is terrible about their relationship, job, or other situation, and they moan about it ceaselessly, but find some excuse to dismiss any solution that’s proposed. The reason, of course, is that on some level they don’t want a solution; they want to be validated in their position that the world is out to get them. If they can “win” the game—dismissing every suggestion until their interlocutor (对话者) gives up in annoyance—they get to feel pleasurably righteous (正当的) in their resentments and excused from any obligation to change.
Part of the trouble here is the so-called responsibility/fault fallacy (谬误). When you’re feeling hard done by—taken for granted by your partner, say, or obliged to work for a half-witted boss—it’s easy to become attached to the position that it’s not your job to address the matter, and that doing so would be an admission of fault. But there’s a confusion here. For example, if I were to discover a newborn at my front door, it wouldn’t be my fault, but it most certainly would be my responsibility. There would be choices to make, and no possibility of avoiding them, since trying to ignore the matter would be a choice. The point is that what goes for the baby on the doorstep is true in all cases: even if the other person is 100% in the wrong, there’s nothing to be gained, long-term, from using this as a justification to evade responsibility.
Should you find yourself on the receiving end of this kind of complaining, there’s an ingenious way to shut it down—which is to agree with it, ardently. Psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb describes this as “over-validation”. For one thing, you’ll be spared further moaning, since the other person’s motivation was to confirm her beliefs, and now you’re confirming them. But for another, as Gottlieb notes, people confronted with over-validation often hear their complaints afresh and start arguing back. The notion that they’re utterly powerless suddenly seems unrealistic —not to mention rather annoying—so they’re prompted instead to generate ideas about how they might change things.
“And then, sometimes, something magical might happen,” Gottlieb writes. The other person “might realise she’s not as trapped as you are saying she is, or as she feels.” Which illustrates the irony of the responsibility/fault fallacy: evading responsibility feels comfortable, but turns out to be a prison; whereas assuming responsibility fees unpleasant, but ends up being freeing.
54、54. What happens when chronic complainers receive over-validation?
A、They are motivated to find ingenious ways to persuade their interlocutor.
B、They are prompted to come up with ideas for making possible changes.
C、They are stimulated to make more complaints.
D、They are encouraged to start arguing back.
Back in 1964, in his book Games People Play, psychiatrist Eric Berne described a pattern of conversation he called “Why Don’t You—Yes But”, which remains one of the most irritating aspects of everyday social life. The person adopting the strategy is usually a chronic complainer. Something is terrible about their relationship, job, or other situation, and they moan about it ceaselessly, but find some excuse to dismiss any solution that’s proposed. The reason, of course, is that on some level they don’t want a solution; they want to be validated in their position that the world is out to get them. If they can “win” the game—dismissing every suggestion until their interlocutor (对话者) gives up in annoyance—they get to feel pleasurably righteous (正当的) in their resentments and excused from any obligation to change.
Part of the trouble here is the so-called responsibility/fault fallacy (谬误). When you’re feeling hard done by—taken for granted by your partner, say, or obliged to work for a half-witted boss—it’s easy to become attached to the position that it’s not your job to address the matter, and that doing so would be an admission of fault. But there’s a confusion here. For example, if I were to discover a newborn at my front door, it wouldn’t be my fault, but it most certainly would be my responsibility. There would be choices to make, and no possibility of avoiding them, since trying to ignore the matter would be a choice. The point is that what goes for the baby on the doorstep is true in all cases: even if the other person is 100% in the wrong, there’s nothing to be gained, long-term, from using this as a justification to evade responsibility.
Should you find yourself on the receiving end of this kind of complaining, there’s an ingenious way to shut it down—which is to agree with it, ardently. Psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb describes this as “over-validation”. For one thing, you’ll be spared further moaning, since the other person’s motivation was to confirm her beliefs, and now you’re confirming them. But for another, as Gottlieb notes, people confronted with over-validation often hear their complaints afresh and start arguing back. The notion that they’re utterly powerless suddenly seems unrealistic —not to mention rather annoying—so they’re prompted instead to generate ideas about how they might change things.
“And then, sometimes, something magical might happen,” Gottlieb writes. The other person “might realise she’s not as trapped as you are saying she is, or as she feels.” Which illustrates the irony of the responsibility/fault fallacy: evading responsibility feels comfortable, but turns out to be a prison; whereas assuming responsibility fees unpleasant, but ends up being freeing.
55、55. How can one stop being a chronic complainer according to the author?
A、Analysing the so-called responsibility/fault fallacy.
B、Avoiding hazardous traps in everyday social life.
C、Assuming responsibility to free oneself.
D、Awaiting something magical to happen.
三、Part IV Translation
56、 青藏铁路是世界上最高最长的高原铁路，全长1956公里，其中有960公里在海拔4000多米之上，是连接西藏和中国其他地区的第一条铁路。由于铁路穿越世界上最脆弱的生态系统，在建设期间和建成后都采取了生态保护措施，以确保其成为一条“绿色铁路”。青藏铁路大大缩短了中国内地与西藏之间的旅行时间。更重要的是，它极大地促进了西藏的经济发展，改善了当地居民的生活。铁路开通后，愈来愈多的人选择乘火车前往西藏，这样还有机会欣赏沿线的美景。
参考答案：
参考译文
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the highest and longest plateau railway in the world. It is the first railroad to connect Tibet and other areas of China with a total length of 1,965 kilometers, 960 kilometers of which is at the altitude of over 4,000 meters. As the railway crosses the world’s most vulnerable ecosystem, the ecological protection measures have been taken during and after the construction in order to guarantee a “green railway”. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway has shortened the travelling time greatly between China’s inland and Tibet, and more importantly, it has considerably promoted the economic development of Tibet and improved the living standard of local residents. Since the opening of the railway, a growing number of people have chosen to visit Tibet by train so that they could have the opportunity to enjoy the scenery along the rail.
四、Part I Writing
57、Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on why students should be encouraged to develop creativity. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.
参考答案：
参考范文
When it comes to the importance of creativity, people often reach a consensus naturally. Ironically, an increasing number of people tend to ignore this capability. From my point of view, students should be encouraged to develop a creative mind, especially in the digital era we are living in.
Firstly, in the time of information explosion, young people are immersed in the sea of information. What they lack is not the ability to acquire data, but the ability to think creatively. Only through creativity and judgement can they sift through and process various information without being overwhelmed by the flood of it. Secondly, students need to develop their creativity because it will help them be better prepared for their future career. Those who can come up with innovative solutions to tricky issues are bound to be highly competitive at the workplace.
In summary, the importance of encouraging students to develop creativity could never be overstated. Parents and teachers need to be aware of this and provide students with more opportunities to cultivate their creativity.
参考译文
谈到创造力的重要性，人们往往会自然而然地达成共识。但讽刺的是，越来越多的人往往会忽视这种能力。在我看来，应该鼓励学生培养创造性思维，特别是在我们所处的数字时代。
首先，在这个信息爆炸的时代，年轻人沉浸于信息的海洋中，他们缺乏的不是获取数据的能力，而是创造性思考的能力。只有通过创造力和判断力，他们才能筛选和处理各种信息，而不至于被铺天盖地的信息所淹没。其次，学生需要培养他们的创造力，因为这能帮他们更好地为未来的职业生涯做准备。遇到棘手问题能够想出创新性解决方案的人，在职场必将会有很强的竞争力。
总之，鼓励学生发展创造力的重要性怎么强调都不为过。家长和老师需要意识到这一点，并为学生提供更多的机会来培养他们的创造力。
喵呜刷题：让学习像火箭一样快速，快来微信扫码，体验免费刷题服务，开启你的学习加速器！
