重新把握命運(yùn)英語短文閱讀

我相信，把人類看作整個(gè)世界的一部分，對(duì)了解人類是十分必要的。除了經(jīng)歷漫長歲月，由最初簡單的生命形式發(fā)展成為的復(fù)雜生物結(jié)構(gòu)，決定人性本質(zhì)的因素還有人類社會(huì)的眾多偉大發(fā)明。人類創(chuàng)造并一直使用著它們，而反過來它們也將諸如建筑師、思想家、政治家、藝術(shù)家、觀察家、預(yù)言家等身份賦予了人類。

　　我堅(jiān)信，這樣的特性存在于每一項(xiàng)偉大的發(fā)明之中，比如語言、家庭、工具的使用、政府、科學(xué)、藝術(shù)和哲學(xué)，將每個(gè)人性格中的潛能巧妙地結(jié)合起來。無論任何種族、任何文明的后裔，任何一個(gè)人類群體都能學(xué)習(xí)并將它發(fā)揚(yáng)光大。所以，一個(gè)新幾內(nèi)亞島最原始部落的新生嬰兒完全有能力從哈佛大學(xué)畢業(yè)，寫出一首十四行詩或發(fā)明一種新型的雷達(dá)，就像出生在比肯山的孩子那樣。

　　But I believe, also, that once a child has been reared in New Guinea or Boston or Leningrad or Tibet, he embodies the culture within which he is reared, and differs from those who are reared elsewhere so deeply, that only by understanding these differences can we reach an awareness which will give us a new control over our human destiny.

　　I believe that human nature is neither intrinsically good nor intrinsically evil, but individuals are born with different combinations of innate potentialities, and that it will depend upon how they are reared—to trust and love and experiment and create, or to fear and hate and conform—what kind of human beings they can become.

　　但我也相信，在新幾內(nèi)亞島、波士頓、列寧格勒或是西藏長大的孩子，必定具備不同于他人的、屬于自己國家的文化特性。這些文化特性對(duì)他們有著深遠(yuǎn)的影響，因此要想真正了解如何重新把握人類的命運(yùn)，必須首先理解這些差異。

　　我相信，人性本無善惡之分，每個(gè)人生來都是先天潛能的不同組合，而決定人性善惡的是他們所接受的教育——是教育他們?nèi)バ湃巍?、試?yàn)和創(chuàng)造，還是教育他們?nèi)タ謶?、仇恨和順?mdash;—他們的人格也由此決定。

　　I believe that we have not even begun to tap human potentialities, and that by continuing humble but persistent study of human behavior, we can learn consciously to create civilizations within which an increasing proportion of human beings will realize more of what they have it in them to be.

　　I believe that human life is given meaning through the relationship which the individual’s conscious goals have to the civilization, period, and country within which one lives.

　　At times, the task may be to fence a wilderness, to bridge a river, or rear sons to perpetuate a young colony. Today, it means taking upon ourselves the task of creating one world in such a way that we both keep the future safe and leave the future free.

　　我認(rèn)為，人類的潛能甚至還不曾開始發(fā)揮，我相信只要以謙恭的態(tài)度堅(jiān)持不懈地研究人類行為，讓越來越多的人發(fā)現(xiàn)自身更多的潛能，我們就能自覺地學(xué)會(huì)創(chuàng)造文明。

　　我相信，人的生命之所以有意義，正是由于其個(gè)人樹立的目標(biāo)與他所處的文明、時(shí)代和國家之間有著密切的聯(lián)系。

　　也許有時(shí)，我們的任務(wù)會(huì)是為一片荒地修起圍墻，為一條河架橋，或養(yǎng)育后代讓年輕的群體延續(xù)下去。如今，為了安寧而自由的未來生活，這就意味著我們必須承擔(dān)起責(zé)任，去創(chuàng)造一個(gè)全新的世界。