Unit 8 The Harm That Good Men Do
Bertrand Russell
Text
1. We all know what we mean by a "good" man. The ideally good man does not drink or smoke,
avoids bad language, attends church regularly, and holds the correct opinions on all subjects.
He has a wholesome horror of wrongdoing, and realizes that it is our painful duty to castigate
Sin. He has a still greater horror of wrong thinking, and considers it the business of the
authorities to safeguard the young against those who question the wisdom of the views
generally accepted by middle-aged successful citizens. Apart from his professional duties, at
which he is assiduous, he spends much time in good works: he may encourage patriotism and
military training; he may promote industry, sobriety, and virtue among wage-earners and their
children by seeing to it that failures in these respects receive due punishment; he may be a
trustee of a university and prevent an ill-judged respect for learning from allowing the
employment of professors with subversive ideas. Above all, of course, his “morals,” in the
narrow sense, must be irreproachable.
2. Among politicians good men have their uses, the chief of which is to afford a smoke-screen
behind which others can carry on their activities unsuspected. A good man will never suspect
his friends of shady actions: this is part of his goodness. A good man will never be suspected
by the public of using his goodness to screen villains: this is part of his utility. It is clear that
this combination of qualities makes a good man extremely desirable wherever a somewhat
narrow-minded public objects to the transference of public funds into the hands of the
deserving rich. I am told—though far be it from me to endorse this statement—that at a not
very distant period in history there was an American President who was a good man and served
this purpose.
3. Another of the uses of good men is that any undesirables can be kept out of politics by means
of scandals. Ninety-nine men out of a hundred commit breaches of the moral law, but in
general this fact does not become public. And when in the ninety ninth case it becomes known
in relation to any individual, the one man in the hundred who is genuinely innocent expresses
genuine horror, while the other ninety-eight are compelled to follow suit for fear of being
suspected. When, therefore, any man of obnoxious opinions ventures into politics, it is only
necessary for those who have the preservation of our ancient institutions at heart to keep track
of his private activities until they discover something which, if exposed, will ruin his political
career. They then have three courses open to them: to make the facts known and cause him to
disappear in a cloud of obloquy; or to derive for themselves a comfortable income by means of
blackmail. Of these three courses the first two protect the public, while the third protects those
who protect the public. All three, therefore, are to be commended, and all three are only
rendered possible through the existence of good men.
4.
Another way in which good men can be useful is by getting themselves murdered. The
Archduke who was murdered at Sarajevo was, I believe, a good man; and how grateful we
ought to be to him! If he had not died as he did, we might not have had the war, and then the
world would not have been made safe for democracy, nor would militarism have been
overthrown, nor should we be now enjoying military despotisms in Spain, Italy, Hungary and
Bulgaria.
5.
To speak seriously: the standards of "goodness" which are generally recognized by public
opinion are not those which are calculated to make the world a happier place. This is due to a
variety of causes, of which the chief is tradition, and the next most powerful is the unjust
power of dominant classes. Primitive morality seems to have developed out of the notion of
taboo; that is to say, it was originally purely superstitious, and forbade certain perfectly
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harmless acts on the supposed ground that they produced disaster by magical means. In this
way there came to be prohibitions, which continued to have authority over people's feelings
when the supposed reasons for them were forgotten. A considerable part of current morals is
still of this sort: certain kinds of conduct produce emotions of horror, quite regardless of the
question whether they have bad effects or not. In many cases the conduct which inspires horror
is in fact harmful; If this were not the case, the need for a revision of our moral standards
would be more generally recognized. Murder, for example, can obviously not be tolerated in a
civilized society; yet the origin of the prohibition of murder is purely superstitious. It was
thought that the murdered man's blood (or, later, his ghost) demanded vengeance, and might
punish not only the guilty man, but any one who showed him kindness. The superstitious
character of the prohibition of murder is shown by the fact that it was possible to be purified
from blood-guiltiness by certain ritual ceremonies, which were apparently designed, originally,
to disguise the murderer so that the ghost would not recognize him. This, at least, is the theory
of Sir J. G. Frazer. When we speak of repentance as "washing out" guilt we are using a
metaphor derived from the fact that long ago actual washing was used to remove blood-stains.
Such notions as "guilt" and "sin" have an emotional background connected with this source in
remote antiquity. Even in the case of murder a rational ethic will view the matter differently: it
will be concerned with prevention and cure, as in the case of illness, rather than with guilt,
punishment, and expiation.
6. Our current ethic is a curious mixture of superstition and rationalism. Murder is an ancient
crime, and we view it through a mist of age-long horror. Forgery is a modern crime, and we
view it rationally. We punish forgers, but we do not feel them strange beings set apart, as we
do murderers. And we still think in social practice, whatever we may hold in theory, the virtue
consists in not doing rather than in doing. The man who abstains from certain acts labeled "sin"
is a good man, even though he never does anything to further the welfare of others. This, of
course, is not the attitude inculcated in the Gospels: "Love the neighbor as thyself" is a positive
precept. But in all Christian communities the man who obeys this precept is persecuted,
suffering at least poverty, usually imprisonment, and sometimes death. The world is full of
injustice, and those who profit by injustice are in a position to administer rewards and
punishments. The rewards go to those who invent ingenious justifications for inequality, the
punishments to those who try to remedy it. I do not know of any country where a man who has
a genuine love for his neighbor can long avoid obloquy. In Paris, just before the outbreak of the
war, Jean Jaures, the best citizen of France, was murdered; the murderer was acquitted, on the
ground that he had performed a public service. This case was peculiarly dramatic, but the same
sort of thing happens everywhere.
7.
Those who defend traditional morality will sometimes admit that it is not perfect, but
contend that any criticism will make all morality crumble. This will not be the case if the
criticism is based upon something positive and constructive, but only if it is conducted with a
view to nothing more than momentary pleasure. To return to Bentham: he advocated, as the
basis of morals, "the greatest happiness of the greatest number." A man who acts upon this
principle will have a much more arduous life than a man who merely obeys conventional
precepts. He will necessarily make himself the champion of the oppressed, and so incur the
enmity of the great. He will proclaim facts which the powers wish to conceal; he will deny
falsehoods designed to alienate sympathy from those who need it. Such a mode of life does not
lead to a collapse of genuine morality. Official morality has always been oppressive and
negative: it has said "thou shalt not", and has not troubled to investigate the effect of activities
not forbidden by the code. Against this kind of morality all the great mystics and religious
teachers have protested in vain: their followers ignored their most explicit pronouncements. It
seems unlikely, therefore, that any large-scale improvements will come through their methods.
8.
More is to be hoped, I think, from the progress of reason and science. Gradually men will
come to realize that a world whose institutions are based upon hatred and injustice is not the
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one most likely to produce happiness. The later war taught this lesson to a few, and would have
taught it to many more if it had ended in a draw. We need a morality based upon love of life,
upon pleasure in growth and positive achievement, not upon repression and prohibition. A man
should be regarded as "good" if he is happy, expansive, generous, and glad when others are
happy; if so, a few peccadilloes should be regarded as of little importance. But a man who
acquires a fortune by cruelty and exploitation should be regarded as at present we regard what
is called an "immoral" man; and he should be so regarded even if he goes to church regularly
and gives a portion of his ill-gotten gains to public objects. To bring this about, it is only
necessary to instill a rational attitude towards ethical questions, instead of the mixture of
superstition and oppression which still passes muster as "virtue" among important personages.
The power of reason is thought small in these days, but I remain an unrepentant rationalist.
Reason may be a small force, but it is constant, and works always in one direction, while the
forces of unreason destroy one another in futile strife. Therefore every orgy of unreason in the
end strengthens the friends of reason, and shows afresh that they are the only true friends of
humanity.
A.
Translate the following paragraphs into Chinese:
Among politicians good men have their uses, the chief of which is to afford a smoke-screen behind which
others can carry on their activities unsuspected. A good man will never suspect his friends of shady actions;
this is part of his goodness. A good man will never be suspected by the public of using his goodness to
screen villains: this is part of his utility.
Those who defend traditional morality will sometimes admit that it is not perfect, but contend that any
criticism will make all morality crumble. This will not be the case if the criticism is based upon something
positive and constructive, but only if it is conducted with a view to nothing more than momentary pleasure.
To return to Bentham: he advocated as the basis of morals, "the greatest happiness of the greatest number."
A man who acts upon this principle will have a much more arduous life than a man who merely obeys
conventional precepts.
B. Translate the following into English.
所谓理想的好人实际上并不一定对社会有益；人们对好的标准一直有不同的看法。
(ideally, goodness)
2. 好 人 在 道 德 上 必 须 是 无 可 指 责 的 ， 他 们 也 不 应 当 对 危 害 社 会 的 事 情 熟 视 无 睹 。
(irreproachable)
3. 在工作中他们努力做到勤奋与认真，以保证任务顺利地完成，而且他们并不计较个人的
名誉和地位。 (see to it that)
4. 流言蜚语可以毁掉一个真正的好人，而吹捧则能把坏人说成好人。(scandal, genuinely)
5. 他分不清好人和坏人，因此坏人常常把他当作烟幕，掩盖他们的不良行为。(screen)
6. 他们常常排挤他们不喜欢的人，使他们无法继续工作。(undesirable)
7. 虽然他受到了胁迫，他并没有表现出害怕的样子而是继续进行自己的试验，直到取得满
意的结果。 (calculated)
8. 这个穷人被宣判终身监禁，理由是他偷了一家商店中的面包。(on the ground that)
9. 他们一直跟踪他的活动，但是没有发现任何可疑的行为。(keep track of)
10. 许多人反对他，因为他破坏了传统的观念，但是也有一些人追随他。(follow suit)
1. 1.
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Notes:
1. Bertrand Arthur Russell (1872-1970): English mathematician and philosopher, known in Chinese as
罗素.
2. wholesome adj. promoting good health or well-being; healthful; sound. e.g. wholesome
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air/food/advice. //He has a
wholesome attitude towards life. Paraphrase: He has a good sense of right and wrong. When he sees
other people doing
wrong things, he feels horrified.
3. castigate vt. to criticize sharply in public. e.g. John wrote a series of articles to castigate male
superiority.//
sin n. the willful breaking of religious or moral law; any offence or fault. e.g. Mary confessed her sins
to the priest and asked
to be forgiven. Explanation: The original sin was committed by Adam and Eve when they ate the
forbidden fruit. In the text,
the author wrote "Sin" instead of "sin" to catch attention.
4. safeguard vt. to protect or guard. e.g. The government should do more to safeguard the interests of
citizens.
Para: He thinks it is the responsibility of the government to protect the young people against those
(bad elements) who
challenge the wise views generally accepted by middle-aged successful citizens. Exp: In western
countries, views and
conducts of middle-aged successful citizens are regarded as social norms. In the text "it" is a logical
object to stand for "to safeguard the young...".
5. assiduous adj. hard-working; persevering; careful. e.g. Bill is assiduous in/at his duties./ Jane is an
assiduous student.// assiduity n.
6. Pay attention to the usage: to spend time in (doing) something; to spend money on something.
para: He spends much time in doing good things.
7. patriotism n. the love of one's country. e.g. The death of Wang Hai, a fighter pilot, has aroused a
strong sense of
patriotism among the Chinese people.// patriot n. one who loves and is ready to defend his country;
patriotic adj.
8. industry n. the quality of being hard-working (勤奋，勤勉). e.g. His success is due to his industry
and thrift.
sobriety n. seriousness; staying away from alcohol. e.g. As sobriety ensures quick response in
emergency, you should
never drink when you drive.
9. see to it that... make sure that... e.g. I'll see to it that you get paid in full and on time in the future.
in these respects/in this (that) respect with regard to some aspect(s)在这些方面/在这(那)方面. e.g.
The twins resemble each other in many respects. due adj. suitable; proper; right. e.g. The old
gentleman is paid due respect.
Para: He may encourage wage-earners (workers/common people) and their children to be
hard-working, virtuous, and stay away from alcohol (Alcohol used to be regarded as a social curse,
like the drugs today, that ruined many poor families.). If they fail to do these, he will make sure that
they get proper punishment.
10. trustee n. 理事。board of trustees 理事会。
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11. subversive adj. tending to overthrow or destroy something (established). e.g. Bill was
house-arrested for making speeches that are subversive of peace and order according to the police.//
subversive propaganda.
Para: He may serve on the board of trustees of a university, and keep the university (in the "improper"
name of respecting knowledge) from hiring professors who intend to overthrow the government or the
established religion/institutions.
Exp: In western countries, there was a great controversy (argument) over the teaching of evolution at
school. Some people who believe that God created man instead of the Darwinian Theory that man
came from monkey, were strongly against the hiring of such teachers. There was even a "Monkey
Trial" in the United States that ended with the victory of scientists.
12. above all most important of all. e.g. John is industrious, handsome, and above all, honest.
in a narrow sense in the exact/strict meaning (从狭义上说). e.g. What does the word mean in the
narrowest sense?// Cf. in a broad sense. || irreproachable adj. that denies criticism; faultless. e.g. His
irreproachable conduct wins the trust from his employer. Paragraph one describes a good man from the
moral point of view.
13. Para: Of all the uses of good men, the main one is to provide a smoke-screen (烟幕) to those
politicians who can do illegal things behind it unsuspected. || Exp: In the sentence, "which" stands for
"uses". In the following part, "screen" is used as a verb, meaning "to offer some protection to".
14. suspect sb. of sth. to have a feeling that sb. may be guilty of sth. e.g. Quite a few leaders of listed
companies are suspected of lying to their investors.// The police suspects him of murder. || shady adj.
questionable; bad. e.g. Tom is believed to be a shady character (person).
15. Exp: The author is being very sarcastic here. "A narrow-minded" public is not narrow-minded at
all. Since the public are taxpayers, they simply want their money (public funds) to serve good
purposes instead of letting it go into the hands of a few rich people; and "the deserving rich" do not
deserve the money contributed by the public. Grammatically, "wherever" means "where", which is
used here for emphasis.
16. endorse vt. to approve or support; write on the back of a document or check. e.g. The Republican
presidential candidate has been endorsed by the party conference.// You'll have to endorse your check
before cashing it.
Exp: The phrase "though far be it from me to endorse this statement" is in literary style. To put it in
simple English, it reads "though I am far from approving the following statement/though I don't agree
at all to the following statement" that in the recent past, an American President (probably referring to
Warren Harding according to the text compilers), a "good man", transferred public funds to the rich. ||
This paragraph tells why good men are useful to some politicians.
17. undesirable adj. & n. unwanted (things and/or persons). e.g. Because of his deformity, James was
often treated as an undesirable by his classmates at parties. || by means of through; with the help of. e.g.
Thoughts are expressed by means of words. || scandal n. shame; any thing that offends moral feelings
and leads to disgrace. e.g. Richard Nixon was involved in the Watergate Scandal.// Bill Clinton was
involved in the Lewensky Scandal.// For fear of creating a scandal, the family decided to give away
the baby borne to their teenage daughter. || Para: Of all uses of good men, another one is to use them to
get rid of unwanted rivals by creating a scandal (such as Mr. X, a father of three lovely kids and
husband of a plain-looking wife, is having an affair with a beautiful bar girl). This immoral act, when
becoming public, will surely arouse the anger of good men, who will force Mr. X to hand in his
resignation, which is the real purpose of other politicians who don't like Mr. X.
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18. The sentence, formal and literary, simply means "99% of the men break the moral law".
19. in relation to concerning; as regards. e.g. His skill is very important in relation to his job.
genuine adj. real; true, not fake or artificial. e.g. This painting is a genuine one by Qi Baishi whereas
that one is an
imitation.// genuinely adj. || follow suit to do what sb. else has done. e.g. Mr. Young resigned from the
company,
his friends immediately followed suit.// When the other boys went fishing, I followed suit.
Para: Suppose in 100 men, there is only one who is really free from any moral mistakes. When
someone from the other
99 men gets caught when committing something morally wrong, or when his immoral deeds get
exposed (become public),
that really good man will say that he is really horrified to learn the guilty man's sinful behavior, the
other 98 men, afraid
that they will be suspected of breaking the moral law themselves if they do not do something quickly,
are forced to follow
one another to express their position regarding the sinner.
20. obnoxious adj. very unpleasant, nasty, offensive. e.g. John has some obnoxious habits. He sleeps
with his snake and
eats with his cat.
venture into to take the risk going into. e.g. He was originally a high school teacher. When China
started its reform and
opening up drive, he quit his job and ventured into business.// Cf. venture capital (风险基金）.
institution n. a significant practice, relationship, organization in a country or culture ( 体 制 ).
institutional adj. e.g.
institutional reform.
have sth. at heart to be deeply interested in it; anxious to support or encourage it. e.g. He had music at
heart even when he
was forced to work in the countryside.
keep/lose track of to follow/fail to follow the course or development of ...; keep in/lose touch with. e.g.
The old man
reads Yangcheng Evening News every day to keep track of the current events.
ruin vt. & n. to cause great damage or destruction to. e.g. The tropical storm ruined his house.// If you
go on like this, you will ruin your career.
Para: When a man of offensive opinions becomes a politician, the defenders of our old sytem need
only follow and watch his private activities secretly until they find something bad about him that will
finish him as a politician.
21. make sth. known to make sth. public; expose. e.g. That the mayor took drugs in a hotel was soon
made known to the public.obloquy n. shame or disgrace resulting from widespread criticism. "a cloud
of obloquy" , a metaphor, means great shame.
blackmail vt. & n. (to force sb. to make a) payment of money for not making known sth. discreditable
about him (敲诈勒索). e.g. Threatening to turn the evidence over to the police, he blackmailed the
firm into paying him for keeping quiet.
Para: They can choose to do three things: to make public the bad deeds committed by the sinner and
cause him to disappear quickly in great shame, or to make some easy money from him by threatening
to expose him.
22. commend vt. to praise. e.g. The Chinese athletes are commended for winning honors for the
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country.
23. render sth. possible to make sth. possible. e.g. Dr. Deal rendered it possible for three American
students to
teach English in China during the summer vacation. Notice the sarcastic tone in the last two sentences
of the paragraph.
24. The Archduke (大公), refers to Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination on June 28, 1914 at Sarajevo
(萨拉热窝) touched off the First World War.
25. militarism n. 军国主义; military despotism (军人/军事专制). The slogan "to make the world
safe for democracy" is often used by some countries as an excuse to invade other countries. Notice this
sentence is in subjunctive mood and the tone is very sarcastic. Para: Because of his death, we had the
First World War, the world was made "safer for democracy"; though militarism has been abolished in
some countries, we still have military despotisms in Spain, Italy, Hungary and Bulgaria. Paragraphs
three and four further illustrate the uses of good man.
26. dominant adj. ruling; prevailing. e.g. In a wolf pack, there is always a dominant male (wolf).
27. morality n. standards or principles of good behavior; right or moral conduct. e.g. Is commercial
morality high in your country?taboo n. sth which religion or custom regards as forbidden, not to be
touched, spoken of , etc. e.g. Pork is a taboo among the Muslims.// Among Hindus there is a taboo
against killing cows.
superstitious adj. 迷信的. e.g. Most people in primitive societies are superstitious./ In the past,
superstitious fishermen regarded white-flag dolphin as the goddess of the Yangtze River.// superstition
n.
on the ground(s) because (of), on the assumption. e.g. On what grounds do you suspect him?// Joe
turned down the invitation to the party on the ground that he would have to go to the airport to meet
his aunt.
Para: Standards of good behavior seems to have grown out of the idea of taboo, something that a
particular religion or custom regards as forbidden, in other words, primitive morality was at its
beginning purely superstitious, it discouraged some harmless acts based on the assumption that these
acts would lead, for reasons that could not be explained then, to some bad ends.
28. have authority over to have influence on/power over. e.g. The notion that it is a great disrespect to
talk loudly in a Buddhist temple still has authority over some people.
29. regardless of paying no attention to. e.g. She bought that expensive fur coat regardless of cost.
30. revision n. reconsideration; change. e.g. The current taxation law needs some revision.
Para: If the conduct that makes people feel horrified were not (subjunctive mood) harmful, then more
people would be ready to revise/change our moral standards.
31. vengeance n. revenge; the return of an injury for an injury. e.g. He swore a terrible vengeance on
the enemy who murdered his brother.// She killed him in an act of vengeance.
Para: It was believed that the murdered man's blood or his ghost demanded that those who had
murdered him be revenged, and the ghost might punish not only the guilty men, but also those who
were kind to the guilty men.
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32. purify vt. to free from guilt, sin, etc.; make pure. e.g. When purified, this metal can fetch a good
price./ This music seems to be able to purify one's spirit of evil thoughts. ritual adj. of, like, or done as
a ceremonial or solemn act. e.g. ritual ceremony (仪式). // The tribeswomen performed some ritual
dances before the priest started to offer the sacrifice to their god.disguise vt. & n. to hide the real
nature of; make look, sound so different as to be unrecognizable. e.g. The murderer disguised himself
as a woman and ran away./ He went among the enemy in disguise./ Disguised as a woman, the
French journalist slipped into Afghanistan.
Para: Some ritual ceremonies, originally designed to change the appearance of the murderer so that the
ghost would not recognize him (thus unable to seek the revenge), could free the murderer of his crime.
33. Sir J. G. Frazer (1854-1941): Scotish anthropologist.
34. repentance n. the action or process of feeling sorrow or regret for misdeeds or moral shortcomings.
e.g. You must show signs of repentance if you wish to be forgiven.
35. derive from to get from. e.g. The young artist derives a large sum of income from teaching painting
to kids.
36. antiquity n. ancientness; the ancient period of history. e.g. Homer was a great men of antiquity.// in
remote antiquity means in ancient time.
37. expiation n. 赎罪; expiate vt. e.g. She worked silently to expiate her sin.// In expiation of his sin,
he gave up all worldly pleasures.
This paragraph seems to say that moral standards are generally superstitious.
38. a mist of hazy; vague; unclear. Her eyes are covered with a mist of tears.
39. forgery n. the making of false signature, banknote, will or other documents in order to deceive. e.g.
He made a fortune with the forgery of paintings.// The criminal was sentenced to death for the forgery
of millions of RMB.// forge vt.
40. This sentence means goodness lies in doing nothing instead of doing something, because the doer
is more likely to make mistakes.
41. abstain from to hold oneself back from; stay away from. e.g. The doctor told him to abstain from
cigarettes.// At the last election, Bill abstained from voting.
42. inculcate vt. usually inculcate sth. in sb. to fix (ideas) firmly by repetition; instill. e.g. The
authorities are trying hard to inculcate patriotism in young people.
the Gospels 福音书. thyself, old English for yourself.
precept n. a rule or guide for behavior; moral instruction. e.g. Example is better than precept.
43. persecute vt. to punish or treat cruelly. e.g. Many good people were severely persecuted during the
Cultural Revolution.// persecution n.
44. administer vt. & vi. to give; control; manage; cause to take. e.g. The traffic police administered a
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fine on him
for speeding./ The courts administer the law./ The Red Cross administers aid in disaster areas.
5. ingenious adj. clever and skillful. e.g. The ingenious boy made a radio set for himself./ Not even the
experts could
work out the magician's ingenious escape.
justification n. a good reason for; the act of showing that a person, statement, act, etc. is correct and
reasonable.
His justification for stealing was that his children were starving.// justify vt.
remedy vt & n. to put right; provide a cure for; method used to put sth. right. e.g. Your faults of
pronunciation can
be remedied.// There is no effective remedy for dengue fever.
46. Jean Jaures (1859-1914): French socialist.
47. acquit vt. to discharge completely (as from an obligation or accusation). e.g. When the rapists were
acquitted by the court on the ground of insufficient evidence, the audience became very
indignant/angry.
Para: The murderer was pronounced not guilty and set free, the reason provided by the court was that
he had done something good for the society.
In this paragraph, the author illustrates his topic sentence that our current morality is a strange mixture
of superstition and rationalism.
48. crumble vi. & vt. to break, rub or fall into small pieces. e.g. The British Empire has crumbled and
fallen.// His hopes crumbled to dust.
49. Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832): English jurist and philosopher.
50. arduous adj. difficult, using up much energy. e.g. It must have been a very arduous task to build the
pyramids.// It used to be an arduous climb to reach the top of Mount Emei, but now you can get to the
top in a cable car in no time.
51. conventional adj. traditional; customary. e.g. Rifles are conventional weapons.//White is the
conventional color of a wedding gown.
52. champion n. person who fights or speaks in support of a cause; person, team, animal, etc. winning
the first place in a competition. e.g. Mr. Smith is a champion of equal rights for women./ Joe Louis
was the world heavyweight boxing champion for many years.
incur vt. to bring upon oneself. e.g. To build that factory, he had incurred a lot of debts, which
ultimately ruined him.
enmity n. hatred. e.g. He is at enmity with all his neighbors.
Para: In order to bring the greatest possible happiness to the greatest possible number of people, he
will have to become a great fighter for the interests of the oppressed people. His revolutionary acts
will arouse the hatred from a few rich and powerful people who are always afraid of the redistribution
of wealth and power.
53. proclaim vt. make known publicly and officially; reveal; show. e.g. Zhang Guotao was proclaimed
(to be) a traitor./ His accent proclaims that he is from Hubei.// proclamation n.
conceal vt. to hide; keep secret. e.g. The bank robber concealed his weapon under his coat./ The trees
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concealed the deer from view.
alienate vt. to cause sb. previously friendly to become unfriendly, hostile or indifferent by distasteful
actions; cause to be taken away. e.g. President Bush's policies have alienated many of his followers./
The property of the enemy was alienated during the war.// alienation n.
Para: He will make public some facts that the powerful people wish to hide, and he will declare untrue
lies aimed to take away sympathy from those people who need it.
54. "thou shalt not", old English, means "you shouldn't (do this)" in modern English.
55. "the code" here means "moral code" or "moral law".
56. mystic n. an advocate of the theory of mysticism.
Grammar: This sentence is in inverted order, normally it should read "all the great mystics and
religious teachers have protested against this kind of morality (official morality) in vain".
57. explicit adj. clearly stated or shown; definite; outspoken. e.g. He gave explicit instructions not to
be distributed./ The lease is explicit in saying that the rent must be paid by the 5th of every month.
pronouncement n. a formal declaration of opinion; an authoritative announcement. e.g. The accused
stood and heard the pronouncement of his sentence.
While trying to refute the claim that morality cannot be criticized, the author goes on to say that since
the methods used are not correct, there will not be much improvement of moral standards.
58. draw n. neither side won. e.g. Our team has had five wins and two draws this season.// The game
ended in a draw.
59. repress vt. to keep or put down/under; oppress. e.g. For fear of waking up the sleeping baby, she
repressed a sneeze./ Many peasant uprisings have been repressed in history.// repression n
60. expansive adj. able or tending to expand; unreserved, high-spirited; broad. e.g. That silent boy
became expansive after dinner./ Jane has an expansive character./ Adam has an expansive forehead.
61. peccadillo n. a small fault or slight offence. e.g. No one is free from peccadilloes.
62. exploit vt. to make unethical use of sth. / sb. for one's own profit; take advantage of. e.g. Workers
are heavily exploited by the mine owners./ You must exploit every opportunity to learn new things.//
exploitation n.
63. ill-gotten adj. acquired by illegal or improper means. e.g. Private mine owners in Nandan, Guangxi
who dig state mines spend their ill-gotten money like water. Some of them flew to Beijing just for
some cigarettes not available in their county.
Para: A man who gets rich by being cruel to and making immoral use of others should be viewed now
as an immoral man even if he goes to church regularly and spends part of his immorally-obtained
money on public welfare or facilities.
64. bring about to cause to happen. e.g. Greater efforts must be made to bring about institutional
reforms.
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instill vt. to introduce (ideas) gradually; cause to enter drop by drop. e.g. We must try to instill in
children a love of learning./ Medication is being instilled into the veins of the sick child.
muster n. examination; inspection. pass muster to be considered satisfactory; be good enough for the
purpose or occasion.
e.g. The evaluation group believed that the quality of the construction project passed muster.
personage n. an important person. e.g. The ruling party invited some personages without party
affiliation to discuss the new plan. Para: To make this happen, we only need to introduce gradually a
scientific attitude towards moral questions to replace the traditional attitude (which is no more than a
mixture of superstition and oppression) that some important people still regardas good.
65. unrepentant adj. feeling no regret or sorrow. e.g. Some of the Fa Lun Gong practitioners are very
unrepentant
66. futile adj. useless. e.g. Put down your arms! Resistance is futile.
strife n. fight or quarrel; struggle; contention. e.g. A history of internal strife has left its mark on this
tiny nation.
67. orgy n. a display of excessive indulgence; a wild and drunken activity. e.g. At the party the
youngsters engaged in various orgies such as drinking, joint-smoking (吸大麻), and sexual activity.
68. afresh adv. again. e.g. Let's start afresh
The last paragraph seems to say that only the progress of reason and science can help improve our
sense of morality. Though the power of reason is still weak today, Mr. Russell beleives that it will
become stronger and stronger in the future, and ultimately overwhelms unreason.
Key to Translation A:
在政客圈子里，好人有他们的用处，其中最主要的就是充当烟幕。其他人躲在烟幕背后
就可以毫无顾忌地搞他们的活动了。好人从来不会怀疑他的朋友有不轨行为，
这就是他的部分好处所在；好人也从来不会被公众怀疑用他的优点来庇护坏人，这是他
的部分用处所在。
虽然传统道德的卫道士有时承认，传统的道德并不完美，但是他们极力争辩说，任何的
批评都将使整个道德体系分崩离析。如果批评是积极的和富有建设性的，那么情况不致
如此，只有逞一时之快的批评，才会使道德体系崩溃。让我们回过头来看看边沁的观点
吧。作为道德规范的基础，他提倡“为最大多数的人谋求最大的幸福”。按照这一原则行
事的人，其一生要比仅仅遵循传统戒律的人艰难得多。
Key to Translation B:
1. The so-called ideally good men may not necessarily be beneficial to society because people have
different ideas about the standards of goodness.
2. Good men must be morally irreproachable and they mustn't be indifferent to the things harmful to
society.
3. They see to it that their hard and earnest work helps them complete their task smoothly, and none of
them thinks much of personal fame and position
4. Scandals can ruin a genuinely good man while flattery can make a bad man a good man.
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5. He cannot tell a good man from bad ones, so bad men often use him to screen their bad activities.
6. They often elbow out the undesirables by making it impossible for them to continue with their work.
7. Though threatened, he showed no fear and continued with his experiment which was calculated to
be successful. (此处 calculated 用得很勉强)
8. The poor man was sentenced to life imprisonment on the ground that he had stolen bread from a
store.
9. They have kept track of him but failed to detect any shady acts.
10. Though many people are against him for his violation of conventional concepts, he still has some
followers. （此处 follow suit 不合用）
Key to vocabulary and structure
A.
1. wholesome 2. assiduous 3. subversive 4. wrongdoing 5. endorsed 6. breach 7.
Undesirables 8. calculated 9. injustice 10. purifying
B. 1. venturing into 2. in relation to 3. follow suit 4. keep … out 5. keep track of
6. speaking of 7. on the grounds 8. derives from 9.abstain from 10.for fear that
C. 1. immoral 2. cruelty 3. irreproachable 4. revise 5. constructive 6. blameless 7.
administered 8. guilty 9. equality 10. Justice
D. 1. C protected areas 2. A As did 3. D as opposed 4. A Never having 5. A would have
married 6. D for which 7. B can he speak 8. A we established 9. D that 10. D but also
E. 1. recognized 2. came across 3. appeared 4. as 5. conceived 6. discovered 7. in 8.
what 9. than 10. good 11.true 12. morally 13. At 14. comes 15. which 16. towards
17. other 18. such as 19. penalty 20. guilty
Reading practice
1. A 2. C 3. B 4. D 5.
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