英国新闻听力 身处浮躁的社会如何培养品德

Yesterday, in the House of Commons, Charles Kennedy's parliamentary colleagues gave moving tributes to his life.

昨天，在下议院，查尔斯·肯尼迪的同事为他的一生发表了催人泪下的悼词。

There is never a rush, of course, to speak ill of the dead, but these tributes had the clear ring of sincerity¹.

当然，死者为大，没有人会在死者尸骨未寒时说别人的不是。但是这些悼词很明显是真诚的。

David Cameron said his "character and courage inspired us all", and Nick Clegg that he always put people before politics.

大卫·卡梅伦说他的“品格和勇气鼓舞了我们所有人”，尼克·克莱格说他总是把民众放在政治前面。

Outside the commons, colleagues and friends have spoken repeatedly of Kennedy's compassion², decency³, and principled nature as well as of his ongoing⁴ battle with human frailty⁵ in the form of alcoholism.

在下议院外，他的同事和朋友多次提到他的同情心，政治和原则性，并不断与人类酗酒的劣根性做斗争。

It seems Charles Kennedy displayed what the New York Times Columnist⁶ David Brooks⁷ would call "eulogy⁸ virtues¹⁰".

查尔斯·肯尼迪似乎体现了《纽约时报》专栏作家David Brooks所说的“悼词美德”。

In his most recent book "The Road to Character", Brooks contrasts eulogy virtues like kindness, faithfulness and humility¹¹ with what he calls resume virtues - the kind of things we put on our CV.

在他最近的书《通往品格的道路》中，Brooks将善良，忠诚等悼词美德与他所说的简历美德做了对比——也就是我们写在简历上的品德。

He's convinced that both eulogy virtues and resume virtues take work to develop, and is worried that western society pushes us to put our efforts into the ones that will help improve our careers, not our characters.

他相信，悼词美德和简历美德都需要发扬。他担心西方世界导致我们努力塑造帮助我们职业发展的品德，而不是帮助性格成长的品德。

It's the age old question- what makes a good life? How do we go deeper amongst the clamour of a culture that monetises status anxiety and defines us by what earn, own or look like?

我们又要说一个老生常谈的问题——怎样才是好的生活？在宣扬金钱至上，追求社会地位，根据收入，财产和外表来定义我们的浮躁社会，我们怎样才能深入剖析自己的内心世界？

David Brook's call for us to do the hard work of developing character, to cultivate self-restraint and self-suspicion in the age of the selfie stick, isn't really controversial.

David Brook呼吁我们努力塑造品格，在自我吹嘘的环境中培养自制和自审的品格，这并无争议。

It's obvious, when we stop to think about it, that the real legacies¹² of our lives aren't job titles, twitter followers¹³ or cellulite free thighs¹⁴.

很明显，当我们停下来认真思考的时候，我们真正宝贵的财产并不是我们的职位，推特粉丝或没有脂肪的大腿。

But how do we develop the eulogy virtues, when the gravitational pull of the self is so strong?

但是在自我的万有引力如此强大的情况下，我们怎样培养悼词美德？

Christians¹⁵ would be the first to acknowledge that these virtues don't come naturally. The church's hunch¹⁶ is that change happens through vulnerable, committed relationships.

基督徒们将最先站出来承认这些美德并不是与生俱来的。基督教教义认为，改变是在脆弱忠诚的关系中发生的。

To overcome the tyrant¹⁷ self we must confess our frailty and darkest tendencies - first to God, and then to others.

要克服残暴的自我，我们必须承认我们的脆弱和最黑暗的本性——首先是对上帝，然后是对自己。

Behavioural science is beginning to add evidence to what religions have long understood - virtue⁹ develops best in relational communities.

行为科学不断有证据表明各宗教很久以前就已经理解的问题——道德在关系社会中发展得最快。

Not short term communities of self interest made up of "people like us", but awkward, diverse, grace filled communities, established for the long term.

不是由“跟我一样的人”组成的短暂的利益团体，而是长期的，尴尬的，多样化的人组成的团体。

The New Testament¹⁸ encourages Christians to be part of communities like these, to encourage one another, bear with each other and create space for the hard conversations.

<<新约圣经>>鼓励基督徒成为这样的团体的一部分，鼓励大家相互容忍，为艰难的对话打造空间。

To keep reminding each other of the virtues that matter and the things that last.

互相提醒非常重要的道德和永恒持久的事情。

These kind of communities aren't of course unique to Christianity, and they are often far from perfect, but if we want to be remembered not for our fleeting¹⁹ achievements but our depth of character, they might be the best hope we have.

当然，这些团体并不是对基督教来说独一无二的，而通常并不完美，但是，如果我们不是想要人们记住卓越的成就，而是希望人们记住我们的品德，这或许是我们最大的希望。

1 sincerity   

n.真诚，诚意；真实

参考例句：

• His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
• He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。

2 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

3 decency   

n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重

参考例句：

• His sense of decency and fair play made him refuse the offer.他的正直感和公平竞争意识使他拒绝了这一提议。
• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。

4 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 frailty   

n.脆弱；意志薄弱

参考例句：

• Despite increasing physical frailty,he continued to write stories.尽管身体越来越虛弱，他仍然继续写小说。
• He paused and suddenly all the frailty and fatigue showed.他顿住了，虚弱与疲惫一下子显露出来。

6 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

7 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 eulogy   

n.颂词；颂扬

参考例句：

• He needs no eulogy from me or from any other man. 他不需要我或者任何一个人来称颂。
• Mr.Garth gave a long eulogy about their achievements in the research.加思先生对他们的研究成果大大地颂扬了一番。

9 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

10 virtues   

美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处

参考例句：

• Doctors often extol the virtues of eating less fat. 医生常常宣扬少吃脂肪的好处。
• She delivered a homily on the virtues of family life. 她进行了一场家庭生活美德方面的说教。

11 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

12 legacies   

n.遗产( legacy的名词复数 )；遗留之物；遗留问题；后遗症

参考例句：

• Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind. 书是伟大的天才留给人类的精神财富。 来自辞典例句
• General legacies are subject to the same principles as demonstrative legacies. 一般的遗赠要与指定数目的遗赠遵循同样的原则。 来自辞典例句

13 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

14 thighs   

n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿

参考例句：

• He's gone to London for skin grafts on his thighs. 他去伦敦做大腿植皮手术了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The water came up to the fisherman's thighs. 水没到了渔夫的大腿。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

16 hunch   

n.预感，直觉

参考例句：

• I have a hunch that he didn't really want to go.我有这么一种感觉，他并不真正想去。
• I had a hunch that Susan and I would work well together.我有预感和苏珊共事会很融洽。

17 tyrant   

n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人

参考例句：

• The country was ruled by a despotic tyrant.该国处在一个专制暴君的统治之下。
• The tyrant was deaf to the entreaties of the slaves.暴君听不到奴隶们的哀鸣。

18 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

19 fleeting   

adj.短暂的，飞逝的

参考例句：

• The girls caught only a fleeting glimpse of the driver.女孩们只匆匆瞥了一眼司机。
• Knowing the life fleeting,she set herself to enjoy if as best as she could.她知道这种日子转瞬即逝，于是让自已尽情地享受。