通过阅读学词汇CET-6（30）

时间：2006-12-30 03:27:04

（单词翻译:单击）

Unit Thirty
Money

　　Money offers power, an almost unique form of power. Paradoxically money creates a deep sense of powerlessness as well, since technically2 we are not able to provide money for ourselves; someone or something else must do that for us – our employers or our stocks. All that, money can do: and when such essential, familiar functions are snatched from one’s life, small wonder that people may grow wild, frantic3, even murderous.
　　 People work for money to buy things that other people make or do, things that they cannot or will not make or do for themselves but that they deem necessary for some definition of self-improvement. So a baker4 buys a piano because he cannot make one, and yet he judges the possession of a piano to be necessary for his pleasure, stature5, worth. The piano maker6, in turn, may buy TIME magazine because he deems TIME necessary for his pleasure, stature, worth. Only God knows who gets the better of such deals, but the fact is that the deals are not only economic but social transactions.
　　Abstractly, then, money is one of the ways, indeed a universally accepted way, we make connections. Cash is cold, so the connections may feel cold, but real blood flows through them. These connections constitute one of central means by which societies cohere7; by which they sustain and characterize themselves.
　　 Still, that basic social transaction of buying and selling remains8 the standard operation of human business. The operation may be standard because buying and selling encompasses10, encourages the fundamental, often tormenting12, impulse toward human perfectibility; because the simple act of purchase implies a perpetual quest for self-improvement. This is not to say that money is the only way of establishing self-improvement. Spiritual thinkers forswear the power of money because they prefer to have God and not Mammon responsible for human connectedness. Yet the connections that money makes among people are not necessarily a spiritual if one defines money as the oil that lubricates the social machine.

 Whoever first came up with the idea of money must have realized that money would not only symbolize13 the value of objects but that inevitably14 it would also prove the value of people, sine people could only obtain that proof by dealing15 with one another. Such values may be illusory, but they are values commonly agreed upon and so function as facts. The knowledge that others exist to produce things for you is a way of knowing that they exist to produce you, and you them. All over the world, these acts of reciprocal production are sustained by money, which moves through the populations belonging to no one and everyone at once, hard, soft, old, new, trying billions of people together in an ancient arrangement that has kept the earth spinning like a coin.

 

paradox1 n.1.似乎矛盾而(可能)正确的说法 2.自相矛盾的人(或事物)
paradoxical a.1.似是而非的 2.自相矛盾的

snatch vt.1.夺,夺走 2.一下子拉,一把抓住 3.抓住机会,抽空做
vi.一把抓住 n.片断

frantic a.1.慌乱不安的,紧张纷乱的 2.发疯似的,发狂的
[联想词]               frenzy16 n.疯狂,狂热,激动
               insane a.1.蠢极的,荒唐的 2.精神病的,精神失常的,疯狂的
               asylum17 n.精神病院

stature n.1.高境界,高水平,非凡的气质 2.身高,身材

transaction n.交易,业务
[联想词]               slump18 vi. n.暴跌,衰退,不景气

cohere vi.团结一致;凝聚
coherent a.1.条理清楚的,连贯的 2.一致的,协调的
[联想词]    cling vi.1.紧紧抓住 2.粘着,挨近 3.依附,依恋 4.坚持,忠实于
               fusion19 vi.1.联合,合并 2.聚变
               conform vi.1.遵守,适应,顺从 2.相似,一致,符合

encompass9 vi.1.环绕,围绕 2.包含,包括 3.完成,促成
[联想词]               enclose vi.1.围住,包住 2.把…装入信封,封入
               enclosure n.1.围场 2.附件
               incorporate n.1.包含加上,吸收 2.把…合并,使并入

torment11 n.1.痛苦,折磨 2.令人痛苦的东西,折磨者

perfection n.完美,完善
perfectibility n.可完美性,可臻完美性

perpetual a.1.永久的,永恒的,长期的 2.无休止的,没完没了的
[联想词]               transient a.1.短暂的 2.临时的,暂住的

quest n.寻求,搜索,追求
[联想词]               pursuit n.1.追求,寻求 2.追赶,追逐 3.(花时间和精力的)事,嗜好,消遣

forswear vt.1.发誓抛弃 2.坚决否认

mammon n.财神

lubricate vt.使润滑
[联想词]               grease n.1.油脂 2.润滑油 vt.给…加润滑油

reciprocal a.相互的,互惠的
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1 paradox pAxys     
n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物)
参考例句：
  • The story contains many levels of paradox.这个故事存在多重悖论。
  • The paradox is that Japan does need serious education reform.矛盾的地方是日本确实需要教育改革。
2 technically wqYwV     
adv.专门地，技术上地
参考例句：
  • Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
  • The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。
3 frantic Jfyzr     
adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的
参考例句：
  • I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
  • He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。
4 baker wyTz62     
n.面包师
参考例句：
  • The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
  • The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。
5 stature ruLw8     
n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材
参考例句：
  • He is five feet five inches in stature.他身高5英尺5英寸。
  • The dress models are tall of stature.时装模特儿的身材都较高。
6 maker DALxN     
n.制造者，制造商
参考例句：
  • He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
  • A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。
7 cohere PbRy0     
vt.附着，连贯，一致
参考例句：
  • The adornments do not cohere with the basic design.装饰物与设计的基调不协调。
  • When you squeeze a handful of snow,the flakes cohere to make a snowball.你把一团雪捏紧，雪就黏合成雪球。
8 remains 1kMzTy     
n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹
参考例句：
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
9 encompass WZJzO     
vt.围绕，包围；包含，包括；完成
参考例句：
  • The course will encompass physics,chemistry and biology.课程将包括物理、化学和生物学。
  • The project will encompass rural and underdeveloped areas in China.这项工程将覆盖中国的农村和不发达地区。
10 encompasses cba8673f835839b92e7b81ba5bccacfb     
v.围绕( encompass的第三人称单数 )；包围；包含；包括
参考例句：
  • The job encompasses a wide range of responsibilities. 这项工作涉及的职责范围很广。
  • Its conservation law encompasses both its magnitude and its direction. 它的守恒定律包括大小和方向两方面。 来自辞典例句
11 torment gJXzd     
n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠
参考例句：
  • He has never suffered the torment of rejection.他从未经受过遭人拒绝的痛苦。
  • Now nothing aggravates me more than when people torment each other.没有什么东西比人们的互相折磨更使我愤怒。
12 tormenting 6e14ac649577fc286f6d088293b57895     
使痛苦的，使苦恼的
参考例句：
  • He took too much pleasure in tormenting an ugly monster called Caliban. 他喜欢一味捉弄一个名叫凯列班的丑妖怪。
  • The children were scolded for tormenting animals. 孩子们因折磨动物而受到责骂。
13 symbolize YrvwU     
vt.作为...的象征，用符号代表
参考例句：
  • Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。
  • Dolphins symbolize the breath of life.海豚象征着生命的气息。
14 inevitably x7axc     
adv.不可避免地；必然发生地
参考例句：
  • In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
  • Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。
15 dealing NvjzWP     
n.经商方法，待人态度
参考例句：
  • This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
  • His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。
16 frenzy jQbzs     
n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动
参考例句：
  • He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
  • They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。
17 asylum DobyD     
n.避难所，庇护所，避难
参考例句：
  • The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
  • Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。
18 slump 4E8zU     
n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌
参考例句：
  • She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
  • Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。
19 fusion HfDz5     
n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接
参考例句：
  • Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc. 黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
  • This alloy is formed by the fusion of two types of metal.这种合金是用两种金属熔合而成的。

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