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  3. People regard the process of change in a number of different ways: as good and as evil, as therapeutic and as harmful, as fun an

People regard the process of change in a number of different ways: as good and as evil, as therapeutic and as harmful, as fun an

admin2009-06-24  38
问题     People regard the process of change in a number of different ways: as good and as evil, as therapeutic and as harmful, as fun and as annoying. It all depends on the situation, the type of change and the degree of change. If a man is in a rut, he may be advised to consider a new job. This might be very healthy for him and give him a wholly new, fresh outlook on life, but it might also mean changes in his life which he is unprepared to accept. It might involve moving to a new location or accepting for a period of time an income lower than the one he is used to having for the support of his family. Therefore, he is forced to choose between two unsatisfactory situations.
    Or the man might live in an area which once contained lots of open spaces which he and his family could use for recreational activities. Gradually the area experienced an ever increasing build up of roads, houses, stores and population. It is no longer the same kind of place which it was when he had chosen to live there, and he is unhappy about it. The process of change has overtaken him, but should he force himself to undergo the even more drastic change of relocating himself in another area where the same type of process may again overtake him? Or must he learn to adjust himself to this process of change over which he seemingly has no control? How can he reconcile himself to the sources of his unhappiness? Is it possible that he can have absolutely no control over his destiny? Must he abandon the idea that he can be master of his fate and accept the idea that adjustment and submission to the process of change are the only hopes he has for happiness?
    It is recognized that people can only absorb so much change at one time. Too many changes, or changes which are too drastic, can cause anything from anxiety to death. Some people can face change better than others, and this ability seems to depend on the individual’s stability, maturity and flexibility. Facing change is often regarded as a test of these qualities. The subject merits consideration, for at no time in human history have people been faced with not only so many changes, but also such unprecedented changes—changes so drastic that they might be considered to be "firsts" in human history.
    One such "first" concerns the type of catastrophes we are now capable of causing. A function of each generation is to preserve and protect what we have. The desire to do this is behind most of our work, loyalties and assumptions. In the past, major catastrophes, such as wars, plagues and earthquakes, could destroy only a fraction of the human race and environment. Most people and societies were not affected by and often were not even aware of such catastrophes when they occurred. One of the causes of present unrest in the world is that today, for the first time, we are aware that there exists the potential for a catastrophe which would affect everyone, everywhere.
    A second unprecedented change has resulted from our discovery of our geographical boundaries. In the past, most societies showed a concern for preserving the productivity of their environment by letting fields rest or by imposing restrictions on hunting or farming in certain areas. In America, however, for many years the existence of seemingly boundless resources meant that there appeared to be little necessity to consider the gradual depletion of them. Then there was also the possibility of migration as an ultimate recourse in order to survive. Today this is not the case. There is simply nowhere left to go, and the psychic repercussions have been great.
    A third unprecedented change relates to the perpetuation of the species. In the past, human societies to adopt values whose aim was to insure that the society would not die out. Therefore, people were highly concerned with protecting their physical existence and their cultural heritage both for themselves and for future generations. A vital concern was always the matter of having a sufficient number of children. Today, when human survival depends more on reducing the number of children rather than increasing it, these traditional values are no longer useful and may, in fact, be dangerous. The times call for a drastic change in the image and role of both the male and the female. For many, these changes are hard to bear.
    A fourth change is the amount and rate of change itself. For the first time in human history, regular and successive revolutions of many types occur and must be adapted to. This is in contrast to the snail’s pace at which changes occurred in the past. Change, too, is now more universal. No longer does a great revolution occur only once and only in a single place, affecting only a small group or a single society. Rather, what happens in one part of the world will soon have its impact on some other part of the globe. And the areas in which change may take place are innumerable. The implications of any given changes are staggering. Truly, no one can really know what changes tomorrow will bring. Neither is one able to guess what his life will be like in twenty or forty years.
    It is generally accepted that the young can adjust to change more easily than can adjust to change to older people, who it is generally thought have lost the ability to accept change. Yet, perhaps this idea ought to be reexamined. Possibly it is the young who are most in need of learning how to adapt to the realities of modern society. After all, the old have already had to adapt to the successive changes of a number of generations. On the other hand, perhaps the human race has reached a saturation point insofar as change is concerned, and those who are faced with an overwhelming amount of it simply cannot cope. Unfortunately, there is no longer any place to go and hide.
选项 A、Harmful Changes in Human History.
B、Healthy Changes in Human History.
C、Some Firsts in Human History.
D、Process of Change.
答案C
解析
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