首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
A stout old lady was walking with her basket down the middle of a street in Petrograd to the great confusion of the traffic and
A stout old lady was walking with her basket down the middle of a street in Petrograd to the great confusion of the traffic and
admin
2014-01-13
50
问题
A stout old lady was walking with her basket down the middle of a street in Petrograd to the great confusion of the traffic and with no small peril to herself. It was pointed out to her that the pavement was the place for pedestrians, but she replied, "I’m going to walk where I like. We’ve got liberty now. " It did not occur to the dear old lady that if liberty entitled the pedestrian to walk down the middle of the road, then the end of such liberty would be universal chaos. Everybody would be getting in everybody else’s way and nobody would get anywhere. Individual liberty would have become social anarchy.
There is a danger of the world getting liberty — drunk in these days like the old lady with the basket, and it is just as well to remind ourselves of what the rule of the road means. It means that in order that the liberties of all may be preserved, the liberties of everybody must be curtailed. When the policeman, say, at Piccadilly Circus steps into the middle of the road and puts out his hand, he is the symbol not of tyranny, but of liberty. You may not think so. You may, being in a hurry, and seeing your car pulled up by this insolence of office, feel that your liberty has been outraged. How dare this fellow interfere with your free use of the public highway? Then, if you are a reasonable person, you will reflect that if he did not interfere with you, he would interfere with no one, and the result would be that Piccadilly Circus would be a maelstrom that you would never cross at all. You have submitted to a curtailment of private liberty in order that you may enjoy a social order which makes your liberty a reality.
Liberty is not a personal affair only, but a social contract. It is an accommodation of interests. In matters which do not touch anybody else’s liberty, of course, I may be as free as I like. If I choose to go down the road in a dressing-gown who shall say me nay? You have liberty to laugh at me, but I have liberty to be indifferent to you. And if I have a fancy for dyeing my hair, or waxing my moustache(which heaven forbid), or wearing an overcoat and sandals, or going to bed late or getting up early, I shall follow my fancy and ask no man’s permission. I shall not inquire of you whether I may eat mustard with my mutton. And you will not ask me whether you may follow this religion or that, whether you may prefer Ella Wheeler Wilcox to Wordsworth, or champagne to shandy.
In all these and a thousand other details you and I please ourselves and ask no one’s leave. We have a whole kingdom in which we rule alone, can do what we choose, be wise or ridiculous, harsh or easy, conventional or odd. But directly we step out of that kingdom, our personal liberty of action becomes qualified by other people’s liberty. I might like to practice on the trombone from midnight till three in the morning. If I went on to the top of Everest to do it, I could please myself, but if I do it in my bedroom my family will object, and if I do it out in the streets the neighbors will remind me that my liberty to blow the trombone must not interfere with their liberty to sleep in quiet. There are a lot of people in the world, and I have to accommodate my liberty to their liberties.
We are all liable to forget this, and unfortunately we are much more conscious of the imperfections of others in this respect than of our own. A reasonable consideration for the rights or feelings of others is the foundation of social conduct. It is in the small matters of conduct, in the observance of the rule of the road, that we pass judgment upon ourselves, and declare that we are civilized or uncivilized. The great moments of heroism and sacrifice are rare. It is the little habits of commonplace intercourse that make up the great sum of life and sweeten or make bitter the journey.
The author’s attitude to the old lady in paragraph one is______.
选项
A、condescending
B、intolerant
C、objective
D、supportive
答案
A
解析
作者态度题。作者称the old lady为“the dear old lady”,但从原文首段中“peril”,“universalchaos”,“social anarchy”等词语,可以看出作者是不赞成old lady的行为,是以恩赐态度对待,表面上是屈尊俯就,实际暗含一种优越和傲慢,是一种负面的评价,故答案为A。选项B(无法忍受的)并不是完全正确,因为本文作者更多的是指出old lady态度的错误。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/2OhO777K
0
考博英语
相关试题推荐
Ateacherissomeonewhocommunicatesinformationorskillsothatsomeoneelsemaylearn.Parentsarethe【51】teachers.Justby
Ateacherissomeonewhocommunicatesinformationorskillsothatsomeoneelsemaylearn.Parentsarethe【51】teachers.Justby
Mostpeoplelieineverydayconversationwhentheyaretryingtoappearlikableandcompetent,accordingtoastudyconductedby
AfewyearsagoaloneAmericancampaignerwroteabookinwhichhesetoutthemainpointofhisfascinatingCampaign—toabolis
Inthespringof1720,whenallofLondonwasclamoringforsharesintheSouthSeacompany,SirIsaacNewtonwasaskedwhathe
Inmanyculturespeoplewhowerethoughttohavetheabilityto______dreamswerelikelytobehighlyrespected.
WhenDonaldarrivedforhisfirstgroup-therapysessionhewasinawheelchair,sufferingfrommalignantmelanomaandseverelyd
Itwastwoyearsagotodaythatthehuntingbancameintoforce,supposedlyendingcenturiesoftradition.However,thelawhas
Granted,it’saprettyserioustimetobelivingonthisplanet.Insaneterrorists,politicalfingerpointing,astringofawful
InthedaysimmediatelyfollowinghurricaneAndrew’sdeadlyvisittoSouthFlorida,AllstateInsurancehastilydispatchedmoret
随机试题
设函数f(x)=sin(x2)+e-2x,则f’(x)等于()
术前,对于已确定的手术切口,其周围的皮肤消毒范围为()
患儿,女,10岁。主因下唇中部唇红,干燥脱屑,结痂,经久不愈。自觉干燥疼痛,与季节无关。家长述患儿爱舔口唇。与其他唇炎的鉴别要点是
统计分析包括
国外的某药物公司与中国某机构联系在中国进行艾滋病药物临床试验,该机构在甲医院进行临床实验,该院IRB审批了试验方案。研究者于乙省农村招募受试者,艾滋病人踊跃参加。本次临床试验共招募400人,进一步确证该药品的治疗作用,试验结果表明疗效欠佳,且2例死亡,维权
《土地管理法》将土地按用途分为三大类型,其中不包括()。
沥青混合料结构组成中,密实—悬浮结构的特点是()。
ThespeakersaremakingarrangementsforMonday,TuesdayandWednesday.
ElephantCommunicationO’Connell-Rodwell,apostdoctoralfellowatStanfordUniversity,hastravelledtoNamibia’sfirst-ev
Completethetablebelow.WriteONEWORDAND/ORANUMBERforeachanswer.
最新回复
(
0
)