2. 外语
  3. Family is older than the human species- work is younger, friendship is about as old as we are. It is friendship that marks us as

Family is older than the human species- work is younger, friendship is about as old as we are. It is friendship that marks us as

admin2013-11-29  58
问题     Family is older than the human species- work is younger, friendship is about as old as we are. It is friendship that marks us as human. The biologist Lewis Thomas wrote an essay comparing human beings with termites. Termites build nests as elaborate and as well designed as our cathedrals. Every termite nest is an architectural wonder, with arches, vaults, galleries, ventilators, storerooms, and nurseries. But no single termite carries the architectural plan in her head. The building of the nest is a collective process. Each termite rolls little balls of, mud sticks them onto other little bails rolled by her neighbors. Out of this collective rolling and sticking the cathedral grows. Thomas is saying that human societies grow in the same fashion. Instead of rolling mud balls we play with words. Instead of sticking mud balls together to make arches, we stick words together to make conversations. Instead of piling arch upon arch to make a nest, we pile conversation upon conversation to make a culture. Just as no single termite knows how to build a nest, no single human knows how to build a culture. A single termite alone cannot survive, and a single human being alone is not human.
    Work came later in human history ihan conversation. We invented work when we become civilized. Unlike friendship, work is a mixed blessing. At its worst, work is slavery. At its best, work is a sustained and lifelong conversation. The more satisfying and enjoyable work is, the more it partakes of the nature of conversation. Science at the working level is mostly conversation. The building where I work has twenty people in twenty rooms. Most of the doors are open. From morning till night the buzz of conversation seldom ceases. That is the way science is done. When I am not talking with friends down the hall, I am writing papers for friends around the world. Without the friends, my activity would be pointless. Scientists are as gregarious a species as termites. If the lives of scientists are on the whole joyful, it is because our friendships are deep and lasting. Our friendships are lasting because we are engaged in a collective enterprise. Our enterprise, the exploration of nature’s secrets, had no beginning and will have no end. Exploration is as natural an activity for human beings as conversation. Our friends, the explorers are scattered over the centuries, from Archimedes and Euclid to the unborn genius who will one day understand the mystery of how our exploring minds work. (420 words)
What does the author mean by saying "work is a mixed blessing"?
选项 A、Work is contradictory to conversation.
B、Work is the antonym of friendship.
C、Work contains both good and bad aspects.
D、There are various kinds of person in the world.
答案C
解析 a mixed blessing是“好坏参半”之意。
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