【课文】
First listen and then answer the following question.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
What do glimpses of beauty, either in nature or art, often suggest to the human mind?
A young man sees a sunset and, unable to understand or to express the emotion that it rouses in him, concludes that it must be the gateway to a world that lies beyond. It is difficult for any of us in moments of intense aesthetic experience to resist the suggestion that we are catching a glimpse of a light that shines down to us from a different realm of existence, different and, because the experience is intensely moving, in some way higher. And, though the gleams blind and dazzle, yet do they convey a hint of beauty and serenity greater than we have known or imagined. Greater too than we can describe; for language, which was invented to convey the meanings of this world, cannot readily be fitted to the uses of another.
That all great art has this power of suggesting a world beyond is undeniable. In some moods, Nature shares it. There is no sky in June so blue that it does not point forward to a bluer, no sunset so beautiful that it does not waken the vision of a greater beauty, a vision which passes before it is fully glimpsed, and in passing leaves an indefinable longing and regret. But, if this world is not merely a bad joke, life a vulgar flare amid the cool radiance of the stars, and existence an empty laugh braying across the mysteries; if these intimations of a something behind and beyond are not evil humour born of indigestion, or whimsies sent by the devil to mock and madden us, if, in a word, beauty means something, yet we must not seek to interpret the meaning. If we glimpse the unutterable, it is unwise to try to utter it, nor should we seek to invest with significance that which we cannot grasp. Beauty in terms of our human meanings is meaningless.
C.E.M.JOAD Pieces of Mind
【New words and expressions 生词和短语】
intense adj. 强烈的
aesthetic adj. 审美的
realm n. 世界
serenity n. 静谧
undeniable adj. 不可否认的
indefinable adj. 模糊不清的
vulgar adj. 平庸的
radiance n. 发光
intimation n. 暗示
unutterable adj. 不可言传的
invest v. 赋予
【课文注释】
1. catch a glimpse of 瞥见，瞥一眼
例句： We can catch a glimpse of the downtown districts.
我们可以瞥见市区。
2. in some way higher
①in some way是“在某种程度上”， higher与前面different and 是并列的，做realm of existence 的定语。
例句： I may be able to help you in some way.
我也许可以从某个方面去帮助你。
②in a way “从某种意义上”
例句： In a way they played a vanguard role.
在某种意义上说，他们起了先锋的作用。
3. yet do they convey a hint of beauty
①do起强调作用，放在主语之前更具有强调的意义。
②convey vt. 表达， 传达， 运输， 转移
例句： I find it hard to convey my feelings in word.
我觉得难以用言语表达我的感情。
vt. [律]让与
例句： The farm was conveyed to his son.
那块农田让给了他的儿子。
【词义辨析】
bring, carry, take, fetch, get, convey, transport
这些动词均有“带、拿、取”之意。
bring: 指从某处把人或物带到或拿到说话者所在的地点，强调方向，不着重方式。
carry: 指把物品从一个地方带到另一个地方，不涉及方向，只强调方式。
take: 指从说话人或说话人心目中所在处把某人或某物带离开，带到离说话者有一定距离的地方，与bring的方向正相反，侧重方向，不着重方式。
fetch: 指一往一返，相当于go and bring，去取了东西或带人再返回到出发处。
get: 口语用词，与fetch基本同义，语气随便。
convey: 指通过中间人传递信息，或以某种方式把人或物送到目的地。
transport: 指使用车辆或机械设备把人或货物从一处运载到另一处。
③a hint of 少许，一点点
例句： There was more than a hint of sadness in his voice.
他的声音里有许多哀伤的成分。
4. be fitted to
例句： The policy should be fitted to a new situation.
这项政策必须适应新形势。
5. undeniable (not possible to deny) adj. 不可否认的， 无可辩驳的
例句： But two-digit growth is undeniable.
但两位数的涨幅是不可否认的。
What was undeniable was the wide appeal of this popular humour.
无可否认的是这种大众幽默非常受人欢迎。
6. In some moods Nature shares it. 在某种状态下，大自然也具有这种力量。it是指前面一句中this power of suggesting a world beyond。
7. vulgar adj. 通俗的，粗俗的，乡土的
例句：Her taste in clothing is rather vulgar.
她穿着相当俗气。
【词义辨析】
vulgar, coarse, crude, gross 这些形容词均含“粗鲁的，粗俗的”之意。
vulgar : 侧重指对听者的冒犯，往往强调粗野，言行、趣味不高，缺乏教养。
coarse : 指缺乏教养，言谈粗俗，举止粗野，可与vulgar换用。
crude : 与vulgar同义，也指言谈举止粗俗，不文雅，缺乏教养。
gross : 语气强烈，指粗鲁、无礼貌，令人讨厌。
8. in a word 总而言之， 简言之
例句：In a word, we must just leave now.
总而言之，我们必须现在就走。
In a word, the situation is serious.
总而言之，形势很严峻
9. invest v.
①投资;投入(时间等)
例句：He invested all his money in real estate.
他把钱全部投资房地产。
②授予，赋予
例句：The trade union is invested with the power to call a strike.
工会被授于号召罢工的权力。
The ancient castle was invested with an air of mystery.
这座古堡充满神秘的气氛。
10. in terms of 用……的话;按照，从……方面来说
例句：In term of money, he"s quite rich, but not in term of happiness.
就钱来说他很富有，但就幸福来说就不然了。
Staying up late makes him at his worst in terms of physical situation.
熬夜使得他的体力状况处于低潮。
【参考译文】
一个年轻人看到日落，由于无法理解和表达日落在他心中唤起的激情，便得出结论：日落处想必是通往遥远世界的大门。无论是谁，在强烈感受到美的时刻，心中都不禁油然而生一种遐想：我们似乎瞥见从另一个世界射向我们的一线光芒，那个世界不仅不同于我们这个世界，而且由于美感的强烈感染，在某些方面比我们这个世界更美好。虽然这光芒令人眼花缭乱，但它确实给予我们一种不曾经历和无法想象的美感和静谧的启示。这种美感和静谧是我们无法描述的，因为我们发明的语言是用来描述我们这个世界的含义，不能随便拿来去描述另一个世界。
不可否认，一切伟大的艺术都具有使人遐想到进入天外世界的魅力。在某种状态下，大自然也有这种魅力。六月蔚蓝的天空总使人遥想一个更加蔚蓝的苍穹;美丽的落日总会引起一个更加绚丽的景象，这景象未及饱览便一闪即逝，并在消逝中给人留下不可名状的渴望和惆怅。如果这个世界不只是一个拙劣的恶作剧，如果人生不只是群星寒光中平凡的一闪，如果存在不只是对神秘事物的一阵空虚的笑声，如果某种玄妙事物的暗示不是消化不良引起的邪恶情绪，也不是魔鬼为了捉弄我们，使我们发狂而送给我们的邪念，一句话，如果美有某种意义的话，我们千万不要去阐明它的意义。如果我瞥见了只可意会不可言传的事物，企图把它说出来，那是不明智的;对于我们不理解的事物，我们也不应该去赋予它某种意义。用对我们人类有意义的词句来解释美是没有意义的。
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