Lecture 1 作家作品
Wors Tips
profound adj.深厚的；意义深远的 conviction n.定罪；信念
inaway 在某种程度上；一点 haveaglimpseof 瞥一眼
dismiss v.遣散，解散（队伍等） conformity n.符合；一致
consistency n.连贯；符合；前后一致 atodds 争执，不一致
Listen to the following recording and answer questions 1-4.
1）A.to point out similarities in Emerson’s essays and poems
B.to prepare the students to read an essay by Emerson
C.to compare Emerson’s concept of universal truth to that of other authors
D.to show the influence of early United States society on Emerson’s writing
2）A.It is something that we can be taught.
B.It can be found within ourselves.
C.It is something only philosophers care about.
D.It is usually out of reach for ordinary people.
3）A.They refused to recognize universal truths.
B.They did not recognize the genius of certain authors.
C.Their convictions were not well-defined.
D.They were too interested in conformity.
4）A.Because it is a universal truth.
B.Because people are less secure about themselves.
C.Because young people need to think about their future.
D.Because you don’t need to focus on the past.
听力原文
All right，so let me close today’s class with some thoughts to keep in mind while you are doing tonight’s assignment.You will be reading one of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s best-known essays“Self-Reliance”and comparing it with his poems and other works.
Knowing something about Emerson’s philosophies will help you when you read “Self-Reliance”.And basically，one of the main beliefs that he had was about truth.Not that it’s something that we can be taught，Emerson says it’s found within ourselves.So this truth，the idea that it’s in each one of us，is one of the first points that you’ll see Emerson making in this essay.It’s a bit abstract but he’s very into…uh… into each person believing his or her own thought，believing in yourself，the thought or conviction that’s true for you.
But actually，he ties that in with a sort of“universal truth”— something that everyone knows but doesn’t realize they know.Most of us are in touch with ourselves in a way，so we just aren’t capable of recognizing profound truth.It takes geniuses，people like，say，Shakespeare，who’re unique because when they have a glimpse of this truth，this universal truth，they pay attention to it and express it and don’t just dismiss it like most people do.
So Emerson is really into each individual believing in and trusting him or herself.You’ll see that he writes about，well，first，conformity.He criticizes that people of his time for abandoning their own minds and their own wills for the sake of conformity and consistency .They try to fit in with the rest of the world even though it’s at odds with their beliefs and their identities.Therefore，it’s best to be a non-conformist — to do your own thing，not worrying about what other people think.That’s an important point.He really drives this argument home throughout the essay.
When you are reading，I want you to think about that and why that kind of thought would be relevant to the readers of his time.Remember this is 1838，‘Self-Reliance’ was a novel idea at the time and the United States citizens were less secure about themselves as individuals and as Americans.The country as a whole was trying to define itself.Emerson wanted to give people something to really think about，help them find their own way and what it meant to be who they were.So that’s something that I think is definitely as relevant today as it was then，probably，um，especially among young adults like yourselves，you know，uh，college being a time to sort of really think about who you are and where you’re going.
Questions：
1.What is the main purpose of the lecture？
2.What is Emerson’s belief about truth？
3.On what basis did Emerson criticize the people of his time？
4.Why does the author think the essay is as relevant today as it was then？
参考译文
好的，我想再强调一下你们做今晚布置的作业时需要记住的一些思想，以此结束今天的课程。你们会读到一篇拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生最为著名的论文《自立》并将之与他的诗歌和其他著作进行比较。
了解一些爱默生的哲学原理对你们读懂《自立》有帮助。简单而言，爱默生所持的主要信仰之一便是真理——这并非平时同学们所学习的真理，爱默生指的是存在于人类自身之中的真理，这也是爱默生在文章开篇就表明的观点：即真理在于自身。该思想略显抽象，但爱默生确实深入探讨了人们如何对自身以及自我意识持有信念，如何对个人思想深信不疑。
事实上，他认为自身真理与“普遍真理”——那些举世皆知但不为人类所意识到的原理是一致的。爱默生认为人们都在一定程度上与自身相通，但只有极少数人能够真正探索到自身所蕴含着的真理。天才人物，如莎士比亚，他们在窥见普遍真理的冰山一角后，并未像凡人一样选择无视，而是继续对真理的存在进行思考并将其表现出来，这正是天才的可贵之处。
爱默生随后深入论述了个体应对自身持有信念这一观点。他首先指出，为了追求与世俗标准的统一，为了被俗世所接纳，人们往往放弃了自身所持有的信念与愿望，以迎合本不为自我认可的价值观和信仰，这应受到批判。因此，特立独行者是应受到褒奖的，因为他们坚决遵循自我意识，而不为周遭的流言蜚语所动。爱默生在整篇文章中极为透彻地探讨了这一观点。
在阅读《自立》一文的过程中，同学们应深入思考爱默生关于自我意识的思想以及该思想对当时社会有何影响。《自立》所表达的思想在1838年实属新奇，当时人们普遍缺乏作为个体和美国公民的安全感，而整个国家也处在自我觉醒的过程中。在这种社会环境下，爱默生试图指引人们去明确自我信念，选择人生方向并思考自我价值。因此我认为爱默生所宣扬的思想不仅在当时意义深远，它对于现今社会的发展也是有着积极影响的。特别是青年一代，你们在大学期间正应该认真思考自我存在与未来发展之类的问题。
参考答案
1.B 2.B 3.D 4.C