华理高级英语阅读英语作业

读后总结

This is water

The speech begins with the fish story which is not a simple story but asks us a question

“

what is water?

”

or

“

what the water means?

”

Like the fish, we live in the

“

water

”

but

don’t

know what the water is.

This

is

an

obvious,

ubiquitous

reality

because

everything

in

our

own

immediate

experience supports our deep belief that we are the absolute center of the universe. So as to it

is our default setting, hard-wired into our boards at birth. The speech gives us an example that

describes an average day of adult life. We work hard, drive cars through traffic jam, shopping

in a crowed super market, line up in a long lanes while waiting to checkout and all the way

maybe

accompany

with

noisy

voice

and

soul-killing

music,

etcetera.

It

same

like

our

life

involves boredom, routine, and petty frustration. However, the speaker didn

’

t just describe our

daily life and he told us to think in different ways about the situations which exist in our life.

Such

as

the

woman

who

just

screamed

at

her

little

child

may

be

is

courageous

and

kind-hearted and has been up there nights holding the hand of her husband who is dying of

bone cancer. It all depends on us. We could choose to believe in other options which may be

possible with awareness instead of just be self-centered. We should make a conscious decision

about how to think and what to pay attention to.

The true life which full of frustration and

annoying things day in and day out needs us to be awareness of what is real and essential, and

this is water.

As

for

me,

before

reading

this

speech,

just

as

many

Graduate

students,

I

get

lost

in

abstract arguments inside my head instead of simply paying attention to what

’

s going on right

in

front

of

me.

And

I’

m

busy

with

searching

for

a

better

fellowship,

getting

petty

profits,

having a good behavior in front of my teacher while ignoring the true life around me, such as

the

communicating

with

my

families,

the

compassion

to

the

pathetic

person

which

suffers

from a big explosion or typhoon and the responsibility to help the old people or little children.

This passage not only tells me a phenomenon, a good thinking, a truth about our life, but also

gives me a question

“

what is life?

”

I’

ll live with simple awareness and conscious about the

things I see, I touch, I hear, I experience, and I fell. And I will slow down, care more about

love, gratefulness, friendship and sympathy and keep thinking what the life is.

Why People Believe in Conspiracy Theories

The passage which is written by Sander van der Linden is about a new physical research

which helps explain why some see intricate government conspiracies. The author analyzes the

reason that people believe in conspiracy theories from many aspects and referring to a lot of

studies and papers. At first, the author gives us a lot of example, such as

“

Did NASA fake the

moon

landing?

”

,

“

Is

global

warming

a

hoax

？

”

and

refers

to

a

book

“

The

Empire

of

Conspiracy

”

, which influenced many scholars who have come to think of conspiracy theories

as paranoid and delusional.

However, conspiracy theories are not just the implausible visions of a paranoid majority.

New research found that many participants believe in contradictory conspiracy theories and

that people don

’

t tend to believe in conspiracy theory because the specifics, but rather because

of higher-order beliefs,

for example, distrust of authority. The belief in

multiple conspiracy

theories has been linked to the rejection of science and predicted the rejection of important

scientific

conclusions.

The

author

thinks

that

this

is

alarming

because

conspiracy

theory

which is usually defined as an attempt to explain the ultimate cause of sows public mistrust

and

undermines

democratic

debate.

Except

this,

a

number

of

studies

showed

that

belief

in

conspiracy

theories

is

associated

with

feelings

of

powerlessness,

uncertainty

and

a

general

lack of agency and control. The author thinks that this bias is to help people restore a sense of

control and predictability but the truth is not always convenient.

As for me, I always judge conspiracy theories from my common sense and observe the

evidence before I believe in them. For example, some people who think that the idea of global

warming

is

a

hoax

are

less

willing

to

reduce

their

carbon

footprint.

While

from

my

perspective, I don

’

t think that global warming is a hoax, because the weather really becomes

warmer, the ice in The South pole melts than ever before, and the shoreline of ocean is rising

in recent

years. I don

’

t believe conspiracy theories in this situation and I just believe in my

felling and the truth. However, not all the people have a scientific theory, so they believe in

conspiracy theories and distrust of authority.

The

government

should

take

action

to

change

the

tendency

to

describe

every

event

as

intentional and planned, especially in the rejection of science, because this ethos is dangerous

for

our

country.

When

the

people

believe

in

conspiracy

theories,

they

are

less

willing

to

engage politically and also less willing to implement individual behavioral changes. However,

the

construct

of

our

country

needs

every

person

’

s

endeavor

and

it

’

s

important

to

the

government. Except this, the conspiracy theories are easy to blind the common person and are

utilized by a secret alliance of powerful individuals and organizations. So, this is an important

question and the government should pay enough attention to it.

What Isn

’

t for Sale

The

passage

is

adapted

from

What

Money

Can

’

t

Buy:

The

Moral

Limits

of

Markets

,

which is written by Michael J. Sandel, who is a political philosopher at Harvard University.

The author aware us that market thinking permeates our life while we don

’

t notice it and tries

to put forward debating measure to solve this problem.

First

of

all,

the

author

gives

us

a

lot

of

examples

about

things

we

can

buy

or

sell

to

illustrate that we are living in a society of full of market thinking. The things we can buy or

sell is not only about realistic goods, but also about some things like environment, education,

or health. And the author thinks that markets have become detached from morals, which is

partial because of greed, but mainly because of the reach of markets. The author worry that

we are moving into a market society for two reasons, one is about inequality, the other one is

about the corrosive tendency of markets. Some examples are applied to this thinking by the

author

like

that

we

don

’

t

allow

children

to

be

sold

and

through

those

examples,

the

author

expresses that we should resolve the question of markets is detached from morals by debating

case by case to find the proper way to value them, even though there are many difficulties but

it is worthy.

From my perspective, I agree with what the author written. I always study hard and get

good grades in order to getting generous scholarships, which implicitly means that I exchange

my hard work with money. Maybe, I get rich knowledge by this way, but I lose my interests.

Influenced by this market thinking, once I can

’

t get the scholarship, I won

’

t study hard I see.

As

for

the

government,

I

don

’

t

aware

that

the

buying

of

some

things

such

as

the

right

of

emissions of carbon or sulfur has any question. On the one hand, the government can raise the

financial revenue. on the other hand, it could decrease the emissions of carbon and sulfur, and

the companies which buy the right to emission is also satisfied. This policy same proper but

ignores

the

morality

and

responsibility

because

both

of

them

just

care

about

the

trade.

We

don

’

t

aware

that

market

thinking

permeates.

on

the

contrary,

we

know

that

as

a

Chinese

saying,

Money makes the mare go

.

However,

it

could

lead

to

a

worship

of

money

and

right

and

lower

the

standards

of

morality. As the author suggested, it could makes us aware more about the market thinking

through

debating

case

by

case,

although

it

could

not

solve

the

problem

I

think.

The