An ordinary clock can be handled roughly without disturbance5 of its internal workings, but the delicate and complicated mechanism6 of a chronometer7 requires careful handling and special, favorable conditions for its normal functioning. Unfavorable[277] conditions are more apt to affect a highly complex mechanism than a roughly made instrument. It is quite probable that it is the superior minds and more highly complex mental and nervous organizations that are subject to psychopathic states or states of dissociation. Of course, unstable8 minds are also subject to dissociative states, but we must never forget the fact that highly organized brains, on account of their very complexity9, are apt to become unstable under unfavorable conditions. A predisposition to dissociation may occur either in degenerative minds or in minds superior to the average. Functional10 psychosis requires a long history of dissociated, subconscious11 shocks, suffered by a highly or lowly organized nervous system, a long history dating back to early childhood.
As Mosso puts it: “The vivid impression of a strong emotion may produce the same effect as a blow on the head or some physical shock.” We may, however, say that no functional psychosis, whether somatopsychosis or psychoneurosis, can ever be produced simply by physical shocks. In all functional psychoses there must be a mental background, and it is the mental background alone that produces the psychosis and determines the character of the psychopathic state.
Fear is an important factor in the etiology of psychopathic affections which include somatopsychoses and psychoneuroses.
[278]
To regard fear as “error,” as do some sectarians, is absurd, and is certainly unscientific. Abnormal fear which is the basis of all functional nervous or psychopathic maladies, is essentially12 a pathological process affecting the organs in general and the nervous system in particular in as definite a way as the invasion and infection of the organism by various species of bacteria, bacilli, and other micro-organisms which attack the individual during his lifetime.
Like infectious diseases, the deviations13, abnormalities, and excesses of the fear instinct are acquired by the individual in the course of his relations with the external environment, and are as real and substantial as are syphilis, smallpox14, diphtheria, cholera15, and the bubonic plague. To regard them as imaginary or to relegate16 them to the action of Providence17 or to heredity is theoretically a misconception, and practically a great danger to humanity.
There is nowadays a veritable craze for heredity and eugenics. Biology is misconceived, misinterpreted, and misapplied to social problems, and to individual needs and ailments19. Everything is ascribed to heredity, from folly20 and crime to scratches and sneezes. The goddess Heredity is invoked21 at each flea-bite—in morsu pulicis Deum invocare.
Even war is supposed to be due to the omnipotent22 deity23 of Heredity. Superior races by their[279] patriotism24 and loyalty25 destroy the weak and the helpless, and relentlessly26 exterminate27 all peaceful tribes. Such warlike stock comes of superior clay. The dominant28 races have some miraculous29 germ-plasm, special “unit characters,” wonderful dominant “units” which, like a precious heritage, these races transmit unsullied and untarnished to their descendants.
Wars, carnage, butcheries make for progress, culture, and evolution. Our boasted civilization with its “scientific” business thoroughness and its ideal of “efficiency” attempts to carry into effect this quasi-evolutionary doctrine30—this apotheosis31 of brute32 force under the aegis33 of science. The eugenic18 belief is really a recrudescence of the ancient savage34 superstition35 of the magic virtues36 of noble blood and of divine king stock.
All nervous, mental, neuropathic, and psychopathic maladies are supposed to be a matter of heredity. If people are poor, ignorant, superstitious37, stupid, degraded, brutal38, and sick, the eugenists unhesitatingly put it all down to poor stock.
The eugenic remedy is as simple as it is believed to be efficacious: Introduce by legislation “efficient” laws favoring “eugenic” marriage, and teach the masses control of births. The select and chosen stock alone should multiply—the millennium39 is then bound to come. Such is the doctrine of our medico-biological sages40.
[280]
“Scientific” farmers and breeders of vegetables, fruits, and cattle are regarded as competent judges of human “breeders.” Agriculturists and horticulturists set themselves up as advisers41 in “the business of raising good crops of efficient children.” Bachelors, spinsters, and the childless generally, are specially42 versed43 in eugenic wisdom and pedagogics.
All social ills and individual complaints are referred to one main source—heredity. With the introduction of eugenic legislation, with the sterilization44 of the socially unfit, among whom the greatest men and women may be included, with the breeding of good “orthodox, common stock,” and with eugenic Malthusian control of births, all evil and diseases on earth will cease, while the Philistine45 “superman” will reign46 supreme47 forevermore.
In the Middle Ages all diseases and epidemics48, all wars, all social and private misfortunes were considered as visitations of Divine wrath49. The fear instinct held sway, terrorizing poor, deluded50 humanity. In modern times our would-be eugenic science refers all ills of the flesh and woes51 of the mind to an outraged52 Heredity. The dark ages had resort to prayers, fasts, and penitence53, while our age childishly pins its faith to the miraculous virtues and rejuvenating54, regenerative powers of legislative55 eugenic measures, and to the eugenic Malthusian control of births.
[281]
Our scientists in eugenics gather hosts of facts, showing by elaborate statistical56 figures that the family history of neurotics57 reveals stigmata of degeneration in the various members of the family. The eugenic inquirers do not stop for a moment to think over the fact that the same sort of evidence can be easily brought in the case of most people. In fact, the eugenists themselves, when inquiring into the pedigree of talent and genius, invariably find somewhere in the family some form of disease or degeneration. This sort of “scientific” evidence leads some eugenic speculators, without their noticing the reductio ad absurdum, to the curious conclusion or generalization58 that degeneration is present in the family history of the best and the worst representatives of the human race.
The so-called scientific method of the eugenists is faulty, in spite of the rich display of colored plates, stained tablets, glittering biological speculations59, brilliant mathematical formulae, and complicated statistical calculations. The eugenists pile Ossa on Pelion of facts by the simple method of enumeration60 which Bacon and the thinkers coming after him have long ago condemned61 as puerile62 and futile63. From the savage’s belief in sympathetic, imitative magic with its consequent superstitions64, omens65, and taboos66 down to the articles of faith and dogmas of the eugenists, we find the same faulty,[282] primitive67 thought, guided by the puerile, imbecile method of simple enumeration, and controlled by the wisdom of the logical post hoc, ergo propter hoc.
What would we say of the medical man who should claim that measles68, mumps69, cholera, typhoid fever, yellow fever, malaria70, tetanus, and various other infectious diseases are hereditary71 by quoting learnedly long tables of statistics to the effect that for several generations members of the same family suffered from the same infectious diseases? What would we say of the medical advice forbidding marriage to individuals whose family history reveals the presence of exanthemata? We stamp out epidemics not by eugenic measures, but by the cleansing72 of infectious filth73, and by the extermination74 of pathogenic micro-organisms.
Every human being has a predisposition to smallpox, cholera, tetanus, bubonic plague, typhus fever, malaria, and to like infectious diseases, but there is no inherent necessity for everyone to fall a victim to the action of pathogenic organisms, if the preventive and sanitary75 conditions are good and proper. No one is immune against the action of bullets, cannon76 balls, shells, and torpedoes77, or to the action of various poisons, organic and inorganic78, but one is not doomed79 by fate to be killed by them, if one does not expose himself to their deadly action.
Every living organism is, by the very nature of[283] its cellular80 tissues, predisposed to wounding by sharp instruments, or to the burning action of fire, but this does not mean an inherent organic weakness to which the organism must necessarily submit and perish. We are all of us predisposed to get injured and possibly killed, when we fall down from a high place, or when we are run over by an automobile81 or by a locomotive, but there is no fatalistic necessity about such accidents, if care is taken that they should not occur.
We may be predisposed to neurosis by the very nature of complexity, delicacy, and sensitivity inherent in the structure of a highly organized nervous system, and still we may remain healthy and strong all our life long, provided we know how to keep away from noxious82 agencies. The creed83 of the inevitable84 fatality85 of neurosis is as much of a superstition as the Oriental belief in the fatalism of infectious diseases, plagues, and accidents of all kinds. Such fatalistic superstitions are dangerous, fatal, because they distract the attention from the actual cause and from the requisite86 prophylactic87 measures.
We go far afield in search for the remote source of our troubles, when the cause is close at hand. We need only open our eyes to see the filth of our towns, the foul88, loathsome89 slums of our cities, the miserable90 training, the wretched education given to our children, in order to realize at a glance the source of our ills and ailments. We should lay the[284] guilt91 at the door of our social order. We starve our young. We starve our children physically92 and mentally. We piously93 sacrifice our tender children and the flower of our youth to the greedy, industrial Moloch of a military, despotic, rapacious94 plutocracy95.
Witness semi-civilized Europe with its lauded96 culture brutally97 shedding the blood of its youth and manhood on the altar of commercial patriotism! It is not heredity, it is the vicious conditions of life that stunt98 the physical, nervous, and mental growth of our young generation. When we are confronted with the miserable, degraded, crippled forms of our life, we fall back cheerfully on some remote grandparent, and credulously99 take refuge in the magic panacea100 of eugenics.
The practical aspect is clear. Psychopathic neurosis in its two varieties, somatopsychosis and psychoneurosis, is not hereditary, but acquired. We should not shift the blame on former generations and have resort to eugenics, but we must look to the improvement of mental hygienic conditions of early childhood, and to the proper education of the individual.
It is easy to put the blame on grandparents,—they are dead and cannot defend themselves. Could they arise from their graves, they could tell some bitter truths to their descendants who are ready to shift responsibility to other people’s shoulders. It[285] is about time to face the truth fairly and squarely, a truth which is brought out by recent investigations101 in psychopathology, that no matter where the fons et origo of neurosis be, whether in self-preservation and its accompanying fear instinct, the condition of life primordial102, or in the other forms of self-preservation, the formation of psychopathic neurosis with all its characteristic protean103 symptoms is not hereditary, but acquired. Neurosis arises within the life cycle of the individual; it is due to faulty training and harmful experience of early child life.
Future medicine will be largely prophylactic, preventive, sanitary, hygienic, dietetic. What holds true of medicine in general holds true of that particular branch of it that deals with neurosis. The treatment will become largely prophylactic, preventive, educational, or pedagogic. It is time that the medical and teaching profession should realize that functional neurosis is not congenital, not inborn104, not hereditary, but is the result of a defective105, fear-inspiring education in early child life.
The psychopathic diathesis can be overcome by dispelling106 the darkness of ignorance and credulity with their false fears and deceptive107 hopes, above all, by fortifying108 the critical, controlling, guiding consciousness. Let in sun and air into the obscure cobwebbed regions of the child and man. The gloom and the ghosts of the fear instinct are dispersed109 by the light of reason.
[286]
As the great Roman poet, Lucretius, well puts it:
“Hunc igitur terrorem animi tenebrasque necessest
Non radii110 solis neque lucida tela diei
Discutiant, sed natur? species ratioque.”[14]
FOOTNOTE:
[14] Darkness and terror of the soul are not dispelled111 by the rays of the sun and glittering shafts112 of the day, but by the rational aspect of nature.
点击收听单词发音
1 susceptible | |
adj.过敏的,敏感的;易动感情的,易受感动的 | |
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2 stimuli | |
n.刺激(物) | |
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3 delicacy | |
n.精致,细微,微妙,精良;美味,佳肴 | |
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4 impunity | |
n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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5 disturbance | |
n.动乱,骚动;打扰,干扰;(身心)失调 | |
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6 mechanism | |
n.机械装置;机构,结构 | |
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7 chronometer | |
n.精密的计时器 | |
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8 unstable | |
adj.不稳定的,易变的 | |
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9 complexity | |
n.复杂(性),复杂的事物 | |
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10 functional | |
adj.为实用而设计的,具备功能的,起作用的 | |
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11 subconscious | |
n./adj.潜意识(的),下意识(的) | |
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12 essentially | |
adv.本质上,实质上,基本上 | |
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13 deviations | |
背离,偏离( deviation的名词复数 ); 离经叛道的行为 | |
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14 smallpox | |
n.天花 | |
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15 cholera | |
n.霍乱 | |
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16 relegate | |
v.使降级,流放,移交,委任 | |
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17 providence | |
n.深谋远虑,天道,天意;远见;节约;上帝 | |
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18 eugenic | |
adj.优生的 | |
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19 ailments | |
疾病(尤指慢性病),不适( ailment的名词复数 ) | |
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20 folly | |
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话 | |
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21 invoked | |
v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 );行使(权利等);祈求救助;恳求 | |
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22 omnipotent | |
adj.全能的,万能的 | |
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23 deity | |
n.神,神性;被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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24 patriotism | |
n.爱国精神,爱国心,爱国主义 | |
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25 loyalty | |
n.忠诚,忠心 | |
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26 relentlessly | |
adv.不屈不挠地;残酷地;不间断 | |
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27 exterminate | |
v.扑灭,消灭,根绝 | |
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28 dominant | |
adj.支配的,统治的;占优势的;显性的;n.主因,要素,主要的人(或物);显性基因 | |
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29 miraculous | |
adj.像奇迹一样的,不可思议的 | |
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30 doctrine | |
n.教义;主义;学说 | |
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31 apotheosis | |
n.神圣之理想;美化;颂扬 | |
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32 brute | |
n.野兽,兽性 | |
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33 aegis | |
n.盾;保护,庇护 | |
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34 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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35 superstition | |
n.迷信,迷信行为 | |
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36 virtues | |
美德( virtue的名词复数 ); 德行; 优点; 长处 | |
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37 superstitious | |
adj.迷信的 | |
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38 brutal | |
adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的 | |
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39 millennium | |
n.一千年,千禧年;太平盛世 | |
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40 sages | |
n.圣人( sage的名词复数 );智者;哲人;鼠尾草(可用作调料) | |
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41 advisers | |
顾问,劝告者( adviser的名词复数 ); (指导大学新生学科问题等的)指导教授 | |
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42 specially | |
adv.特定地;特殊地;明确地 | |
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43 versed | |
adj. 精通,熟练 | |
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44 sterilization | |
n.杀菌,绝育;灭菌 | |
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45 philistine | |
n.庸俗的人;adj.市侩的,庸俗的 | |
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46 reign | |
n.统治时期,统治,支配,盛行;v.占优势 | |
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47 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
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48 epidemics | |
n.流行病 | |
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49 wrath | |
n.愤怒,愤慨,暴怒 | |
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50 deluded | |
v.欺骗,哄骗( delude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51 woes | |
困境( woe的名词复数 ); 悲伤; 我好苦哇; 某人就要倒霉 | |
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52 outraged | |
a.震惊的,义愤填膺的 | |
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53 penitence | |
n.忏悔,赎罪;悔过 | |
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54 rejuvenating | |
使变得年轻,使恢复活力( rejuvenate的现在分词 ) | |
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55 legislative | |
n.立法机构,立法权;adj.立法的,有立法权的 | |
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56 statistical | |
adj.统计的,统计学的 | |
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57 neurotics | |
n.神经官能症的( neurotic的名词复数 );神经质的;神经过敏的;极为焦虑的 | |
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58 generalization | |
n.普遍性,一般性,概括 | |
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59 speculations | |
n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 );思考;投机活动;推断 | |
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60 enumeration | |
n.计数,列举;细目;详表;点查 | |
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61 condemned | |
adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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62 puerile | |
adj.幼稚的,儿童的 | |
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63 futile | |
adj.无效的,无用的,无希望的 | |
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64 superstitions | |
迷信,迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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65 omens | |
n.前兆,预兆( omen的名词复数 ) | |
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66 taboos | |
禁忌( taboo的名词复数 ); 忌讳; 戒律; 禁忌的事物(或行为) | |
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67 primitive | |
adj.原始的;简单的;n.原(始)人,原始事物 | |
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68 measles | |
n.麻疹,风疹,包虫病,痧子 | |
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69 mumps | |
n.腮腺炎 | |
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70 malaria | |
n.疟疾 | |
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71 hereditary | |
adj.遗传的,遗传性的,可继承的,世袭的 | |
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72 cleansing | |
n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词 | |
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73 filth | |
n.肮脏,污物,污秽;淫猥 | |
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74 extermination | |
n.消灭,根绝 | |
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75 sanitary | |
adj.卫生方面的,卫生的,清洁的,卫生的 | |
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76 cannon | |
n.大炮,火炮;飞机上的机关炮 | |
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77 torpedoes | |
鱼雷( torpedo的名词复数 ); 油井爆破筒; 刺客; 掼炮 | |
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78 inorganic | |
adj.无生物的;无机的 | |
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79 doomed | |
命定的 | |
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80 cellular | |
adj.移动的;细胞的,由细胞组成的 | |
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81 automobile | |
n.汽车,机动车 | |
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82 noxious | |
adj.有害的,有毒的;使道德败坏的,讨厌的 | |
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83 creed | |
n.信条;信念,纲领 | |
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84 inevitable | |
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的 | |
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85 fatality | |
n.不幸,灾祸,天命 | |
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86 requisite | |
adj.需要的,必不可少的;n.必需品 | |
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87 prophylactic | |
adj.预防疾病的;n.预防疾病 | |
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88 foul | |
adj.污秽的;邪恶的;v.弄脏;妨害;犯规;n.犯规 | |
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89 loathsome | |
adj.讨厌的,令人厌恶的 | |
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90 miserable | |
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
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91 guilt | |
n.犯罪;内疚;过失,罪责 | |
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92 physically | |
adj.物质上,体格上,身体上,按自然规律 | |
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93 piously | |
adv.虔诚地 | |
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94 rapacious | |
adj.贪婪的,强夺的 | |
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95 plutocracy | |
n.富豪统治 | |
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96 lauded | |
v.称赞,赞美( laud的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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97 brutally | |
adv.残忍地,野蛮地,冷酷无情地 | |
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98 stunt | |
n.惊人表演,绝技,特技;vt.阻碍...发育,妨碍...生长 | |
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99 credulously | |
adv.轻信地,易被瞒地 | |
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100 panacea | |
n.万灵药;治百病的灵药 | |
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101 investigations | |
(正式的)调查( investigation的名词复数 ); 侦查; 科学研究; 学术研究 | |
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102 primordial | |
adj.原始的;最初的 | |
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103 protean | |
adj.反复无常的;变化自如的 | |
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104 inborn | |
adj.天生的,生来的,先天的 | |
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105 defective | |
adj.有毛病的,有问题的,有瑕疵的 | |
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106 dispelling | |
v.驱散,赶跑( dispel的现在分词 ) | |
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107 deceptive | |
adj.骗人的,造成假象的,靠不住的 | |
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108 fortifying | |
筑防御工事于( fortify的现在分词 ); 筑堡于; 增强; 强化(食品) | |
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109 dispersed | |
adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的 | |
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110 radii | |
n.半径;半径(距离)( radius的名词复数 );用半径度量的圆形面积;半径范围;桡骨 | |
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111 dispelled | |
v.驱散,赶跑( dispel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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112 shafts | |
n.轴( shaft的名词复数 );(箭、高尔夫球棒等的)杆;通风井;一阵(疼痛、害怕等) | |
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