Gentlemen, I am joking, and I know myself that my jokes are not brilliant,but you know one can take everything as a joke. I am, perhaps, jesting against the grain. Gentlemen, I am tormented¹ by questions; answer them for me. You, for instance, want to cure men of their old habits and reform their will in accordance with science and good sense. But how do you know, not only that it is possible, but also that it is DESIRABLE to reform man in that way? And what leads you to the conclusion that man’s inclinations² NEED reforming? In short, how do you know that such a reformation will be a benefit to man? And to go to the root of the matter, why are you so positively³ convinced that not to act against his real normal interests guaranteed by the conclusions of reason and arithmetic is certainly always advantageous⁴ for man and must always be a law for mankind? So far, you know, this is only your supposition. It may be the law of logic⁵, but not the law of humanity. You think, gentlemen, perhaps that I am mad? Allow me to defend myself. I agree that man is pre-eminently a creative animal, predestined to strive consciously for an object and to engage in engineering — that is, incessantly⁷ and eternally to make new roads, WHEREVER THEY MAY LEAD. But the reason why he wants sometimes to go off at a tangent may just be that he is PREDESTINED to make the road, and perhaps, too, that however stupid the “direct” practical man may be, the thought sometimes will occur to him that the road almost always does lead SOMEWHERE, and that the destination it leads to is less important than the process of making it, and that the chief thing is to save the well-conducted child from despising engineering, and so giving way to the fatal idleness, which, as we all know, is the mother of all the vices⁸. Man likes to make roads and to create, that is a fact beyond dispute. But why has he such a passionate

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1 tormented
饱受折磨的
参考例句：
The knowledge of his guilt tormented him. 知道了自己的罪责使他非常痛苦。 He had lain awake all night, tormented by jealousy. 他彻夜未眠，深受嫉妒的折磨。

2 inclinations
倾向( inclination的名词复数 )； 倾斜； 爱好； 斜坡
参考例句：
She has artistic inclinations. 她有艺术爱好。 I've no inclinations towards life as a doctor. 我的志趣不是行医。

3 positively
adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实
参考例句：
She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。 The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

4 advantageous
adj.有利的；有帮助的
参考例句：
Injections of vitamin C are obviously advantageous.注射维生素C显然是有利的。 You're in a very advantageous position.你处于非常有利的地位。

5 logic
n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性
参考例句：
What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？ I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

6 incessant
adj.不停的，连续的
参考例句：
We have had incessant snowfall since yesterday afternoon.从昨天下午开始就持续不断地下雪。 She is tired of his incessant demands for affection.她厌倦了他对感情的不断索取。

7 incessantly
ad.不停地
参考例句：
The machines roar incessantly during the hours of daylight. 机器在白天隆隆地响个不停。 It rained incessantly for the whole two weeks. 雨不间断地下了整整两个星期。

8 vices
缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳
参考例句：
In spite of his vices, he was loved by all. 尽管他有缺点，还是受到大家的爱戴。 He vituperated from the pulpit the vices of the court. 他在教堂的讲坛上责骂宫廷的罪恶。

9 passionate
adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的
参考例句：
He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。 He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

10 chaos
n.混乱，无秩序
参考例句：
After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。 The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

11 instinctively
adv.本能地
参考例句：
As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》 He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 attaining
（通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）
参考例句：
Jim is halfway to attaining his pilot's licence. 吉姆就快要拿到飞行员执照了。 By that time she was attaining to fifty. 那时她已快到五十岁了。

13 edifice
n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室)
参考例句：
The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。 There is a huge Victorian edifice in the area.该地区有一幢维多利亚式的庞大建筑物。

14 perseverance
n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠
参考例句：
It may take some perseverance to find the right people.要找到合适的人也许需要有点锲而不舍的精神。 Perseverance leads to success.有恒心就能胜利。

15 frivolous
adj.轻薄的；轻率的
参考例句：
This is a frivolous way of attacking the problem.这是一种轻率敷衍的处理问题的方式。 He spent a lot of his money on frivolous things.他在一些无聊的事上花了好多钱。

16 attained
（通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）
参考例句：
She has attained the degree of Master of Arts. 她已获得文学硕士学位。 Lu Hsun attained a high position in the republic of letters. 鲁迅在文坛上获得崇高的地位。

17 dreads
n.恐惧，畏惧( dread的名词复数 )；令人恐惧的事物v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的第三人称单数 )
参考例句：
The little boy dreads going to bed in the dark. 这孩子不敢在黑暗中睡觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》 A burnt child dreads the fire. [谚]烧伤过的孩子怕火（惊弓之鸟，格外胆小）。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

18 tavern
n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店
参考例句：
There is a tavern at the corner of the street.街道的拐角处有一家酒馆。 Philip always went to the tavern,with a sense of pleasure.菲利浦总是心情愉快地来到这家酒菜馆。

19 insolence
n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度
参考例句：
I've had enough of your insolence, and I'm having no more. 我受够了你的侮辱，不能再容忍了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》 How can you suffer such insolence? 你怎么能容忍这种蛮横的态度？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 coxcomb
n.花花公子
参考例句：
Jones was not so vain and senseless a coxcomb as to expect.琼斯并不是那么一个不自量，没头没脑的浪荡哥儿。 He is a plausible coxcomb.他是个巧言令色的花花公子。

21 triumphantly
ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地
参考例句：
The lion was roaring triumphantly. 狮子正在发出胜利的吼叫。 Robert was looking at me triumphantly. 罗伯特正得意扬扬地看着我。

22 conducive
adj.有益的，有助的
参考例句：
This is a more conducive atmosphere for studying.这样的氛围更有利于学习。 Exercise is conducive to good health.体育锻炼有助于增强体质。

23 well-being
n.安康，安乐，幸福
参考例句：
He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。 My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

24 extraordinarily
adv.格外地；极端地
参考例句：
She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。 The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

25 passionately
ad.热烈地，激烈地
参考例句：
She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。 He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

26 standing
n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的
参考例句：
After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。 They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

27 negation
n.否定；否认
参考例句：
No reasonable negation can be offered.没有合理的反对意见可以提出。 The author boxed the compass of negation in his article.该作者在文章中依次探讨了各种反面的意见。

28 renounce
v.放弃；拒绝承认，宣布与…断绝关系
参考例句：
She decided to renounce the world and enter a convent.她决定弃绝尘世去当修女。 It was painful for him to renounce his son.宣布与儿子脱离关系对他来说是很痛苦的。

29 infinitely
adv.无限地，无穷地
参考例句：
There is an infinitely bright future ahead of us.我们有无限光明的前途。 The universe is infinitely large.宇宙是无限大的。

30 plunge
v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲
参考例句：
Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。 That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

31 reactionary
n.反动者，反动主义者；adj.反动的，反动主义的，反对改革的
参考例句：
They forced thousands of peasants into their reactionary armies.他们迫使成千上万的农民参加他们的反动军队。 The reactionary ruling clique was torn by internal strife.反动统治集团内部勾心斗角，四分五裂。