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LECTURE XI. GENERAL IDEAS AND THOUGHT
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It is said to be one of the merits of the human mind that it is capable of framing abstract ideas, and of conducting nonsensational thought. In this it is supposed to differ from the mind of animals. From Plato onward1 the "idea" has played a great part in the systems of idealizing philosophers. The "idea" has been, in their hands, always something noble and abstract, the apprehension2 and use of which by man confers upon him a quite special dignity.
The thing we have to consider to-day is this: seeing that there certainly are words of which the meaning is abstract, and seeing that we can use these words intelligently, what must be assumed or inferred, or what can be discovered by observation, in the way of mental content to account for the intelligent use of abstract words?
Taken as a problem in logic3, the answer is, of course, that absolutely nothing in the way of abstract mental content is inferable from the mere4 fact that we can use intelligently words of which the meaning is abstract. It is clear that a sufficiently5 ingenious person could manufacture a machine moved by olfactory6 stimuli7 which, whenever a dog appeared in its neighbourhood, would say, "There is a dog," and when a cat appeared would throw stones at it. The act of saying "There is a dog," and the act of throwing stones, would in such a case be equally mechanical. Correct speech does not of itself afford any better evidence of mental content than the performance of any other set of biologically useful movements, such as those of flight or combat. All that is inferable from language is that two instances of a universal, even when they differ very greatly, may cause the utterance8 of two instances of the same word which only differ very slightly. As we saw in the preceding lecture, the word "dog" is useful, partly, because two instances of this word are much more similar than (say) a pug and a great dane. The use of words is thus a method of substituting for two particulars which differ widely, in spite of being instances of the same universal, two other particulars which differ very little, and which are also instances of a universal, namely the name of the previous universal. Thus, so far as logic is concerned, we are
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onward
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adj.向前的,前进的;adv.向前,前进,在先 | |
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apprehension
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n.理解,领悟;逮捕,拘捕;忧虑 | |
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logic
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n.逻辑(学);逻辑性 | |
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mere
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adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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sufficiently
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adv.足够地,充分地 | |
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olfactory
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adj.嗅觉的 | |
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stimuli
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n.刺激(物) | |
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utterance
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n.用言语表达,话语,言语 | |
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entirely
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ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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faculty
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n.才能;学院,系;(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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tawny
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adj.茶色的,黄褐色的;n.黄褐色 | |
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crooked
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adj.弯曲的;不诚实的,狡猾的,不正当的 | |
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whatsoever
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adv.(用于否定句中以加强语气)任何;pron.无论什么 | |
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illiterate
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adj.文盲的;无知的;n.文盲 | |
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attained
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(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) | |
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attain
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vt.达到,获得,完成 | |
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alleged
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a.被指控的,嫌疑的 | |
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doctrine
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n.教义;主义;学说 | |
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speculation
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n.思索,沉思;猜测;投机 | |
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esteemed
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adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 );敬重;认为;以为 | |
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countenance
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n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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brutes
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兽( brute的名词复数 ); 畜生; 残酷无情的人; 兽性 | |
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faculties
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n.能力( faculty的名词复数 );全体教职员;技巧;院 | |
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discriminated
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分别,辨别,区分( discriminate的过去式和过去分词 ); 歧视,有差别地对待 | |
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discriminate
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v.区别,辨别,区分;有区别地对待 | |
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velocity
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n.速度,速率 | |
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perpendicular
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adj.垂直的,直立的;n.垂直线,垂直的位置 | |
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oblique
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adj.斜的,倾斜的,无诚意的,不坦率的 | |
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noted
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adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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forth
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adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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annex
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vt.兼并,吞并;n.附属建筑物 | |
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derive
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v.取得;导出;引申;来自;源自;出自 | |
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treatise
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n.专著;(专题)论文 | |
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essentially
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adv.本质上,实质上,基本上 | |
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psychology
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n.心理,心理学,心理状态 | |
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inadequate
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adj.(for,to)不充足的,不适当的 | |
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generalizations
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一般化( generalization的名词复数 ); 普通化; 归纳; 概论 | |
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resound
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v.回响 | |
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stimulus
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n.刺激,刺激物,促进因素,引起兴奋的事物 | |
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simultaneously
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adv.同时发生地,同时进行地 | |
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predecessors
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n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 );前辈;(被取代的)原有事物;前身 | |
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predecessor
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n.前辈,前任 | |
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physiological
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adj.生理学的,生理学上的 | |
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drawn
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v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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purely
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adv.纯粹地,完全地 | |
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quotations
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n.引用( quotation的名词复数 );[商业]行情(报告);(货物或股票的)市价;时价 | |
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blurred
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v.(使)变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 );(使)难以区分;模模糊糊;迷离 | |
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embodies
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v.表现( embody的第三人称单数 );象征;包括;包含 | |
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analogous
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adj.相似的;类似的 | |
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varied
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adj.多样的,多变化的 | |
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relatively
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adv.比较...地,相对地 | |
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justification
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n.正当的理由;辩解的理由 | |
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distinguished
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adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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judgment
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n.审判;判断力,识别力,看法,意见 | |
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generic
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adj.一般的,普通的,共有的 | |
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logician
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n.逻辑学家 | |
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primitive
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adj.原始的;简单的;n.原(始)人,原始事物 | |
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ratiocination
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n.推理;推断 | |
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judgments
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判断( judgment的名词复数 ); 鉴定; 评价; 审判 | |
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exclusion
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n.拒绝,排除,排斥,远足,远途旅行 | |
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professing
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声称( profess的现在分词 ); 宣称; 公开表明; 信奉 | |
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agog
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adj.兴奋的,有强烈兴趣的; adv.渴望地 | |
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watt
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n.瓦,瓦特 | |
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amassed
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v.积累,积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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peculiar
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adj.古怪的,异常的;特殊的,特有的 | |
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obsessed
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adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的 | |
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testimony
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n.证词;见证,证明 | |
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investigations
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(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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thoroughly
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adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地 | |
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justified
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a.正当的,有理的 | |
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counterfeit
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vt.伪造,仿造;adj.伪造的,假冒的 | |
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purport
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n.意义,要旨,大要;v.意味著,做为...要旨,要领是... | |
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dissents
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意见的分歧( dissent的名词复数 ) | |
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dissent
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n./v.不同意,持异议 | |
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illustrate
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v.举例说明,阐明;图解,加插图 | |
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awareness
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n.意识,觉悟,懂事,明智 | |
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sensuous
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adj.激发美感的;感官的,感觉上的 | |
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psychic
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n.对超自然力敏感的人;adj.有超自然力的 | |
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alluded
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提及,暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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solely
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adv.仅仅,唯一地 | |
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reliability
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n.可靠性,确实性 | |
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controversy
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n.争论,辩论,争吵 | |
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sensory
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adj.知觉的,感觉的,知觉器官的 | |
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habitual
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adj.习惯性的;通常的,惯常的 | |
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dressing
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n.(食物)调料;包扎伤口的用品,敷料 | |
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phenomena
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n.现象 | |
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affected
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adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
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derived
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vi.起源;由来;衍生;导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 );(从…中)得到获得;源于;(从…中)提取 | |
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peculiarity
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n.独特性,特色;特殊的东西;怪癖 | |
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valid
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adj.有确实根据的;有效的;正当的,合法的 | |
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eschews
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v.(尤指为道德或实际理由而)习惯性避开,回避( eschew的第三人称单数 ) | |
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accounting
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n.会计,会计学,借贷对照表 | |
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considerably
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adv.极大地;相当大地;在很大程度上 | |
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subjectivity
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n.主观性(主观主义) | |
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distinctively
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adv.特殊地,区别地 | |
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LECTURE XII. BELIEF
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