2017年雅思閱讀輔導：要求國際足聯(lián)進行改革聲音漸漲

　　原文與譯文：

　　Yesterday, in the House of Commons, Charles Kennedy’s parliamentary colleagues gave moving tributes to his life. There is never a rush, of course, to speak ill of the dead, but these tributes had the clear ring of sincerity. David Cameron said his “character and courage inspired us all”, and Nick Clegg that he always put people before politics. Outside the commons, colleagues and friends have spoken repeatedly of Kennedy’s compassion, decency, and principled nature as well as of his ongoing battle with human frailty in the form of alcoholism.

　　It seems Charles Kennedy displayed what the New York Times Columnist David Brooks would call “eulogy virtues”. In his most recent book “The Road to Character”, Brooks contrasts eulogy virtues like kindness, faithfulness and humility with what he calls resume virtues - the kind of things we put on our CV. He’s convinced that both eulogy virtues and resume virtues take work to develop, and is worried that western society pushes us to put our efforts into the ones that will help improve our careers, not our characters.

　　It's the age old question- what makes a good life? How do we go deeper amongst the clamour of a culture that monetises status anxiety and defines us by what earn, own or look like?

　　David Brook’s call for us to do the hard work of developing character, to cultivate self-restraint and self-suspicion in the age of the selfie stick, isn't really controversial. It's obvious, when we stop to think about it, that the real legacies of our lives aren’t job titles, twitter followers or cellulite free thighs. But how do we develop the eulogy virtues, when the gravitational pull of the self is so strong?

　　Christians would be the first to acknowledge that these virtues don't come naturally. The church’s hunch is that change happens through vulnerable, committed relationships. To overcome the tyrant self we must confess our frailty and darkest tendencies - first to God, and then to others.

　　Behavioural science is beginning to add evidence to what religions have long understood - virtue develops best in relational communities. Not short term communities of self interest made up of “people like us”, but awkward, diverse, grace filled communities, established for the long term. The New Testament encourages Christians to be part of communities like these, to encourage one another, bear with each other and create space for the hard conversations. To keep reminding each other of the virtues that matter and the things that last. These kind of communities aren't of course unique to Christianity, and they are often far from perfect, but if we want to be remembered not for our fleeting achievements but our depth of character, they might be the best hope we have.

　　昨天，在下議院，查爾斯·肯尼迪的同事為他的一生發(fā)表了催人淚下的悼詞。當然，死者為大，沒有人會在死者尸骨未寒時說別人的不是。但是這些悼詞很明顯是真誠的。大衛(wèi)·卡梅倫說他的“品格和勇氣鼓舞了我們所有人”，尼克·克萊格說他總是把民眾放在政治前面。在下議院外，他的同事和朋友多次提到他的同情心，政治和原則性，并不斷與人類酗酒的劣根性做斗爭。

　　查爾斯·肯尼迪似乎體現(xiàn)了《紐約時報》專欄作家David Brooks所說的“悼詞美德”。在他最近的書《通往品格的道路》中，Brooks將善良，忠誠等悼詞美德與他所說的簡歷美德做了對比——也就是我們寫在簡歷上的品德。他相信，悼詞美德和簡歷美德都需要發(fā)揚。他擔心西方世界導致我們努力塑造幫助我們職業(yè)發(fā)展的品德，而不是幫助性格成長的品德。

　　我們又要說一個老生常談的問題——怎樣才是好的生活?在宣揚金錢至上，追求社會地位，根據(jù)收入，財產(chǎn)和外表來定義我們的浮躁社會，我們怎樣才能深入剖析自己的內心世界?

　　David Brook呼吁我們努力塑造品格，在自我吹噓的環(huán)境中培養(yǎng)自制和自審的品格，這并無爭議。很明顯，當我們停下來認真思考的時候，我們真正寶貴的財產(chǎn)并不是我們的職位，推特粉絲或沒有脂肪的大腿。但是在自我的萬有引力如此強大的情況下，我們怎樣培養(yǎng)悼詞美德?

　　基督徒們將最先站出來承認這些美德并不是與生俱來的�；�督教教義認為，改變是在脆弱忠誠的關系中發(fā)生的。要克服殘暴的自我，我們必須承認我們的脆弱和最黑暗的本性——首先是對上帝，然后是對自己。

　　行為科學不斷有證據(jù)表明各宗教很久以前就已經(jīng)理解的問題——道德在關系社會中發(fā)展得最快。不是由“跟我一樣的人”組成的短暫的利益團體，而是長期的，尷尬的，多樣化的人組成的團體。<<新約圣經(jīng)>>鼓勵基督徒成為這樣的團體的一部分，鼓勵大家相互容忍，為艱難的對話打造空間�；ハ嗵嵝逊浅Ｖ匾�的道德和永恒持久的事情。當然，這些團體并不是對基督教來說獨一無二的，而通常并不完美，但是，如果我們不是想要人們記住卓越的成就，而是希望人們記住我們的品德，這或許是我們最大的希望。

　　詞匯解釋：

　　1.moving adj. 感人的

　　It is very moving to see how much strangers can care for each other...

　　看到陌生人之間這般彼此關照，實在令人感動。

　　2.inspire vt. 鼓舞

　　These herbs will inspire you to try out all sorts of exotic-flavoured dishes!

　　這些香草會激發(fā)你去品嘗各種異國風味的菜肴!

　　3.repeatedly adv.反復地，重復地

　　A list of items is repeatedly flashed up on the screen.

　　一個選項列表反復出現(xiàn)在屏幕上。

　　4.ongoing adj.不間斷的，進行的

　　There is an ongoing debate on the issue.

　　對此問題的爭論一直沒有間斷過。

　　5.convince vt.使相信，說服

　　I'm not going to believe it myself, never mind convince anyone else.

　　我自己都不會相信，更別提說服別人了。

　　6.clamour n. 喧嘩聲，喧鬧

　　She could hear a clamour in the road outside.

　　她能聽得見外面路上的吵鬧聲。

　　7.acknowledge vt.承認

　　You have to acknowledge that we live in a racist society.

　　你得承認我們生活在一個有種族偏見的社會中。

　　8.fleeting adj. 疾馳的，飛逝的;短暫的

　　The world is like a fleeting show.

　　人世如白駒過隙。