men and galaxies

原文

In man's early days. competition with other creatures must have been critical. But this phase of our development is now finished. Indeed, we lack practice and experience nowadays in dealing with primitive conditions. I am sure that, without modern weapons, I would make a very poor show of disputing the ownership of a cave with a bear, and in this I do not think that I stand alone. The last creature to compete with man was the mosquito. But even the mosquito has been subdued by attention to drainage and by chemical sprays.

Competition between our selves, person against person, community against community, still persists, however; and it is as fierce as it ever was.

But the competition of man against man is not the simple process envisioned in biology. It is not a simple competition for a fixed amount of food determined by the physical environment, because the environment that determines our evolution is no longer essentially physical. Our environment is chiefly conditoned by the things we believe. Morocco and California are bits of the Earth in very similar latitudes, both on the west coasts of continents with similar climates, and probably with rather similar natural resources. Yet their present development is wholly different, not so much because of different people wish to emphasize. The most important factor in our environment is the state of our own minds.

It is well known that where the white man has invaded a primitive culture, the most destructive effects have come not from physical weapons but from ideas. Ideas are dangerous. The Holy Office knew this full well when it caused heretics to be burned in days gone by. Indeed, the concept of free speech only exists in our modern society because when you are inside a community, you are conditioned by the conventions of the community to such a degree that it is very difficult to conceive of anything really destructive. It is only someone looking on from outside that can inject the dangerous thoughts. I do not doubt that it would be possible to inject ideas into the modern world that would utterly destroy us. I would like to give you an example, but fortunately I cannot do so. Perhaps it will suffice to mention the unclear bomb. Of making the effect on a reasonably advanced technological society, one that still does not possess the bomb, of making it aware of the possibility, of supplying sufficient details to enable the thing to be constructed. Twenty or thirty pages of information handed to any of the major world powers around the year 1925 would have been sufficient to change the course of world history. It is a strange thought, but I believe a correct one, that twenty or thirty pages of ideas and information would be capable of turning the present-day world upside down, or even destroying it. I have often tried to conceive of what those pages might contain, but of course outside the particular patterns that our brains are conditioned to, or, to be more accurate, we can think only a very little way outside, and then only if we are very original.

--FRED HOYLE Of Men and Galaxies--

译文

在人类早期，竞争与其他生物的竞争必定是至关重要的。但这一发展阶段如今已然结束。事实上，我们如今在应对原始环境时，缺乏实践和经验。我敢肯定，如果没有现代武器，我在与一头熊争夺洞穴的所有权时，会表现得非常糟糕，而且在这点上，我相信自己并非孤例。最后一个与人类竞争的生物是蚊子。但即使是蚊子，也已被排水注意和化学喷雾所征服。

我们之间的竞争，人对人，群体对群体，依然存在，而且一如既往地激烈。

然而，人与人之间的竞争，并非生物学中所设想的简单过程。它不再是单纯为固定数量的食物而进行的竞争，这种食物由物理环境所决定，因为决定我们进化的环境已不再本质上是物理性的。我们的环境主要由我们所相信的事物所塑造。摩洛哥和加利福尼亚是地球上纬度非常相似的地区，都位于大陆的西海岸，气候相似，而且很可能拥有颇为相似的自然资源。然而，它们目前的开发状况却完全不同，这并非因为某些人希望强调的不同点。影响我们环境的最重要因素，是我们自身的心智状态。

众所周知，在白人入侵原始文化的地方，最具破坏性的影响并非来自物理武器，而是来自思想。思想是危险的。宗教裁判所深知这一点，它在过去曾下令焚烧异端。的确，言论自由的概念仅在我们的现代社会中存在，因为当你身处一个社区时，你会被社区的习俗所制约，以至于很难想象任何真正具有破坏性的东西。只有从外部观察的人，才能注入这些危险的思想。我毫不怀疑，向现代世界注入某些思想是有可能的，这些思想会彻底毁灭我们。我本想举个例子，但幸好我做不到。或许提及核弹就足够了。设想一下，对一个相当先进的科技社会——一个尚未拥有核弹的社会——揭示其可能性，并提供足够细节以使之能够被制造出来，会产生何种影响。假如在1925年左右，将二十到三十页的信息交给任何主要世界大国，都足以改变世界历史的进程。这是一个奇异的想法，但我相信它是对的，即二十到三十页的思想和信息，能够颠覆当今世界，甚至毁灭它。我常常试图想象这些页面可能包含什么内容，但当然，我们的大脑被特定的模式所制约，或者更准确地说，我们只能稍稍超出这些模式去思考，而且仅在极度创新的情况下才可能。

--FRED HOYLE Of Men and Galaxies--

词汇表

competition

名词

英:/ˌkɒmpəˈtɪʃən/

美:/ˌkɑːmpəˈtɪʃən/

定义

1. 竞争 - The activity or condition of competing, especially in business, sports, or evolution.

例子: In business, healthy competition drives innovation.

例子: The competition for resources in nature can be fierce.

2. 竞赛 - A contest or rivalry between individuals or groups.

例子: The annual science competition attracts students from around the world.

例子: She won the competition by performing exceptionally well.

近义词

rivalry: 强调竞争中的敌对关系，常用于个人或团体间的较量，而 'competition' 更中性，适用于结构化活动。

contention: 更正式，常暗示冲突或争论，'competition' 则更侧重于积极的竞争。

contest: 通常指具体的比赛或事件，'competition' 则可以是更广泛的概念。

反义词:

cooperation, collaboration, harmony

用法

常用于描述竞争环境，如商业、生物学或社会语境中，常见搭配包括 'in competition with' 或 'face competition'，在正式语境中使用较多。

形式:

复数: competitions

关键句型 "I would like to [verb phrase]."

定义

此句型是一种礼貌表达个人意愿或请求的结构，通常用于提出建议、表达欲望或寻求许可。基本形式为：I would like to（我想要）+ [verb phrase]（动词短语）。根据《剑桥英语语法》教材，这里的 would like 是情态动词 would 与 like 的结合，源自虚拟语气，旨在使语言更委婉和礼貌，避免直接命令式表达。

例如，在文章中，“I would like to give you an example” 清晰地展示了这种结构，用于表示一种有礼貌的意图。

它在英语中扮演着关键角色，帮助学习者在日常对话中保持友好和尊重。

用法

此句型主要用于正式或半正式场合，如表达个人愿望、提出请求或描述假设情景。规则包括：主语（如 I）+ would like to + 动词原形 + 其他短语。would like to 后必须接动词原形，形成不定式短语。

在语法体系中，它属于情态动词表达意愿的范畴，与直接表达如 I want to 相比，更柔和且正式。横向比较：与 I want to [verb] 不同，I would like to 减少了强势感，适合社交场合；与 Could I [verb] 相比，它更侧重于个人意愿而非能力请求。例如，I would like to go 表达礼貌的欲望，而 Could I go 询问许可。

跨语法联系：此句型与条件句或虚拟语气相关，如在假设情景中使用（e.g., "If I had time, I would like to travel"）。它还能扩展到其他主语，如 He would like to，并与其他结构结合，如 I would like to ask you something，帮助学习者连接到更广泛的语法网络，比如情态动词的过去形式。

总之，此句型在英语对话中非常实用，尤其在讨论计划或意见时，能提升交流的和谐度。

注意事项

学生常犯的错误包括：直接用 want to 替换 would like to，导致语气过于生硬（例如，"I want to give an example" 比 "I would like to give an example" 更直接且不那么礼貌）；或遗漏 to，说成 "I would like give"，这会使句子 grammatically incorrect。

另一个常见问题是用错时态，例如在过去语境中误用，如 "I would liked to go" 应为 "I would like to go"。纠正建议：多练习缩写形式 I’d like to，并注意语调保持温和。提供例句帮助区分：

错误示例：I would like go to the park.  (缺少 'to')
正确示例：I would like to go to the park.  (添加 'to' 以正确形成不定式)
错误示例：I want to explain this now.  (过于直接，在正式场合不合适)
正确示例：I would like to explain this now.  (更礼貌)

通过这些例句，学生可以学会避免常见陷阱，提升表达的精确性。

练习

一个原创例子：在会议中表达意见时，可以说："I would like to share my thoughts on this topic." 学生可以替换 [verb phrase]，如改为 "I would like to discuss the plan" 或 "I would like to suggest an idea"，并想象在不同场景中使用，例如在课堂上说 "I would like to ask a question."

这种替换练习能让学生将句型应用到实际生活，如在朋友聚会中礼貌地提出活动建议，从而加深对句型的掌握和自信心。

额外内容

背景知识：这个句型起源于英语的礼貌传统，早在中古英语时期，would 就用于软化语言，以避免冲突。在文化上，它反映了英语国家强调个人空间和礼节的价值观。对比分析：与中文的 "我想…" 类似，但英语通过 would 的语法结构实现礼貌，而非单纯词汇；相比法语的 "Je voudrais…"，英语版本更简单，因为不需要动词变位。

了解这些背景能帮助学生欣赏英语的细腻表达，并扩展到更高级的用法，如在写作中用于正式信件。