Freedom, of course, is not an unproblematic concept. For example, if we do not have the courage to choose to live in a particular way, even though we could live that way if we so choose, can it be said that we do have the freedom to live that way, i.e. the correspondent capacity? It is not any purpose here to brush under the carpet difficult questions of this-and-other-type. In so far as there are genuine ambiguities in the concept of freedom, that should be reflected in corresponding ambiguities in the characterization of capacity. This relates to a methodological point, which I have tried to defend elsewhere, that if an underlying idea has an essential ambiguity, a precise formulation of that idea must try to capture that ambiguity rather than hide or eliminate it.
Comparisons of freedom raise interesting issues of evaluation. The claim is sometimes made that freedom must be valued independently of the values and preferences of the person whose freedom is being assessed, since it concerns the "range" of choice a person has--not how she values the elements in that range or what she chooses from it. I do not believe for an instant that this claim is sustainable (despite some superficial plausibility), but had it been correct, it would have been a rather momentous conclusion, driving a wedge between the evaluation of achievements and that of freedom. It would, in particular, be then possible to assess the freedom of a person independently of--or prior to--the assessment of the alternatives between which the person can choose.
It is said in the passage that there are ambiguities in the characterization of capacity because ______.
A. freedom and capacity of human beings are closely related to each other
B. capacity is an underlying idea of the problematic concept of freedom
C. human capacity depends on personal characteristics and social arrangements
D. we could never actually get the correspondent capacity in reality
查看答案
Which of the following statements is true, according to the passage?
A. How to assess freedom is rather controversial though interesting, as it is implied in the passage
B. The "claim" mentioned in the passage will be unfavorable to the evaluation of achievements and that of freedom.
C. The author does not believe that a perfect way of assessing the concept of freedom exists.
D. Capacity is supposed to be of ambiguity since the concept of freedom is ambiguous.
The expression "to brush under the carpet" in Paragraph 2 most probably means ______.
A. to try to clean something secretly
B. to try to hide something not clean
C. to try to keep something secret
D. to try to clean something with difficulty
For centuries, explorers have risked their lives venturing into the unknown for reasons that were to varying degrees economic and nationalistic. Columbus went west to look for better trade routes to the Orient and to promote the greater glory of Spain. Lewis and Clark journeyed into the American wilderness to find out what the U.S. had acquired when it purchased Louisiana, and the Apollo astronauts rocketed to the moon in a dramatic show of technological muscle during the cold war.
Although their missions blended commercial and political-military imperatives, the explorers involved all accomplished some significant science simply by going where no scientists had gone before.
Today Mars looms as humanity's next great terra incognita. And with doubtful prospects for a short-term financial return, with the cold war a rapidly fading memory and amid a growing emphasis on international cooperation in large space ventures, it is clear that imperatives other than profits or nationalism will have to compel human beings to leave their tracks on the planet's reddish surface. Could it be that science, which has long played a minor role in exploration, is at last destined to take a, leading role? The question naturally invites a couple of others.. Are there experiments that only humans could do on Mars? Could those experiments provide insights profound enough to justify the expense of sending people across interplanetary space?
With Mars the scientific stakes are arguably higher than they have ever been. The issue of whether life ever existed on the planet, and whether it persists to this day, has been highlighted by mounting evidence that the Red Planet once had abundant stable, liquid water and by the continuing controversy over suggestions that bacterial fossils rode to Earth on a meteorite from Mars. A more conclusive answer about life on Mars, past or present, would give researchers invaluable data about the range of conditions under which a planet can generate the complex chemistry that leads to life. If it could be established that life arose independently on Mars and Earth, the finding would provide the first concrete clues in one of the deepest mysteries in all of science: the prevalence of life in the universe.
According to the passage, the chief purpose of explorers in going to unknown places in the past was ______.
A. to display their country's military might
B. to accomplish some significant science
C. to find new areas for colonization
D. to pursue commercial and state interests
A.Accurate communication is of utmost importance.B.Pilots should be able to speak seve
Accurate communication is of utmost importance.
B. Pilots should be able to speak several foreign languages.
C. Air controllers should keep a close watch on the weather.
D. Cooperation between pilots and air controllers is essential.