题目内容
In a culture in which organ transplants, life-extension machinery, microsurgery, and artificial organs have entered everyday medicine, we seem to be on the verge of realization of the seventeenth century European view of the body as a machine. But if we seem to have realized that conception, it can also be argued that we have in a sense turned it inside out. In the seventeenth century machine imagery reinforced the notion of the human body as a totally determined mechanism whose basic functionings the human being is helpless to alter. The then—dominant metaphors for this body—locks, watches, collections of springs—imagined a system that is set, wound up, whether by nature or God the watchmaker, ticking away in a predictable, orderly manner, regulated by laws over which the human being has no control. Understanding the system, we can help it perform. efficiently and intervene when it malfunctions, but we cannot radically alter the configuration of things.
Western science and technology have now arrived, paradoxically but predictably (for it was a submerged, illicit element in the mechanistic conception all along), at a new, postmodern conception of human freedom from bodily determination. Gradually and surely, a technology that was first aimed at the replacement of malfunctioning parts has generated an industry and a value system fueled by fantasies of rearranging, transforming, and correcting, an ideology of limitless improvement and change, defying the historicity, the mortality, and indeed the very materiality of the body. In place of that materiality, we now have what I call "cultural plastic." In place of God the watchmaker, we now have ourselves, the master sculptors of that plastic.
"Create a masterpiece: sculpt your body into a work of art," urges Fit magazine. "You visualize what you want to look like, and then you create that form." The precision technology of body sculpting, once the secret of the Arnold Schwarzeneggers and Rachel McLishes of the professional bodybuilding world, has now become available to anyone who can afford the price of membership in a health club. On the medical front, plastic surgery, whose repeated and purely cosmetic employment has been legitimated by popular music and film personalities, has become a fabulously expanding industry, extending its domain from nose jobs, face lifts, and tummy tucks to collagen-plumped lips and liposuction-shaped ankles and calves. In 1989, 681,00O procedures were done, up by 80 percent since 1981; over half of these were performed on patients between the ages of 18 and 35. The trendy Details magazine described such procedures as just "another fabulous (fashion) accessory" and used to invite readers to share their cosmetic surgery experiences in the monthly column "Knifestyles of the Rich and Famous."
Popular culture does not apply any brakes to these fantasies of rearrangement and transformation. "The proper diet, file right amount of exercise, and you can have, pretty much, any body you desire," claims an ad for a bottled mineral water. Of course, the rhetoric of choice and self-determination and the breezy analogies comparing cosmetic surgery to fashion accessorizing are deeply misleading. They efface not only the inequalities of privilege, money, and time that prohibit most people from indulging in these practices, but also the desperation that characterizes the lives of those who do. "I will do anything, anything to make myself look and feel better," says a contributor to the "Knifestyles" column. Medical science has now designated a new category of "polysurgical addicts" (or, as more casually referred to, "scalpel slaves") who return for operation after operation, in perpetual quest of that elusive yet ruthlessly normalizing goal, the "perfect" body. The dark underside of the practices of body transformation and rearrangement— reveals botched and sometimes—fatal operations, exercise addictions, and eating disorders.
W
查看答案
搜索结果不匹配？点我反馈
更多问题
Notice, for example, how people who have unusual hobbies, strong opinions, or unconventional behaviour, tend to congregate. They form. clubs, hold meetings, and organise rallies where they can get together and discuss their common enthusiasms or problems. The important word is "common". They look for other people with whom they can share what in the normal run of events is regarded by relatives, friends and neighbours as an oddity. A crowd, even a small crowd, is reassuring.
Probably all of us recognise a tension within ourselves between the two forces of individualism and conformity, for at the same time that most of us are going with the crowd, we tend to resent any suggestion that this is what we are doing. We feel a self-conscious need to assert our individuality as when the belligerent man at the bar informs his small audience, "Well, I say what I think." Or the wary stranger to whom we have just been introduced announces, "You must take me as you find me. I don't stand on ceremony."
Any of us can, at any time, reverse this trend. We can stoke the boiler of individualism, assert our own personality. Many people have made it to the top in their chosen professions, basically by doing just that. One example is Bob Dylan, the American singer, who has gone on record as saying, "When you feel in your gut what you are doing and then dynamically pursue it— don't back down and don't give up—then you're going to mystify a lot of folk." But that self conscious assertion of individuality is not eccentricity, at least not in the early stages. When a pop singer deliberately wears bizarre clothes to gain publicity, or a society hostess makes outrageous comments about her guests in order to get herself noticed in the gossip columns, that is not eccentricity. However, if the pop star and the society hostess perpetuate such activities until they become a part of themselves, until they are no longer able to return to what most of us consider 'normal behaviour', then they certainly would qualify. For the most important ingredient of eccentricity is its naturalness. Eccentrics are not people who deliberately try to be odd, they simply are odd.
The true eccentric is not merely indifferent to public opinion, he is scarcely conscious at all. He simply does what he does, because of who he is. And this marks the eccentric as essentially different from, for example, enthusiasts, practical jokers, brilliant criminals, exhibitionists and recluses. These people are all very conscious of the world around them. Much of what they do, they do in reaction to the world in which they live. Some wish to make an impression on society, some wish to escape from society, but all are very much aware of society. The eccentric alone goes on his merry way regardless.
According to the writer, eccentric people ______.
In the sentence "his successor, John Reid, is busily putting the boot into everyone else,
A．calling for action against runaway oil pricesB．the IMF's role in monitoring national
听力原文： Paddling around on a river in a small boat is not everyone's idea of fun. Canoes, which are narrow boats to start with and usually hold one or two people at the most, are particularly well known for being unstable and turning over in the water. But more and more people are taking boats like this out onto dangerous rivers to enjoy what is called "white-water-canoeing". And today I'd like to talk about what the sport is and how to get started if you are thinking of taking it up.
A lot of people may be familiar with what is called recreational canoeing. That's where you take a canoe out onto a nice calm river, with a picnic and have a very relaxing time. But if you're doing white-water canoeing then you're doing something very different. For a start, you have to do it on a fast-flowing river. You've got to be moving quickly through the water and when you are doing that, you make a lot of froth and bubbles and the water looks white. That's basically where the name comes from. Also, unlike recreational canoeing, white-water canoeing is a competitive sport. It involves racing on a river against other canoeists to see who can win and there are two main ways that this is done.
The first is the typical race to see who can follow a straight line, between two points on the river, in the quickest time. Just like a runner on a race track. The second, and more challenging type of race, is one in which the participants have to steer their canoe in and out of poles along the river in order to reach the end of the race, more like a skier.
So, where do you go to do it？ Well, although you can canoe on most rivers, those that are ideal for white-water canoeing are hard to come by and enthusiastic canoeists regularly travel quite long distances to find the right water. If you're prepared to go there, Scotland has numerous popular rivers like the Tay and Tweed, and Wales is also very good for white-water canoeing. And on the other side of the world, I believe the sport is catching on in parts of Australia and New Zealand, too.
Of course, you have got to think about equipments as well. You need to get yourself a good canoe and these can set you back anything from 300 pounds to 700 pounds, depending on the material they're made of. The more you can pay, the better really. Personally, I wouldn't look at anything under 500 pounds, but that obviously depends on your budget. You also need a hard helmet to protect yourself against rocks when you fall out of the canoe, and believe me, you will fall out. Because of this, there is no point, particularly as a beginner, in wearing anything but a wet suit. That's a must.
I think it's worth saying that once you get started, the important thing is not to be put off the sport early on, by allowing someone to tempt you to canoe on a river that's just too difficult. The popular rivers are, in face, graded from 1 to 6 in the same way that ski runs are graded to tell people just how flat or steep they are. The higher the grade, the more difficult the river is, so grade 1 river, which is basically no different from a canal, is the best one to start with. Once you're an expert, which can take some time, you can, of course, try anything and really serious canoeists, who want a real challenge, go out a lot more in the winter when the water level is high and deliberately look for the most dangerous rivers.
Whatever you say about this sport, it is never dull. Generally it's a fantastic sport for anyone who likes adventure. On another level, it's a serious activity and you can become a real champion but it's a small group who take it that far.
Questions:
16.According to the lecture, which of the following is NOT true about canoeing？
17.Why is the sport called "white water" canoeing？
18.According to the speaker, which statement is true about canoeing equipments？
19.If you first try canoeing, what should you do according to the speaker？
微信支付 
支付宝支付