Английский язык учебник

25.refine, v – 1. очищать, рафинировать; 2. совершенствовать, улучшать; 3. (on, upon) вдаваться в тонкости, тонко рас суждать

refined, a – 1. утонченный, изящный, благородный; 2. очи щенный; 3. улучшенный, усовершенствованный

26.reveal, v – 1. показывать, обнаруживать; 2. открывать, разоблачать

27.sensuous, a – 1. чувственный; 2. плотский; 3. эмоциональ ный ~ temperament чувственность

28.sobriety, n – 1. трезвость; 2. воздержанность, умеренность;

3.сдержанность, спокойствие

29.sordid, a – 1. отвратительный, омерзительный; 2. грязный;

3.убогий; 4. корыстный

30.volition, n – 1. воля, волевой акт, желание; 2. сила воли volitional, a – волевой

31.wayward, a – 1. своенравный, своевольный, непокорный;

2.изменчивый, непостоянный

DEVELOPING VOCABULARY

Exercise 1. Translate the following word combina tions into Russian paying attention to your active vocabulary.

To adhere to a decision, adherence to a cause, ad herence to specification, an adherent of the theory; an apathetic man, to treat smb. apathetically, complete (strange) apathy towards smth., political apathy; ar dent love (hate), ardent follower (supporter), ardent heat, ardent spirits, to fight with ardour; to have a bent for study (music, poetry), to follow one’s bent, he is bent on being a doctor, to the top of one’s bent; a vio lent current of air, the current of events, against the current, current month (year), current opinions (be liefs); to the detriment of smth., detrimental to one’s character; stable equilibrium, a perfect equilibrium of forces, to lose one’s equilibrium; faculty of hearing (vi sion), faculty of speech, the mental faculties, to be in possession of all one’s faculties; feeble pulse, feeble

light, feeble hope (attempt), feeble argument, a feeble old man, to grow feeble, feeble minded, to speak feebly, don’t be feeble!; fitful energy, fitful breeze, to breathe fitfully; a fixed fact (idea), fixed time, to look fixedly at smb.; flighty imagination, flighty conduct; to bear smth with fortitude, a fortitudinous person; humble smile (request), humble income, humble occupation, of humble birth, in humble circumstances, to humble one self; to be impelled by a feeling of compassion, impel ling force; to hope for indulgence, to abstain from in dulgence, indulgent criticism, indulgent summer, in dulgent parents; mediocre people (play); documents pertaining to that period, the infirmities pertaining to old age, books pertinent to the question, a pertinent re mark; to mould smth. on smth., a man cast in a simple mould; prosecution of research problems (of one’s aim); rational beings, rational argument (method, conduct); to refine a language, refined cruelty, refinement of morals; to reveal oneself, to reveal a secret, to reveal one’s identity; sordid desires, a sordid wound; way ward opinions, wayward fate.

Exercise 2. Translate the following word combina tions into English paying attention to your active vocabulary.

С жаром спорить; течение времени, текущие

события; осознавать свои чувства; без ущерба для чего либо, вредный для здоровья; способность легко заводить друзей, иметь большие способности к

чему либо; сохранять спокойствие; очень слабая

поддержка, пристальность (неподвижность) взгля да; простое (бедное) жилище; побудить кого либо к действию, настоятельная потребность; снисходи тельно относиться к кому либо; формировать чей либо характер, формировать общественное мнение; энтузиазм, свойственный (в отношении) молодости, вопросы, относящиеся к даному делу; обычные

недостатки (ошибки); продолжать занятия; благо родные манеры, тонкость вкуса; здравый рассудок; мыслительная способность; открыть свою душу кому либо, эстетическое удовольствие; трезвость ума; корыстные мотивы; волевой импульс, по своему желанию; непокорный сын.

Exercise 3. Translate the following sentences into English using the indicated words from the vocabulary list.

READING

PSYCHOLOGY AND CHARACTER

Different shades of meaning pertain to the term “character” in different contexts. In general we may say that character is the expression of the personality

of a human being, and that it reveals itself in his con duct. In this sense every man has a character. At the same time only human beings, not animals, have cha racter: it implies rationality. But in addition to this usage, the term is also employed in a narrower sense, as when we speak of a man “of character”. In this con notation character implies a certain unity of qualities with a recognizable degree of constancy or fixity in mode of action. It is the business of psychology to ana lyze the constituent elements of character, to trace the laws of its growth, to distinguish the chief agencies which contribute to the formation of different types of character, and to classify such types.

The behaviour of each human being at any stage of his existence is the outcome of a complex collection of elements. The manner in which he apperceives or takes in certain present impressions, the sort of thoughts which they awaken, the particular feeling with which they are associated in his mind, and the special voli tions to which they give rise are, in spite of the com mon nature in which he participates with other men, in a certain measure peculiar to himself. Taken collective ly they are said to constitute or to reveal his character. At any epoch in mature life a man’s character is the re sultant of two distinct classes of factors: the original or inherited elements of his being, and those which he has himself acquired. On the one hand, every human be ing starts with a certain nature or disposition – a native endowment of capacities for knowledge, and feelings, and tendencies towards volitions and action – which va ries with each individual. This disposition is dependent in part on the structure of the bodily organism and espe cially of the nervous system which he has inherited; in part, perhaps, also on his soul which has been created. It forms his individuality at the beginning of life; and it in cludes susceptibilities for responding to external influ ences, and potentialities for developing in various ways which differ with each human being.

A fundamental error in English psychology from Locke to John Stuart Mill was the ignoring or under estimating of this diversity of native aptitude in dif ferent individuals. Some psychologists proceeded on the assumption of an original equality or similarity of mental faculty, and consequently tended to ascribe all subsequent differences to a diversity of circumstances. It vastly exaggerated what has been called the part played by nurture as compared with that of nature. It overlooked the fact that the original capacity and dis position of the individual mind largely determines how it shall appropriate the experience presented to it by its environment. This error was peculiarly unfavour able to the affording of an adequate account of charac ter. Since Darwin there has been a return to the older and truer doctrine which recognized fully the impor tance of the original endowment of each individual. For, although the author of the “Origin of Species” himself exaggerated the influence of the environment in his biological theory, he and his followers were dri ven to lay great stress upon heredity and the transmis sion from parent to offspring of individual variations and acquired habits.

Although our original temperament is thus given to us independently of our will, we ourselves play an important part in the moulding of our character, and we thus become responsible for certain ethical qualities in it. Character has been defined as “a completely fa shioned will”. It would be more accurate to say that cha racter is “natural temperament completely fashioned by the will”. It is, in fact, a resultant of the combination of our acquired habits with our original disposition. As the quality, shape, and structure of the organism and of its different parts may be variously modified in the process of growth – especially during the plasticity of early life – by variations in nutrition, exercise, and environment, so may the faculties of the soul be vari ously developed by the manner in which it is exercised,

and by the nature of the objects on which its faculties are employed. Among the acquired elements which go to the building up of character may be distinguished those pertaining to cognition, whether sensuous or in tellectual, and those belonging to the emotional and vo litional activities of the soul.

Exercise strengthens the power and widens the range of each faculty, creating, not uncommonly, a craving for further exercise in the same direction. The regular use of the intellect, the controlled activity of the imagination, the practice of judgment and reflec tion, all contribute to the formation of habits of mind more or less thoughtful and refined. The frequent in dulgence in particular forms of emotions, such as an ger, envy, sympathy, melancholy, fear, and the like, fosters tendencies towards these sentiments which give a subconscious bent to a large part of man’s be haviour. But finally the exercise of the will plays the predominant part in moulding the type of character which is being formed. The manner and degree in which currents of thought and waves of emotion are initiated, guided, and controlled by the will, or allowed to follow the course of spontaneous impulse, has not less effect in determining the resultant type of charac ter than the quality of the thoughts or emotions them selves.

The life of the lower animal is entirely ruled by in stinct from within, and by accidental circumstances from without. It is therefore incapable of acquiring a character. Man, through the awakening of reason and the growth of reflection, by the exercise of deliberate choice against the movements of impulse, gradually develops self control; and it is by the exercise of this power that moral character is especially formed. Char acter is in fact the outcome of a series of volitions, and it is for this reason we are responsible for our charac ters, as we are for the individual habits which go to constitute them.

Starting from the basis of the four fundamental temperaments, various classifications of types of char acter have been adopted by different writers. The intel lectual, the emotional, and the volitional or energetic stand for the chief types with A. Bain. M. Perez, ta king for his principle of division the phenomenon of movement, distinguishes characters as lively, slow, ar dent, and e´quilibre´s or well balanced. M. Ribot, pro ceeding from a more subjective ground of division and excluding indefinite and unstable types as strictly speaking characterless, recognizes as the most general forms: the sensitive, subdivided into the humble con templative and emotional; the active, subdivided into the great and the mediocre; and the apathetic, subdi vided into the purely apathetic or dull; and the calcula teurs or intelligent. By combination these again afford new types. M. Fouille´e takes sensitive, intellectual, and volitional for his scheme and by cross combina tions and subdivisions works out an equally complex plan. MM. Paulhan, Queyrat, and Fouille´e and Mala pert have each different divisions of their own, thus establishing, at all events, the impossibility of attaining agreement on the subject.

Whilst psychology investigates the growth of dif ferent types of character, ethics considers the relative value of such types and the virtues which constitute them. The problem of the true moral ideal is, in some ethical systems mainly, and in all systems partially, a question of the relative value of different types of character. The effect on the agent’s character of a par ticular form of conduct is a universally accepted test of its moral quality. Different systems of ethics empha size the importance of different virtues in the consti tution of the ideal moral character.

In all conceptions of ideal character strength forms an essential feature. Firmness of will, fortitude, con stancy in adhering to principle or in pursuit of a noble aim hold so important a place that in common language

to be a man of character is frequently equivalent to being capable of adhering to a fixed purpose. Finally, the rich er the culture of the mind, the larger the intellectual ho rizon, the broader the sympathies, and the more balanced the springs of action in the soul, the more will the cha racter approximate to the ideal of human perfection.

The true aim of education is not merely the cultiva tion of the intellect but also the formation of moral character. Increased intelligence or physical skill may as easily be employed to the detriment as to the benefit of the community, if not accompanied by improved will. Both do not necessarily go together. As it is the function of ethics to determine the ideal of human character, so it is the business of the theory or science of education to study the processes by which that end may be attained and to estimate the relative efficiency of different educational systems and methods in the prosecution of that end. Finally, it is the duty of the art of education to apply the conclusions thus reached to practice and to adapt the available machinery to the realization of the true purpose of education in the for mation of the highest type of ideal human character.

Catholic Encyclopedia: Character: http://

www.newadvent.org/cathen/035846.htm

COMPREHENSION CHECK

Exercise 1. Say whether these statements are true (T) or false (F), and if they are false, say why.

Exercise 2. Read the text again, divide it into logical parts, and give names to each of them.

Exercise 3. Make up questions to the following an swers.

1.

It’s the expression of the personality of a human being, and it reveals itself in his conduct.

2.

because it implies rationality.

3.

to analyze the constituent elements of charac ter, to trace the laws of its growth and to classi fy different types.

4.

inherited elements of his being and the acquired ones.

5.

the author of the “Origin of Species” and his fol lowers.

6.

as “a completely fashioned will”.

7.

the elements pertaining to cognition, and those belonging to the emotional and volitional activi ties of the soul.

8.

by the exercise of the power.

9.

it focuses on the importance of different virtues in the constitution of the ideal moral character.

10.

firmness of will, fortitude, constancy in adher ing to principles.

11.

the cultivation of the intellect and the formation of moral character.

LANGUAGE FOCUS

Exercise 1. Match the English word combinations in the left hand column with the Russian equivalents in the right hand column.