On Moral Courage

来源：长理培训发布时间：2017-08-09 12:36:00

show moral courage, there are others. Compassion is one of these. 2 Tentatively it can be suggested that this is the main influence upon those who urge the abolition of capital punishment. 3 It is recognition of compassion's part that leads the upholders of capital punishment to accuse the abolitionists of sentimentality in being more sorry for the murderer than for his victim. 4 This is nonsense but with it some organs of the popular Press played upon the emotions of their readers so successfully that many candidates for Parliament were afraid to support abolition for fear of losing votes and the result was the muddle-headed Homicide Act of 1957 which made murder with robbery a capital crime and allowed the poisoner to escape the gallows. 5 That illogical qualification shows how flimsy is the argument that capital punishment is a deterrent to murder. 6 The poisoner always works on a calculated plan of action and therefore is able to consider whether or not his taking another's life is worth the risk of his own; the violent thief is usually at the mercy of an instant emotion. 7 The only arguable plea for capital punishment is the right of society to retribution in this world with the prospect of life in another, but since what used to seem to the great majority of civilized humanity the assurance of another life beyond the grave has come to seem to more and more people less certain, a feeling for the value of human life has become deeper and more widespread. This may seem a paradoxical claim to make at a time when mankind is so much preoccupied with weapons of destruction. 8 Nevertheless, it is a claim that can be sustained and if compassion animates those who urge the abolition of the death penalty it is not a sentimental compassion for the mental agony inflicted upon a condemned man but a dread of destroying the miracle of life.

9 When in the eighteenth century offences against the law that today would no earn a month in prison were punished with the death penalty, the severity of the penal code had no serious effect on the prevalence of crime. 10 When it made no difference to the fate of a highwayman whether he had killed his victim or merely robbed him of a few pieces of silver, there were no more murders then than there were when men like Sir Fraricis Burdett succeeded in lightening the excessive severity of the penal laws. 11 In those days the sacredness of life on earth was not greatly regarded because a life in the world to come was taken for granted except by a comparatively small minotity of philosophers.

12 Nor was the long-drawn ordeal of the condemned cell inflicted either upon the condemned man or his gaolers once upon a time. Those who believe in capital punishment may have arguments for its retention, 13 but surely no reasonable argument can be found for retention of the sickening mumbo-jumbo that accompanies it from the moment that the judge dons the black cap with what looks like a pen-wiper balanced on the top of his wig, to the reading of the burial service over the condemned man before he is dead. Moreover, it was more merciful to launch the condemned man into eternity twenty-four hours after he was sentenced than to keep him shivering on the brink of that dread gulf for nearly three weeks. 14 Hanging is an atrociously archaic way of killing a human being and the self-satisfied modernity of the electric chair is just as atrocious. 15 The administration of a strong sleeping draught to the condemned man every night from which one night he does hot awake, seems a more civilized alternative to our present barbarous procedure, if capital punishment through the influence of backward minds be retained.

New words and expressions

1. impulse n. 推动力,冲动短语:out of impulse =act on impulse

出于冲动同义词:impetus

/momentum/ drive ; drive for something

2. compassion n. 同情短语:compassion for sth. /sympathy for sth .同义词：sympathy (不及compassion)

3. tentatively adv.尝试性地常用于文学短语: tentatively study on clone 刍以克隆简单的研究

experiental study 尝试性研究 tentatively smile 勉强的笑

4.abolition n. 废除 abolish []v. abolitionist []n.短语:to abolish the slavery

5.capital n. 可处死刑的原意:首的,主要的;

短语:capital punishment =death penalty死刑decapitate v.斩首

6. upholder n.支持者 hold up 举起

同义词:advocator /proponent

7. sentimentality n. 多愁善感(本质)、感情脆弱、感伤辨义:emotional （一时的）情绪化

8. muddle-headed adj. 糊涂的

9. homicide n..凶杀、杀人者构:homi= homo: the same 人、同类 cide :kill 组词:homosexual同性恋 homonym 同音（形）异义词、同名人 synonym 同义词antonym反义词 pesticide 杀虫剂 suicide 自杀 autocide 撞车自杀 uxorious 害怕老婆的、妻管严filicide 杀子女 filial 孝顺的

10. gallows n. 绞刑架（木制的）短语:gallows bird 应受罚同类词：guillotine绞刑架（铁制的）

11. qualification n.规定、条件词源：qualify合格 unqualified不合格（常自已本身） disqualify取消资格（被别人）例句：what qualifications do you have ? 你有什么特长？force start 抢跑（体育用语）

12. flimsy adj. 站不住脚的、不足信的（理论）、脆弱的联想词:groundless理论太薄/fragile脆弱的玻璃易碎/ rickets软骨病convincing 令人信服的 unconvincing不让人信服的

13. deterrent n. 威慑 deter v. :prevent 短语:deter him from smoking

14. caculated adj. 精心制作的,有计划的短语:caculated plan/scheme 精心策划同类词:deliberate精心策划 /well planned /well designed 精心设计/well schemed

15. at the mercy of 受…支配(抽象意义):under the control of 例句:at the mercy of emotion(reasonimpulse) 受感情(理智/冲动)支配

16. plea n.辩解例句:make a plea for sth 为…而辩解 make a plea for wrongdoing(misconduct)为错误行为(过失)而辩解;I took leave under the plea of headache.以头疼为借口离开.

17. retribution n. 惩罚，报应（宗教）

18. sustain v.确认原意:支撑例句:sustain an applicant in his claim 认定此人申诉有效 his words hold water. 言之有理 his words can not hold water站不住脚

19. animate v. 促使,、激烈、激活例句:激活讨论：animate the discussion /animated discussion (heat / lively)激烈争论

20. penalty n. 刑罚短语:death penalty死刑 penalty kick 罚点球 free kick 任意球 corner角球例句: no penalty for guessing 不倒扣分

21. agony n. 极度痛苦难 agonise v. it’s agonising to do sth.短语:agony column(英语报纸常用) :claim 寻人启事/ divorce 离婚声明同类词：torture 折磨/anguish痛苦 / pang痛苦(一阵一阵的)也可引申用/ throes分娩时阵痛临死前苦痛痛苦程度: throes>anguish 例句: it's agonizing to …

22. inflict v.使遭受短语:inflict sth on sb. 例句:I inflict the trouble(misery) on him 我给他带来麻烦(不幸) 特殊用法:inflict myself on you 对不起,打搅您了.

23.prevalence n. 盛行 prevail v. 例句:Nowdays Korean pop music prevails.同义词:popular

24.sacredness n. 神圣不可侵犯性 sacred adj.sacred cow 圣牛(宗教) 同类词: holy /godly/heavenly /saint 圣人/saintly例句: he is saintly 他真是圣人一样的人

holiday 比较正式高雅带宗教色彩vocation (暑假)

25.ordeal n.折磨词源:ancient Greece roman

26.assurance n.信心

27.preoccupy vt. 使全神贯注短语:be occupied with 对..全神贯注同类:absorbed(引人入胜) in /immersed (沉浸其间)in

28.retention n.保留 retain v.

29.sickening adj. 令人呕心的..

同类词:disgusting/vomit/distasteful(较轻不太喜欢)

30.don vt. 戴可戴任何,但一般用于上身同类: wear 穿(什么都可以穿 /表动词或状态)put on表动作 dress穿 //dress oneself/be dreesed 穿衣服 be dressed in blue/he is wearing blue

穿着什么 wear socks /wear beard 下面的(moustache上面的 /long beard)蓄着胡子/wear lipstick 抹口红

31.wig n.假发短语:big wig 引申为:大人物(big potato/big fish /big man)

32.burial service葬礼同义词:funeral none of your funeral=none of your bussiness不是你的事

33.merciful adj. 仁慈的 mercy n.反:merciless 同类词:forgiving 宽容 tolerant容忍 lenient(with)对人…宽松

34.gulf n.深渊短语:go to the gulf below=go to hell

35.hanging n.绞刑 hang (hung hung ) 挂/hang(hanged hanged)绞刑例句: if we don't hang together ,we'll be hanged separately.林肯:如果我们不团结起来,只能被一个个处死.

36.atrociously adv. 残暴地同义词:barbarously野蛮的 ruthless无情地 appalling 骇人听闻的

37.archaic adj.古老的 a archaic word 同义词:antique obsolete outdated不再时髦 passé(法)常指女子的老.

38.draught n.每吨服量

39.barbarous adj. 野蛮的

Notes on the text

1. truth and justice: truth 真理,这里译为永于直言； justice 富有正义感,

2. Tentatively it can be suggested that this is : tentatively :roughly ,generally 大致说来；it 指后面的从句；this 指compassion

3. It is recognition …that:强调句 ,正是意识到；part :role 作用；accuse of 指责/指控；in being 在这方面；

4. This is nonsense but with it some organs of the popular Press played upon.. : but with it :运用前面的论点；organs: institution机构组织；popular press :很受欢迎的大众的媒体；play upon: 玩弄,利用(make use of /take advantage of )；so..that ..；candidates for Parliament国会候选人；MP-member of parliament国会议员；PHD(博士生)；act:法案(英),=bill(美)；

5. That illogical qualification shows how flimsy is the argument that..:illogical 不合逻辑的；

how flimsy is the argument 倒装句；that 引导同位语

6. work on 构思, 构想；taking one's life 杀别人；whether or not；violent thief 暴徒=murderer

with robbery; instant emotion；

7. The only arguable plea for capital punishment…: arguable 可争论的,可辩论的；

prospect :hope；but since ；used to :过去常常；claim 理由；mass destruction: 极大杀伤力； the right of society to retribution in this world with the prospect of life in another等于:with the prospect of life in another, a society has a right to give one the retribution.因为拥有给你来生的幸福,所以社会能给你报应, with 这里做原因状语；

to the great majority of civilized humanity 插入语

the assurance 宾语

8. nevertheless=however；claim 理由,观点；none the less ；该句:这个观点是可以得到支持的如果这种同情能够激励那些要废除死刑的人,那么这种同情就不是对那些死刑犯感情的同情,而是对毁掉生命奇迹的一种同情；如改为:it is a claim that can be sustained if compassion animates those who urge the abolition of the death penalty and it is not a sentimental compassion for the mental agony inflicted upon a condemned man but a dread of destroying the miracle of life. 即句子结构为: it is …sustained if death penalty and it is 这是一个能够支持的论点,如果这种同情能够激发那些不支持死刑犯拥护的人士,面这种同情不是对人们精神折磨的同情,而是对对毁掉生命奇迹的一种同情.

9. offences against the law 犯罪；today 时间状语；severity :serious ; penal code 刑法；civil code民法；

10. 当一个人杀死他的受害者或者只抢了少部分的钱财这对他的命运而言没有大的区别,当我们这位爵士成功的减轻了过度严厉的刑法时,也不见得那种谋杀案有任何的增多.

Sir爵士(做先生的时,不可加姓或名)

意为: if u just take away this penalty ,there is no great harm to society

lightening 减轻；excessive 过度的,过分的；

no more ..than : the same as ..与…都不多(两个没多大区别)

11. on earth 人世间； in the world to come 来世；

Taken for granted 理所当然

12. nor 表示和前面一定有联系,并用倒装；gaoler 监狱看守gaoler-gaol监狱；galo bird

long-drawn:long time；condemned(该死的,受人谴责的) cell；cell(single room)-prison

inflict upon 给谁带来；inflict sth.(ordeal) on sb.

13. mumbo-jumbo 繁文缛节