英文演講-我們該選擇死亡嗎？-精編范文

英文演講:我們該選擇死亡嗎？shallwechoosedeath?

bertrandrusselldecember30,1954iamspeakingnotasabriton,notasaeuropean,notasamemberofawesterndemocracy,butasahumanbeing,amemberofthespeciesman,whosecontinuedexistenceisindoubt.theworldisfullofconflicts:jewsandarabs;indiansandpakistanis;whitemenandnegroesinafrica;and,overshadowingallminorconflicts,thetitanicstrugglebetweencommunismandanticommunism.almosteverybodywhoispoliticallyconscioushasstrongfeelingsaboutoneormoreoftheseissues;butiwantyou,ifyoucan,tosetasidesuchfeelingsforthemomentandconsideryourselfonlyasamemberofabiologicalspecieswhichhashadaremarkablehistoryandwhosedisappearancenoneofuscandesire.ishalltrytosaynosinglewordwhichshouldappealtoonegroupratherthantoanother.all,equally,areinperil,and,iftheperilisunderstood,thereishopethattheymaycollectivelyavertit.wehavetolearntothinkinanewway.wehavetolearntoaskourselvesnotwhatstepscanbetakentogivemilitaryvictorytowhatevergroupweprefer,fortherenolongeraresuchsteps.thequestionwehavetoaskourselvesis:whatstepscanbetakentopreventamilitarycontestofwhichtheissuemustbedisastroustoallsides?thegeneralpublic,andevenmanymeninpositionsofauthority,havenotrealizedwhatwouldbeinvolvedinawarwithhydrogenbombs.thegeneralpublicstillthinksintermsoftheobliterationofcities.itisunderstoodthatthenewbombsaremorepowerfulthantheoldandthat,whileoneatomicbombcouldobliteratehiroshima,onehydrogenbombcouldobliteratethelargestcitiessuchaslondon,newyork,andmoscow.nodoubtinahydrogen-bombwargreatcitieswouldbeobliterated.butthisisoneoftheminordisastersthatwouldhavetobefaced.ifeverybodyinlondon,newyork,andmoscowwereexterminated,theworldmight,inthecourseofafewcenturies,recoverfromtheblow.butwenowknow,especiallysincethebikinitest,thathydrogenbombscangraduallyspreaddestructionoveramuchwiderareathanhadbeensupposed.itisstatedonverygoodauthoritythatabombcannowbemanufacturedwhichwillbe25,000timesaspowerfulasthatwhichdestroyedhiroshima.suchabomb,ifexplodednearthegroundorunderwater,sendsradioactiveparticlesintotheupperair.theysinkgraduallyandreachthesurfaceoftheearthintheformofadeadlydustorrain.itwasthisdustwhichinfectedthejapanesefishermenandtheircatchoffishalthoughtheywereoutsidewhatamericanexpertsbelievedtobethedangerzone.nooneknowshowwidelysuchlethalradioactiveparticlesmightbediffused,butthebestauthoritiesareunanimousinsayingthatawarwithhydrogenbombsisquitelikelytoputanendtothehumanrace.itisfearedthatifmanyhydrogenbombsareusedtherewillbeuniversaldeath-suddenonlyforafortunateminority,butforthemajorityaslowtortureofdiseaseanddisintegration...here,then,istheproblemwhichipresenttoyou,starkanddreadfulandinescapable:shallweputanendtothehumanrace1orshallmankindrenouncewar?peoplewillnotfacethisalternativebecauseitissodifficulttoabolishwar.theabolitionofwarwilldemanddistastefullimitationsofnationalsovereignty.butwhatperhapsimpedesunderstandingofthesituationmorethananythingelseisthattheterm'mankind'feelsvagueandabstract.peoplescarcelyrealizeinimaginationthatthedangeristothemselvesandtheirchildrenandtheirgrandchildren,andnotonlytoadimlyapprehendedhumanity'andsotheyhopethatperhapswarmaybeallowedtocontinueprovidedmodernweaponsareprohibited.iamafraidthishopeisillusory.whateveragreementsnottousehydrogenbombshadbeenreachedintimeofpeace,theywouldnolongerbeconsideredbindingintimeofwar,andbothsideswouldsettoworktomanufacturehydrogenbombsassoonaswarbrokeout,forifonesidemanufacturedthebombsandtheotherdidnot,thesidethatmanufacturedthemwouldinevitablybevictorious...asgeologicaltimeisreckoned,manhassofarexistedonlyforaveryshortperiodonemillionyearsatthemost.whathehasachieved,especiallyduringthelast6,000years,issomethingutterlynewinthehistoryofthecosmos,sofaratleastasweareacquaintedwithit.forcountlessagesthesunroseandset,themoonwaxedandwaned,thestarsshoneinthenight,butitwasonlywiththecomingofmanthatthesethingswereunderstood.inthegreatworldofastronomyandinthelittleworldoftheatom,manhasunveiledsecretswhichmighthavebeenthoughtundiscoverable.inartandliteratureandreligion,somemenhaveshownasublimityoffeelingwhichmakesthespeciesworthpreserving.isallthistoendintrivialhorrorbecausesofewareabletothinkofmanratherthanofthisorthatgroupofmen?isourracesodestituteofwisdom,soincapableofimpartiallove,soblindeventothesimplestdictatesofself-preservation,thatthelastproofofitssillyclevernessistobetheexterminationofalllifeonourplanet?-foritwillbenotonlymenwhowillperish,butalsotheanimals,whomnoonecanaccuseofcommunismoranticommunism.icannotbelievethatthisistobetheend.iwouldhavemenforgettheirquarrelsforamomentandreflectthat,iftheywillallowthemselvestosurvive,thereiseveryreasontoexpectthetriumphsofthefuturetoexceedimmeasurablythetriumphsofthepast.thereliesbeforeus,ifwechoose,continualprogressinhappiness,knowledge,andwisdom.shallwe,instead,choosedeath,becausewecannotforgetourquarrels?iappeal,asahumanbeingtohumanbeings:rememberyourhumanity,andforgettherest.ifyoucandoso,thewayliesopentoanewparadise;ifyoucannot,nothingliesbeforeyoubutuniversaldeath.我們該選擇死亡嗎？伯特蘭·羅素1954年12月30日我不是作為一個英國人、一個歐洲人、一個西方民主國家的一員，而是作為一個人，作為不知是否還能繼續(xù)生存下去的人類的一員在講演。世界充滿了爭斗：猶太人和阿拉伯人；印度人和巴勒斯坦人；非洲的白人和黑人；以及使所有的小沖突都相形見絀的共產(chǎn)主義和反共產(chǎn)主義之間的大搏斗。差不多每個有政治意識的人都對這類問題懷有強烈的感受；但是我希望你們，如果你們能夠的話，把這份感受暫擱一邊，并把自己只看作一種具有非凡歷史、誰也不希望它滅亡的生物的一員?？赡軙弦蝗喝硕渎淞硪蝗喝说脑~語，我將努力一個字都不說。所有的人，不分彼此，都處在危險之中；如果大家都看到了這種危險，那么就有希望聯(lián)合起來避開它。我們必須學(xué)習(xí)新的思想方法。我們必須學(xué)習(xí)不自問能采取什么措施來使我們所喜歡的人群獲得軍事上的勝利，因為不再有這樣的措施。我們必須自問的問題是：能采取什么措施來避免必然會給各方造成災(zāi)難的軍事競賽？普通群眾，甚至許多當(dāng)權(quán)人士，不清楚一場氫彈戰(zhàn)所包含的會是什么。普通群眾仍舊從城市的毀滅上思考問題。不言而喻，新炸彈比舊炸彈更具威力——一顆原彈能毀滅廣島，而一顆氫彈能毀滅像倫敦、紐約和菲斯科這樣的大都市。毫無疑問，一場氫彈戰(zhàn)將會毀滅大城市。但這只是世界必須面對的小災(zāi)難中的一個。假如化敦人、紐約人和莫斯科人都滅絕了，世界可能要經(jīng)過幾個世紀(jì)才能從這場災(zāi)難中恢復(fù)過來。而我們現(xiàn)在，尤其是從比基尼核試驗以來很清楚：氫彈能夠逐漸把破壞力擴散到一個比預(yù)料要廣大得多的地區(qū)。據(jù)非常權(quán)威的人士說，現(xiàn)在能夠制造出一種炸彈，其威力比毀滅廣島的炸彈大萬倍。這種炸彈如果在近地或水下爆炸，會把放射性微粒送入高層大氣。這些微粒逐漸降落，呈有毒灰塵或毒雨的狀態(tài)到達(dá)地球表面。正是這種灰塵使日本漁民和他們所捕獲的魚受到了感染，盡管他們并不在美國專家所確認(rèn)的危險區(qū)之內(nèi)。沒有人知道這種致命的放射性微粒怎么會傳播得這么廣，但是這個領(lǐng)域的最高權(quán)威一致表示：一場氫彈戰(zhàn)差不多就是滅絕人類的代名詞。如果許多氫彈被使用，死神恐怕就會降臨全球——只有少數(shù)幸運者才會突然死亡，大多數(shù)人卻須忍受疾病和解體的慢性折磨……這里，我要向你提起一個直率的、令人不快而又無法回避的問題：我們該消滅人類，還是人類該拋棄戰(zhàn)爭？人們不愿面對這個抉擇，因為消滅戰(zhàn)爭太難了。消滅戰(zhàn)爭要求限制國家主權(quán)，這令人反感。然而“人類”這個專門名詞給人們的感覺是模糊、抽象的，它可能比任何其他東西都更容易妨礙認(rèn)識這種形勢。人們幾乎沒