Ancient philosophy is not just about talking or lecturing, or even reading long, dense books. In fact, it is something people have used throughout history – to solve their problems and to achieve their greatest triumphs.
Specifically, I am referring to Stoicism, which, in my opinion, is the most practical of all philosophies 【Q31】 and therefore the most appealing. Stoicism was founded in Ancient Greece by Zeno of Citium in the early 3rd century BC, but was practised by the likes of Epictetus, Cato.
Seneca and Marcus Aurelius. Amazingly, we still have access to these ideas, despite the fact that the most famous Stoics never wrote anything down for publication 【Q32】. Cato definitely didn’t. Marcus Aurelius never intended his Meditations to be anything but personal. Seneca’s letters were, well, letters and Epictetus’ thoughts come to us by way of a note-taking student.
Stoic principles were based on the idea that its followers could have an unshakable happiness in this life and the key to achieving this was virtue. The road to virtue, in turn, lay in understanding that destructive emotions, like anger and jealousy, are under our conscious control – they don’t have to control us, because we can learn to control them. In the words of Epictetus: “external events I cannot control, but the choices I make with regard to them, I do control”. 【Q33】
The modern day philosopher and writer Nassim Nicholas Taleb defines a Stoic as someone who has a different perspective on experience which most of us would see as wholly negative 【Q34】; a Stoic “transforms fear into caution, pain into transformation, mistakes into initiation and desire into undertaking”. Using this definition as a model, we can see that throughout the centuries Stoicism has been practised in more recent history by kings, presidents, artists, writers and entrepreneurs.
The founding fathers of the United States were inspired by the philosophy. George Washington was introduced to Stoicism by his neighbours at age seventeen, and later, put on a play based on the life of Cato to inspire his men 【Q35】. Thomas Jefferson kept a copy of Seneca beside his bed.
Writers and artists have also been inspired by the stoics. Eugène Delacroix, the renowned French Romantic artist (known best for his painting Liberty Leading the People) was an ardent Stoic, referring to it as his “consoling religion”.
The economist Adam Smith’s theories on capitalism were significantly influenced by the Stoicism 【Q36】 that he studied as a schoolboy, under a teacher who had translated Marcus Aurelius’ works.
Today’s political leaders are no different, with many finding their inspiration from the ancient texts. Former US president Bill Clinton rereads Marcus Aurelius every single year, and many have compared former President Obama’s calm leadership style to that of Cato. Wen Jiabao, the former prime minister of China, claims that Meditations is one of two books he travels with and that he has read it more than one hundred times over the course of his life.
Stoicism had a profound influence on Albert Ellis, who invented Cognitive Behaviour Therapy 【Q37】, which is used to help people manage their problems by changing the way that they think and behave. It’s most commonly used to treat depression. The idea is that we can take control of our lives by challenging the irrational belief that create our faulty thinking, symptoms and behaviours by using logic instead. 【Q38】
Stoicism has also become popular in the world of business. Stoic principles can build the resilience and state of mind required to overcome setbacks because Stoics teach turning obstacles into opportunity 【Q39】. A lesson every business entrepreneur needs to learn.
I would argue that study Stoicism is as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago, thanks to its brilliant insights into how to lead a good life 【Q40】. At the very root of the thinking, there is a very simple way of living – control what you can and accept what you can’t. This is not as easy as it sounds and will require considerable practice – it can take a lifetime to master. The Stoics also believed the most important foundation for a good and happy life is not money, fame, power or pleasure, but having a disciplined and principled character – something which seems to resonate with many people today.
Complete the notes below.
Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
听前预测：提示词为appeal，此处应填修饰appeal 的形容词或名词。
题目解析： 本题没有较好的定位词，relevant 和appeal 的含义太宽泛，被替换的可能性较大。本题重点在于捕捉被强调的信息，代入题干看看与appeal 一词进行搭配后句意是否通顺，优先选择更完整且合理的信息。注意题干不存在并列关系，因此不能从并列的名词中任选其一。故而不考虑一开始听到的talking or lecturing。接着往下听，答案句由in my opinion 引出，most practical 被强调，代入题干，语法以及语义都符合要求，迅速记下这个词，继而听到therefore the most appealing，替换了题干的appeal，因此答案为practical。
听前预测：定位词为ideas、surprisingly；提示词为despite、for；限定词为not，此处应填名词。
题目解析：定位词surprisingly 是录音中Amazingly 的同义替换，ideas 原词出现。随后出现答案句despite the fact that the most famous Stoics never wrote anything down for publication，其中famous 对应题干中的well known，never 对应not，由此可判断答案为publication。注意随后出现的一系列并列的名词，包括Meditations、letters、thoughts。根据出题规律，所填的词不会是从并列的名词中任选一个。然后听到Stoic principles，这是题干中下一题的小标题，意味着本题已经结束， 因此可确定答案为publication。
听前预测：定位词为Epictetus；提示词为the，此处应填名词。
题目解析：定位词Epictetus 原词出现，紧接着出现答案句“… but the choices I make with regard to them, I do control.”，其中with regard to 是in response 的同义表达，因此答案为choices。
听前预测：定位词为different view、experiences；提示词为consideras，此处应填名词或形容词。
题目解析：定位词different view 是录音中different perspective 的同义替换，experiences 原词出现，关系代词which 引出答案句“most of us would see as wholly negative”， 其中see as 为consider as 的同义替换，negative 词性符合题干要求，因此答案为negative。
听前预测： 定位词为George Washington、Cato；提示词为a，此处应填辅音开头的单数 名词。
题目解析：定位词George Washington 原词出现，随后听到名词neighbours，复数名词不符合题干要求。紧接着出现答案句and later put on a play based on the life of Cato to inspire his men，听到名词play 时，将其代入题干中，符合句意要求，可立即填写。随后又听到定位词Cato，可进一步确定答案为play。
听前预测：定位词为Adam Smith；提示词为on，此处应填名词。
题目解析：定位词Adam Smith 原词出现，其后紧跟theories on，对应ideas on，继而听到名词capitalism，代入题干后语义、语法都正确，因此答案为capitalism。
听前预测：定位词为Cognitive Behaviour Therapy（CBT）、treatment；提示词为for，此处应填名词。
题目解析： 定位词Cognitive Behaviour Therapy 原词出现，之后听到的名词依次有problems、way、depression（抑郁症），根据题干要求，与treatment 搭配的应是具体的疾病，且录音中treat depression 与treatment for depression 属于同义替换，因此答案为depression。
听前预测：定位词为thinking；提示词为on，此处应填名词。
题目解析：定位词thinking 原词出现，随后听到一组并列名词symptoms and behaviours，不能任选其一作为答案。继续听，随后出现答案句by using logic instead，将logic 代入题干，符合要求，因此答案为logic。
听前预测：定位词为business、obstacles；提示词为as，此处应填名词或形容词。
题目解析：定位词obstacles 原词出现，随后听到名词opportunity，迅速记下来，然后听下一句“A lesson every business entrepreneur needs to learn.”，其中出现另一个定位词business，由此可确定答案为opportunity。
听前预测：定位词为require、good life；提示词为a lot of，此处应填名词。
题目解析：定位词good life 原词出现，继续捕捉名词，随后听到答案句“This is not as easy as it sounds and will require considerably practice …”，另一个定位词require 原词出现，将名词practice 代入题干，符合要求。接下来听到的信息与下一题内容相符，由此可推断40 题已结束。注意a lot of 虽然是considerable 的同义替换，但由于其信息过于宽泛，不易捕捉，故a lot of 并不是最优的定位词。做题时不要盯着a lot of 这一修饰语。本题答案的拼写可以是英式，也可以是美式。
