prophet n.a person who tells the future.
Ⅱ.Notes to the Text
1.Socrates was a great philosopher of ancient Greece (469 to 399 B .C .) who was accused of corrupting the minds of his young followers, teaching people to disbelieve in the gods and (by his skill in argument)“making the worse argument appear the better one”. He was tried by a court of 500 Athenian citizens.This passage is an extract from his Apology (i .e.defense or explanation - before the court).In this speech, Socrates uses the words “wisdom”and“ignorance”in two slightly different senses.And each word has two senses .
wisdom : (1) knowledge or experience of politics, poetry, skilled work, etc .
(2) being aware that one does not know the true nature of thingsignorance: (1) not being aware that one does not know very much about important matters (2) not knowing the true nature of things This passage can be divided into two parts in such a way that the first part contains Socrates main argument and the second part only adds further examples and a repletion of the same points.In that case, the second part begins at the beginning of paragraph 5 .
2.It is the wisdom that an average person may have .
3.It may be the case that I have the wisdom , so I am really wise .
4.The men I just mentioned are wise because they may have the wisdom which is greater than human wisdom but cannot be appreciated by common people like you and me because I know nothing about it myself.I do not think there exists superhuman wisdom in man.If any man says so to me, he must be lying and wants to slander me .
5.I will bring to you the god of Delphi who will prove that I have the wisdom and what the wisdom really is .
6.From this part of the passage, we can tell that Socrates had a hostile audience who often interrupted him .
7.Socrates promises to explain to the audience the origin of his unpopularity .
The explanation is that other people (poets, politicians, etc .) got angry with him when he tried to prove that they were really ignorant .
8.The expression“dark saying”means the pronouncement whose meaning is not clear .
9.After thinking about it carefully .
10.Socrates repeatedly mentions the god of Delphi who spoke through the Oracle .But the Oracle s statement is not very important to his argument .Ifhe did not mention the Oracle at all, he would still have his main argument .
11.If you talk to someone and prove that he is ignorant, Socrates says that he will dislike you.In the meantime, Socrates also considers that people will think that you yourself know all the answers to your questions.(also see paragraphs 1 and 7)
12.I must consider God s command more important than anything else .
13.As requested by God, I made the search and this was the result .
14.The men who enjoyed most having wisdom are those who were most lacking in wisdom .
15.Socrates says that those who are considered to be common people are“much better fitted to learn”. They are at least aware of their ignorance, and do not pretend to be wise already .
16.In order to prove what the Oracle said, I paid several visits and now I must tell you what happened .
17.According to Socrates, a certain natural power and inspiration enables poets to write poetry .
18.God chose me (by chance) to illustrate a particular truth .
When Socrates says that he is not wise, what does he mean by“being wise”? When he says that he possesses a certain kind of wisdom, what kind of“wisdom”has he in mind?When he says that only God is really wise, is he thinking of the first sense of“wisdom”or the second ?
He is not wise in the sense that he does not know the true nature of things.The wisdom he possesses is the awareness that he does not know the true nature of things.God is wise in the sense that he knows the true nature of things, i .e.this is related to the other sense of“wisdom”.
Remember that the trial was a matter of life or death for Socrates.(He was later found guilty by the court and was given the death sentence .)However , he did not show any anger, anxiety or grief in his speech.He was a man who cared more about true knowledge than about his own life .
Ⅲ.Text-Related Practice
A.Reading comprehension:
Read each of the following statements carefully and decide whether it is True or False according to the passage:
1.Socrates says that he hasn t got any wisdom which other men cannot have .
2.Socrates says that the men who have given him a bad name must possess a kind of wisdom which is greater than human wisdom .
3.Socrates enemies had suggested that Socrates possessed a kind of superhuman wisdom .
4.The Oracle of Delphi had been Socrates comrade from youth upwards .
5.Since Chaerephon himself was dead, his brother had to put the question to the Oracle .
6.Gods, in the opinion of Socrates, always tell the truth .
7.Socrates says that he expected the politician to be wiser than himself .
8.The politician was more convinced than anybody else about his own wisdom .
9.The politician was alone when Socrates met him .
10.Socrates thought that God wanted him to examine every man who was considered wise .
11.The men who were famous for their wisdom were not only ignorant but unfit to learn .
12.Socrates believes that soothsayers and prophets rely on certain natural powers as well as on inspiration.
13.The skilled workmen whom Socrates met did not possess much skill in their work .
14.The politicians, poets and workmen had certain kinds of wisdoms which Socrates did not have; and Socrates had a different kind of wisdom which none of them had .
B.Vocabulary exercises:
1.Find single words or phrases in the passage which have roughly the meanings given below:
a.ask someone earnestly.
b.show.
c.despised.
d.far and wide.
e.is the cause of.
2.Word matching:
Match the words in Column A with those in Column B.Colum n B has some extra items .
3.Complete the following sentences with the expressions from the passage .
The relevant paragraph number is given for each word or phrase .
1) He deserves his (paragraph 1) because of his dishonest ways .
2) In Socrates day the Oracle of Delphi had a (paragraph 1) for wisdom and truth in its sayings .
3) Only a person with (paragraph 1) strength could lift this huge stone .
4) His suspicious movements have (paragraph 1) all kinds of stories about the nature of his work .