2021年英语四级听力美文第63篇:Versatile Man

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It is, perhaps, no accident that many of the outstanding figures of the past wereexceptionally versatile men. Right up until comparatively recent times, it was possible foran intelligent person to acquaint himself with almost every branch of knowledge. Thus, menof genius likeLeonardo da Vinci or Sir Philip Sydney, engaged in many careers at once as amatter of course. Da Vinci was so busy with his numerous inventions, that he barely found thetime to complete his paintings; Sydney, who died in battle when he was only thirty-two yearsold, was not only a great soldier, but a brilliant scholar and poet as well. Both these men camevery near to fulfilling the Renaissance ideal of the ' universal man', the man who wasproficient at everything.

Today, we rarely, if ever, hear that a musician has just invented a new type of submarine. Knowledge has become divided and sub-divided into countless, narrowly-definedcompartments. The specialist is venerated; the versatile person, far from being admired, ismore often regarded with suspicion. The modern world is a world of highly-skilled 'experts'who have had to devote the greater part of their lives to a very limited field of study in order tocompete with their fellows.

With this high degree of specialization, the frontiers of knowledge are steadily being pushedback more rapidly than ever before. But this has not achieved without considerable cost. Thescientist, who outside his own particular subject is little more than a moron, is a modernphenomenon; as is the man of letters who is barely aware of the tremendous strides that havebeen made in technology. Similarly, specialization has inderectly affected quite ordinarypeople in every walk of life. Many activities which were once pursued for their own sakes, areoften given up in despair: they require techniques, the experts tell us, which take a life-time tomaster. Why learn to play the piano, when you can listen to the world's greatest pianists in yourown drawing-room?

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