Unit 3 B4大学英语综合教程4.doc

Unit Three Book Four Page 67 Task One No, he doesn’t. He still feels uncertain about knowledge and life, though he has spent 39 years of his life either studying or teaching in schools. The author compares knowledge to a dot, or a period at the end of a sentence. According to the author, the tiny circumference of the period represents the interface of the known with the unknown, i.e. the boundary between what we know and what we don’t know. As the period grows, so does its circumference. In other words, the more we know, the more we know how little we know. The author thinks that reading rather than answering questions, only creates more of them. All his reading has made him see how little he really knows and how much more he needs to read and think and write. Once he has finished reading a book, he always feels that he needs to read three more to gain a better grasp of the topic. The author thinks of his writing not as articles or as columns but as essaysa word from French, meaning “to try”. He is trying to find truth through his writing. The author intends to tell us that knowledge is boundless. It grows and changes with the progress of time. We should never be constrained by what we have learned and should be ready to accept new ideas. one 1—5 the author presents paradox that the more you know, the more you don’t know. He gives an example of modern physics in which the more scientists search for the truth of nature, the more mysterious and unpredictable they find nature is tow 6—9 the author illustrates the paradox with his person at experience in reading , learning and writing . it took him a long time to get rid of the shadow of his paradox and now he has come to realize that it is not his knowledge that qualifies him to write but rather it is his writing that gives him the skill and chance to acquire knowledge three 10—11 the author suggests that an understanding of the limitation of one’s knowledge will encourage one to pursue and challenge truth persi