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英语美文. Ambition It is not difficult to imagine a world short of ambition（野心，抱负） . It would probably be a kinder world: without demands, without abrasions（擦伤，磨损） , without disappointments. People would have time for reflection. Such work as they did would not be for themselves but for the collectivity（集体，集体主义） . Competition would never enter in. Conflict would be eliminated, tension become a thing of the past. The stress of creation would be at an end. Art would no longer be troubling, but purely celebratory（快乐的） in its functions. Longevity would be increased, for fewer people would die of heart attack or stroke caused by tumultuous（吵闹的，骚乱的） endeavor. Anxiety would be extinct. Time would stretch on and on, with ambition long departed from the human heart. Ah, how unrelieved（未减轻的，无变化的） boring life would be! There is a strong view that holds that success is a myth, and ambition therefore a sham（假装，骗子） . Does this mean that success does not really exist? That achievement is at bottom empty? That the efforts of men and women are of no significance alongside the force of movements and events now not all success, obviously, is worth esteeming（尊重，尊敬） , nor all ambition worth cultivating. Which are and which are not is something one soon enough learns on one’s own. But even the most cynical secretly admit that success exists; that achievement counts for a great deal; and that the true myth is that the actions of men and women are useless. To believe otherwise is to take on a point of view that is likely to be deranging（扰乱，使错乱） . It is, in its implications, to remove all motives for competence, interest in attainment（成就，学识） , and regard for posterity（子孙，后代） . We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch（新纪元，新时代） , the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing（教养，养育） . We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time or conditions of our death. But within all this realm（领域，范围） of