Courage is a quality we cherish. Yet only lately has it been studied systematically to try to31 what it is and is not, where it comes from and why we love it so much. "Courage helps to define the excellent person, "write George Kateb, a political theorist at Princeton University. "One of the worst 32 in the world is to be called a coward, a quite timid person. "
For many people, courage is most 33 displayed in battle; for example, the brave soldier running into the line of fire to rescue the injured.
Yet George Kateb says that if courage finds its highest expression in war, then the trait (特征) becomes 34 , making killing noble by insisting that only in battle can people discover the 35 of their nobility. Thus, it makes killing a noble thing. Stanley J Rachman of the University of British Columbia studies paratroopers( 伞 兵 ) preparing for their first jump. The work revealed three different groups: the fearless who jumped 36 ; the timid whose fear kept them from jumping; and finally, the ones who reacted 37 like the timid but acted like the fearless leaper, and jumped.
Rachman considered the final group courageous, defining courage as "a behavioral approach
38 the experience of fear". Thus, courage becomes the 39 of anyone who does something
that he or she fears.
In interviewing 320 children aged from 8 to 13, Peter Muris of Erasmus University,
Rotterdam, of the Netherlands and his colleagues found that children also consider courage asthe
40 of one's fears; and more than 70% claimed they had performed brave acts, including stealing
money from one's mother's purse.
Joel Berger, a biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society in Montana, US, also
distinguishes between animals that behave bravely 41 a lack of awareness and experience,
and those that are aware of a danger but 42 anyway.4 / 9
He recalled the time he and his colleagues had 43 a young bison ( 野 牛 ) to take blood
samples. At that time, an adult male bison was standing guard, 44 to let the scientists approach.
"He knew that he could be attacked by us," said Berger. "I'd call this a courageous, even 45 act.
31. A. master
B. represent
C. launch
D. define
32. A. criticisms
B. protests
C. obstacles
D. roles
33. A. readily
B. heavily
C. perfectly
D. originally
34. A. dishonest
B. immoral
C. uncomplex
D. indecisive
35. A. lengths
B. widths
C. depths
D. scales
36. A. for pleasure
B. out of curiosity
C. with no hesitation
D. in theory
37. A. intellectually B. systematically
C. technically
D. physiologically
38. A. in spite of
B. in case of
C. for the sake of
D. in honor of
39. A. gift
B. property
C. status
D. symbol
40. A. concealing
B. restoring
C. conquering
D. denying
41. A. according to B. leading to
C. regardless of
D. due to
42. A. depart
B. proceed
C. pause
D. reverse
43. A. arrested
B. tamed
C. cornered
D. located
44. A. refusing
B. striving
C. pretending
D. attempting
45. A. charitable
B. unconscious
C. heroic
D. charming
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