We all believe in something or someone. We must believe, just as we must eat, sleep, and reproduce. (46) Mankind has an insatiable need for and an irresistible attraction to a vast array of beliefs about gods and demons, magic and miracles, truth and falsehood, love and hate, same and different.
Implausible, even irrational ideas, have been cherished for centuries. Saints and other martyrs suffered indescribable pain and agony, even death, for their beliefs. Scientists have been put to death for their belief that the earth is round, or that there is an invisible force called gravity, or that the earth is not the center of the universe with the sun revolving around it, or that the blood circulates throughout the body, or that Man evolved from lower forms of life. (47) Religious leaders have attracted millions of people with their version of how life began and how we must behave; if people do not believe in medicine and science religion, education, government and
B
We all believe that words of a language evolve (进化) gradually over the centuries, rather as animals and plants evolve over millions of years. Sometimes the change is so slight. as to be almost unnoticeable--finger, for example, means the same today as it did 1,000 years ago. Other words have changed out of all recognition. For example, modem English "lord", a person with high social positions, comes from Old English "hlaford". It used to mean "guardian of the bread", a person who protects the bread. But not all word meanings change like this. Just as new and different types of animals and plants can be reproduced, we can call completely new words into being.
Anyone can make a word. The difficult part is to make it stay in the language. To stand the best chance it should probably relate to a particular and fairly specialized subject. That cuts down the number of people who need to agree to use it. Chemists are oft
A. can express common ideas
B. are included in school subjects
C. are proved useful by scientists
D. gain public agreement
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