Passage 4
Read the following passages carefully and then explain in your own English the exact meaning of the numbered and underlined parts.
History is the best antidote to delusions of omnipotence and omniscience. 【A7】 Self-knowledge is the indispensable prelude to self-control, for the nation as well as for the individual. History should forever remind us of the limits of our passing perspectives. It should strengthen us to resist the pressure to convert momentary impulses into moral absolutes. It should lead us to recognition of the fact, so often and so sadly displayed, that the future outwits all our certitudes and that the possibilities of the future are more various than the human intellect is designed to conceive.
【A8】 A nation informed by a vivid understanding of the ironies of history is best equipped to manage the tragic temptations of military power. Let us not bully our way through life, but let a sensitivity to history temper and civilize our use of power. In the meantime, let a thousand historical flowers bloom. 【A9】 History is never a closed book or a final verdict. It is forever in the interests of an ideology, a religion, a race, and a nation.
The great strength of history is its capacity for self-correction. This is the endless excitement of historical writing: the search to reconstruct what went before. 【A10】 A nation's history must be both the guide and the domain not so much of its historians as its citizens.
【A7】
To know oneself very well is the necessary first step before one can control oneself. This is true for both the nation and the individual.
该句句意为“无论是国家还是个人，自我认识是自我控制必不可的前提”。“prelude”意为“前奏”，可释义为“the first step”。
【A8】
A nation that is fully aware of the twists and turns of history has the power to resist using military power, which will bring tragic results.
该句句意为“只有详细了解自己过去的苦难史的国家禁得起使用军事武器的诱惑，而使用军事武器会带来悲剧”。“irony”意为“讽刺”，在此可释义为“twists and turns。
【A9】
History is never final but open to revision. People can always rewrite history.
该句句意为“历史绝不是封闭的书和最后的裁决”。“never a closed…”可以释义为肯定句。
【A10】
Not only people who study history should take a nation's history as their guide and field of study, but the ordinary citizens should also do so.
该句句意为“一个国家的历史既应该是历史学家，也更应该是人们的向导和学习领域”。“not so much as”意为“与其说是……倒不如说 是……”。