新概念英语第四册54-04

Notes on the text

The basic background about this author:

Ruth Benedict (female)

She is a famous anthropologist.

"Cultural relativism "文化相关论

subject ( = topic,theme 话题.主题)

great moment = significance 重要性

The inner workings of our own brains… 倒装句式

正常：we feel the…workings to be… 宾语前置，强调宾语

workings 运作（可数名词）

uniquely 独特的 = only

worthy of 值得

commonplace a. 后省略名词level

We have a way of thinking. = as we view/see it

As a matter of fact 作为一个事实而言（ = in fact）

Traditional custom,taken the world over, is a mass of detailed behaviour more astonishing than what any one person can ever evolve in individual actions, no matter how aberrant.非常难句型

主语：Traditional custom 谓语：is a mass

mass大量 = collection

is a mass = is a whole/total

taken被动语态，"采样"，"取样"

take the world over = throughout the world

detailed细致的 astonishing = surprising

evolve 进化（develop）

the predominant role 一个主导作用

Custom has not been commonly regarded as a subject of any great moment. The inner workings of our own brains we feel to be uniquely worthy of investigation, but custom ,we have a way of thinking, is behaviour at its most commonplace. As a matter of fact, it is the other way around. Traditional custom, taken the world over, is a mass of detailed behaviour more astonishing than what any one person can ever evolve in individual actions, no matter how aberrant. Yet that is a rather trivial aspect of the matter. The fact of first-rate importance is the predominant role that