UNIT2-3LessonsfromJeffersonThomasJefferson,thethirdPresidentoftheUnitedStates,maybelessfamousthanGeorgeWashingtonandAbrahamLincoln,butmostpeoplerememberatlastonefactabouthim:hewrotetheDeclarationofIndependence.AlthoughJeffersonlivedmorethan200yearsago,thereismuchthatwelearnfromhimtoday.Manyofhisideasareespeciallyinterestingtomodernyouth.Herearesomeofthethingshesaidandwrote:Goandsee.Jeffersonbelievedthatafreemanobtainsknowledgefrommanysourcesbesidesbooksandthatpersonalinvestigationisimportant.Whenstillayoungman（省略了hewas）,hewasappointedtoacommitteetofindoutwhethertheSouthBranchoftheJamesRiverwasdeepenoughtobeusedbylargeboats.Whiletheothermembersofthecommitteesatinthestatecapitol(州议会大厦)andstudiedpapersonthesubject,Jeffersongotintoacanoe（独木舟）andmadeon-the-spot-observations.Youcanlearnfromeveryone.BybirthandbyeducationJeffersonbelongedtothehighestsocialclass.Yet,inadaywhenfewnoble（贵族）personseverspoketothoseofhumble（低下的）origins（出身卑贱的人，下等人）excepttogiveanorder发号施令）,Jeffersonwentoutofhiswayto（gooutofone’swaytodosth.特地地，不怕麻烦地去做某事）talkwithgardeners(园丁。Garden花园),servants,andwaiters.JeffersononcesaidtotheFrenchnobleman,Lafayette,"Youmustgointothepeople'shomesasIhavedone,lookinto（深入调查）theircookingpotsandeattheirbread.Ifyouwillonlydothis,youmayfindoutwhypeoplearedissatisfiedandunderstandtherevolution（革命）thatisthreateningFrance."Judgefor（由……的观点来看）yourself.Jeffersonrefusedtoacceptotherpeople'sopinionswithoutcarefulthought."Neitherbelievenorrejectanything,"hewrotetohisnephew（外甥）,"becauseanyotherpersonhasrejectedorbelievedit.（不要因为其他的任何人相信或拒绝了一些东西你就也去相信或拒绝）Heaven（上帝）hasgivenyouamindforjudgingtruthanderror(错误).Useit."Jeffersonfeltthatthepeople"maysafelybetrustedtoheareverythingtrueandfalse,andtoformacorrectjudgment.Wereitlefttometodecidewhetherweshouldhaveagovernmentwithoutnewspapersornewspaperswithoutagovernment（倒装，假设句）,Ishouldnothesitate（迟疑，犹豫）amomenttopreferthelatter."Dowhatyoubelieve(主语)isright.Inafreecountrytherewillalwaysbeconflicting（相互矛盾的）ideas,andthisisasourceofstrength（一种力量的源泉）.Itisconflictandnotunquestioning（毫无争议的）agreementthatkeepsfreedomalive.ThoughJeffersonwasformanyyearstheobjectofstrongcriticism,heneveransweredhiscritics.Heexpressedhisphilosophy（哲学）inletterstoafriend,"Therearetwosidestoeveryquestion.Ifyoutakeonesidewithdecisionandactonitwitheffect(有效地),thosewhotaketheotherside（持另一观点）willofcourseresent（憎恨）youractions."Trustthefuture;trusttheyoung.Jeffersonfeltthatthepresentshouldneverbechainedto（被……锁住，束缚）customswhichhavelosttheirusefulness."Nosociety,"hesaid,"canmakeaperpetual（无期限的）constitution（宪法）,orevenaperpetuallaw（法律）.Theearthbelongstothelivinggeneration."Hedidnotfearnewideas,nordidhefearthefuture.（否定词前置引起的倒装）"Howmuchpain,"heremarked,"hasbeencausedbyevils（罪恶）whichhaveneverhappened!Iexpectthebest,nottheworst.Isteer（偏航）myshipwithhope,leavingfearbehind."Jefferson'scourageandidealism（理想主义）werebasedonknowledge.Heprobablyknewmorethananyothermanofhisage.Hewasanexpertinagriculture,archeology（考古学）,andmedicine.Hepracticedcroprotation（轮作）andsoilconservation（保护）acenturybeforethesebecamestandardpractice,andheinventedaplow（犁）superiortoanyother...