1、Word Knowledge词汇知识：人类、普罗米修斯式

Humanity（人类）

The word humanity may either be defined as human beings collectively（全体的） or the quality of being humane（仁慈的）.

单词humanity既可以作为人类的总称，也可以表示人性或博爱。

In Latin, both hom- and hum- have the meaning of man or human being. The root hum is derived from humus, meaning earth or soil, which might suggest the origin of man from the earth.

在拉丁语中，hom-和hum-都可以指人，hum这个词根源自humus，意思是“土地”或“泥土”，这或许暗示了人类的起源是土地

Accordingly, words containing hum are often associated with lowly rank or position, such as humble（谦卑）, humiliate（羞辱） or humility（谦逊）. The word humid means similar to moist（潮湿）, which could also be connected to the soil.

与此相一致的，是含有hum的单词常常表示身份或地位低下，例如humble（谦卑）、humiliate（羞辱）和humility（谦逊）。humid一词和“潮湿（moist）”意思相仿，也可以和土壤相联系。

As the creator and benefactor（行善者） of mankind, Prometheus has become a symbolic and probably one of the most recognized figures in Greek mythology.

作为创造并普惠人类的英雄，普罗米修斯已经成为希腊神话中一个具有象征意义且知名度极高的人物。

Promethean（普罗米修斯式）

The modern word Promethean bears out its heritage. Be it a noun or an adjective, the word signifies（表示） either being daringly（大胆地） original（创新） or creative, in the way that Prometheus helped create civilization, or being defiant（挑战的） of authority or limits, like Prometheus stealing fire from the gods, or suffering on a grand scale, representing the torture inflicted（使承受） on Prometheus by Zeus.

“普罗米修斯式”（Promethean）这个现代词语所包含的内涵都源自这个人物。无论作为名词还是形容词，它要么表示勇敢的创新，如同普罗米修斯帮助人类创造文明；要么表示反抗权威或打破束缚，如同普罗米修斯盗取火种；要么则表示巨大的苦难，如同宙斯对普罗米修斯施加的酷刑。

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