What is the good life Aristotle acknowledges that luck has a role to play in the good life, but to what extent does luck effect the good life If the good life is dependent on external factors, then it would appear that it could not be considered self-sufficient. However, Aristotle argues that the good life is self-sufficient, but communally self-sufficient. Why does Aristotle argue for what appears to be a contradiction in terms (46)It is contended that luck’s effect on the good life was much greater than Aristotle was prepared to acknowledge and that as a result of the good life being dependent on luck, the good life cannot be considered self sufficient.
Aristotle believed that the good for humans would be the maximum realization of the function that was unique to humans. Since reason was understood by Aristotle to be the unique quality that humans possessed, it followed that the good for humans was to reason well. (47)Since part of the task of reason was to teach human beings how to act virtuously, the good for humans was the exercise of their faculties in accordance with virtue. The good life, then, was defined by Aristotle as the activity of the soul in accordance with virtue.
(48)The circumstances that make it likely or unlikely that a person will lead the good life are external and not of one’s own choosing, and are, therefore, dependent on luck. Why not, it might be postulated, limit luck’s effects, specifically narrowing the scope of what constitutes the elements of the good life so as to limit, while not eliminating luck’s role
(49) Aristotle held that even if one could be viewed as leading the good life, should one experience any adverse circumstances such as illness, bereavement or isolation, then one could no longer be considered to be leading the good life. "For many reversals and all sorts of luck come about in the course of a life; and it is possible for the person who was most especially doing well to encounter great calamities in old age, as in the stories told about Priam in the Trojan war. But when a person has such misfortunes and ends in a wretched condition, nobody says that he is living well. "
Aristotle had argued that limiting the scope of luck’s effect on the good life would render life meaningless, yet is this not what is happening here (50)Knowing that as one ages the probability of experiencing misfortune is heightened, and still maintaining that this is a yardstick by which to measure whether one can be considered to be leading the good life, severely limits the chances of anyone attaining the good life. Limiting the scope of the external factors that affected the good life would render the good life too limiting, according to Aristotle; yet Aristotle has placed such severe limitations on the criteria that needs to be met in order to lead the good life that the probability of anyone ever leading the good life are practically non-existent.
参考答案：[译文] 有人认为运气对于幸福生活的影响要比亚里士多德所能准备承认的更为深远，并且认为，幸福生活依赖运气，其结果就是幸福生活不能看作是自给自足的。
解析： 本题考查形式主语的翻译。本句型是考研翻译中常考的句型，it是形式主语，真正的主语是that后面提到的，后又接了一个并列的主语，即and后面的内容，同时里面穿插了由as a result of这个词组引导的结果状语。同时在翻译由it引导的形式主语句型时切忌不要直接翻译成“它”，这样会是无效的翻译，翻译时可以使用添加主语的方式。
[词汇] 本句中出现的生词并不多，主要有：contend(声称，主张，认为)有“竞争”和“争夺”的意思，在本句里显然不是“争夺”的意思；acknowledge(承认，复信，挥手)表示感谢，在本句里考查的是最基本的意思。
| 可接受的翻译 | 不可接受的翻译 |
| It is contended that：有人认为 | 它被认为 |
| luck’s effect on the good life was much greaterthan Aristotle was prepared to acknowledge：运气对于幸福生活的影响要比亚里士多德所能准备承认的更为深远 | 运气对于幸福生活的影响要比亚里土多德准备感谢更为深远 |
| as a result of the good life being dependent onluck，the good life cannot be considered self-sufficient：幸福生活依赖运气，其结果就是幸福生活不能看作是自给自足的。 | 由于依赖运气而得到的幸福生活，这种生活是不能认为是自给自足的 |
例1：有人认为运气对于幸福生活的影响要比亚里士多德所能准备承认的更为深远，并且认为，幸福生活依赖运气，其结果就是幸福生活不能看作是自给自足的。
例2：有人声称运气对于生活的幸福度的影响要比亚里士多德所能准备承认的要更为深刻，同时认为，如果幸福生活是依赖运气的话，那么这种幸福生活不是自给自足的。
例3：有人主张运气对幸福生活的影响比亚里士多德准备承认的更为深远，如果幸福生活仅仅来源于靠运气的话，那么这种生活是不能自足的。
例4：据认为生活的幸福程度比亚里士多德认为的要深远的多，同时认为作为依赖运气得到的幸福生活不是自力更生的。
例5：它被认为运气对幸福生活的影响要比亚里士多德准备要感谢要更为深刻，而且靠运气的生活是不幸福和不能自足的。