Concetti Chiave
- The term "unnatural" can mean something artificial or something perverse, differing from natural occurrences or societal norms.
- Cecily's behavior illustrates an unnatural obsession with money, highlighting a human-driven deviation from typical social conduct.
- Marshall, despite his education, holds beliefs in supernatural entities like ghosts and aliens, underscoring a contrast between scientific understanding and personal belief.
- "Man-made" refers to human-caused creations, such as artificial lakes or fertilizers, impacting both environment and productivity.
- "Machine made" signifies production through machinery, influencing industries like textiles and affecting the authenticity of crafts.
Definition of unnatural
When something is unnatural, it is different from how things occur in nature or the physical world, or it is considered to be different from what is normal. In the first case, it has a similar meaning to artificial, while in the second it's closer in meaning to perverse, wrong, or disturbing.
Keeping birds in a cage is unnatural. Birds are meant to fly, and if we keep them as household pets we're not letting them act the way they were born to act.
Cecily's obsession
Cecily has an unnatural obsession with money. She's always asking people how much they earn, or how much their houses cost, and it's rather impolite.
While something that is unnatural often describes something that is not naturally occurring, but that is caused by humans, the term supernatural is only used to describe events or phenomena that cannot be explained by the laws of nature or by scientific understanding.
Marshall and the supernatural
Marshall is incomprehensible. Despite being highly educated, he believes in many supernatural things that surely do not exist: ghosts, aliens, and even bigfoot.
When we cannot explain an event, we call it supernatural, but maybe it just means that we have yet to discover the scientific reasons that made it happen. That's why the work of science will never end; there's always more to learn.
Man-made and machine made
When we say something is man¬made, we are saying that it has been made or caused by human beings, as opposed to occurring naturally.
The lake you see in the distance is actually man¬made. Engineers flooded that region in order to create a dam.
Man¬ made fertilizers have helped agriculture be more productive, but they have also contributed to emissions of gases that contribute to global warming.
On the other hand, machine made means that something has been made with the use of a machine.
Always check the quality of the goods when purchasing crafts as souvenirs. Don't pay more for something that is machine made.
As the textile industry developed, the improvement of techniques for producing machine made cloth led to a decline making clothing at home.
Domande da interrogazione
- What does the term "unnatural" signify in different contexts?
The term "unnatural" can refer to something that differs from natural occurrences, akin to "artificial," or it can imply something perverse or disturbing, deviating from what is considered normal.
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