首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
There’s a new campaign for the under-30s called Undivided. It gathers suggestions about Brexit from across the spectrum; leavers
There’s a new campaign for the under-30s called Undivided. It gathers suggestions about Brexit from across the spectrum; leavers
admin
2018-01-01
89
问题
There’s a new campaign for the under-30s called Undivided. It gathers suggestions about Brexit from across the spectrum; leavers and remainers, left and, presumably, right. Its aim is to "get the best possible deal for young people out of the Brexit negotiations" and it will present the chosen ten demands in January. Hafsah Dabiri, its co-leader, says that young people must have a voice, and "the only way to achieve this is for us to be undivided in our political demands".
Ah, demands. When a news website published Undivided’s video of young people speaking to camera, a sort of digital Ed Stone in its vagueness, the D-word was central. "I demand that there will be structures in place that allow me to study and work in Europe"; "I demand better access to mental health services for young people and better sexual health services for young women"; "I demand maintenance of free travel and free trade following Brexit". They must call the shots because they "are going to live with the consequences of Brexit the longest". The presumption that anyone over 30 is going to die soon may be a bit wounding to some of us, but never mind. It goes on to demand that Islamophobia and racism are stamped out, and "young people are finally taken seriously".
Friends, this is not the way to get taken seriously by us battered, moribund, doomed oldies. Scroll down and the first reactions are tart. "I demand they learn manners, and how to vote" and "Oh, piss off, you can demand nothing, go sit in the corner and learn some manners... try thanking the older generation who fought to give them freedom of speech". To be fair, regarding that last comment the generation who fought most relevantly are now gently passing into history. The legitimate generational quarrel is with us baby-boomers who surfed a wave of prosperity, let the European dream corrode into corrupt bureaucracy, and didn’t mend the roof while the sun shone.
Undivided is welcome because the young should be idealistic and take an interest. But reflecting on that intensely annoying video it struck me that if they have learnt the language of entitlement and demand it was from the generation above. Active citizenship, constructive improvement and neighborly grassroots organization have declined in status and esteem. The industrious wartime sense of a duty to save, firewatch and donate scrap iron to the common good is old hat. We have created a sense of the citizen as disgruntled recipient, not active contributor. Of course from ministries to minnows, active citizens still beaver away, keep the wheels turning and struggle to meet demands. But rarely does anybody say: "A good job done. Thank you!" Rather, the tone of public discourse is a passive and critical one: "Why-can’t-I"; "S-not fair"; "Bloody jobsworths".
Hands up: this is led by media. A soggy stream of unconstructive passive discontent and crabby criticism rises constantly from interviews and polemics, comedians, columnists and Twitter. Excuse me here while I shoot myself in the foot and irritate the hell out of my colleagues, but if I read one more beautifully phrased think-piece (even by me) about how "the government is doing Brexit all wrong, and, dammit, not even telling us what it is doing, but we assume it’s rubbish"—I shall scream. The same goes for the routine sneer of the newscast interviewer and the grunting outrage of the polemicist.
It’s great entertainment, this universal barracking. But anyone who has ever sat around a committee table knows what a sweat it is to balance budgets, comply with laws, set priorities, delay cherished projects, cheesepare costs and—yes—worry about media reaction. Yet those who do this rarely get much credit. In an age when media and image are sublime, the most popular figures are deplorers and snarkers who mock and complain and "demand". The palm of public approval goes to comedians and commentators, interviewers and satirists and entertainers who publicly weep for their nation’s shame.
Some people, of course, do both. Honour to fundraisers, charity stalwarts, aid workers, and honest souls who stir their stumps to man a food bank, create non-profit services, take clothes and food to the homeless or the Calais Jungle. They I admire. They can have a platform. Among the "Undivided" campaigners some of the young demanders probably are volunteering, or thinking of how to engage with Europe or whatever. Those are fully entitled to offer well-researched and detailed "demands" and also to inform us, the media, so we can admiringly report and support them.
But let it always be clear, in everyone’s mind, that anyone who actually does things for the general good deserves a higher rank and esteem than anyone who just talks about it. Or mocks it. There’s a parallel in the principle, which all sensible critics admit, that any honest theatre-maker or writer or creative artist—even if unsuccessful—outranks any critic, however brilliant. Actions speak louder than words. Not the other way round.
When she used the expression "battered, moribund, doomed oldies" (para.3) to refer to "us" baby-boomer generation, the author adopted ______.
选项
A、a humble and modest tone
B、a neutral and matter-of-fact attitude
C、an ironic and satirical style
D、a self-denial speaking manner
答案
C
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/6YSO777K
本试题收录于:
NAETI高级口译笔试题库外语翻译证书(NAETI)分类
0
NAETI高级口译笔试
外语翻译证书(NAETI)
相关试题推荐
InterpretthefollowingpassagesfromEnglishintoChinese.Startinterpretingatthesignalandstopatthesignal.Youmaytak
InterpretthefollowingpassagesfromEnglishintoChinese.Startinterpretingatthesignalandstopatthesignal.Youmaytak
InterpretthefollowingpassagesfromChineseintoEnglish.Startinterpretingatthesignalandstopatthesignal.Youmaytak
A、Theyheldprotestsagainstthegovernmentonthestreet.B、Theybecameindependentcanefarmers.C、Theywerecompensatedwith
Accordingtothespeaker,evenAmericaissufferingfromeconomicdepression,theAmericaneconomywillsoonberecoveredifAme
A、Effectsofusingmobilephonesonhealthyhumancells.B、Risksofdevelopingcancerinvolvedintheuseofmobilephones.C、Da
Whatdoesthespeakerfeelaboutsummerpictures?
A、Childrennaturallyandeasilylearnmathematics.B、Childrenlearntoaddbeforetheylearntosubtract.C、Mostpeoplefollowt
AnarticlepublishedrecentlyintheprestigiousscientificjournalNatureissheddingnewlightonanimportant,buthithertol
Inalmostallcasesthesoftpartsoffossilsaregoneforeverbuttheywerefittedaroundorwithinthehardparts.Manyofth
随机试题
简述第二次世界大战后国家垄断资本主义大发展的原因。
患者,男性,56岁,糖尿病5年,近半年来食欲不振、疲乏失眠、夜尿增多(尿量<800ml/d),入院后查体,贫血貌,双下肢中度水肿,血压180/120mmHg.该患者最常见的症状
A.柏子B.鹅不食草C.柴胡D.大黄E.干漆通过炒或煅可以减少副作用的是()。
室内消火栓设置错误的是:
商品化会计核算软件开发经销单位提供的售后服务工作包括()。
个人理财业务的客户一般指自然人,包括()。
A公司为国有控股公司,适用的所得税税率为25%,预计在未来期间不会发生变化。2008年1月1日首次执行新会计准则。2008年1月1日经董事会和股东大会批准,于2008年1月1日开始对有关会计政策和会计估计作如下变更:(1)管理用固定资产的预计使用
你在自己工作以后的业余时间独立完成了一篇改革方案,交给上级领导征求意见后,就杳无音信了。后来发现这篇文章已经被发表了,但是署名却是你的领导。碰到这样的事情你会如何处理,特别是如何处理和这位领导的关系?
原型化生命周期提供了一个完整、灵活、近于动态需求定义技术,下述:(1)能综合用户所提出的必要的需求(2)对模型可进行必要的裁减和组织,使其接近目标系统(3)能综合最终用户、项目经理和原型开发人员各方要求(4)原型化方
SomeSchoolingonBackpacksAccordingtotheU.S.ConsumerProductSafetyCommission,5,900kidsweretreatedathospitale
最新回复
(
0
)