英国新闻听力 如何实现社会公平和公正

There are two words with a common root which have been dancing with each other in my mind over the weekend.

The first is equality – a term popular in social and political discourse¹. In a democracy like ours, most people prize equality of opportunity as regards education or work, or equality of access to health and welfare services. And we want such things especially for people who have historically been marginalised – women, ethnic² minorities, children born into poverty, people with learning difficulties and so on.

The goal of equality has, of course, some disadvantages. We don't all start on a level playing field. The family we are born into, the wealth that does or doesn't surround us, and to some extent our genetic³ inheritance can create a negative or positive bias⁴. The fact that some are gifted with superb intellectual abilities, artistic⁵ talents and creative skills also makes equality a difficult goal to strive for.

The other word in my mind is equity⁶. Its etymology⁷ is the same as equality, but its associations are more to do with the law than politics. Equity also features in the vocabulary of religion. Time and again in the Hebrew scriptures⁸, especially the psalms⁹ and the prophets, God is celebrated¹⁰ as one who judges with equity, and God wills that those who govern should rule with equity.

Equity is about fair-mindedness; not equality of opportunity, but equality in the way in which citizens of a nation are treated. When we speak about everyone being 'equal under the law' we are referring to one of the most positive aspects of how a good society functions. It is a keystone of democracy.

This year I've worked in eight European nations and have been pondering what equity might mean when governments have to deal with financial deficits¹¹. One implication which strikes me is that those who are the most advantaged in terms of wealth, power and privilege should feel the effect of austerity measures as much as those who are least advantaged.

I'm drawn¹² to an incident in the Gospels where Jesus is observing people putting money in the plate. Wealthy men seem to donate a lot, but it is a poor window giving her last two coins who is praised for her generosity¹³. The wealthy gave from their excess, but she gave all she had.

That she decided¹⁴ to be so selflessly generous was her choice. To my mind an equitable¹⁵ society is one in which the poorest as much the wealthiest should always be able to make that kind of choice.

这个周末，有着相同词根的两个单词一直萦绕在我的脑海里。

第一个是平等——这个术语在社会和政治演说中非常常见。在我们这样的民主制度下，大部分人崇尚机会，教育，工作，医疗和福利体系的平等。我们希望在历史上一直被边缘化的群体也得到平等——妇女，少数民族，贫困地区儿童，学习障碍人群等等。

当然，平等的目标也有一些弊端。我们不能所有的一切都从同一起跑线上开始。我们所出生的家庭，我们所拥有或没有的财富，而且从某种程度上讲，我们的基因遗传也会造成消极或积极的偏颇。一些人与生俱来的高超的智力，艺术才能和创造力也让平等成为一个很难实现的目标。

我脑海中的另外一个词是公正。其词源和平等一词是相同的，但是其跟法律的联系超过政治。公正也是宗教学中的词汇。在希伯来经文中，尤其是在圣经旧约和先知书中，上帝多次被誉为判断公正的人，上帝希望统治者能够公正地统治。

公正指的是思想的平等，而不是机会的平等，但是平等指的是一个国家的公民被对待的方式。当我们说到“法律面前人人民等”的时候，我们指的是社会运作良好的前提下最乐观的情况。这是民主制度的基石。

今年，我曾在八个欧洲国家工作，我一直在思考，当政府不得不应对财政赤字的时候，公正意味着什么。其中给我冲击最大的一方面就是，在财富，权利和权益方面有着最大优势的人应该和处于劣势的群体同样感受到紧缩措施的影响。

<新约>四福音书中有一个情节吸引着我，耶稣观察人们向盘子里扔钱。有钱的人看上去捐赠了很多，但是他却赞扬了一位慷慨地把最后两个硬币捐赠出来的贫困寡妇。有钱人给出的只是多余的一部分，但是她付出的却是全部。

她决定无私慷慨地奉献是她的选择。在我心中，在公平公正的社会，最贫困的人和最富有的人应该都能做出这种善良的选择。

1 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

2 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

3 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

4 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

5 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

6 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

7 etymology   

n.语源；字源学

参考例句：

• The hippies' etymology is contentious.关于嬉皮士的语源是有争议的。
• The origin of OK became the Holy Grail of etymology.OK的出典成了词源学梦寐以求的圣杯。

8 scriptures   

经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典

参考例句：

• Here the apostle Peter affirms his belief that the Scriptures are 'inspired'. 使徒彼得在此表达了他相信《圣经》是通过默感写成的。
• You won't find this moral precept in the scriptures. 你在《圣经》中找不到这种道德规范。

9 psalms   

n.赞美诗( psalm的名词复数 )；圣诗；圣歌；(中的)

参考例句：

• the Book of Psalms 《〈圣经〉诗篇》
• A verse from Psalms knifed into Pug's mind: "put not your trust in princes." 《诗篇》里有一句话闪过帕格的脑海：“不要相信王侯。” 来自辞典例句

10 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

11 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

12 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

13 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 equitable   

adj.公平的；公正的

参考例句：

• This is an equitable solution to the dispute. 这是对该项争议的公正解决。
• Paying a person what he has earned is equitable. 酬其应得,乃公平之事。