18.

1 On freedom

1 The statements below form part of the Universal

Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United
Nations in 1948. How far are these statements adhered
to in today’s world?
r No one shall be held in slavery or servitude.
r No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest,
detention or exile.
r Everyone has the right to a nationality.
r Everyone has the right to freedom of thought,
conscience and religion.

Reading
2 You are going to read an extract from a book on human rights. Seven paragraphs have
been removed from the extract. Choose from the paragraphs A–H the one which fits each
gap (1–7). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.

Values for a godless age

When the Berlin Wall came tumbling fundamental human rights. And it is in the interests of human rights
down in 1989 so did the plaster cast no longer just a soft sideshow. organizations to seek to reinforce the
which had kept the idea of human 3 legitimacy and authority of the state,
rights in limbo. It was now free to within a regulated global framework.
The fact that strangers from different
evolve in response to the changing 6
countries can communicate with each
conditions of the late twentieth
other through the worldwide web is Part of the new trend in human
century.
having a similar effect in dealing a rights thinking is therefore to include
1 blow to misinformation. During one powerful private bodies within its
Of course, in one sense, the quest for recent major human rights trial over remit. The International Commission
universal human rights standards sixty websites sprang up to cover of Jurists has recently explored ways
after the Second World War was an the proceedings, while sales of the in which international human rights
early attempt to communicate across government-controlled newspaper in standards could be directly applied to
national boundaries, albeit a rather that country plummeted. transnational corporations.
faltering endeavour, with its claims to 4 7
universality challenged both in terms
The effect of increased responsibility Whatever the way ahead, the
of authorship and content. More
at this highest level has been to lessons of the past must be learnt.
recently, a loosening of the reins
continually extend the consideration Any world view or set of values
of the human rights dialogue has
of who is legally liable, directly which is presented as self-evident
ushered in wider debate.
or indirectly, under international is ultimately doomed to failure. The
2 human rights law. In part, this case for human rights always needs
Perhaps the best known of these is is an acknowledgement that to be made and remade. In a world
Amnesty International, established even individuals need to be held where globalization
in 1961. Before Amnesty, there responsible for flagrant breaches too often seems like a
were very few organizations like of others’ rights, whether these are modernized version of
it, yet now there are thousands preventing protesters from peacefully old-fashioned cultural
operating all over the world. Whether demonstrating or abusing the rights imperialism, it is
campaigning for the protection of of children. important to query
the environment or third-world 5 the claim that human
debt relief, any such organization rights are universally
It has been noted that paradoxically,
is engaged in the debate about accepted.
in such circumstances, it may be

152 u n it 18
A E
The problem is that the growth of globalization One of the most significant of these is what
makes the protection of nation states a has come to be called ‘globalization’, the
pointless goal in certain circumstances. collapsing of national boundaries in economic,
Transnational corporations with multiple political and cultural life. From the expanding
role of the world’s financial markets and the
subsidiaries operating in a number of countries
spread of transnational corporations to the
simultaneously wield significant economic and
revolution in communications and information
political power and it is often extremely difficult
technology, more and more areas of people’s
for the state – both home and host governments lives are affected by regional, international or
– to exercise effective legal control over them. transnational developments, whether they are
aware of this or not.
B
If the proliferation of pressure groups has raised
the profile of the human rights debate, satellite F
Not only must states not infringe rights, and
television has reinforced much of the content enforce those rights which fall within their
of their campaigns. The fact that from our direct sphere (like providing a criminal justice
armchairs we can all see live what is happening system or holding fair elections), but they also
to others around the world has had an enormous have ‘positive obligations’ to uphold rights
impact on the way the struggle for human rights enshrined in human rights treaties, even when it
is viewed. It would not be remotely believable is private parties which have violated them.
to plead ignorance nowadays, for 24-hour news
coverage from the world’s hotspots reaches us all. G The results of its investigations were published
in 1999 in a unique pamphlet on Globalization,
C Human Rights and the Rule of Law. The issue
This is, after all, a uniquely propitious time, as
the values and language of human rights are to be faced is whether to treat these and other
corporations as ‘large para-state entities
becoming familiar to more and more people,
to be held accountable under the same sort
who judge the merits or otherwise of political
of regime as states’, or whether to look for
and economic decisions increasingly in human
different approaches to accountability ‘that
rights terms. Arguments seem fresh and are promulgated by consumer groups and the
appealing in many quarters where once they corporations themselves’.
sounded weak and stale.
H
D No longer the preserve of representatives of
On a global scale, it is not strong states that nation states meeting under the auspices of the
are the problem here but weak ones, as they fail United Nations, a developing conversation is
to protect their citizens from private power – taking place on a global scale and involving a
whether it is paramilitaries committing murder growing cast of people – for an increasing range
and torture or transnational corporations of pressure groups now frame their aspirations
spreading contamination and pollution. in human rights terms.

3 How do you view the future for universal human rights? What 5 Replace these words and phrases in
role does the Internet play in social and political change? Will paragraphs A–H with suitable synonyms
increasing globalisation lead to more or less freedom for the or phrases.
individual? Why? a wield … power (A)
b proliferation (B)
4 Look back at the extract and find words or phrases which mean
c raised the profile (B)
the same as a–f.
d propitious (C)
a caught between two stages of development e infringe (F)
b a relatively weak attempt f enshrined in (F)
c a relaxing of the rules g promulgated by (G)
d a less important event h under the auspices of (H)
e causing something or someone great difficulties
f brief or scope

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18.2 Modals review

1 Should animals enjoy the same

rights as humans? Outline your
Corpus spot
views with reference to the
As the Cambridge Learner Corpus shows, modal
animal welfare campaigns shown.
verbs often cause problems, even at Proficiency
level. Correct any errors in these sentences. One
sentence is correct.
a Animals could be kept in zoos, but they must
to have a comfortable place to live in.
b I’ve written a few notes about things that
may be changed if the campaign is to
succeed.
c His dog ought to be registered because then
they might have been able to trace it.
d Much more should have been done to bring
this epidemic under control.
e You mustn’t have been here last summer –
the café only opened a month ago.
f I needn’t have bought these batteries if I had
known you were going to buy some too.
g If only we should live our lives again,
knowing what we know now!
h It can’t be possible for you to phone back
later?

3 Choose the correct modal form in each

of these sentences.
a I needn’t have / shouldn’t have gone
out last night as I had so much work
to do.
b You might have / needed to have rung
me to say you’d missed the bus – I
was worried sick.
c It must have / could have been a
full three hours later when the ship
2 2 11 Listen to this extract about the use of animals in medical
finally docked.
research. Is the speaker for or against animal testing? Why?
d Legally, people mustn’t / needn’t vote
in a general election if they don’t
want to.
The speaker used various modal verbs to express different e I’m sure I don’t have to / mustn’t
functions. Here are two examples. remind you of the need for
Animals must be used in order to trial new drugs and treatments confidentiality.
safely. (obligation) f You really shouldn’t / needn’t cover
It could in fact be damaging to human health. (speculation) up for him every time – you’ll get
Before you do the exercises in the Corpus spot, turn to the yourself into trouble one day.
Grammar folder to review the different functions modal verbs g Need / Ought I to have let someone
have. know about this earlier?
h Would / Might you mind if I didn’t
G pages 186–187
give you a lift all the way home
tonight?

154 u n it 18
4 For questions 1–6, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first
sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given. You must use between three
and eight words, including the word given.
1 You didn’t spend enough time on this project. 4 You should have spilled the beans about Lisa
put before now.
You ought let
hours on this project. If only you could
2 Factory farming was surely less humane before secret before
these guidelines were established. now.
prior 5 It’s time the organisation told the truth about the
Factory farming must misuse of its funds.
of these straight
guidelines. The organisation should set
3 I really admire people who are prepared to risk its funds were
their job for the sake of their principles. misused.
line 6 Would you mind if I asked you to sign this
I really admire people who are prepared to petition?
for the sake of raise
their principles. Would you
asking you to sign this petition?
5 For questions 1–8, read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of some of
the lines to form a word that fits in the space in the same line. There is an example at the
beginning (0).

Mankind’s intuition of freedom, and our (0) IDENTIFICATION of IDENTIFY

freedom with knowledge, sets us apart from animals. The
animal’s grasp of freedom is (1) in comparison, SIGNIFY
being only the freedom to respond to external stimuli. The
nearest creature to us on the (2) tree of life, the EVOLVE
chimpanzee, cannot retain an image for a sufficient length of time
to be able to reflect on it. So animal life is largely a matter of
conditioned reflexes, performed in an (3) TERMINATE
present; in short, animals are little more than machines with
consciousness.
While the animal is carried along (4) on the stream SUBMIT
of time, mankind has certain capacities that (5) POWER
us to resist the current or look into the future. Our (6) RESOURCE
in developing language was the first step towards this ‘conquest of
time’. Language ‘fixes’ experiences, and places the experience of
the past on an equal (7) with that of the present. FOOT
Imagination was bound to follow, as a (8) NATURE
progression from ‘labelling’ a past experience to conjuring up its
mental image.

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18.3 Listening and Speaking

1 Identify what aspect of freedom – or the lack

A
of it – is shown in the three pictures A–C,
using some of these words and phrases.
civil disobedience political regime
free speech sweatshop
child labour

2 2 Now listen to the first stage of a Speaking Test,

12 3 2 13 Listen to the second stage of the same task.

Part 2, based on these pictures. Do both candidates What two additional aspects of ‘freedom’ do the
do what is required? Could the discussion have been candidates decide to include?
more balanced? If so, how?

156 u n it 18
Pronunciation 6 For questions 1–8, read the text below and decide which answer
(A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
4 2 Read the Exam spot and then
14

listen to utterances a–f taken from the

recording. Notice how the speakers
stress certain words and vary their
intonation.
a Anyway, what about picture A?
b I didn’t say they succeeded.
c Looking at picture B, I suppose
it’s illustrating the rights of the
individual, isn’t it?
d Yes, that’s an important point – you
don’t have that freedom of choice
everywhere.
e Speaking purely for myself, I’d want
to include something on education.
f I’m not sure that’s strictly about
freedom, though. In the 21st century, the revolution may not be televised – but recent
experience suggests it is likely to be tweeted, blogged, texted
and organised on Facebook. After (1) more than 3 million
Exam spot tweets, gigabytes of YouTube content and thousands of blogs,
Pronunciation, including stress and intonation, a new study finds that social media played a (2) role in
is assessed in Paper 4. It is important that shaping political debates during the Arab Spring. Conversations
what you say has some rhythm and flows as
connected speech. Stress important content
about revolution often (3) major events, and social media
words and remember to vary your intonation carried inspiring stories of protest across international borders
according to whether you are asking a question, (4) .
agreeing with something or contrasting
information. Don’t worry if you have problems During the week before former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s
pronouncing individual sounds – what is
important is the overall effect, which must be
resignation, for example, the total (5) of tweets from Egypt
easy to understand. – and around the world – about political change in that country
ballooned from 2,300 a day to 230,000 a day. Videos (6)
5 Now read this task, which is based on protest and political commentary went viral – the top 23 videos
the same set of photos. received nearly 5.5 million (7) . And the amount of content
(8) online by opposition groups increased dramatically.
Imagine that all these photographs
have been entered for an award: Most
1 A testing B analysing C judging D estimating
powerful image in journalism. Talk
2 A premium B firm C decisive D heavy
about the message that each picture
3 A preceded B dated C backed D unfolded
conveys and decide which one should
4 A visibly B instantly C firstly D directly
win the award. You have three minutes
5 A toll B ratio C equation D rate
for this.
6 A issuing B starring C featuring D turning
Think quickly of one or two points to
7 A looks B regards C sights D views
make about each picture. When you are
8 A posted B mailed C fixed D joined
both ready to start, note the time. Speak
for the full three minutes. Remember to
give your partner a chance to speak!

o n f re e d om 157
 Writing folder 9
Part 2 Article
Writing folder 5 also dealt with the
article task, considering aspects of HANG ON TO YOUR RIGHTS!
style and ways of holding the reader’s The prevalence of mobile communication devices together with the
attention. This Writing folder focuses on widespread use of social networking and the Internet have altered
sophistication of language and writing
an article for a specific audience. our way of life fundamentally. This article weighs up their impact on
individual freedom and assesses whether the outcomes are really that
1 Read the exam task below. What is the great.
intended readership of the article? What
style would you expect as a result?
I think the big plus with Smartphones and tablets is that friends and
family are always contactable. Parents need not be concerned for the
An academic journal has invited
wellfare of their teenage children, as they can keep track of them. This
its readers to contribute to a series
of articles on new technology and may be beneficial to the older generation, but I think it imposes unfair
personal freedom. You decide to submit limits on the liberty of their kids.
an article describing the effects that
new technology, such as the Internet,
The downside of mobile devices from the working adult’s standpoint
social networking sites and mobile is that they can be reached 24/7 and the distinction between work
phones, has had on people’s lives and and home life becomes blurred. This again places constraints upon
explaining whether these changes have the individual, who has fewer opportunities to shut out the stress of
led to more or less freedom. You should
also evaluate how positive the changes
everyday life.
are for society. At the same time, the Internet gives us the ability to control our lives,
Write your article. right? From booking a holiday to selecting a new home, everything can
be done direct, without any middleman restricting what is on offer.
2 Read this sample answer and decide So that is an example of greater freedom – the freedom of choice.
whether the content is relevant to the
task. Then underline any inconsistencies As for social networking, the chance to share ideas and communicate
in style that you notice. more effectively means that nobody need feel alone in the modern
world. Furthermore, the role played by social media in disseminating
3 Tick the boxes that apply to the sample
answer.
information under less tolerant political regimes shows how
Complex ideas are communicated networking sites can be used to help us out, contributing to profond
convincingly. social change.
Style is consistently appropriate for However, I think the big snag of all this is an inevitable erosion of
the readership.
Text is a well-organised, coherent
privacy. People seem happy to display their innermost thoughts and
whole. aspirations in a way that would have been unheard of in the previous
Errors only occur in less common century, but at what cost? It is impossible to turn the clock back, yet
words and may be slips. it must be acknowledged that through social media, restrictions have
Grammatical forms lack control been placed on individual freedom, which society at large may come to
and complexity.
Choice of vocabulary generally regret.
shows sophistication and precision.

158 writing folder 9

4 Rewrite the parts of the answer you underlined in 2, EXAM ADVICE
using these words and phrases to help you. Correct
● Read the question carefully to decide on an
any slips and decide on a more suitable title. appropriate style.
unequivocally advantageous (paragraph 1) ● Think of a title that will be suitable for the readership.
the main asset of; offspring (paragraph 2) ● Plan the content of your article before you start
one drawback; at all times (paragraph 3) writing.
it is undeniable that (paragraph 4) ● Decide whether it is appropriate to use headings for
for the greater good (paragraph 5) the various sections of the article.

the adverse impact (paragraph 6) ● Include an introduction that outlines the article’s
coverage and ties in with the title.
5 A good way of demonstrating sophistication in ● Order the paragraphs logically, following your plan.
vocabulary selection is to draw on your knowledge ● Make sure your ideas are expressed effectively and are
of word families. Find words in the article that are well linked.
related to the verbs in a–h. These occur in text order. ● Summarise your main idea in a conclusion.
a prevail d constrain g aspire ● Use a range of structures in complex sentences.
b contact e tolerate h restrict ● Demonstrate your knowledge of vocabulary to the
full.
c benefit f erode
● Check your answer for any slips you have made in
6 Look at the word family for the verb tolerate, which spelling or grammar.
is taken from the English Vocabulary Profile. All of
these words are within the level of C2 learners. Check 7 Read the exam task and use the mind map to
your understanding of the five words in italics by help you plan your ideas. Then write an article of
using them to complete sentences a–e. 280–320 words, following the Exam advice and using
vocabulary from this Writing folder and Unit 18.
Word family
An international research body is publishing a
Nouns: intolerance, tolerance book entitled Freedom in modern society and has
Verbs: tolerate asked for contributions from around the world. You
Adjectives: intolerable, intolerant, tolerant decide to submit an article for the book. You should
describe the current situation in your country with
a Canada has a very and inclusive regard to education, employment and family life
attitude to incomers and a great track record of and explain what aspects of freedom an individual
entrepreneurship. has the right to expect. You should also evaluate
b The issue of same-sex marriage still has the whether there are too many limits on personal
power to polarise views and what is remarkable freedom nowadays.
in this battle is how deeply each side feels itself a Write your article.
victim of the other’s .
c Sometimes, if a situation is , equal rights the law
walking away is the only way to cool things
down.
d The researchers give some possible reasons personal freedom
for the decline in juvenile violence, such
as the growth of community policing, less
cultural of violence, and more
aggressive policies to regulate firearms.
e The nation is somewhat unfairly portrayed as
an inward-looking society that is manifestly more surveillance tolerance
of minorities.

writing folder 9 159