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University for democracy

 

過去幾年，群眾運動席捲全球多國，當中不乏對民主的訴求和嚮往。同一時間，由所謂「中國模式」代表的自由專制政治，令不少東歐國家躍躍欲試。民主的未來如何？有人在歐洲辦起民主大學，希望深化討論，避免極權主義重臨。   

In the wake of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of Communist regimes in Europe, a unique university was created. It was going to be a laboratory for democracy. (from BBC)

 

in the wake of 緊隨…而來

= following

 

例子：Famine followed in the wake of the drought.   旱災帶來的是饑荒。

 

► in sb's/sth's wake緊跟某人/某物後面

 

例子：In his wake came a waiter wheeling a trolley.

 

► wake 守靈  (before funeral)

(noun 名詞)

 

= the time before a funeral when friends and relatives meet to remember the dead person

 

► the wake of a boat 航跡﹐尾流

(noun 名詞)

 

wake up 醒來

(verb 動詞)

► wake up to sth 醒覺；意識到問題

= become aware of sth 

 

例子：People should wake up to the value of true democracy.

 

*waked (AmE – past) woke (BrE – past) woken (v-pp)

*waken = wake (wakened - past)

 

民主大學背後的推手是誰？

George Soros, the Hungarian-born investor and philanthropist, funded the creation of the Central European University, with the specific aim of promoting the values of an open society and democracy.

 

philanthropist 慈善家；樂善好施者

(noun 名詞)

 

這間大學成立的目的，是拯救和喚醒歐洲曾經遭受共產主義和法西斯主義干預的學術自由：

The university was founded to "resuscitate and revive intellectual freedom" in parts of Europe that had lived for decades under the "horrific ideologies" of communism and fascism.

 

resuscitate 使恢復呼吸﹐使蘇醒

(verb 動詞)

 

例子：The doctor tried to resuscitate the patient.

 

► resuscitation (noun 名詞)

= revive (cause sth to become active or successful)

 

例子：The government is making an attempt to revive the economy.

 

communism 共產主義制度

(noun 名詞)

 

= a political system in some countries in which the government controls the production of all food and goods, and which has no different social classes

 

fascism 法西斯主義

〔盛行於三﹑四十年代的德國和意大利〕

(noun 名詞)

 

= a right-wing political system in which people's lives are completely controlled by the state and no political opposition is allowed, used in Germany and Italy in the 1930s and 40s

 

ideology 意識型態

(noun 名詞)

 

例子：There has been an ideology that views women as ' the weaker sex '.

 

為什麼會萌生創立民主大學的念頭？原來與仇外、懼外情緒日漸高漲有關：

“We see very dangerous trends at work," he says, such as the rise of "xenophobia" and antagonism towards immigrants.

The university is addressing some of these big questions in a project called "frontiers of democracy". What does freedom mean in an era of digital information? What is the place for local identity in a globalised economy? How can an open society be defended?
 

 

xenophobia 懼外

(noun 名詞)

 

antagonism 仇恨

(noun 名詞)

= hostility

 

例子：The last decade has witnessed a serious rise in the levels of racism and hostility to Black people.

 

Kevin 教室

 

"horrific ideologies"

'Horrible' and 'horrific' are both related to the noun 'horror', but what's the difference between them?


'Horror' means strong fear, or shock, or repulsion. So, if we say that something is 'horrific', that means that it makes us feel horror. We might talk about "a horrific war" for example, or "a horrific illness".

'Horrible' can mean the same as 'horrific' in fact, or it has a different meaning also. It can also mean unpleasant or disgusting - so we could talk about "a horrible traffic accident", or we might say something like,"Ugh! This coffee is horrible!"

And to answer your question about which word is stronger, horrific is stronger generally - if we talk about "a horrific war", that's stronger than "a horrible war".

On the other hand, it's also important to remember that 'horrible' is more often used in normal everyday spoken English. 'Horrific' is a slightly more formal word. You can expect to read it in newspapers or books, but it's less commonly used in conversation.
 

Reference: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1837_aae/page31.shtml

   
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