- A reader’s response to an article
David Brooks, one of our readers, is confused about the legal right to free speech. He suggests that if a university committed to respecting all religions and creeds chooses to disinvite a Nazi or other far-right speaker that has nothing to do with the speaker’s right to free speech. He can go elsewhere to speak. The same is true for students picketing such a speaker. Where is it written that a university or a group of students is obligated to hear racist rants? No one’s freedom of speech is violated if some choose not to listen.
The reader implies that __________________.
- A. the right to free speech was violated
- B. the students’ behaviour was inappropriate
- C. disallowing the speaker’s event was justified
- D. observing all religious faiths was promoted
Správnou odpovědí je možnost
C. Ve své reakci na článek čtenář David Brook naznačuje, že univerzita svým rozhodnutím znemožnit projev nacistického nebo extrémně pravicového mluvčího neporušuje svobodu projevu.
- An excerpt from a magazine
Many people believe excessive consumerism promotes a throwaway society, where things are only used once or are in fashion for a short time. They believe this contributes to the Earth’s environmental problems. Other people believe that consumerism is necessary to keep the economy working. Nonetheless, overproduction, processing and the consumption of goods lead to the excessive exploitation of natural resources, environmental degradation and creation of toxic by-products from factories while the use of products themselves creates pollution and immense production of waste.
The text presents a ________________.
- A. conclusion
- B. decision
- C. critique
- D. comparison
Správnou odpovědí je možnost
C. Ačkoliv úryvek z článku se může jevit jako srovnání dvou stran dané problematiky. Druhá část úryvku jasně poukazuje na negativa a je kritikou konzumerismu.
- A report from BBC News
It was just one word in one email, but it triggered huge financial losses for a multinational company. The message, written in English, was sent by a native speaker to a colleague for whom English was a second language. Unsure of the word, the recipient found two contradictory meanings in his dictionary. He acted on the wrong one. Months later, senior management investigated why the project had flopped, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. “It all traced back to this one word,” says Chia Suan Chong, a UK-based communications skills and intercultural trainer, who didn’t reveal the tricky word because it is highly industry-specific and possibly identifiable. “Things spiralled out of control because both parties were thinking the opposite.”
The project failed because of __________________.
- A. misleading instructions
- B. a confusing explanation
- C. inappropriate expressions
- D. a communication breakdown
Správnou odpovědí je možnost
D. Rodilý mluvčí poslal zprávu kolegovi, pro kterého nebyla angličtina rodným jazykem. Klíčové slovo ve zprávě mělo ale ve slovníku uvedené dva protichůdné výrazy a příjemce zprávy ji bohužel pochopil opačně, než bylo zamýšleno, což následně vedlo k chybné komunikaci a obrovským finančním ztrátám.
