Понедельник начинаем с прочтения интересной и современной статьи из журнала Hot English.
Читаем статью, узнаем, что же в наши дни реально приобрести за деньги! Переводим письменно один из понравившихся семи пунктов (если есть желание перевести несколько или все - you are welcome!).
These days, you can buy just about anything. But is that a good thing? Should there be some limits on what we can spend our money on? What Money Can't Buy, by Michael Sandel, asks a simple question: is there something wrong with a world in which everything is for sale?
In his book, Sandel (who is a Harvard professor and philosopher) provides several examples to illustrate his point. For example, in Dallas, schools pay children $2 for every book they read (to encourage them to read), in some US cities people can pay $10 to drive alone in carpool lanes, and in the EU companies can "buy" the right to emit more pollution. So, what's wrong with that?
A lot, according to Sandel. He says that we've gone from having a market economy to having a "market society". And he believes there are two problems with this. Firstly, it makes our world less equal - in a place where everything is for sale, poor people have much harder lives. Secondly, he says there are certain areas of our lives (such as education and the environment) that shouldn't be driven by money. Here are seven more examples of our "market society". What do you think in each case?
1. Paying to upgrade your prison cell: in Santa Ana, California, minimum security prisoners can upgrade to a quiet, clean cell for $90 per night.
2. Selling advertising space on your forehead: a single mother in Utah was paid $10,000 to have the name of a casino tattooed on her forehead. She said she needed the money to pay for her son's education.
3. Paying to go through security more quickly: in some airports passengers can pay to pass more quickly through security checks. Sandel thinks this is wrong because security in airports isn't a commercial service, but a public good and therefore it shouldn't be 'for sale'.
4. Betting on someone's death: at www.stiffs.com you can win money by betting on which ageing celebrities will die within the next twelve months.
5. Paying for the right to call your doctor after hours: some American doctors give their patients their mobile phone numbers in exchange for between $1,000 and $25,000 per year. If you don't pay, you can't call your doctor after hours.
6. Contributing to an election victory: American billionaire Sheldon Adelson has promised $100 million to Mitt Romney's election campaign, to make sure he beats Barack Obama in November. One political commentator has said it "feels like the buying of democracy."
7. Paying to go to the front of the queue: in Washington D.C. you can pay www.lineslanding.com to arrange for someone to wait in line for you. Why? Well, the queues to get into Congress (to listen to debates and hearings) are often very long. So, Washington lobbyists pay $37 per hour to hire someone (often a homeless person) to wait in line for them. Just before the doors to the hearing open, the lobbyist replaces the "linestander". Sandel says this is wrong "because in a democratic society everyone should have equal access to government ".
Should there be some things in life that we just can't buy?
Ниже привожу glossary для выделенных слов.
