新闻万花筒：BBC视角之英国欲树立“英国价值观”阻止学生参加IS

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Good morning.

Two weeks ago at this very time, just four miles from this studio, three young schoolgirls were on their way to Bethnal Green Academy. This morning they are thought to be en route to Syria.

Our sympathy and prayers must go out to the family and friends of these three young teenagers. The schoolgirls, for whatever misguided reason, have left families who have nurtured them, educated them and protected them from birth, to heed a call from a stranger to join a radical group. Estimates suggest over 500 British citizens are already in the ranks of IS and society is inevitably asking questions about what all this means.

But it is not the first time that radical groups have lured away impressionable youth. One just has to think of some of the radical cults (many of them inspired by mutations of religion), which sprung up in the 60s and 70s across the world.

Commentators are naturally focusing now on what more might have been done to prevent the girls from leaving. But perhaps it is unrealistic to expect communities, educators, airlines and the police to deal with a symptom, when society has to yet to find a way to deal with the cause.

For some, the cause is a lack of cohesion in British society. The sense of ‘we’ has become diluted and vague. The remedy they suggest is finding an agreed set of ‘British Values’. But I believe that talk of British values risks confusing laws and values, and the intricate link between the two. States should be inspired by values, but not be the primary source of them.

While it is true to speak of laws in the context of a state, for me as a Christian, values are much broader, richer, deeper and older than a state or national narrative. From the sermons and letters of Saints Peter and Paul writing to the early Christians, we have advice on how to live in a pluralist world. All just societies are founded on some sort of religious or ethical basis – values don’t stem from a neutral foundation.

And yet in the aftermath of World War II, the Human Rights Commission did come up with a set of binding standards which embraced a global diversity of perspectives, but not by creating new neutral values, but by building on existing traditions. The various secular, pluralist and religious traditions in the Commission had very different reasons for why the UN Declaration of Human Rights was necessary and valid, but they were unanimous in how it would be taken forward.

Perhaps in Britain we need to get consensus once more on the How rather than struggle with the Why. Perhaps each generation has to explore and explain afresh how its values guide the society, while all the time recognising the distinct traditions which feed into those values.

词汇解析

liberal

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

adj.慷慨的；大方的；开明的；自由主义的

n.自由主义者；开明的人

参考例句

用作形容词 (adj.)

They are liberal in their help.

他们慷慨相助。

用作名词 (n.)

He is an open-minded liberal.

他是一个开明的自由主义者。

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reader

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

n.读者；读物；读本

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

He writes with the reader in mind.

他写作时把读者放在心上。

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credit

难度：3星常用词汇，属常用6000词

英汉解释

n.信用；荣誉；学分；赞扬；贷款；赊欠；贷方；存款

(复)credits: 演职员名单.

v.归功于；相信；记入贷方

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

Credit counseling helped us get out from under.

信用咨询使我们免除了忧虑

用作动词 (v.)

At the time, we used to credit everything to one person.

那时大家把什么都归功于一个人。

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mercury

难度：3星常用词汇，属常用6000词

英汉解释

n.水银；水星；精神

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

Mercury is a fluid substance.

水银是流体状之。

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potential

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

adj.潜在的；可能的

n.潜力；潜能

n.电位；电势

参考例句

用作形容词 (adj.)

These potential effects must be studied carefully.

这些潜在的影响必须仔细地加以研究。

用作名词 (n.)

We can only measure the difference between the potentials of two half cells when they are linked to form an electrochemical cell.

当两个半电池连接形成一个化学电池时,我们仅能测定两个半电池之间电位的差值。

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approval

难度：3星常用词汇，属常用6000词

英汉解释

n.同意；批准；认可；赞同

参考例句

用作名词 (n.)

The proposal was accepted with unanimous approval.

全体一致通过了那项建议。

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extensive

难度：4星核心词汇，属常用3000词

英汉解释

adj.广泛的；广阔的；广大的；大量的

参考例句

用作形容词 (adj.)

The teacher had both extensive knowledge and profound scholarship.

先生的学问博大精深。

It is impossible to vanquish so strong an enemy without making an extensive and long-term effort.

现在要战胜这样一个强敌，非有长期的广大的努力是不可能的。

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