【读Quora，背单词】本周主题：Multiculturalism（多元文化主义）

岳然UID: 3654715

正文开始之前先说说我搞这样一个活动的原因和想法。

从论坛里版友的提问来看，一个明显引起我注意的问题就是，大家对GRE单词释义的掌握往往不够准确。发生这种情况的原因之一就是大家背单词的时候太过依赖于单词书上的中文释义，而中文解释往往不能完全表达出一个单词在语境中的含义，而从最近的GRE考试情况来看，ETS越来越重视单词在语境中的含义，一些比较生僻的词考得越来越少了。所以经常会出现这样的情况：一道本身并不难的题目，却有大把的人因为单词掌握不准确而做错，考试的时候遇上这种情况，是非常可惜的。

解决这个问题最直接的办法就是对于每个单词，都去Webster等权威字典里查单词的准确释义和例句。然而这个方案对于备考时间有限的版友来说并不实际。

另一个办法就是在阅读中记忆单词，然而这个方案也有一个问题，就是一般的阅读材料，很少能大密度地覆盖到GRE常考的单词。Economist算是大家着力推荐的材料，然而它的题材往往局限于政经领域，读来不是那么有趣，而材料获取又比较困难。更何况，对于阅读速度一般的版友来说，读下一篇文章，就已经需要耗费不少的时间，更别说整理其中的单词了。

因此，我选择了Quora这个问答网站作为素材来源，选取其中精彩的回答，直接整理/标注重要的GRE单词，希望大家闲暇时可以来读一读，一是加强对单词的记忆，二是增进对单词的理解，三是感受一些母语者如何条理清晰地表达观点，而不必受ETS改写过的崎岖文法的折磨。

岳然UID: 3654715

本周的主题是多元文化主义：

多元文化主义（Multiculturalism）是多民族社会用以管理文化多元性的公共政策，它采取官方手段，在一个国家内部强制推行不同文化之间的相互尊重和宽容。然而，也有人对这一政策表示担忧和批评。

下面我选取这个问题下的一篇回答，来和大家一起探索这个话题。
https://www.quora.com/What-impac ... m-have-on-a-society

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为了增强这个活动的互动性，有兴趣的版友可以通过thesaurus.com或其他网站查找标出单词的近义词，并选出你觉得可以替换原句而不改变意思的单词回复在本主题中（1-2个即可）

比如：

Pluralism is the proper ethos/ideology/spirit for America, multiculturalism is not.

除此以外，各位也可以对他人的回复做出点评，包括单词的细微区别，搭配是否恰当合理。

对于单词的搭配，可以直接在Google里搜索，也可以使用语料库查询，具体操作见：https://bbs.gter.net/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=1791889

活动参与者均有加分。

岳然UID: 3654715

The problem with today's multiculturalism is that it is different than pluralism. Pluralism is the proper ethos for America, multiculturalism is not. The difference can be explained simply by assuming Americans can be divided into two tribes:

Ideological Tribe A
We believe that America is at its best when its mainstream is maintained without regard to race, creed, color, sexual preference, etc..

Ideological Tribe B
We believe that America is at its best when its mainstream is maintained with special regard to race, creed, color, sexual preference, etc.

I could go on at length to describe the nefarious notions that are sustained in the American Culture Wars, begun in the late 50s taking shape in the 60s and blossoming in the 90s, but the distinction above nails it. What's important is that multiculturalism is now clearly showing its philosophical weakness and that ordinary people are recognizing it.

岳然UID: 3654715

The weakness of multiculturalism is that its advocates simultaneously emphasize the politics of difference as well as notions of equality, and they try to do so without being judgmental. It is a direct consequence of trying to nail down the precise weight of 'special regard’.

Multiculturalists will assert that Americans must pay attention to the history of X in order to properly understand and respect X-Americans. In this they will assert then, that the same is true of Y-Americans. And of course they consequently assert that we make America better, because the general history of America was neglectful and disrespectful of all of the Xs and Ys and now only today with the new multicultural perspective can true equality become reality (but we still have a long way to go), so they say. So multiculturalists will emphasize all these histories and develop a new 'special regard' which can be communicated through the convoluted narrative of respectful terms, aka politically correct language. Along with this pervasive demand of the general public, multiculturalists also demand special programs of 'inclusion' and 'empowerment' of institutions.

岳然UID: 3654715

Of course X-Americans don't have to do this diligence or sponsor such regimes because they already know, right? Well, not exactly. Multiculturalism requires that its subjects toe the ideological line in expressing the particular history of the narrative of multiculturalism. This is where the whole ball of yarn unravels, because this requirement of 'authenticity' becomes untenable as soon as you get to a particular level of detail and especially if you happen to be some as of yet unclassified hybrid of X & Y. This particular knot is sending shockwaves through the efforts of the ever more stultifying alphabet soup of the LGBT... 'community' as various identity factions attempt to micromanage the weight of special regard for their distinctions.

Multiculturalists are the enemies of conformity and anonymity. They require that people represent their differences, except of course when they are not supposed to. Confusing? Of course it is. Multiculturalists will highlight the great benefits of 'diversity' but then assert that people just 'happen to be X' and contribute equally with everybody else. The only way this can happen is if all parties in the 'diverse' group accept with precision the special regard for the X person. Multiculturalists would be profoundly disappointed were people of X distinction refuse to apply for X scholarships, or if people of Y distinctions did not predictably support multicultural rhetoric 'in solidarity' with Y. They would haughtily say such people were working against their own interests. (Because multiculturalism defines those interests! Just read the history!)

岳然UID: 3654715

Where the friction of this regime expresses the pain of its logical error is at border conditions. IE, hiring, firing, promoting, demoting, and all other sorts of transactions that move individuals from in-group to out-group status. All rationales for discriminations of any sort must now include politically correct rationales, each appropriate to their 'own' groups.

It goes without saying that the aim of multiculturalists is to sustain this politics of difference and to denormalize the normal to which they have attached the prefix of 'cis-'. The mainstream of America of multicultural dreams has a complete and total ontology of race, gender, creed, color, country of origin, sexual preference and religion, each which contributes to the de-emphasis of America's 'majority'. They have succeeded massively in enabling this narrow and particular set of demographic tags to drive analysis of Americans over all other sets. Things like 'years of education' pale in significance to 'race', for example, when looking at socioeconomic indicators. This is true across all media.

岳然UID: 3654715

The impact is clear. Multiculturalists seek to maintain their success by enabling 'victims' of every stripe (with a meticulously maintained database of stripes) to raise suspicions about the motives and capabilities of every group they are not a part of, and a general assumptions about cultural and political 'authenticity' that maps properly to their regime of special regard. This makes a train wreck of evenhandedness, undermines common cause for anything outside of the multiculturalist agenda and establishes a never ending crusade against the true spirit of competition, meritocracy and fair play.

Before multiculturalism collapses under the weight of its accumulated deceptions and Orwellian contradiction, it will drown the ambitions of millions and set up millions more for failure in the world where multiculturalism's narratives and machinations does not exist.

岳然UID: 3654715

为了增强这个活动的互动性，有兴趣的版友可以通过thesaurus.com或其他网站查找标出单词的近义词，并选出你觉得可以替换原句而不改变意思的单词回复在本主题中（1-2个即可）

比如：
Pluralism is the proper ethos/ideology/spirit for America, multiculturalism is not.

除此以外，各位也可以对他人的回复做出点评，包括单词的细微区别，搭配是否恰当合理。

对于单词的搭配，可以直接在Google里搜索，也可以使用语料库查询，具体操作见：https://bbs.gter.net/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=1791889

活动参与者均有加分。

songshineUID: 3666528

good material with in-depth analyses! Way more baffling for me compared with Wikipedia though...

huangjinjinUID: 3616142

岳然 发表于 2016-2-25 23:07
The problem with today's multiculturalism is that it is different than pluralism. Pluralism is the p ...

I could go on at length to describe the nefarious/odious/heinous/outrageous notions that are sustained/maintained/continued in the American Culture Wars, begun in the late 50s taking shape in the 60s and blossoming in the 90s, but the distinction above nails it.

nail这里怎么翻译比较好呢?  阻止吗？

huangjinjinUID: 3616142

岳然 发表于 2016-2-25 23:10
The weakness of multiculturalism is that its advocates simultaneously emphasize the politics of diff ...

The weakness of multiculturalism is that its advocates/supporters/backers/proponents/promoters simultaneously/concurrently/synchronously emphasize the politics of difference as well as notions of equality, and they try to do so without being judgmental. It is a direct consequence of trying to nail down the precise weight of 'special regard’.

岳然UID: 3654715

huangjinjin 发表于 2016-2-26 01:12
I could go on at length to describe the nefarious/odious/heinous/outrageous notions that are susta ...

在这里nail的意思是：to settle, establish, or represent clearly and unmistakably—often used with down，一般nail down更常用。

odious和outrageous来形容notions还是可以搜索到相关的结果的，不过heinous这个词在这里好像有点太重了，Google表示查不到这个搭配。

岳然UID: 3654715

songshine 发表于 2016-2-26 00:58
good material with in-depth analyses! Way more baffling for me compared with Wikipedia though...

你也可以提出自己感兴趣的话题，选Quora的原因是上面的文章往往比较个人化，感情色彩更鲜明一点，不会像Wiki那样读起来干巴巴没意思。不过为了能提供足够的GRE词汇，选取的文章不可避免地会比较“难”，这个活动中我们也需要不断尝试来平衡这些因素。

huangjinjinUID: 3616142

岳然 发表于 2016-2-26 01:55
在这里nail的意思是：to settle, establish, or represent clearly and unmistakably—often used with d ...

明白了！ 谢谢！

狐狸大叔UID: 2342950

Quora上尽是阿三之类的…