Reading check exercises

1. Consult a dictionary and practice the pronunciation of the following words. Pay attention to the stress.

Deceptively, consequences, inalienable, to lose, to be entitled to, hold rights, to deny, to claim, to implement a conception, social justice, to exercise, divine commandment, contingent arrangements, treatise, disputes, morally prior to, the apparent universalism, burden of proof, racial superiority, assertions, acquired virtue, to expand/ to narrow, to provoke controversy, race and gender discrimination, dispossessed groups, association, wealth or property, racial, ethnic, and religious minorities, cynically manipulated, privilege, conjugal.

2. Answer the following questions.

1. What human rights are inalienable? 2. What is a connection of human rights and social justice? 3. What was a ground for social justice in pre-modern societies? 4. What was the main idea of Locke’s theory? Why was it Utopian one?

5. Why the idea of human rights was associated with middle classes? 6. What were the reasons of political controversies in the European countries in the 19^th century? 7. What were demands of working people in their struggle for human rights until World War I? 8. What was the situation in the world in the middle / end of the 20^th century?

3. Explain what is meant by:

inalienable natural rights, the mainstream of political theory, right-holder, exercise rights, burden of proof, racial superiority, morally prior to, dispossessed groups, unjust rulers, to enjoy natural rights, claims of privilege, intense controversy, racial and ethnic minorities, subjects of human rights, acquired virtue.

4. Render the text using the following key words:

profound social and political consequences; equal and inalienable rights held by all; inhuman treatment; to eliminate discrimination based on race and gender; claims of human rights; constant pressure on governments; to govern wisely and for the common good; unjust rulers; to enjoy their natural rights; morally prior to and above the claims and interests of the government; recognized as rights-holders; claims of privilege; to advance political claims; to accept the systematic denial; claims of working men for fair wages; for safe and humane working conditions; burden of proof; to extend the right to vote; to provoke intense controversy; to press for full recognition and participation as equal members of society; to choose internationally recognized human rights.