[6 Minute English] What is freedom? 自由到底是甚麼呢?－看BBC學英文

針對前陣子新聞炒得沸沸揚揚的學運，我們來探究一下，到底我們所謂的自由應該怎麼定義呢? 有些人也許會覺得自由就是可以不受拘束的做自己想做的事情，說自己想說的話。當然，有些人會認為，自由的前提是必須要有法律的拘束，讓每個人可以再行動和言語上，盡情的表達自我訴求，同時又不會影響到其他人的權益。不管怎麼樣，自由是非常可貴的。但是，就是因為它可貴，我們更加要珍惜他。自由言論的這個部分，本質上是很好的，他可以讓我們知道哪裡做的好，哪裡又可以做得更好。但是這樣的自由言論被現今媒體過度運用、渲染。造成社會大眾的許多恐慌不安，不當的言語，往往最後變成冷箭般，無情的攻擊彼此，造成分裂。自由，是讓我們可以有更多空間、時間去做些事情，讓這個世界更美好。希望，我們每個人在享受自由之餘，都可以去想想，該如何做、如何說，讓生活在我們身邊的人們除了自由之外，也能夠自在相處，一起共勉之。

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/2014/03/140327_6min_freedom.shtml

Finn: According to the Oxford English Dictionary, freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants.

Right 當成名詞的時候，就是權益。當成形容詞，就是正確的。或者是用在方向上，就是右邊。

As one wants 意思就是隨我們想要的方式去 think, act or speak。總而言之就是隨心所欲囉!

Finn: You mean some people are restricted and controlled in what they can and can't do.

被限制住的可以用restricted。當你在公共場合看到restricted area，就表示這是禁止進入，類似禁區的意思。

有時候會在停車場某些位子上面會看到restricted的牌子，這是表示這個位子是限制給某些人用的，大部分是一些公司車位。

Rob: Some organisations try to rank countries – or give them a score – based on how free its people are. It's calculated according to certain factors - and my question for you today Finn is, according to the World Freedom Index 2013 by the Canadian Fraser Institute, the people of which country came out as number one, in terms of having the most freedom? Was it:

Rank 的意思是給予排名，也可以用在成績排名上。這裡是在說，有些機構會幫某些國家做自由程度的排名。他們會將一些factors (要素) 考慮進去。

In terms of 這個片語很好用，意思是關於甚麼東西。Finn認為自由度最高的國家是New Zealand，你們覺得呢?

a) the USA

b) Sweden

c) New Zealand

Rob: We'll see if you're right later on. So let's talk more about freedom – aword that means many things to many people. We sometimes hear aboutpolitical freedom – where people are able to vote in elections to choosewho runs their country – and where people are able to challenge whattheir leaders do. We often refer to this system as a democracy.

所謂的政治自由就是 political freedom，這包含了人民有權力可以挑戰國家領導人所做的事情，其實就跟最近的學運一樣，這就是台灣有的political freedom。而我們也有權力可以投票選出我們心目中的總統。Election 就是選舉的意思。在這裡用 run their country 的意思是，”運作一個國家” 的意思，不是讓國家跑步喔! 這樣子的機制我們稱呼為 “民主” 也就是 democracy

Finn: Many people would say that any system of democracy should automatically include the right to free speech – that’s the right to say what you want about anything you want. We also hear about freedom for women – when they have the same rights as men. This is one form of equality. We also hear about equality for people of different colour,religion or sexual orientation. People usually don't feel free or equal if they are treated differently because of something like their race, colour, gender or disability. One example of this is the system of apartheid, which passed laws to restrict the freedom and rights of black people in South Africa.

自由言論就是 free speech。另外一種自由是女性自由，讓女性跟男性是同等的。而這樣的自由也同樣在種族、宗教、性向等出現，之前新聞上報導的多元文化就是equity of sexual orientation。

Equity 是希望可以做到不論其他人的喜好或是背景，都可以同等對待。

Apartheid 是解放南非黑人種族的一項制度。

Finn: There's also secrecy and surveillance – when you're being watched by the government; these can also be seen as ways of controlling someone's freedom. And some say that blocking the public’s access to certain information limits freedom.

反自由的事情包含了機密機制secrecy和監看/監聽機制surveillance，也就是被政府利用一些管道控制你的生活。

Surveillance camera 就是監視攝影機的意思。有時候你會在商店裡面看到 this store is under surveillance，意思就是在警告小偷要自重。

Rob: Yes, the American computer expert Edward Snowden famously disclosed thousands of confidential – or secret – documents held by America's National Security Agency so people could see what information was being kept about them.

洩漏或是開放這樣的動作可以用 disclose。從字面上來看，close是關上的意思，加上dis在前面，等於就是close的相反意思，也就是open。如果你在公司上班，有些資訊要透漏給員工知道的話，就可以用disclose這個字眼。

Finn: And when people living under a regime want to make a change for the better they sometimes take to the streets to chant, shout and sing. Lots of songs have been written about freedom.

人們為了要捍衛自己的權力，通常會 take to the streets，就是我們所說的走上街頭