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Learner_of_english Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

Topic translation

0 Hello,02br
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00I have to do an essay on the topic :02br
00“As to the duty of pursuing equality, there is no such consent among us. Indeed, the consent is the other way, the consent is against equality. Equality before the law we all take as a matter of course; that is not the equality which we mean when we talk of equality. When we talk of equality, we understand social equality; and for equality in this Frenchified sense of the term almost everybody in England has a hard word”.02br
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00Discuss this opinion in intercultural terms and illustrate your view with concrete examples.02br
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00The matter is that I don't really understand the topic.02br
00What is the meaning of hard word at the end. Is it a pejorative term for French social equality ?02br
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00Then, I'm wondering if I must talk about the differences between British and French notion of equality or if I must talk about what is equality for Bristish people (like freedom for example) because of the sentence consent is against equality ?02br
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00I would really appreciate your help 05002br
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00Sincerely, 010id1
  

Top answer

0A "hard word" means a "bad word". In other words, almost everybody in England thinks that social equality is a bad idea, in the author's opinion. )02br 02br 00I think that you should discuss: (1) the opinion that "equality" to most English people means "social equality" (rather than other types of equality, such as equality in the eyes of the law); (2) the opinion that the English are generally opposed to social equality.

— Anonymous

  • 0A "hard word" means a "bad word".
  • In other words, almost everybody in England thinks that social equality is a bad idea, in the author's opinion.
  • )02br 02br 00I think that you should discuss: (1) the opinion that "equality" to most English people means "social equality" (rather than other types of equality, such as equality in the eyes of the law); (2) the opinion that the English are generally opposed to social equality.
  • Are these views reasonable?
  • Does the evidence support them?
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2 Answers
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0A "hard word" means a "bad word". In other words, almost everybody in England thinks that social equality is a bad idea, in the author's opinion. (Whether the author himself thinks that social equality is a bad idea is not clear from what's quoted.)02br
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00I think that you should discuss: (1) the opinion that "equality" to most English people means "social equality" (rat
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0Thanks for your reply, it helps me a lot 05002br
01blockquote
01cite10Anonymous12cite10I suspect that the stated opinion is a historical one12br
12blockquote
10Actually, the stated opinion was from the British poet and essayist Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) 010id1
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