【570期 英語時間】What is freedom?
發佈時間：00:00 2021-04-29
Today, little Bobby thinks about the meaning of‘ freedom’ and discusses it with his teacher Miss Dolphie.
Miss Dolphie: Bobby, you seem to be a bit upset. May I ask why?
Bobby: Thank you for asking, Miss Dolphie. Here is the thing: Why can't I be free to do whatever I want? Yesterday, my mum didn't allow me to watch television for more than an hour, and she forbade me to play videogames. And Mr Octo scolded me for talking too much with classmates during lessons. Adults always talk about fighting for freedom, but I don't think you guys grant us enough of it! What I feel is only endless restrictions!
Miss Dolphie: Now please tell me, Bobby – what is your understanding of freedom?
Bobby: To do whatever I want to! I suppose that's the definition that everybody agrees on, right?
Well, I'm afraid not. Just imagine what would happen if every one of us did whatever we wanted to? The classroom would be in chaos as young kids would probably talk, yell, run, jump or eat, in whatever ways they loved. And of course the teacher could not teach anything at all. That, to me, is not freedom at all, but restriction!
Miss Dolphie: What, then, is freedom?
Bobby: I'm not going to give you a quick and easy answer, and perhaps there isn't one. But at least, you may have been convinced that freedom is not simply doing whatever one wants to. We need just enough rules to guide us – not so many as to restrict us, yet not too few as to affect others' freedom.
Vocabulary
Upset (adj) 不開心的
forbid (v) 禁止
freedom (n) 自由
restriction (n) 限制
chaos (n) 混亂
convince (v) 說服
