金融時報:在洪水中消弭的仇恨

在洪水中消弭的仇恨

在經(jīng)歷了駭人聽聞的夏洛特維爾暴力事件后，美國國內反極端主義的聲浪正在增強。在休斯敦洪水事件中，人們能夠放下種族和政治隔閡，毫無芥蒂地相互幫助，這讓因頻發(fā)的仇恨事件而感到精疲力竭的人們看到了希望。

測試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識：

wince[w?ns] v.畏縮，退縮

amorphous[?'m??f?s] adj.無組織的

pseudonym['su?d?n?m] n.匿名，假名

anarchic[?'nɑ?k?k] adj.無政府的

heretical [h?'ret?kl] adj.異教的，異端的

caveat['kæviæt] n.說明，警告

pious ['pa??s] adj.虔誠的，盡責的

Love, puppies and community: the American backlash(742 words)

By Gillian Tett

In recent years, the word “Reddit” has made some people wince. The reason? Since the website was launched 15 years ago, Reddit has built a business by enabling users to freely exchange views and share links on forums themed around different subjects — from news to gaming, science, sport and more amorphous topics such as NSFW (“Not Safe For Work”). Redditors use pseudonyms, and can vote up (or down) their peers’ contributions.

In many ways, Reddit is just another social platform, though one with significant reach — the site had 48 million US unique monthly visitors in May this year, according to analytics company comScore. But inevitably, at a certain point, a host of message boards for alt-right, nationalist, anarchic and anti-establishment groups sprung up, with some launching vicious attacks against women, minorities and gay people.

Some threads became so dark that earlier this year Reddit suspended the /r/altright message board, provoking furious complaints that “heretical views and opinions are being stifled”.

“There’s a backlash going on,” the youthful-looking Huffman told the FT last week from a warehouse-style office in San Francisco. For proof, he points to a message group called Wholesome Memes, whose 850,000 followers exchange positive, inclusive news in order to build a climate of peace.

This week’s headlines include “Puppies are best!”, “Hug me, brotha!”, “There are good people everywhere when it matters most” and, most recently, “The ‘Cajun Navy’ heads to Texas to aid with Hurricane Harvey Rescues”.

“There is a lot of ugly stuff happening today. But we rarely talk about the resistance communities that are also arising, or the self-healing that is going on,” said Huffman. “There’s a whole new network of wholesome pages which were created after the election for people who are tired of being angry all the time. They have more followers than the Donald group.”

Huffman even thinks that future historians will end up writing almost as much about this resistance movement as anything else. “I think in five to 10 years we will be better off because we have had to renew our vows with human decency,” he said. “It is easy to say that I wish America was not in this situation [of anger]. But because of this we are all having to confront our values and think about things we haven’t had to think about for a long time.”

I believe that Huffman’s argument has at least a grain of truth and deserves wider debate. If you look across the US today, it is clear that the events of the past year have forced more people to question the assumptions they held and, in some cases, this is creating a new mood of political activism, as people try to defend American values and institutions with passion.

Witness the anti-racism demonstrations that have taken place in Boston and elsewhere in recent weeks following the tragic events in Charlottesville. More evidence appears in the social media commentary around the Houston flooding: commentators have seized on the many instances of civilians rescuing others as a sign that Americans retain values of colour-blind decency and self-sacrifice, a counterpoint to the racial hatred seen in Charlottesville.

If you want to see more signs of rising politicisation, look at the Instagram accounts of teenagers or the outpourings of some of the most popular YouTube stars. As I wrote earlier this year, I am struck by how much political discussion is now occurring amid the teenage celebrity news media. Just last week, I was given another tiny example of this backlash as I hopped on to the E-line subway in Manhattan where, on one wall, someone had stuck a poster billed as “A love letter to New Yorkers”.

“Every day we ride the train together, representing the world’s nations,” the missive declared. “In these times of uncertainty and divisiveness may we always remember that inclusiveness [and] diversity is our strength . . . and may we remain the city where you can see the world’s nations represented on these subway cars.”

Perhaps these tiny, anecdotal examples of resistance to the dark mood of today are too scattered to really matter. And I suspect that most of this backlash is concentrated in the liberal coastal areas, not the Trump-loving heartlands. But the key point is this: the tussles that are taking place in cyber space and on sites such as Reddit are just one illustration of a wider clash of values and identity that is unfolding in America. After eight months of Trump, it is still anybody’s guess how the struggle will end.

請根據(jù)你所讀到的文章內容，完成以下自測題目

1.Why does the social platform Reddit has made some people wince over the past few years?

A. Because it enables people to anonymously post things they wouldn't be allowed to post on other websites.

B. Because Reddit suspended the /r/altright message board to stifle heretical views and opinions.

C. Because it enables users to freely exchange views and share links on forums themed around different subjects.

D. Because it has became a message board for alt-right, nationalist, anarchic and anti-establishment groups.

答案(1)

2.According to the article, which of the following statements about Wholesome Memes is true?

A. It is a showcase for anti-extremist groups who want to build a climate of peace.

B. Its 850,000 followers exchange positive, inclusive news about climate change.

C. It is a message group where the community of participants discuss puppies.

D. It was set up by Steve Huffman in order to to counter extremist voices on Reddit.

答案(2)

3.Which of the following is NOT a sign of rising politicisation according to the author ?

A. Anti-racism demonstrations that took place in Boston.

B. The racial hatred seen in the tragic events in Charlottesville.

C. Political discussions amid the teenage celebrity news media.

D. A poster billed as “A love letter to New Yorkers” on E-line subway.

答案(3)

4.The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements?

A. It is the Houston flooding that stimulated the anti-extremist backlash.

B. Anti-extremist backlash is concentrated only in the liberal coastal areas.

C. Reddit has became a “self-healing” place for anti-extremist groups.

D. The resistance to the dark mood only takes place in cyber space.

答案(4)

* * *

(1) 答案：D.Because it has became a message board for alt-right, nationalist, anarchic and anti-establishment groups.

解釋：論壇Reddit讓很多人敬而遠之，因為在某種意義上它成了另類右派、民族主義者、無政府主義者和反建制派群體的留言板。

(2) 答案：A.It is a showcase for anti-extremist groups who want to build a climate of peace.

解釋：Reddit CEO Steve Huffman表示，有很多反極端主義群體開始在Reddit上發(fā)聲，以對抗極端主義者的言論，Wholesome Memes就是一個例子。

(3) 答案：B.The racial hatred seen in the tragic events in Charlottesville.

解釋：夏洛特維爾事件后的反種族主義游行和人們對休斯頓洪水的反應體現(xiàn)了人們不斷提高的政治意識。我們還可以從青少年社交媒體上的政治討論和曼哈頓地鐵上的“寫給紐約人的情書”看到相同的跡象。

(4) 答案：B.Anti-extremist backlash is concentrated only in the liberal coastal areas.

解釋：我懷疑這種反彈僅僅出現(xiàn)在自由主義的沿海地區(qū)，而非擁護特朗普的核心地帶。