生在台灣，生在這個時代
我們都享有許多最基本的自由
但近年來，世界局勢的動盪不安
似乎也讓我們體會到自由的可貴
要怎麼用英文聊自由呢？繼續往下看吧！
在英文會話課上，老師要大家小組討論人的基本權利和自由。
Hannah: Have you heard the saying: “Freedom of expression is like the air we breathe, we don’t feel it until people take it away from us” before? It really made me think
Hannah：你們有沒有聽過一句話：「自由就像空氣，只有在它被奪走時，才會察覺到它的存在。」這句話讓我思考了許久。Cara: I feel you. We tend to take freedom for granted.
Cara：我懂，我們很常把自由視為理所當然的事。Rose: Yeah. We’re lucky to live in a place where we can think and say what we want. Governments and regimes in many places around the world suppress freedom of speech.
Rose：對啊，我們很幸運能生活在一個可以自由思考和發言的地方。其他地方有很多政府和政權都會打壓言論自由。Hannah: Why did they do that? I thought rights like freedom of speech were meant to be universal?
Hannah：他們為什麼要這樣做呢？言論自由不是普世價值嗎？Rose: If an authority imposes restrictions on freedom of speech and freedom of the press, they can shape citizens’ thinking. This makes it easier for them to control people and stay in power.
Rose：當局如果限制言論自由和出版自由，他們就能控制人民的思想。這樣他們就能控制人民然後保有當權者的權力。Cara: Right. Without freedom, there is no truth…
Cara：沒錯，沒有自由，就不會有真相了…Rose: In addition, if there’s no freedom, it is difficult for people to stop government tyranny.
Rose：此外，如果沒有自由，人民就很難反抗暴政。Hannah: And that’s why we have a constitution—to protect our basic freedoms.
Hannah：這就是為什麼我們有憲法來保護我們基本的自由。
take sth. for granted (phr.) 將…視為理所當然
動詞 grant 有「同意；准許」之意，動詞片語 take sth. for granted 的意思是「將…視為理所當然」。
Remember to thank others when they help you out. You shouldn’t take others’ kindness for granted!
別人幫你忙記得要跟對方說謝謝。你不該將別人的尊重視為理所當然！
tyranny (n.) 暴政
tyranny /ˈtirənɪ/ 是不可數名詞，意為「暴政；暴虐」。
Following the military coup, citizens have lived in the fear of the tyranny of the new regime, with many being arrested just for expressing their opinion publicly.
軍隊來了之後，市民活在新政權的暴政恐懼之下，許多人民因公開發表言論而被逮捕。
freedom of speech (n.) 言論自由
speech 有「演講；說話」的意思，因此「言論自由」就是 freedom of speech；而 「新聞、出版自由」則為 freedom of the press，the press 是指「報刊、新聞媒體」，注意一定要加上定冠詞 the。其他形式的自由如：freedom of religion (宗教自由)、freedom of assembly (集會自由)、freedom of association (結社自由)。
Freedom of speech means having the right to express one’s opinions without fear of persecution.
言論自由意味著一個人能夠享有自由發表想法且不用怕被迫害的權利。
constitution (n.) 憲法
constitution 是組織或國家的「憲法；章程」，此字衍生自動詞 constitue (組成)。
Many countries have a constitution that protects the fundamental rights of its citizens.
憲法會保障該國人民的基本人權。
她們三人接著繼續討論…
Cara: During the martial law period in Taiwan, public assembly was not allowed. Thankfully, that’s over now.
Cara：台灣在戒嚴時期是不能集會的，幸好這都已經結束了。Rose: But now there are some countries that exercise even greater control over their citizens using technology.
Rose：但直到現在，還是有一些國家利用科技來控制社會。Cara: I know. I think the most notorious example of this is Internet censorship in China.
Cara：我知道，最惡名昭彰的就是中國的網路審查。Hannah: Internet censorship? What does it mean by that exactly?
Hanh：網路審查？是什麼？Rose: Internet censorship is when sensitive words, phrases, and even pictures on the Internet are blocked by the government.
Rose：這代表網路上任何敏感的字詞，甚至是照片都會被政府封鎖。Hanh: Aha! No wonder during the outbreak of COVID-19 and during the anti-extradition treaty protests in Hong Kong my Chinese friends only received certain information that was very different to what was being reported here.
Hanh：啊哈！難怪在新冠肺炎跟香港反送中爆發時，我的中國朋友只接收到和真實報導不同的偏頗資訊。Cara: Even worse, they don’t have freedom of religion there. Many are persecuted just for practicing their faith.
Cara：更糟的是，他們也沒有宗教自由。許多人因為有信仰因而遭受到迫害。Hannah: That is really sobering. It makes me cherish the freedom we enjoy even more.
Hannah：這真的挺發人省思。讓我覺得我應該更珍惜現在享有的自由。
martial law (n.) 戒嚴
martial 意指「軍事的；戰爭的」，martial law 為「戒嚴」，因為在戒嚴時期，司法、行政會全部或部分改由軍隊管理。
The government declared martial law in response to the protests.
政府下令宣佈戒嚴，以應對內戰。
assembly (n.) 集會
名詞 assembly 意為「集會」，或指為了特定目標「聚集在一起的人」，此字來自動詞 assemble，意為「集合；收集；組裝 (零件)」。
This religious group holds an assembly every Saturday.
這個宗教團體每周六都會舉辦集會。
censorship (n.) 審查制度
censor 為動詞，意思是「審查」，包括書、電影、媒體等，其中的敏感內容往往會遭到共產國家的「審查制度」刪改，而 censorship 即為「審查制度」，為不可數名詞。
After the outbreak of war, the dictator imposed strict censorship on all fronts.
該名獨裁者在各方面都實行了嚴格的審查制度。
block (v.) 封鎖
block 當名詞意為「街區」，當動詞則是「阻擋；封鎖」，在社交軟體上「封鎖」好友也適用 block 這個字。
This app can block inappropriate websites so that your children can’t access them.
這個 app 能夠封鎖不適宜孩童觀看的網站這樣你的小孩就看不到。
自由雖是基本人權，但世界上仍有許多人的自由處處受限，在反送中抗爭時，也有抗議民眾大喊 Give me liberty or give me death. (不自由，毋寧死)，除了讓人揪心之外，更提醒著我們要珍視我們享有的自由。
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文/ Vivian Chen
審/ Eunice Lin
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