泽熙美文Cloze Test
“History doesn’t repeat itself,” argued Mark Twain, “but it does rhyme.” In this instance, history’s echo could scarcely be more depressing. In 1993 Jamie Bulger, a two-year-old boy, was abducted, tortured and murdered by two ten-year-olds. The gruesome details of the Bulger case shocked the national psyche.
Yesterday two brothers were sentenced to an indefinite period of detention for torturing two boys in Edlington last April. Aged 10 and 12, they beat, strangled and sexually degraded their victims, before putting a plastic sheet over them and setting it on fire. It was only tiredness that caused them to abandon their victims, they presumed, to die. It was a chance blessing that a passing walker stumbled across one of the boys alive.
It is impossible to 1 shock and desperation. But there is nothing new about children committing 2 . In 1748 the ten-year-old William York killed the five-year-old girl who shared his 3 . There has always been a strand of evil that courses through humanity.
But in two respects the Edlington case may 4 a critical moment. First, is Britain prepared to accept that it does 5 have a violent underclass, a problem that successive governments have 6 to ameliorate? And will David Cameron succeed in his argument 7 the Edlington case confirms his claims about “broken Britain”?
The social context of the Edlington case is as 8 as the crime itself. The court heard that brothers had a “toxic 9 life” marked by “routine aggression, violence and chaos”. One brother watched 10 violent movies. He also drank routinely and smoked cannabis grown 11 his father’s allotment.
There was also a chronic failure by the social services. A leaked 12 by local care authorities—to which the judge was denied access—reveals 13 there were 31 occasions on which nine different agencies failed to take action 14 the brothers’ behaviour.
Broken Britain? The phrase is an oversimplification. But 15 does have a depressingly static underclass. The most telling detail 16 the case was one torturer’s explanation of his actions. He was 17 . “There was not else to do.”
The political consequences may also 18 parallels with the Bulger case. In 1993 a young, charismatic Shadow Home Secretary 19 the opportunity. Tony Blair’s catchphrase “Tough on crime, tough on the 20 of crime” allowed him to capture public sentiment. Mr. Blair argued 21 the Bulger case demonstrated that Britain had descended into “moral 22 ” caused by the long-serving Conservative Government.
Today’s 23 Conservatives have long been fascinated by what they regard as that pivotal 24 in Tony Blair’s career—the first sign that he could catch the national mood. So it 25 unsurprising that David Cameron has immediately woven the Edlington case 26 his narrative of abject social breakdown.
“Look at the wreckage of our 27 society. See Britain through the eyes of our children. Are we really proud of our 28 today?” Those were Mr. Blair’s words before being elected. We can 29 to hear many similar phrases from Mr. Cameron in the run-up to 30 election.
Yesterday he warned that Britain was 31 an “irresponsible society.” He is right. Britain is not broken, 32 it will have failed in its most basic responsibilities if it looks the other way 33 Edlington. The violence and depravity of the torturers was exceptional. The 34 —by parents, by the community, by government—was all too 35 .
These are not easy issues. They will not be solved by a politician’s neat catchphrase. But nor will they be solved by looking the other way. (from The Times, January 23, 2010)
1.
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2.
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murder
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bed
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prove
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6.
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8.
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9.
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10.
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Britain
16.
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