Nome: __________________________________________No.
___________ 11º:2 Data: ____/ 11/16
Classificação: ________________________ A Profª.: _________________O E.E.: _______________
English Test - Year 11 – November 2016
*
Shashi Tharoor
Universal Declaration of
The Human Rights is half a
century old, but critics are
still asking whether anything in our
multicultural, diverse world can be truly
universal.
Some ask, isn’t human rights an
essentially Western concept, ignoring the
very different cultural, economic and
political realities of the South? Can the
values of the consumer society be applied
to societies that have nothing to consume?
Isn’t talking about universal rights rather
like saying that the rich and the poor both
have the same right to fly first-class and to
sleep under bridges? At the risk of sounding
frivolous: when you stop a man in
traditional dress beating his wife, are you
upholding her human rights or violating
his?
The fact is that there are serious
objections to the concept of universal
human rights.
The first is philosophical. All rights
and values are defined and limited by
cultural perceptions. There is no universal
culture, therefore there are no universal
human rights. Some philosophers have
objected that the concept is founded on an
individualistic view of people, whose
greatest need is to be free from
interference by the state. Non-Western
societies often have a communitarian ethic
which sees society as more than the sum of
its individual members and considers duties
to be more important than rights. In Africa
it is usually the community that protects
and nurtures the individual: ‘I am because
we are, and because we are therefore I
am.’
Then there is the usual North/South
argument. The Universal Declaration was
* Shashi Tharoor is the author of five books of fiction and non-fiction, including The Great Indian Novel and,
most recently, India: From Midnight to the Millennium. He is a senior UN official in the Office of Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
answers some frequently asked questions
adopted at a time when most Third World
countries were still under colonial rule.
‘Human rights’ are only a cover for Western
intervention in the affairs of the developing
world. Developing countries, some also
argue, cannot afford human rights since the
tasks of nation-building and economic
development are still unfinished.
Many also object to specific rights
which they say reflect Western cultural
bias: the right, for instance, to political
pluralism, the right to paid vacations
(always good for a laugh in the sweatshops
of the developing world) and, most
troublesome of all, the rights of women.
How can women’s rights be universal in the
face of widespread divergences of cultural
practice, when in some societies marriage
is seen not as a contract between two
individuals but as an alliance between
lineages?
In addition, some religious leaders
argue that human rights can only be
acceptable if they are founded on
transcendent values of their faith,
sanctioned by God. The Universal
Declaration claims no such heritage – a
draft reference to the Creator was
consciously left out of the final text.
How can one respond to these
objections? Concepts of justice and law, the
legitimacy of government, the dignity of the
individual, protection from oppressive or
arbitrary rule and participation in the affairs
of the community are found in every
society on the face of this earth. The
challenge of human rights is to identify the
common denominators rather than to throw
up one’s hands at the impossibility of
universalism.
In New Internationalist, issue 332, March 2001, abridged
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 I. A. FIND EVIDENCE in the text for the statements below: (24 pontos)
1. African societies highlight the role of community.
2. The concept of human rights can’t be implemented in developing countries.
3. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is beyond any religious perspectives.
4. The call is to look for the shared traits of the Declaration.

B. Explain the meaning of the expressions from the text: (36 pontos)
1. At the risk of sounding frivolous… (2nd p.)
2. The fact is that there are serious objections… (3rd p.)
3. ‘Human rights’ are only a cover for Western intervention in the affairs of …. (5th p.)
4. ... always good for a laugh in the sweatshops of the developing world…(6th p.)

C. FIND EQUIVALENTS for the following words (between the 2nd and 6th paragraphs of
the text). (20 pontos)
1. backing - 4. general -
2. supports - 5. ancestry –
3. prejudice -

D. Who/ what do these words refer to? (20 pontos)

1. our - ________________________ 4. first - ______________________
2. his - ________________________ 5. whose - ____________________
3. her - ________________________

E. Over to you. - Write no more than 50 words. (30 pontos)

“Are Human Rights universal?” Express your point of view on the matter.

II. A. REWRITE the next sentences, beginning them as suggested. Do not change the original
meaning. (30 pontos)
1. Developing countries cannot afford human rights since the tasks of nation-building and
economic development are still unfinished.
Human rights __________________________________________________________
2. Western Countries established the UDHR because they feared another World War.
If ___________________________________________________________________
3. Third World countries were under colonial rule so they couldn’t express their opinion on the
UDHR.
If ____________________________________________________________________

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4. Shashi Tharoor demanded reparation payments from the UK to India over 200 years of colonial
rule.
The UK ________________________________________________________________________
5. People agree that our world is very diverse.
It _____________________________________________________________________________
6. People believe that African societies highlighted the role of community.
African societies ________________________________________________________________

B. Complete the text with words from the box. 2 words do not apply. (20 pontos)

1. aspirations 2. contradict 3. enough 4. gift 5. magical

6. philosophical 7. reflect 8. suggest 9. suggestion 10. Transcend
11. uniformity 12. universal

Of course universality does not presuppose (1. ). In asserting the universality of human rights, I
do not (2. ) that our views of human rights (3. ) all possible (4. ), cultural or religious differences or
represent a (5. ) aggregation of the world’s ethical and philosophical thought systems. Rather, it is
(6. ) that they do not fundamentally (7. ) the ideals and (8. ) of any society, and that they (9. ) our
common humanity. Human rights, in other words, derive from the mere fact of being human; they
are not the (10. ) of a particular government or legal code.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

C. Fill in the gaps with the verbs in brackets in the PAST SIMPLE, PAST CONTINUOUS, PAST
PERFECT and PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS (20 pontos)
1. Shashi Tharoor _________________ (work) in the UN for 29 years when he
_________________ (decide) to leave.
2. He ______________________ (write) a newspaper article when he ____________________
(realize) that he ______________________ (have) to prepare his speech.
3. Shashi Tharoor ______________________ (read) a lot about the importance of the UN
before he _____________ (go) there.
4. After Shashi Tharoor __________________ (take) his degree, he _______________ (come)
to the conclusion he __________( have) to do something to make the world a better place.

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KEY
I.
II.
B. Of course universality does not presuppose uniformity. In asserting the universality of
human rights, I do not suggest that our views of human rights transcend all possible
philosophical, cultural or religious differences or represent a magical aggregation of the
world’s ethical and philosophical thought systems. Rather, it is enough that they do not
fundamentally contradict the ideals and aspirations of any society, and that they reflect our
common humanity. Human rights, in other words, derive from the mere fact of being human;
they are not the gift of a particular government or legal code.

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