Are Human Rights Universal_ - Test on Multiculturalism

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Nome: __________________________________________No. ___________ 11º:2 Data: ____/ 11/16 
Classificação: ________________________ A Profª.: _________________O E.E.: _______________ 
 English Test - Year 11 – November 2016 
 
 
 
 
 
Shashi Tharoor * answers some frequently asked questions 
 
 Universal Declaration of 
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 
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. 
 
* 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. 
In New Internationalist, issue 332, March 2001, abridged 
 
The 
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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 - 
2. supports - 
3. prejudice - 
4. general - 
5. ancestry – 
 
D. Who/ what do these words refer to? (20 pontos) 
1. our - ________________________ 
2. his - ________________________ 
3. her - ________________________ 
4. first - ______________________ 
5. whose - ____________________ 
 
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) 
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 makethe world a better place. 
 
 
 
 
1. aspirations 2. contradict 3. enough 4. gift 5. magical 
 6. philosophical 7. reflect 8. suggest 9. suggestion 10. Transcend
 11. uniformity 12. universal 
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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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