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Good morning. Today, January 13th is the anniversary of the publication of a famous letter by the French writer Emile Zola to the President of France.
This letter, written in 1898, demanded justice for Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish army officer languishing on Devil’s Island for passing military secrets to the Germans.
Zola told the President that the case against Dreyfus was a tissue of lies concocted by the French military and based on false testimony.
It ended with a string of denunciations: J’accuse. I first heard about the Dreyfus affair when I was doing history ‘O’ level but it wasn’t until last summer that I really understood what it was about – and that was when I read Robert Harris’s treatment of it in his novel, an Officer and a Spy.
Harris tells the story from the point of view of the Head of French Counter Espionage, George Picquart. He was no supporter of the Jews but he came to see that the evidence against Dreyfus was weak and he conducted an investigation of his own. It was Picquart who identified the real traitor, Ferdinand Esterhazy. But nobody wanted to know.
In an atmosphere of casual anti-semitism the shame of truth was simply unendurable. National pride and honour was at stake. Military officials tried to engineer the killing of Picquart, eventually he was sacked and disgraced. The evidence that would have exonerated Dreyfus was suppressed.
The military had public opinion on their side. The government, the Catholic Church and the press were united in their determination to find Dreyfus guilty. Zola’s letter, though, could not be ignored. He was eminent, he was influential, he exemplified the values of the Republic. You cannot bury truth, he said.
The case split France into two opposing camps. Finally Dreyfus was summoned back re-tried and released. Loyal, as ever, to France he lived to fight in the First World War.
Robert Harris’s treatment of the Dreyfus scandal helped me to see how easy it is for institutions and governments to protect themselves from inconvenient truths. We like to feel that we are on the side of virtue and most of the time we expect the truth to conform our assumptions.
But truth is not prejudiced. It confronts us in the sheer otherness of the other who lives differently, believes differently and has a different vision of reality from our own. We can opt for a superficial acceptance which is only half meant, an acceptance which all too often breaks down under pressure; or we can return to our own spiritual sources and strive to be more honest, to deepen our moral vision.
My own faith urges me to see in the face of the stranger, the face of God that is most unfamiliar and that I most fear; but it is also the face that I most need.
詞匯解析
apparent
難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞
英漢解釋
adj.明顯的；表面上的
參考例句
用作形容詞 (adj.)
Japan's apparent lack of capitalist endeavour also has much to do with the lack of a mature financing market.
顯而易見,日本缺少資本家的創(chuàng)業(yè)精神,而這與日本沒有一個成熟的融資市場也有很大關(guān)系。
She heard the news of his death with apparent unconcern.
她聽到他的死訊無動于衷。
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split
難度：3星常用詞匯，屬常用6000詞
英漢解釋
v.分裂；將…分成若干部分；分?jǐn)偅环蛛x；劈開；裂開；<俚>離開
n.劈開；裂口；分裂；一份；水果冰淇淋
adj.分裂的；意見分歧的
參考例句
用作動詞 (v.)
The party split into petty factions.
該黨分裂成若干小派系。
用作名詞 (n.)
Frost caused the split in the rock.
霜凍使巖石裂了一條縫。
用作形容詞 (adj.)
They believe the killer has a split personality.
他們認(rèn)為這個兇手人格分裂。
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scandal
難度：3星常用詞匯，屬常用6000詞
英漢解釋
n.丑聞；反感；恥辱；中傷
參考例句
用作名詞 (n.)
The scandal caused tempests in the newspaper.
那件丑聞在報紙上引起陣陣風(fēng)波。
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virtue
難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞
英漢解釋
n.美德；德行；優(yōu)點；貞操
參考例句
用作名詞 (n.)
Fidelity to engagement is a virtue.
信守諾言是一種美德。
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reality
難度：4星核心詞匯，屬常用3000詞
英漢解釋
n.真實；現(xiàn)實；實際
參考例句
用作名詞 (n.)
He describes the scene with startling reality.
他對那景象的描述逼真得令人驚訝。
It seems as if he knew everything, but in reality, he is as stupid as can be.
他似乎是個萬事通,其實他是再愚蠢不過了。
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acceptance
難度：3星常用詞匯，屬常用6000詞
英漢解釋
n.認(rèn)可；同意；承兌；接受（禮物、邀請、建議等）
參考例句
用作名詞 (n.)
We usually only discount acceptance trade and commercial bills.
我們通常只貼現(xiàn)已承兌的商業(yè)票據(jù)。
Bank acceptance bill played essential function in this process.
這當(dāng)中銀行承兌匯票起到了至關(guān)重要的作用。
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deepen
難度：2星擴(kuò)展詞匯，屬常用10000詞
英漢解釋
vt. 使 ... 加深； 使 ... 強烈
vi. 加深； 變濃
參考例句
用作及物動詞 (vt.)
May our partnership deepen and prosper.
預(yù)祝我們的伙伴關(guān)系不斷加深和發(fā)展。
用作不及物動詞 (vi.)
May our partnership deepen and prosper.
預(yù)祝我們的伙伴關(guān)系不斷加深和發(fā)展。
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