Daily Reads-45 (Level-2): Articles to help you Practice Reading English

In today’s times, English has become a necessity. Knowing good English is an essential skill for professionals. Even all competitive exams check English skills of the students through Reading Comprehensions. So how do you improve your reading skills? Simple, By READING! In this section of ‘Daily Reads’, which has been carefully curated to provide for you to Practice Reading English, we present to you articles that you must read to improve your English.
You must keep in mind that improving English or reading skills does not and will not happen overnight. You are required to consistently practice reading English and that is when the results of your hard work will show. Also, make sure you maintain variety in reading. For this purpose of making you practice reading English from different sources, following articles are from varies fields like Politics, Ethics and Religion and Economics. Check them out below:

Reading Suggestion-1

Article Name: American dreaming 3.0
Author Name: Jennifer Ratner-RosenHagen
Source: Aeon
Category: Politics

Summary for this article:

Do dreams have an impact on politics? I am not referring to dreams in a figurative sense here but in the literal sense. The below article will give you all answers. Beautifully structured and written, explaining the works of many great people who have their say on the subject, the writer doesn’t fail to impress us by his knowledge and style of writing in an attempt to convince us that dreams hold an important place in shaping the American politics

Speaking of dreams in a figurative sense then slowly talking about its impact in the literal sense, the writer keeps stressing on one very important point that dreams have an important role to play in American politics. After all a liberal society is formed on the basis of one’s imagination. These imaginations are a result of one’s free thoughts which can be related to dreams as dreaming provides a picture of the real world, uncovering things which otherwise might not have been pondered upon due to narrowed and limited freedom of imagining.

It may seem reckless to consider the possibility of turning to dreams to work through the political conditions today but ignoring them altogether might even be more reckless says the author.

Words to learn from this article:

Philology: Study of language in written texts
Antagonize: To make someone your enemy

Reading Suggestion-1: Click to read full article

Reading Suggestion-2

Article Name: Merchandising Virtues
Author Name: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Source: Medium
Category: Ethics and Religion

Summary for this article:

He believes that all virtuous acts shouldn’t be branded and discussed in the public as such things only mean that one is using virtue to deal in one’s own uplifting.

He says how a best virtue requires courage and when integrity conflicts with reputation, go with integrity says the author.

He concludes by saying that true virtue lies in being nice to the ones who are ignored

Words to learn from this article:

Rapacity: greed
Silver Rule: Silver Rule states that we should behave to others in a way only which we want others to behave with us.
Reified: to regard anything abstract as real
Trampled: to treat other people’s rights and feelings as worthless
Lindy effect: According to this, greater usage of a technology increases its chances of sustaining in the future.
Synagogues: Jewish congregation.
Ostracism: to exclude from society by popular consent
Skin in the game: to bear the risk in doing some work or achieving some goals, especially to invest one’s own personal money in buying stocks.
Lobbyist: one who tries to influence decision makers.

Reading Suggestion-2: Click to read full article

Reading Suggestion-3

Article Name: Rethinking the Next China
Author Name: Stephen S. Roach
Source: Project Syndicate
Category: Economics

Summary for this article:

A very insightful article by an economist who talks about the risks and opportunities the modern Chinese economy shift could carry. He stresses on three tentative implications of China’s strategic shift from a producer model to a household consumer model.

1) China has not made a complete reversal.
2) This global push has many features of the old producer model
3) China’s new global approach reflects a recasting of governance.

In his concluding lines the writer says that while the Next China is becoming more power-centric, assertive and outwardly focussed than he had imagined. At the same time, there is less commitment to a market-based reform agenda featuring private consumption and SOE restructuring. He hopes that this does not change the final destination of Chinese rebalancing.

Words to learn from this article:

Commensurate: proportionate (eg- given a job commensurate with his abilities)
Brewing: to make coffee or tea/ to stir or start something
Stymied: to prevent something from happening
Collective unconsciousness: the deepest unconscious part of the brain which has experiences common to all the beings of any species(eg- small kids fear snakes but not rabbits because of fear being in the minds of our ancestors in the past)
Bulwark: safeguard or protect (eg- use any means to bulwark the country against terrorism)
Forestall: intercept or prevent/ preclude
Voyeur: one who likes seeing and talking or writing anything considered private.