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Reading “1984”

Reading 10 min Article Advanced

Vocabulary - 13 contextual words

Pronunciation - British

1984 reflects the terrifying political environment in the societies that lived under the totalitarian governments of Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union.

Exercise

Tap all the highlighted words in the article below ⇩ to see their definitions.

In 1984, George Orwell’s dystopian novel, the protagonist Winston Smith struggles with oppression in Oceania, an imaginary country where the Party scrutinizes human actions with ever-watchful Big Brother.

Defying a ban on individuality, Winston dares to express his thoughts in a diary and pursues a relationship with Julia. These criminal deeds bring Winston into the eye of the tyrannical government, who then must reform the nonconformist.

George Orwell’s 1984 introduced the slogan that, since then, represents life without freedom: BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU!

Orwell published the book in 1949, right after World War II and having fought in the Spanish Civil War. The novel is a cry for freedom and individual thought and a warning to mankind.

Orwell did not believe that the world would actually be ruled by Big Brother, but he often said that 1984 could happen if men did not become aware of the assaults on his personal freedom and did not defend his most precious right, the right to have his own thoughts.

In today’s hyperconnected technological society, where cameras surveil us everywhere, privacy is at risk and fake news is rampant… his warnings seem more relevant than ever. Do you agree?

Now, watch the video and complete the exercise.

This video by BBC News provides an interesting analysis of why 1984 still matters today.