There is surely one general prohibition which we can make. I mean a prohibition against what is called "frightfulness." What I mean by frightfulness is the inflicting of great slaughter or massacre upon a particular crowd of people, with the intention of terrorising not merely the rest of the crowd, but the whole district or the whole country.
I yield to no one in my detestation of Bolshevism, and of the revolutionary violence which precedes it.* But my hatred of Bolshevism and Bolsheviks is not founded on their silly system of economics, or their absurd doctrine of an impossible equality.* It arises from the bloody and devastating terrorism which they practise in every land into which they have broken, and by which alone their criminal regime can be maintained. Governments who have seized upon power by violence and by usurpation have often resorted to terrorism in their desperate efforts to keep what they have stolen, but the august and venerable structure of the British Empire, where lawful authority descends from hand to hand and generation after generation, does not need such aid. Such ideas are absolutely foreign to the British way of doing things.
Intelligence reports that German and Russian agents were abroad in the Punjab, and the possibility that they might try to use the festival to spark ‘revolutionary violence’ were cited as General Dyer’s justification for taking action against the crowd. Another factor was said to be that just two days earlier, Marcella Sherwood, a teacher, had been assaulted, stripped, and dumped in a back-street. But as Churchill was at pains to remind us, neither of these could possibly justify what subsequently happened, not simply because they were not bad enough, but because terrorism is never justifiable, whatever fears, doubts or resentments may be upon us.
As Churchill would say in the House on 22nd October, 1945, “the inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries”. No politics can make all men equally prosperous, healthy, talented or happy. Of course, all human lives are of equal value however unproductive, feeble or hopeless they may seem to be; yet that is one equality that Communism, Fascism and Socialism all utterly disregard.
Précis
Churchill did not hesitate to describe the action as an act of terrorism. Some had justified it on the grounds that Communist agitators may have been among the crowd; yet it was government by terror, said Churchill, that made Communism itself so repugnant, and such a policy must play no part in British politics. (54 / 60 words)
Churchill did not hesitate to describe the action as an act of terrorism. Some had justified it on the grounds that Communist agitators may have been among the crowd; yet it was government by terror, said Churchill, that made Communism itself so repugnant, and such a policy must play no part in British politics.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, although, because, besides, despite, if, just, or.
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Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Do. Slaughter. Upon.
2 Dwell. Place. Population.
3 I. Aid. Every.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Subject and Object Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in two sentences, first as the subject of a verb, and then as the object of a verb. It doesn’t have to be the same verb: some verbs can’t be paired with an object (e.g. arrive, happen), so watch out for these.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Empire. 2. Procedure. 3. Keep. 4. History. 5. Person. 6. Country. 7. Law. 8. Make. 9. Thing.
Variations: 1.use your noun in the plural (e.g. cat → cats), if possible. 2.give one of your sentences a future aspect (e.g. will, going to). 3.write sentences using negatives such as not, neither, nobody and never.
Verb and Noun Find in Think and Speak
Many words can serve as noun or verb depending on context: see if you can prove this with the examples below. Nouns go well with words such as the/a, or his/her; verbs go well after I/you/he etc..
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Stand. 2 Point. 3 Call. 4 Place. 5 Rest. 6 Keep. 7 People. 8 Delay. 9 Order.
Variations: 1.if possible, use your noun in the plural, e.g. cat → cats. 2.use your verb in a past form, e.g. go → went. 3.use your noun in a sentence with one of these words: any, enough, fewer, less, no, some.
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
ms (6+3)
aims. amuse. emus. moose. mouse. muse.
mas. mesa. moos.
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