Joy English · Level C2 · Societyjoy-english.com
The ethics of nudging
Name:Date:
Follow a balanced argument with both sides of an issue.
Listen to each sentence and write what you hear.
Audio and answer checking: https://joy-english.com/listening-lessons/the-ethics-of-nudging
Words to know
- nudge
- A small push that guides a choice.
- consent
- Permission given freely.
- bypass
- To go around something.
- benevolent
- Kind and wanting to do good.
Answer key
- Governments increasingly rely on gentle nudges, such as placing healthier food at eye level, to steer people's choices without forbidding anything.“Such as” introduces an example. “Without forbidding” takes an -ing form after a preposition.
- Supporters argue that such measures respect freedom, since the individual remains perfectly able to choose otherwise.“Since” here means because. “Otherwise” means in a different way.
- Critics counter that a nudge works precisely because people fail to notice it, which sits uneasily with genuine consent.“Which” refers to the whole previous idea. “Sits uneasily” means does not fit comfortably.
- The question, then, is whether influence that bypasses deliberate thought can ever be justified, however benevolent its aims.“Deliberate” as an adjective ends with a schwa, not “ate”. “However benevolent” means no matter how kind.
- Perhaps transparency offers a middle path: if the public knows how it is being nudged, the manipulation largely loses its sting.“Loses its sting” means becomes less harmful. The colon introduces the explanation.