THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- February 1, 2018 - Topic 2
A year of Trump
How much has changed in
the past year?
In delivering his first
State of the Union speech on Capitol Hill, President
Donald Trump spoke of many small victories that he chalked up to his
administration’s record over the past year. Yet the biggest surprise to many
may have been the fact that they saw before them a Commander-in-Chief who
unwaveringly stuck to the script and eschewed his usual provocative style on
social media.
While “Twitter Trump” has lashed out at Democrats on immigration
reform and the federal government shutdown earlier in January, “Teleprompter
Trump” issued a generous call for bipartisanship in policymaking. Where Mr.
Trump has actively promoted, on social media, Russian involvement in resolving
problems with North Korea, Syria, Ukraine and terrorism, he said in his
Congressional address that Russia and China were rivals that challenged U.S.
economic interests. Most strikingly, Mr. Trump assured his audience that
prospective immigrant families would benefit from his proposed reform, yet just
three months ago he had vowed on Twitter that the Extreme Vetting Programme for
migrants from certain countries was being stepped up to fourth gear. The
divergence between Mr. Trump’s two assessments of the current scenario is
troubling also because the softer version of Americana he outlined in the State
of the Union speech is in stark contrast to his inaugural speech a year ago
when he famously spoke of “American carnage”. The question is, how much has
really changed in the intervening year?
Considering his administration’s successes first,
at the top of the list is the passage in Congress of his tax-cut proposal that
he claimed put more money back into American workers’ pockets and built the
foundations of a stronger economy. Leaving aside the fact that it was the 12th
largest tax cut in post-World War I history, and not the largest as Mr. Trump
claimed, it is quite likely that his voter base appreciates his adherence to
the Republican fiscal mantra. On the linked subject of growth and jobs, the
economy expanded by 2.3% in 2017, which is less than it did in 2014 or 2015.
Mr. Trump’s first year saw more than two million jobs created, yet that falls
short of any of the last six years of his predecessor’s tenure. Mr. Trump’s
decision to revoke the previous administration’s decision to shut down the U.S.
prison in Guantánamo Bay may have been a throwaway to policy hawks, but it
could turn out to be self-defeating to the extent that it serves as a
recruitment tool for terrorist groups. While Americans will continue to debate
these complex questions of domestic policy, the attention of the world,
including India, must have been on Mr. Trump’s call to end the sought-after
visa lottery and “chain migration”. Given the context of a hardening immigration
policy, which could potentially affect legal migration, these remarks will
likely make the American Dream seem like a mirage to separated loved ones and
hopeful professionals on distant shores.
Vocabulary
Chalked: draw or write with chalk.
Example: I have been drawing, painting and
chalking since I was 2 years old
Synonyms: glass, trash, crank
Eschew: deliberately avoid using;
abstain from.
Example: He appealed to the crowd to eschew
violence
Synonyms: abstain from, refrain
from, give up, forgo, shun, renounce
Provocative: causing annoyance, anger, or
another strong reaction, especially deliberately.
Example: A provocative article
Synonyms: annoying, irritating, exasperating, infuriating, maddening, vexing
Antonyms: unprovoking, noninflammatory, disarming, unprovocative
Bipartisanship: agreement or cooperation
between two political parties that usually oppose each other's policies.
Example: A renewed spirit of political
bipartisanship
Prospective: expected or expecting to be
something particular in the future.
Example: She showed a prospective buyer
around the house
Antonyms: retrospective, retroactive, ex post facto, retro
Divergence: the process or state of
diverging.
Example: The divergence between primates
and other groups
Synonyms: separation, dividing, parting, forking, bifurcation
Antonyms: convergency, convergence
Carnage: the killing of a large
number of people.
Example: For this day of carnage and tears
there can be no justification or excuse.
Synonyms: slaughter, massacre, mass
murder, butchery, bloodbath
Appreciate: recognize the full worth of.
Example: She feels that he does not
appreciate her
Synonyms: value, treasure, admire, respect, hold
in high regard
Antonyms: devalue, depreciate, undervalue, devaluate
Adherence: attachment or commitment to
a person, cause, or belief.
Example: A strict adherence to etiquette
Synonyms: adhesion, affection, attachment, devotion, esteem
Antonyms: alienation, animosity, antipathy, aversion, coolness
Revoke: put an end to the validity
or operation of a decree, decision, or promise.
Example: The men appealed and the sentence
was revoked
Synonyms: cancel, repeal, rescind, reverse, annul, nullify, void, invalidate
Antonyms: authorize, cherish, confirm, continue, enact, establish
Harden: make or become hard or
harder.
Example: Wait for the glue to harden
Synonyms: solidify, set, congeal, clot, coagulate, stiffen, thicken, cake
Antonyms: soften
Shore: the land along the edge of a
sea, lake, or other large body of water.
Example: I took the tiller and made for the
shore
Synonyms: seashore, lakeshore, lakefront, bayfront, beach, foreshore
