Translation, My Solutions

Have a look at my solutions below (AFTER having attempted the translations yourselves!) and bring your questions (esp. concerning alternatives) with you to class:

Politics text:

Erdogan cuts teaching of Theory of Evolution from school curriculum

From 2019 onwards, Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution will no longer be included in Turkish schoolbooks. The new curriculum will be presented on Tuesday, the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. But that is merely a formality: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already approved a draft of the new curriculum.

As grounds for the decision, the Turkish/Turkey's Ministry of Education has stated that evolutionary theory is contentious as well as too controversial and complicated for pupils of this age. It feels that for these reasons the unit should be removed from biology lessons and that Darwin’s teachings on the origin of the species are best taught later at university. According to a 2012 study, 70 percent of the Turkish population has doubts concerning the theory of evolution.

Turkey is officially a secular state with religious freedom: the heritage of the country’s founding father Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Secular Turks have been concerned for some time about an islamification of society by President Erdogan. Since his conservative party, the AKP, gained the parliamentary majority / majority in parliament, the ban on head scarves has been lifted, gambling has been banned, and laws prohibiting the consumption of alcohol have been expanded.

At the beginning of the year, Turkish Vice-President Numan Kurtulmus introduced the debate surrounding reforming the curricula when he deemed evolutionary theory archaic and obsolete. A first draft for a new curriculum based on the work of predominantly Turkish and Muslim scientists was then introduced.

Numerous Turkish academics have already criticized the draft. They cite that the only country in which evolutionary theory has also been stricken from the school curriculum is Saudi Arabia. The CHP, the largest party in the opposition, has already announced that it would contest the new curriculum in court.

Culture text:
Harbinger of hope in the Trump era

Ecological equilibrium is one of her key themes
Ever in pursuit of connecting to a present full of persistent possibilities, Margaret Atwood has on several occasions formally disputed her novels and short stories being relegated to the genre of "science fiction". As a child, she trekked through northern Quebec with her father, an entomologist. This experience might have been fundamental to the establishment of one of her key themes: nature's equilibrium. Grimm's fairytales were included in her early reading as well. A bit of the cold-bloodedness and dispassion with which the tales frequently report disaster and misfortune appears to have entered her literary imagination. Her unshakable feminist core is unmistakable. But this does not spare the female characters the sarcasm of their creator.

However, literary merits alone did not bring her the Peace Prize. Margaret Atwood is the ideal representative of North American opposition to Donald Trump. In The Year of the Flood (2009), she incorporated biotechnology and climate catastrophe into her narrative; in current interviews, she criticizes US domestic and foreign policy. (You can end here.)