Lesson 5 Explore the Amazing World
A Law as a Window to Culture
Hello and welcome to today’s show, Amazing ____.
I am your MC, Junyoung Park, and with me are Matilde from Switzerland, Chen from ____, and Sophia from Italy.
Today, we are ____ to talk about interesting laws from around the world.
Our guests are here to share unique laws from their own ____ that may be interesting to others.
They will further ____ why such laws were created, based on their countries’ cultural and historical backgrounds.
Matilde, can you share one ____ Switzerland?
Sure. Switzer land is very concerned about the welfare of not ____ humans, but also animals.
In fact, it is one of the world’s most animal-friendly countries, earning the support of ____ animal lovers.
In 2008, the Swiss ____ made it a requirement for social animals that typically live in groups, like goldfish, rabbits, or guinea pigs, to be kept in pairs.
In other words, it is ____ to own and raise just one goldfish, one rabbit, or one guinea pig.
This law ____ that social animals will experience loneliness if left alone and considers this to be a case of animal abuse.
In my case, I raised two guinea pigs ____ I was young.
When one of them ____, I had to get another one.
Otherwise, I would have been ____.
There are additional laws in place to guarantee animals’ quality of ____.
For example, Switzerland is known to be the only European country requiring ____ dogs to be microchipped and registered in the country’s database.
This is to ____ the illegal trade of dogs.
As these laws suggest, you can ____ how much Switzerland cares about animal welfare.
I can tell how passionate Switzerland is about ____.
Chen, what about Singapore? Are there ____ interesting laws?
In Singapore,
In Singapore, there is a ____ law about chewing gum.
Chewing gum sales and imports are ____ in the nation, and violators face fines of up to 2,000 Singapore dollars.
Although the law itself is quite well-known internationally, I imagine that many of you are unaware of its historical ____.
Singapore was a small nation with ____ resources when it gained independence.
The nation’s prime minister at the time came up with strategies to boost national ____, one of which was to transform the nation into an “oasis” for tourists in Asia.
In order to ____ this, he emphasized cleanliness and orderliness, which resulted in the establishment of the gum ban in 1992.
At that ____, chewing gum left on streets, roads, and stairs diminished the country’s beauty and raised the cleaning costs.
The country’s ____ on chewing gum has become one of the most well-known aspects of life in Singapore, along with its laws against improperly throwing away trash and spitting in public.
These laws being implemented, people could enjoy clean ____ spaces.
Today, Singapore ____ the world in terms of cleanliness and welcomes millions of tourists every year.
Yes, I ____ Singapore as a clean and pleasant country to visit.
Sophia, can you ____ us about an interesting law in Italy?
As you ____, people from all over the world visit Rome, the capital of Italy.
Unfortunately, some tourists’ actions caused severe ____ to the city’s historical monuments.
So, the city had to establish a number of laws to ____ its numerous historical sites.
One of ____ was to forbid adding a lock to any bridge in Rome.
You may have heard that to ____ their love forever, many couples carve their names on locks and attach them to a bridge.
However, as the ____ of the locks increases the pressure on bridges, they are no longer permitted.
____ the existing ones have been removed since 2012.
This law was also introduced in Venice so that locks could no longer damage the famous ____ Bridge.
In addition, people are ____ allowed to go into the city’s iconic Trevi Fountain.
Although you may be tempted to dip your toes into the cool fountain water on a hot summer day, it is ____ to do so.
Sitting on Rome’s famed Spanish Steps has ____ been banned since 2019.
If you don’t follow this law, you are made to pay a ____ ranging from €250 to €450.
All of these laws are committed to protecting the city’s ____ monuments.
Considering the large number of tourists from all over the world, it is understandable why Italy passed these regulations to protect its ____ monuments.
Thank you for sharing all these ____ laws with us, Matilde, Chen, and Sophia.
Some of the laws may initially ____ to be difficult to understand.
However, now that you have learned the stories behind them, I am sure you understand ____ they were put in place.
Knowing the unique cultural and historical contexts of these laws will help you appreciate them ____.