The Unseen Cost of Inequality
In many parts of the world, the staggering contrast between affluent communities and impoverished regions remains a pressing concern. While some children enjoy world-class education and advanced learning tools, others are trapped in abject poverty, where even basic schooling is a distant dream.
This disparity often leads to the stunting of potential in underprivileged areas. Children, brimming with curiosity and talent, see their growth curtailed by lack of resources, poor nutrition, and inadequate infrastructure. The burden becomes even heavier with hefty school fees that families can hardly afford.
Efforts by global organizations to disseminate knowledge and improve education access often clash with political agendas. In some instances, land expropriation—the government taking land for development—displaces entire communities, further disrupting children’s learning environments.
Unfortunately, attempts to challenge such injustices sometimes spark reprisals from those in power. Activists who voice concerns face backlash, yet their penchant for justice drives them to continue advocating for change.
Though some inequalities are fueled by systemic issues, others are inadvertent, born from neglect rather than malice. Still, the impact remains profound, demanding collective effort and empathy to build a more equitable future.
Vocabulary words from passage with their contextual explanation:
(1) Staggering
- Meaning: Extremely surprising, shocking, or overwhelming in amount, size, or degree.
- Contextual Explanation: The word “staggering” is used to describe the huge and shocking gap between rich and poor areas. It emphasizes how big and serious the difference is—so much so that it’s hard to believe or accept. It sets the tone for the unfairness being discussed in the rest of the paragraph.
- Example Sentence: The country is facing a staggering increase in unemployment, leaving millions without jobs.
(2) Affluent
- Meaning: Having a great deal of wealth, money, or resources; rich and prosperous.
- Contextual Explanation: “Affluent” is used to describe urban areas that are rich and well-developed, having access to good infrastructure, healthcare, education, and economic opportunities. It contrasts with the rural communities that lack those benefits. This contrast is central to the theme of inequality in the passage.
- Example Sentence: She grew up in an affluent neighbourhood, surrounded by luxury and comfort.
(3) Abject
- Meaning: Extremely bad, miserable, hopeless, or degrading — often used to describe a very poor or humiliating condition.
- Contextual Explanation: The word abject is used to emphasize the terrible and hopeless condition of poverty in the neglected communities. It describes not just a lack of money but a deeply distressing state of living, where even basic necessities like food, healthcare, or shelter are missing. This helps highlight the seriousness of the problem being discussed.
- Example Sentence: The refugees lived in abject conditions, without clean water or proper shelter.
(4) Stunting
- Meaning: The process of preventing growth, development, or progress — especially physical or mental development in children due to poor nutrition or harsh conditions.
- Contextual Explanation: The word stunting refers to children being physically or mentally underdeveloped due to poor living conditions and malnutrition. It shows the long-term harmful effects that poverty or lack of proper food can have on a child’s growth — making it not just a temporary issue but a lifelong setback.
- Example Sentence: Years of poor diet and lack of healthcare led to the stunting of children in the remote village.
(5) Curtailed
- Meaning: Reduced, shortened, or limited — especially something that was previously allowed or available in full.
- Contextual Explanation: The word curtailed means that the opportunities for healthcare and education have been cut back or reduced. This implies that basic services, which are essential for well-being and development, are no longer fully available to these communities — worsening their already fragile situation.
- Example Sentence: Due to budget cuts, the school’s extracurricular programs were curtailed.
(6) Hefty
- Meaning: Large in size, amount, or force — usually referring to something that is heavy, intense, or substantial.
- Contextual Explanation: The word hefty is used to describe the serious and overwhelming burden that the poor face. It emphasizes that the problems they carry — like lack of resources, opportunities, and support — are not light or minor, but heavy and intense.
- Example Sentence: The company was fined a hefty amount for violating environmental regulations.\
(7) Disseminate
- Meaning: To spread or distribute something (especially information, ideas, or knowledge) widely.
- Contextual Explanation: The word disseminate is used to show how the media spreads information or messages to the public. These messages can influence how people understand or respond to issues like injustice or inequality.
- So, in context, it means the media distributes certain viewpoints — either exposing problems or making them seem ordinary and acceptable.
- Example Sentence: It is important to disseminate accurate information during a public health crisis.
(8) Disseminate
- Meaning: Expropriation is the act of a government or authority taking someone’s private property for public use, often without the owner’s full consent, and sometimes with compensation.
- Contextual Explanation: Here, expropriation refers to the unjust or forceful seizure of land that rightfully belonged to indigenous communities. It emphasizes that land was taken without proper consent or fairness, likely by powerful entities or the government, highlighting historical injustice.
- So, in this context, it shows how those in power took away land from people who originally lived there, often for profit or development.
- Example Sentence: The government’s expropriation of farmland for a highway project sparked protests among the villagers.
(9) Reprisals
- Meaning: Reprisals refer to acts of retaliation—punishing someone in response to a wrong or injury, especially in a violent or forceful way.
- Contextual Explanation: Here, reprisals means punishments or harmful actions taken against those who speak out—possibly activists, journalists, or indigenous people. It shows how those who challenge injustice are met with consequences, such as threats, violence, or legal action, intended to scare them into silence.
- So, in this passage, reprisals highlight the danger and cost of standing up against injustice.
- Example Sentence: The whistleblower faced severe reprisals after exposing corruption within the department.
(10) Penchant
- Meaning: A penchant is a strong or habitual liking for something or a tendency to do something regularly.
- Contextual Explanation: Here, penchant refers to a strong tendency or desire—specifically, the tendency of some people (like corporations or governments) to prefer making fast money rather than focusing on long-term, responsible development.
- So in the passage, it means that because of their preference for short-term profits, they ignore the importance of sustainable growth and ethical practices.
- Example Sentence: She has a penchant for solving complex puzzles and spends hours working on them.
(11) Inadvertent
- Meaning: Inadvertent means unintentional, not done on purpose, or accidental.
- Contextual Explanation: Here, inadvertent is used to describe a policy change that happens by mistake or without intention. The passage is highlighting that even if a government doesn’t mean to cause harm, an accidental or careless change in policy can still badly affect poor or struggling people.
- So it’s stressing the importance of careful planning and awareness, especially when decisions affect the weaker sections of society.
- Example Sentence: His inadvertent comment hurt her feelings, even though he didn’t mean to upset her.
